The Dorm Guard

*

I unpacked my things. Nothing too exciting.

I didn"t have a whole lot, to begin with, at least not that I was willing to lug onto a plane, a bus and pay for how much weight I needed.

I packed my clothes into my closet and my personal belongings in their drawers. I plugged my laptop and my phone into the walls and placed my school schedule on my desk.

It took me a half an hour to set all my things up. My room didn"t look too different from when I first walked in.

I still couldn"t comprehend why I was in a dorm full of girls, more or less why the school would be okay with a guy being in the same dorm as a child, someone who is deaf, someone who is blind and people whom I am significantly bigger then.

I laid down on my bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to piece together a few things. I still couldn"t quite understand why my mother suggested this position for me. I racked my brain to find a reason, but I couldn"t find one.

First impressions just told me some of these girls had some disabilities, but that didn"t require a guard usually.

Peace of mind, I thought. After all, the majority of the school"s students have relatively wealthy parents for one reason or another. All dorms were probably a.s.signed a Dorm Guard. Despite this, I thought there would be people more qualified than myself.

My hands travelled across the sheets of my bed. Whenever I go to a new place, the blankets always smelt funny. Pillows and all fabrics just had that scent that I wasn"t familiar with, which reminded me that I wasn"t in my normal environment. It reminded me of hotels or going to a Grandmother or someone older and being forced to sleep over.

By the time I got out of my daze of odd smelling sheets, it was dark outside.

I opened my door to go downstairs. My journey there, however, wasn"t uneventful. The moment I stood on flat ground after the stairwell all I heard was yelling. "Fritz!" someone screeched, "Get back here!"

Without warning, I heard some crashing. Looking down one of the hallways I watched a ferret scurry quickly down the hall holding something in his mouth, the string sticking out as he ran.

Not long behind him was a train, a train in the form of a wheelchair and an angry girl barrelling down, the corner creating no obstacle in her pursuit.

Fritz was quick, quicker than the girl"s upper body strength and the wheelchair"s ability to roll smoothly.

I raised an eyebrow at this but retreated when the ferret tried to use me as a shield. I sidestepped to the stairs, the ferret"s claws sticking to the leg of my pants, and watching the girl zoom past us only to slam on the breaks a meter later. She skidded to a stop, and I was surprised she didn"t start rolling.

She growled as she turned around, blowing a loose strand of her black hair from her eyes, she seemed to notice my existence and yelped in surprise. "What? Why! How? You"re here!" she yelled. All her words mixed, so I almost missed everything for wordless gibberish. "Why are you here?!" She managed to say.

I chuckled as I grabbed the ferret by the skin on its back. "I"m the Dorm Guard here," I explained. Fritz didn"t like the way I was holding him, and struggled, trying to get loose from my grip and scratch my face. I got past the claws and paws to grab the string in his mouth. I pulled it out from him to reveal it to be a tampon.

I froze like a statue as the girl yelled something at me and managed to s.n.a.t.c.h both from me. When I managed to move, I saw she was flushing red. "W-Well… w-when did you get here then?" she asked, "I did-didn"t hear about this!"

"That"s because you never come talk to us," May called. She came from nowhere, offering a way out of this conversation before it got awkward. "If you did I would"ve told you that there was going to be another Dorm Guard around here, Bonnie."

Bonnie looked to me, that mask of sweetness and elegance from the first time I met her overshadowed by recent events and att.i.tudes. Bonnie plonked Fritz on the ground and cracked her knuckles, "Fine then…" She didn"t appear too happy about it.

May leaned on a wall a few meters away, and Bonnie gestured for me to come closer. I did, leaning in to listen to what potentially harsh words she had to say. "What happened this afternoon means nothing, okay?" she hissed. I almost started laughing at this big change in personality. Her cheeks were still red, the aftermath of her embarra.s.sment remaining, "But I am thankful, and would still appreciate if you didn"t tell anyone," she informed.

I smiled and nodded. "Lips are sealed," I informed.

She straightened herself and scoffed at me as she went to roll down the hallway, but her wheelchair stuck. Whether it be the breaks or something was stressed from the sudden railroading, she couldn"t move. Her dramatic exit was interrupted by her attempting to get the wheelchair moving. I tried not to laugh, "Do you need a hand?" I reached out to help, but she slapped away my offer.

"Don"t touch it, I can do it myself," she snapped. I surrendered my hand and watched as she leaned over one of her wheels and played with something in her wheel. She fixed herself and started rolling. Redoing her scoff, she managed to make it to the end of the hallway without any more problems, Fritz following behind her like a proud dog.

"What"s her problem?" I asked fighting the urge to smirk.

May walked over smiling as well. "She just tries to act tough, don"t let it bother you, she"s a sweet kid," she informed.

I nodded. I know how "sweet" Bonnie can get.

"She"s just gotten p.i.s.sed since her parents are very protective. Poor thing isn"t technically allowed outside aside from school," May explained.

I widened my eyes. "That seems harsh," I commented.

"They worry a lot. In her case, since her rehabilitation wasn"t working they pretty much trapped her at a boarding school," May informed. "But all their parents worry. If it were up to them none of them would ever see the light of day."

I was taken aback by this new information and glanced down the hallway where Bonnie just disappeared down. "That"s rough," was all I could say.

May agreed. It was only then I noticed she had changed into her pyjamas. She must"ve been cold since she wore long pink sleeves and long pants. The quirkiest things I saw on her were her pink hippo slippers.

"Nice slippers."

She shook her feet at the mention of them. "Thanks, Robyn made them. One eye is bigger than the other on both feet, but she"s just starting out with sewing," she explained as she did a small dance. "Oh yes, I almost forgot!" She slapped me across the chest, momentarily paralysing me as she disappeared for a moment.

That caused me more pain than the norm. I clutched my chest as I leaned on the wall, a moment of panic running through me as I felt my heart beat frantically in my chest. But while it gave a rhythm of some sorts, I knew I was okay. I remembered I was okay.

My panic subsided quickly as my breathing calmed a little. Aside from my fingertips tingling, nothing else was wrong. I pushed myself off the wall, determined to look okay, as May returned. She was holding a golden bell and appeared to be mid-sentence when she looked up to me. I saw some worry on her face. "Are you okay? You"ve gone pale," she informed approaching me slower.

I nodded but waved her off, my heart still thumping in my ears. "No. No, it"s fine. Dizzy spell, I"ll be fine," I a.s.sured.

She frowned at my answer but accepted it. "Here is your complementary bell," she informed hanging it over to me. It was a shiny gold colour that was cold to the touch.

"Complementary?"

"Well if you want you can give me $50," May joked. We both chuckled, and I thanked her for the bell, but I did wonder why I needed it.

She explained to me that everybody in the dorms has a bell for three reasons. "Robyn can"t hear very well but can sense the vibrations in the air, that"s why it felt funny when I rang this one," May informed jingling the one on her wrist. "You felt it too, I could tell. But what you felt wasn"t even a tenth to what Robyn could feel, these bells just let her know you"re coming or that you"re calling her."

I nodded as I looked at the bell, amazed that someone practically deaf could accomplish this. "Reason number two is so that everybody can hear you, not just Robyn. These bells offer as a kind of **** whistle for the girls I guess, but for less desperate situations. Like if Bonnie"s wheelchair fell over, this is a big house, you can"t expect her to yell forever, or if Alexis got lost she"ll be easier to find. They offer another means of communication throughout the house."

I nodded. "And number three?"

May stopped. "I did say three, didn"t I?" She had a moment of confusion but simply shrugged, "I dunno, they look cool and are expensive? It keeps their parents out of my hair for safety things." Whenever she moved her arm, the bell would ring softly, but not very loudly.

"So where do I put this so people can hear me?" I questioned.

May shrugged. "I don"t dictate clothing styles, Layton-"

"Landon," I corrected.

May looked at me oddly but shrugged and continued. "None of us here are exactly fashion gurus, so whatever floats your boat." The two of us followed the hallway to get to the dining room again; we seemed to be the first people there.

"So… why are the parents bugging you?" I asked. I didn"t expect a regular dorm student would need to worry about other dorm students.

"As I said before, I"m a translator. It"s my job to make sure people know what they"re saying. I got hired by Robyn"s rich-a.s.s family to be her translator when we were twelve, hated each other at first, but now are the best friends in the history of anything." She plonked on a chair at the table, "When Mia came about Bonnie"s family also hired me, and when Alexis came around, I learned brail for her sake. But the families seem to think my duties as a translator fall into your category of dorm guard." She rubbed her temples, "It doesn"t bother me that much, but with the addition of Amada and Amia"s problems there"s just too many people to keep tabs on." She chuckled her words, but I could see a sense of exhaustion. She continued to explain she asked for an extra hand from the school, who agreed and thus came about me.

I understood. "Why would their parents think you"re a guard of any sort?" I asked.

She was resting her head on her hand. "These girls need a guard, Lenny."

I rolled my eyes but didn"t bother correcting her as she spoke.

"But none of the girls want guards of any sort. Robyn is even quite the escape artist, Amada and Amia use their look-alikes to lose any guards their parents put on them, and Estelle doesn"t care. It"s a situation of their parents just wanting someone to look out for them, aka me," she explained. "I love these guys, but they are hard work…" She was whining and buried her face into the wooden surface, grumbling to herself about how hard she works and how much work it is.

"Why don"t teachers do this?" I asked.

She grumbled, "They do at school. Once we"re here in the dorms, it"s more difficult for them to be around 24/7. Hence the reason for me and the reason for positions like yours." Her face went back to the table.

I found something comical about the scene. With a chuckle I pat the top of May"s head, "I"ll make something to eat." I went into the kitchen section of the room.

May was still grumbling, but I heard some translation of thanks. The food I had bought that afternoon had been packed away, but not being in this kitchen before I had no clue where anything was. May didn"t appear to be of any help as she continued to complain, scratching at dints on the table as her mumbles continued. She was amusing me though, so I just listened to her rambles as I looked for spaghetti.

I ducked down to find a pot when I stood up again someone was sitting on the countertop. The girl"s presence made me jump, dropping the pan and stumbling back.

The princess I a.s.sumed to be Estelle was picking at her nails, a pair of shorts seemingly forced under her nightgown. She smiled at my reaction, "I"ve had men fall to their knees in a bow, one going so far as to kiss my feet out of fright, but never has a man been startled by my presence enough to drop a pot." Her statement sounded dry but tired.

I sighed, clutching my chest, and straightened myself out. "Well aren"t we a shooting star," I commented picking up the pot. I ignored Estelle for the moment as she continued picking at her nails.

"Where you from?" she questioned.

"Out of town," I replied. "Yourself?"

"Not here," she countered. "Paper or plastic?"

"Plastic. Senior or junior?"

"That awkward thing in the middle," She smiled, "Ever been arrested?"

"Yes. a.s.sault with a fishcake and cheating in a card game. You?"

"Oh name something I haven"t done." We both seemed to have an odd conversation, replying to each other"s questions with sarcastic or half-a.s.s remarks. She didn"t strike me like a princess, at least not the cla.s.sic type.

She rubbed her eyes. "What"s cooking?" she asked hopping down from the counter and standing next to me to peer into the pot.

"Spaghetti and some minced stuff," I informed. "You good with that, your Highness?"

"Oh butler, simplicity is often the best," she replied. "You go too complex, and nothing is exciting nor special."

She started stirring the sauce pot I had put the meat and sauce in, steam brushed against her face and pushed at her hair. She rubbed her eyes and yawned again as she abandoned the pot.

Estelle sat back on the counter, much to the inconvenience of myself. I worked around her the best I could, "What are you the princess of?" I asked.

"Pastry Palace, Princess of the crème puffs, soon to be Queen of all pastries," she announced standing on the counter. I raised an eyebrow at this sudden burst of energy. I looked to May for confirmation, but she offered nothing more than a smile as she watched.

"Well Princess Pastry, do you go beyond just pastries or will Italian food suffice for you?" I asked.

She looked down at me. "Do we have chocolate milk?"

I shook my head. "No."

"Milk?"

"Probably."

"Chocolate sauce?"

"Not sure."

"I"ll take that." Estelle hopped down from the counter and opened the fridge to get both the milk and chocolate sauce out.

"Can you get the honey out as well?" May called.

Estelle frowned, "Get it yourself."

"I could start following the sugar chart your parents gave me," May threatened. "And that would mean no chocolate, whipped cream, ice-cream, anything with jam in it and even all forms of cake. After all, you need to keep that princess figure."

Estelle gasped at each possible restriction as she hugged the milk and chocolate sauce to her chest. Soon, caving in and going to the cupboard to grab a jar of honey they had. May asked me to toss some cups to them.

It took me a few minutes to find where the cups get stored, even then Estelle came into the kitchen and showed me. She seemed to find me amusing, while tired she had a smile on her. I pa.s.sed her a cup and tossed the other to May.

She wasn"t prepared for it and barely managed to catch it.

"You guys leave the milk on the table?" I asked slightly confused.

Estelle nodded placing it there. "We all tend to drink milk at dinner," she explained, "Sometimes it"s apple juice."

"It"s like an unspoken rule around here that dinner time is when we all come together," May informed.

"Don"t expect too many guests though," Estelle informed resting her head on the table.

May started pouring the milk into the cups, adding chocolate sauce to one and honey to the other. "The girls are a bit shocked about your arrival. I wouldn"t expect too much from them for a while yet, Lawson." She stood up to put the chocolate sauce and honey away.

Estelle turned her head until she was facing me. "I thought your name was Landon."

"It is," I a.s.sured as May put the bottles away.

May tossed Estelle a spoon, who caught it. She started stirring her drink, watching as the white milk begun colouring until it was a soft brown. She started drinking it with the spoon.

"I"m going to go get Robyn," May informed patting my back and walking from the room.

Estelle waved her friend goodbye as she continued sipping her drink. I turned the heat off the boiling water and the sauce and started searching for some bowls. "Just the four of us?"

Estelle nodded. "Yeah, the other girls and the twins aren"t too keen on meeting you just yet. Did you make enough for them?"

"Yeah."

"Just leave it out, they"ll trickle in here once you"re gone."

"Maybe I should just leave then," I said finding the bowls. "Wouldn"t want to make anyone uncomfortable."

Estelle snorted. "Who cares? They need to get used to you if you back away now they"ll walk all over you," she informed. "I"m just glad you"re not a stick in the mud like my last guard."

I put some spaghetti in four bowls. "Thanks?"

"No. I"m serious. I once had a guard who wouldn"t even talk to me, and I knew nothing about him other than he was like German or something." I nodded as I placed a bowl in front of her and placed the hot sauce pot on the table.

I sat down next to her as she continued talking. "There was even a guard who stood two steps behind me. Made going to the bathroom next to impossible." Estelle described up to five guards, all in which she hated and all in which she had managed to get fired from her losing them. It was quite intimidating knowing I had to be her guard technically.

I grabbed the metal spoon in the pot and poured some into my bowl. Estelle watched me put the spoon back in the pan and start mixing my food. She cleared her throat a few times before getting my attention, and she gestured with her eyes for me to pour some sauce into her bowl.

I tilted my head. "You don"t serve yourself?"

"I"m a princess. I don"t have to."

"Where"s your adviser thingy?" I asked.

She shrugged, "Probably pa.s.sed out on a bed somewhere, exhausted from having to take care of me."

I didn"t know my duties stretched to taking care of her. I raised an eyebrow, "You have two hands, I"m sure you can manage to do that yourself."

She scoffed but smiled at me as she grabbed the spoon. I had never seen a more awkward movement involving a spoon in my life. She seemed to be trying too hard not to spill it, her tongue was sticking out, and all signs of her tired eyes had disappeared.

I shook my head as I re-dipped the spoon in her hands and guided it to her bowl. She stared at me for a moment as I guided her hand back to the sauce pot. Her eyes stayed locked on me for a moment, staring at me as I started eating. I was going to ask if she was okay when May"s laughter got both our attention. Robyn and May walked in signing to one another.

Sign language was a fascinating thing, I admitted, the facial expressions one pulled to portray a feeling or emotion I found quite fascinating to watch. I wasn"t very good at understanding other languages, let alone what either of them may be saying, but watching the two practically make faces at each other made me smile.

May said everything Robyn said, while May signed everything Estelle and I answered.

"What are we having?" Robyn asked.

"Take a guess," Estelle challenged, she seemed to have some of her sign language skills.

Robyn closed her eyes and took in a deep breath through the nose, her eyes shot open when she seemed to place what it was. "Spaghetti!" She skipped into the kitchen to grab the bowl I had laid out and sat at the table. May copied and sat down next to her.

The conversation was mainly between the three girls, sometimes signing, other times just speaking.

But none of the other dorm students made an appearance while I was there.