Boxes were piled on top of more boxes throughout the building. Many of them were mixed up with personal belongings, and some were merely stowed in the wrong rooms until it could be tidied.
Having already spent fifteen minutes just to move the boxes that were blocking the washroom, Lysander was late as he stumbled down the stairs into the store's back room. He won't have time to eat and he was quite certain he'd regret it, but he had to leave if he was going to catch the bus on time.
"Leigh, are you sure you don't need help unpacking?" he frowned as he passed by his brother in the midst of dusting the clothes rack.
"I'm sure," Leigh answered. "Besides, it's your first day at a new school."
Lysander nodded his head reluctantly and was about to leave the door when he heard his brother call him. "Yes?"
"I'm sorry, Lysander. We barely move into the city for a month and then we had to move again. But this place is a bit more convenient, and the location is good…"
Again, Lysander nodded. It had been a hassle to transfer to a different school so early in the school year, but he didn't mind. He wanted to support Leigh in his new business venture. "Things will work out."
His brother beamed. "Thanks. I've put the necessary papers in your bag, Lysander. Oh, and can you make sure to come home for dinner tonight?"
There was another mute nod from Lysander before he ran for the bus.
###############################################
"… our Student Council President," the principal blathered. Lysander tilted his head at her last words with interest as Madame Shermansky opened the first door. "Darren Carter, this is the new boy, Lysander Ainsworth."
The tall, auburn-haired boy standing by the Xerox machine glanced at Lysander and smiled tiredly. "Hi. Sorry, I'm a bit busy right now, but welcome to Sweet Amoris."
"Thanks."
Darren's smile quirked wider as the vice-principal left. "Any chattier and my ears might fall off. Well, since I don't have time… Nathaniel! Good timing."
"Is there something I can help you with, Darren?" a blonde boy, shorter than Lysander but appearing to be in his first year too, had just entered the room and was putting away a package of thumbtacks into a drawer.
"Yes. I've got my hands full at the moment, so I was wondering if you can help the new boy. He's just transferred here. Lysander here is probably more your type to handle anyway – so loquacious."
The shorter boy looked at Lysander and smiled brightly. "Good morning, I'm Nathaniel, the representative for the first-year students. Do you have your transfer papers?"
Lysander pulled his messenger bag off his shoulder and pulled out his binder… but it wasn't there. He frowned, uncertain what happened to it. He pulled out another binder – nothing. He dug through the bag, merely nodding his head when Nathaniel offered to help him search through the empty binders. There was a textbook that he needed to return to the previous school, and two library books, but the papers weren't tucked between the pages. He flipped through his personal notepad, pushing it out of Nathaniel's reach, before he gazed numbly at his empty bag.
Nathaniel ran through the pages of the textbook again. "Is it in one of the other pouches?" he suggested.
With nothing to lose, Lysander began opening the other pouches. Nothing.
He watched as Nathaniel scratched his head. "Well, I guess your parents will just have to sign the transfer sheets again…"
"You haven't checked the back pouch," a black-haired boy suddenly appeared behind. The boy turned the messenger bag around, pointed at a corner of a paper that peeked out from it, before snatching it out of it's place. "This the paper you're looking for?"
Nathaniel scanned it and smiled. "Yes! Thanks, Castiel."
Castiel grunted as he sat in the chair. "Ugh, it's too noisy out there," he complained, his eyes on Darren as the boy stepped out of the room. As soon as the president left, Castiel held out his hand toward Nathaniel, his dark eyes gleaming expectantly.
While putting his belongings back in order, Lysander caught sight of Nathaniel discreetly passing Castiel a set of keys.
"Thanks," the dark-haired boy said as he thrust the keys into his pocket. He then tossed a packed sandwich on the table. "I'm not feeling hungry, so help yourself if you want it." He was out the door in three seconds.
"Excuse my friend," Nathaniel smiled wryly at Lysander. "He's a bit on the brusque side."
Lysander said nothing as he stood, waiting for his transfer to be complete. Seeing that there was no response, Nathaniel shrugged and began to sort the papers. Although normally patient, Lysander felt a bit puckish and rubbed his stomach with a small sigh. He really wished he had eaten breakfast that day.
"Here, why don't you help yourself?" Nathaniel pushed the discarded sandwich in Lysander's direction. "If Castiel doesn't feel like eating it, he won't. It's a bit of a shame too. I think his mom made it, and she's a pretty decent cook.
After examining the sandwich and seeing that it was still in good shape, Lysander took a bite and felt better as his stomach stopped churning complaints.
The hours passed by in other strange ways as Lysander observed the students around him. Overall, he decided that the students in Sweet Amoris were all very strange and odd.
###############################################
"How was school?" Leigh asked as he set the table.
Lysander sampled the pasta sauce and decided it was a bit bland, but he would add salt later. "Weird," he answered.
"Oh? How so?" His brother looked curiously at him.
"There was a ginger-haired girl who kept trying to talk to me." There were other students that were weird, but that girl in particular was odd in his mind. And a lot of the girls were really loud, talking at the top of their lungs. It didn't take much for Lysander to overhear the type of gossip they spoke about, and he didn't really enjoy the gossips anyway.
Leigh chuckled. "Met any other students?"
Mulling over the question, Lysander felt as though he did. There was the student council president… "No," he answered. He couldn't even remember the president's name anyway.
"Well, I hope you make some new friends soon."
Not that he was interested in many of them, but Lysander didn't think he'd tell his brother that. They ate their meal with Leigh doing most of the talking as he told Lysander of his plans for the clothes shop that he planned to open up. Most of it Lysander didn't understand, but he agreed to help his brother out once in a while.
Once they finished eating, Leigh got up. "Stay there for a moment," he tells Lysander. Lysander did as he was told, reaching for his bag so that he could start on his homework when he heard the doorbell ring.
Glancing at his brother at the fridge, Lysander got up to get the door. He was surprised to find the blonde boy from the council room at his doorstep, smiling as he held out Lysander's notepad. "You left this in the student council room today," he said.
Lysander grabbed it and then looked guilty at being so rude. "Thank you. Did you look inside it?"
"No. I thought it might be personal," the boy shrugged.
"Thanks."
"Hurry up, Nathaniel," someone shouted, and Lysander saw the black-haired boy standing from across the street.
The blonde boy chuckled. "Sorry about Castiel again. You really don't say a lot, do you? Well, I'll see you tomorrow at school, Lysander."
Lysander watched as Nathaniel crossed the road and Castiel tapped his shoulder with a fist. The two of them continued walking and chatting away.
Holding the notepad to his chest, Lysander went back to the kitchen to find Leigh's face smiling above a lit birthday cake.
"Happy Birthday, Lysander! I bet with all the moving and the transfer to the new school, you forgot it was today."
Taking his seat, Lysander smiled back as he sat down.
"Make a wish," Leigh reminded.
Lysander considered wishing for his brother's success. But the flickering memories of the other two boys doing favours for one another, their easy companionship and camaraderie, also streaked across his mind. He didn't know about making lots of friends, but maybe just one was all he needed. He inhaled deeply and blew out the tiny flames.