Singleplayer [DreamNotFound]

J-E-A-N, not G-E-N-E

I jerk awake. What was it that woke me up, I don't know. I reach out for my phone and blink rapidly when the bright display glares at me. Shielding my eyes with one hand, I check the time. 6 a.m.

I stretch out and look around myself, disoriented, forgetting for a minute where I am. Gentle sunlight streaming in through the window gives the room a soft glow. I push my duvet off myself and swing my legs out of bed. The feeling of the presence of someone else in the room unsettles me for a moment, but then I remember I have a roommate. I look over at the sleeping body of Clay. He's curled up into a ball under his blanket, making him look like a twelve-year-old. I smile to myself.

My first thought is to go brush my teeth, but there's no bathroom in the room and nor have I seen any bathrooms anywhere else. I step out of the room to go look for them. There's almost no one out in the corridors, which isn't surprising since the classes start at nine o' clock. However, I see someone heading someplace, so I follow them at a distance hoping that they're heading for a bathroom. After finding one, I walk back to my dorm room to get my clothes and toothbrush to get ready.

Just as the corridors were, the bathroom is nearly empty too, except for one or two males who are clearly new here. I brush my teeth quickly and choose an empty stall, a little uncomfortable with bathing in the presence of others even if I'm behind a locked door. I take a hurried shower, dress quickly, grab my clothes and towel and get out.

I go back to my room to dump my dirty clothes in a corner and leave them there to fester. Clay is still sleeping. I think of waking him up, but decide against it. Instead, I gather up my stationery and my textbooks needed for my first class.

My stomach rumbles. I realise I didn't eat dinner yesterday, and the thought of food makes my stomach rumble louder. I dump my books on top of my laptop on the shared desk and head out of the room to the cafeteria. I don't really want a heavy breakfast, so I get a packet of crisps from the vending machine and return to my room.

Clay, who's sitting up on his bed, turns around when I open the door. He squints in the light of the corridor and gives me a little wave when he notices that it's me. I wave back, not knowing what to respond with. Clay gets out of his bed and walks over to the wardrobe in a sleepy trance. I follow his movements with my eyes, ripping open the crisps packet and shovelling a handful of crisps into my mouth.

'You know where the bathrooms are?' Clay asks me, still squinting in the light. I nod and swallow quickly before saying, 'Down the corridor and to the right.'

Clay nods and gives me a sleepy smile before heading out of the room. I settle down in my bed and continue stuffing crisps into my mouth, unnecessarily checking the time every two minutes.

Clay comes back to our room about a half hour later, combing his hands through his hair. 'That was the lightest breakfast I've ever had, and that's coming from me.'

'Why, is that supposed to signify something?' I say, pausing a YouTube video I'd been watching.

Clay rolls his eyes. 'You wouldn't know. I used to be late for school four days out of five.'

'What am I supposed to do with that information?'

Clay bumps my shoulder with his fist. 'It means I've had a lot of light breakfasts, dummy.'

'I see this conversation has no point. In what way do I benefit by knowing this piece of information?' I say in a fake posh accent.

'You get to know more about me, which will be helpful when I'm rich and famous and people come to you asking about me.'

I give a snort. 'I bet you won't even get good marks this term, let alone become rich and famous.'

'There are a lot of ways by which you can become famous, George.' Clay dictates like a professor. 'What's your first period?'