To Grow

The school was giant. The entrance area was more towards the back, with two sides of the school curving forwards the front doors. The building itself was mostly a dark brown, with light brown texturing here and there, giving it an old look. There were two separate buildings, one to the left, and one to the right. The whole property was surrounded by a black iron bar fence, separating it from the rest of the forest, though I could see a small copse of trees had grown in the fence. Overall, it looked like something from a horror movie that sometimes played on the TV.

"The girl's dorms are to the right. Tell the overseer there your name, grade, and then show her your ID card. Goodbye." With those final words, he signalled the driver and the car promptly left. 

The gate was open, so I walked in. The guard beside the gate kept an eye on me the whole time until I had finally reached the girl's dorms.

The dorm building was just a tall rectangular building. There were maybe ten sets of windows going up, with small ledges in front, some of which had plants on it.

I pulled open the front doors and entered.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" A voice said. The source of the sound was a middle aged woman. She was slightly overweight, and her hair was dyed neon orange. She was sitting behind a desk, which was behind a set of bars. I think that was meant to keep her safe.

"I am Storm Erickson, grade 10." I opened my wallet, noting that the woman -overseer- tensed slightly at that, and drew out my ID. "Here. My ID card." I made sure not to shive it in front of her face, as that was rude, and instead stuck my arm out within easy reaching distance.

"Oh. You're the new girl. I've got your room number right here." She rummaged around her desk for a while, and finally found a small slip of paper. She handed it to me, and said, "Even numbers are on the left, odd numbers on the right. There is no elevator, and the stairs are there." She pointed at a set of stairs, half hidden beside her desk. "Lights out at 9, and there are showers every second floor. Here are your keys." She set them on a ledge just in front of her.

There was no door, so I walked up the stairs. I only had the bags the Dean had given me. The stairs were cramped and sparsely lit. There were numbers painted onto the wall to show which floor that was.

I was on floor 3, room 1. I stepped out the stairwell. There was one straight corridor, with five rooms on either side. There was no showering area, as this was the third floor.

Room 1 was just beside the elevator. I stuck in my key and turned. It didn't turn, so I turned the other way. It still didn't turn. I took out the key and flipped it upside down and tried turning it both ways. It still didn't turn, so I pulled it out, flipped it again, and turned like the first time. It opened.

The door opened soundlessly, and I walked into the room. To my surprise, the lights were on. I was also met with the scene of a female and a male mating -no, having sex.

There were two beds, two desks, two chairs, and two shelves, one on each side of the room, and one door leading to the toilet. The couple were on the bed on the right, so I took the one on the left. I put all my bags down onto my desk and pulled out my new uniform. There were two pairs of pants, one slightly thicker than the other, both navy. There was also one short that went down to my knees. There were two white button up shirts, one long sleeved, on short sleeved, and one t-shirt made from a different material. There was one blazer, a lighter blue with gold buttons. There were no shoes in the bag, so I was probably going to be wearing the same pair of shoes the whole time. There were three socks, a white pair, a black pair, and a grey pair. There were three sets of underwear, one white, black, and grey. There were two bras, both, once again, white and black.

I looked up from my clothing and met the eyes of a male and female. They were both covered in sweat and reeked of each other's liquids. They were both half covered by the blanket. I wasn't sure what to do in this situation. Both were foreign to me, so I should introduce myself? This wasn't my first time watching something mating, so I was used to it, though I had never watched my own kind mate before. No, it was called 'having sex'.

"Hello. I am Storm Erickson. I am now your new roommate." I hesitated. Usually, we were all dressed when introducing. "What is your name?" I asked the female -no, girl. She was my roommate, since she was also a girl, and so the male is inconsequential, to be ignored.

"I'm Summer. So...can you leave? We're kind of in the middle of something." The girl said. She was blond with red streaks. She was muscled and lithe. She had light blue eyes.

"No. I am to stay inside my dorm unless necessary until school begins, which is tomorrow, according to my schedule. You may mate- have sex, if you want. If it is too awkward, I will not look." This was the extent of my empathy, and the most words I've spoken yet. 

"...Right. Hey, Mark, wanna do it later?" Summer looked down at the male.

"Hey brunette! Why don't you come join us?" The male asked me. 

"I apologize, but I do not feel the urge to mat- have sex." At that, Summer and the male looked at me for a moment, and laughed. 

"Right, right. Well, pffft." Summer managed between giggles. She and the male disentangled from each other, and once the male had worn his clothing, he entered the bathroom and left through the window in the bathroom.

"Sooo. I thought I had this place all to myself, but I guess I have a roommate." Summer said, still naked.

"Can you put on your clothing?"

"Oh? Why?" She said in a weird tone, stretching her body.

"Because I was told that conversations are to happen when dressed."

She laughed again at that. "Whatever." She put on some...pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt.

"Where're you from?" Summer asked.

"Fingard Forest."

"Right. And I'm from the Wastelands." She said, rolling her eyes.

"What is it like there?" I asked, genuinely curious. The Wastelands were like Fingard forest, just in a desert. 

She looked at me with this look again. Then she broke eye contact and pulled out her phone.

I went back to inspecting my items.