Thomas looked up at the sign. Gladesdale Boys Boarding School. He frowned. He didn't want to go to a boarding school. But no one was willing to foster him now, because he always misbehaved, and he was certainly too old to be adopted. This was apparently the reason for this place. A home for kids who wouldn't fit in anywhere else. But that didn't mean Thomas would fit in here. The memories of his old school started to fade, and the more steps he took towards the school, the blurrier his friend's faces became in his mind. Not that he could really have called them friends.

Thomas climbed up the steps towards the reception, struggling to drag his suitcase with him. He looked over the balcony and saw students running around in what looked like a maze. The maze seemed to be student-made, as if it were a class project. As there were wooden planks, bits of cement, hay bundles, even old desks woven together to create walls. Although the walls weren't very sturdy, as some students were moving the walls around.

Entering the reception, Thomas saw 3 house banners hung up on the wall. There was the Grievers, written and decorated in a dull green, the Gladers, with a steel grey, and the Greenies, ironically, in blue. Thomas stared, puzzled at the colour choices.

"Confusing, isn't it?" a voice said from behind Thomas, startling him. Thomas turned to see a dark-skinned boy sitting behind the reception desk, looking bored and amused, and at the same time, looking like he was expecting Thomas to come.

"What?" Thomas replied,

"The houses, the Greenies are blue, it's confusing, isn't it?" The boy smiled and looked down at some paper on the desk. "You must be Thomas?" He asked, not looking up.

"Uhh, yeah," Thomas said, still clutching his suitcase.

"Great, I'm Albert, but please call me Alby. I'm going to show you around, and show you to your dorm-"

A bell rang three times.

"Well, I guess I'll be showing you to your next class instead, you're in room MA5, and you're doing maths. I'll wait for you outside your classroom after maths to show you where your dorm is. Which is..." He scanned the page, murmuring to himself "Student Id, A2, so you're in room... ah! you're in the same dorm as me, cool!" He grinned, looking up, "Come on then. Let's find your maths room." He motioned for Thomas to follow him.

I know the beginning chapters aren't too good, but please give it a chance and read a few more :00