strange to hear «dps//anderperry»

i

Dim orange light that cast a warm glow on the hoary oak walls and only faintly illuminated the rest of the dreary wooden hall made Todd Anderson increasingly drowsy. His legs ached with exhaustion and every muscle in his body was begging for a rest. He had been up since four o'clock this morning and it was nearly ten at night.

As he took his final stride and the final ancient floorboard of the boarding house creaked, Todd pushed the door to his dormitory open. Without much thought, he flopped onto his bed and a groan, muffled by his pillow, rumbled in his throat. Lazily, he pushed his shoes off his feet with his heels and without bothering to take his overcoat and tie off, Todd rolled onto his side and stared blankly at the wall that his roommate, Neil Perry's, bed was pushed up against. Neil was in a boy they called "Meeks"'s room; Todd tagged along for not more than an hour or so but his fatigue got the better of him and he slinked off without saying anything to anybody else; none of them noticed when he pushed through the crowd of six to get out the door; they were too busy debating the logistics of some short story they had all enjoyed.

With a deep inhale, Todd lazily rolled onto his back. He pushed the breath out of his nose and watched his chest deflate. He sucked in another deep breath and became further captivated by the gentle rise and fall of his own chest. Today had been his first day at Welton Academy and upon meeting dozens of new professors and peers, the introverted Todd Anderson bathed in the solitude of his empty dormitory. He allowed his heavy lids to fall and his mind to drift and lull itself to sleep.

"WHAU!"

Todd sat up with a jolt. He was on the brink of slumber when the call from his roommate shot him directly out of his almost zen state. Todd rubbed his bleary eyes with his knuckles and blinked languidly at the lanky boy who kicked the door closed with his foot and tossed his jacket onto the bed. "What a day!" He exclaimed, his hands working hastily at his necktie. As he watched Neil undo his tie, Todd became aware of his attire and subconsciously worked at the knot in his tie. He stifled a yawn and his pupils followed Neil, who occupied himself with unbuttoning his shirt and yanking his trousers off. Todd diverted his gaze to his own dress pants. Briefly and wordlessly he debated getting up to change out of his attire but decided against it in favor of his comfort. Todd turned over onto his side again and observed silently as Neil, who was now completely clothed again, sat down at the desk on his side of the room and began to scribble on a loose sheet of paper. "I'll tell you one thing," he said aloud, "I, for one, am not anticipating this school year!"
Todd still stared at Neil, captivated by his hand moving sporadically on the paper. He opened his mouth to ask what he was writing, but his tongue failed to form the sentence. Neil's head shot up and at the speed of light he darted across the room and rummaged around in his suitcase. Todd cocked a brow and waited for the other boy to find what he was looking for. It didn't take long for Neil to dig out whatever he wanted because just as Todd thought about sitting up to peer over the end of his bed, Neil's head popped up, a massive grin on his face and his dark hair hanging limply over his forehead like a horse's forelock. His smile pushed gentle dimples into his cheeks and his blocky brows raised and revealed Neil's round brown eyes. Todd offered a quizzical look and Neil scuttled to his bedside and slammed a small gold coin onto the sheets. Todd's voice was weak, "What is it?" He said.

"My mother gave it to me- said it's worth some sum of money." Neil beamed. His face lingered just inches from Todd's. The light-haired boy sat up on his bed. He tilted his head and picked up the coin. It was about the size of a nickel, but was gold and had foreign markings in another language, perhaps Latin, on it. He gently handed it back to Neil, who launched himself into his bed and set the coin down on his bedside table.

"Why did you need to take it out right now?" Todd yawned.

"I just wanted to make sure I still had it. I'm writing in my journal," Neil explained.