Soulmates - Chapter 1
The car had stopped after five hours of silence between father and son. His father, Keith Graham, were still clutching the steering wheel, staring at nothing. Will, the son, looked at the outside through the window. The students of the Frederick Chilton's School for Boys were all arriving for the first day of the school year, using the uniform of the school which was a dark blue jacket embroidered with the emblem of the school, a white shirt, red tie and dark trousers. Will was also dressed in the uniform that was suffocating.
"It's a beaultiful day." Keith pondered giving a quick look through the windshield.
Will could not believe that after five hours in silence, that was all that his father had to say.
"It is." Will replied monosyllabic, not finding in turn any better thing to say.
Will looked once more to the outside. The car was parked right in front of the steel gates of the large property, where other parents were saying goodbye to their children. It was a boarding school, the boys who lived close would return home Saturday morning to return to school on Sunday afternoon. Since Will lived far, far away, that was the last time in months he would see his father.
Without another word, Will suddenly got out of the car, closing the door carefully, his father did the same. Keith then went to the rear of the car and with the key in hand, opened the trunk.
"You sure you'll be okay?" Keith asked with a hint of concern in his voice, a concern that he did not want to let show, what left him silent the entire trip.
"Why wouldn't i be okay?" Will replied dryly, picking up a heavy backpack from the hands of his father, when all he really wanted to say was 'Do I have a choice? '.
Keith nodded silent, he grabbed the second bag and handed it to Will who took it and tucked on the other shoulder.
"Tell her I'll be fine, don't worry." Will said, his mother had not come with them. The relationship between the two had been shaken during the summer and Will thought a five-hour trip in the car with her would not be a good idea.
"I will." Keith grinned. "Well, then, it's a goodbye."
"Goodbye." Will replied. He was holding the straps of backpacks and Keith knew he wouldn't drop it to hug him.
With more an exchange of awkward glances, Keith turned and got into his old Chevy. Will still stood outside the school, at the gates, seeing his father's car go back home at Wolf Trap.
Only then he took a deep breath. Wow, how those bags were heavy. He bowed his head for a moment, he felt that he would cry any time and Will didn't want that, not in front of all those people. Just like he was used to do, he swallowed his tears, he adjusted his backpack on his shoulders again and turned on his heel to walk once again in to Frederick Chilton's School for Boys.
That was a boarding school for the elite, realm of the richest heirs of the state area. Will Graham had gotten a scholarship at this boarding school. At sixteen, he was is the second year of high school. He had curly black hair and deep blue eyes, his skin was pale and he had a few freckles on his upturned nose. He was small and thin compared to the other students and since he would not join the Rugby Team for "not having the profile" Will was not exactly popular. God knew that he was light years away from that. To make things worse, Will was considered the weird of the school, and he knew it. Will's problems were so many that he didn't even know how to begin to explain. So he would do as usual: swallow in dry and move on as best he could, hoping not to bump into anyone on the way.
Balancing as he could, Will carried his heavy luggage through the campus, observing people. There were some new faces, however most were known.
"Will!" He heard a familiar voice behind him calls him.
He turned and saw Alan Bloom running toward him.
"Hi Will." He was out of breath when he reached the boy.
"Hi Alan." Will replied. "How are you?"
Alan laid eyes on the backpacks and with a reproachful look to Will he reached out a hand. Will handed him one of the backpacks. Will knew very well that Alan would not let him carry all that weight, it wasn't necessary to speak, it was written in his face.
"Where are you going?" Alan asked as they resumed walking across campus.
"To the office, I have to catch my schedule and I have know what room I'm staying."
Alan slowed and seemed to take something from the pocket of his jacket. It was a small piece of paper which he handed to Will.
"I've got it for you already." he returned to walk fast. "The office is a hell, and since I know you..." he paused, "well, whatever, it's all there."
"Thank you." Will replied looking away.
Alan was a good friend, in fact, he was his only friend, since he came to this school one year ago. He was tall and strong, had dark hair and green eyes. He had quite a sense of humor. He was not exactly popular, but maintained a good relationship with everyone, and did not seem to bother with Will's eccentricities, in fact, Alan sometimes stood on Wills side when he was mocked and bullied, and that was a frequent thing . Will began to read the piece of paper.
"We are together in Chemistry and Geography." Alan said even before Will asked.
"Great." He replied. He turned the paper and on the back it read Room 270 ."Room 270?"
"I'm at 254, I'm sorry." Alan made an upset face, but then smiled excited "At least we're on the same floor."
"With whom you will share a room?"
"Guess what." He rolled his eyes. "Brian Zeller" He pretended to have a chill.
"Stop it, poor boy." Will laughed. Brian was known throughout the school for having the highest snoring.
"Totally scary! If I get to sleep, which I doubt, I'll have nightmares about snoring. Poor me." he was silent for a while and then amended "And What about you? Aren't you curious to know who is going to be your new roommate?
"I'm not worried about it now, I got a lot to think about."
"But you should be worried." Alan sobered suddenly and made a face that normally he does when he will share terrible news. "Your roommate will be Hannibal Lecter, I read in the list."
"Who?" he asked confused.
"Hannibal Lecter, he is the new student but he didn't arrived here yet. The same can not be said about his fame." He said puzzled.
Will was still confused and hated it.
"But who..."
"God knows I don't like gossip or anything, but since you will share the room with him, it would be fair to prepare you psychologically." Alan then stopped midway and began to speak in a low voice, as if were telling a horror story. "They are saying that Hannibal was expelled from his old school, I mean, he was "asked to leave quietly " if you know what I mean. They say he beat his former roommate. He stood in the hospital for weeks. But as the boy didn't press charges, Hannibal was not arrested, he was just kicked out and now he is here."
"What?" Will was still absorbing those words.
"The money speaks loudly. He is the nephew of Robert Lecter, he is part of the European nobility, he is the Count of god knows where. He is filthy rich, and he should have paid for the silence of the poor guy who had to rebuild the nose and who knows what else. The guy is a psychopath."
"Oh, great, another Orc ." Will said with a snort. "As if we hadn't enough orcs in this school." Orc was the nickname that Will 'affectionately' used to refer to the bullys .
"Try not to think about it. If he wants to mess with you, let me know and i'll kick his ass back to europe." Alan said with that confident smile that was one of his trademarks.
They looked at each other for a moment. It was not the first nor the last time Will thanked God to have met Alan and have him as best friend.
As they walked up to the dormitories buildings, Will recalled the day they met:
A year earlier, in June, he was fifteen and Will couldn't look smaller and fragile. His father had left the boy at the gates just like today, but unlike now, he hadn't been able to hold back the tears and he went walking through the aisles sobbing and stumbling with his heavy backpacks. He have climbed the stairs, feeling his chest getting heavier, feeling that all the eyes were on him. All the students here were like vultures who know that an animal will die even before the animal itself know that. Will felt that they could see through him and they knew all his secrets, even before he revealed them. All he wanted was to disappear in the darkest of the holes. He arrived in front of room 378, the number of his dormitory. Already armed with the keys, Will opened the door and tried to get in, but his heavy backpacks stuck in the door and Will fell inside, with backpack and all, sprawled on the floor. Alan was already inside, unpacking his bags. He was his roommate, back then. Alan quickly stepped forward to help him.
"Are you okay, dude?" Alan said taking one of the backpacks from the boy and ducked making mention of touching his arm, but Will pushed him, strangely scared.
"Calm down, man." Said Alan, amazed at the reaction of the boy.
They looked at each other for a moment and everything that Will could do was cry. He cried and sobbed uncontrollably there on the floor. At that moment, he felt so desperate. His father dispatched him to this school miles and miles away because they could not bear the reality, they could not stand his presence. It scared Alan for a moment, he thought he had seriously hurt Will, but then he realized that no, the boy was just crying, a sort of panic attack, but nothing more. Alan closed the bedroom door so that other curious students who were beginning to pile up in the hallway would not see Will in his most fragile state. He knelt beside Will, waiting until he calmed down . That's when Alan realized that "touch" was a limit that should not be crossed again and he never did.
The two boys became friends since then, Alan kinda had adopted Will as a younger brother. He took care of him, protecting him from the orcs, made him company, and at some point in this friendship, Will felt comfortable enough to tell his secret to Alan. In that day, Alan wept with pity and asked if he could hug Will, the boy refused the hug and that was it. They never went back on this subject, but from there, the bond of their friendship had become stronger.