Dressing quickly in navy blue sweatpants and a red physical education tee shirt, John thought over his first three days at Richenbach. All his teachers seemed to have the same drawing voice , same strict attitude and the same air of child hating.
" John!" It was Anderson. Again. Anderson was a sour faced boy with pale, doughy skin. His knobby knees and elbows protruded sharply form his clothes and he spoke in a high, irritating voice.
" Do you want to run with me today? We have to the three mile run around the castle, and it's no so bad if you have a mate to talk to." John really didn't like the slug of a boy that stood hopefully in front of hi m, but before he could mutter some lame excuse, a clear drawing voice rang out from behind him.
"Leave him alone, Anderson. You're killing his brain cells one by one, it's nearly painful to watch." John and Anderson turned around to see a tall, pale faced boy. This boy's pale skin wasn't ugly like Anderson's was. I fact, it seemed to fit him quite well.
" Piss off, Freak" Anderson turned his face up into an ugly sneer that didn't compliment his already ugly face.
" Just because you don't have any friends doesn't mean that you can take mine." Anderson added this last line rather triumphantly, as if he was proud to come up with something witty. The boy Anderson had addressed as 'Freak' scoffed and shook his head, a fluff of dark curls covered his steely blue eyes for a moment before he brushed them away with the back of his pale hand.
" He's standing with his shoulders slumped, looking at his shoes rather than your ugly face. This shows he has no real interest in conversing with you. His ears and cheeks a slightly flushed with agitation and he hasn't responded to a single word that had spewed from your ungodly mouth." The tall boy looked down on Anderson with disgust written all over his face. Anderson's face reddened, and his eyes were full of deep hatred as he stalked off towards the door.
"Arse" he muttered solemnly as he passed John, bumping him in the shoulder.
" Holmes" the tall, thin boy said, sticking out a boney hand. John took it firmly and shook.
" John" The pale faced boy raised an eyebrow.
" Just John?" John frowned at this intrusion of his mental privacy.
" Just Holmes?" he retorted and the boy in front of him laughed.
" Well played. I'm Sherlock." John looked the boy over, he was tall yes, with lanky arms and legs that were only covered to his knees. He was wearing his summer running outfit, no the winter one.
" why are you not wearing the sweatpants?" John wondered aloud.
" I am conducting a self subjective experiment," he said with a breathy sigh. " I am testing to see if exposure to the cold can cause the flu, when out teachers tell us their classrooms are cold to keep the flu out, they also tell us that we must wear out winter uniforms to prevent catching it." John just stared blankly for a moment and nodded, still mulling over what he had said in his brain.
" Well we best go out, I'll show you where I hide, I assume you don't plan in participating this morning." John nodded and followed the boy out the door. Wondering who on earth this boy was. As soon as John walked out the door, he turned around and walked right back into the dressing room.
" What are you doing?" Sherlock had walked several paces before hed noticed John's absence.
" It's cold, I'm putting on an undershirt." John quickly took his shirt off and replaced it with a tight, white turtle neck.
" It's really not that cold." Sherlock said, poking his head into the door.
" For me it is." John rejoined Sherlock wearing a wool hat as well.
" Where was it?" Sherlock asked, taking up his brisk pace again.
" What?" John looked in the face of his new companion.
" Where was it? Where were you held? It seems to me it was Irauq, but I can't tell." John stared dumb found at Sherlock.
" I don't' like to talk bout it." and with that he ran ahead, not looking back.
When John finally returned from the agonizing three mile run, he spotted Sherlock sitting on the steps of the right-wing steeple. His face was paler than the snow that had started to fall and his hands were beet red. His teeth were chattering so every shallow breath he took expelled tiny clouds of misty breath.
" John." He said stuttering so much that he barely got the single word. His blue lips pressed together in a straight line.
" what the hell?" John muttered, grabbing the pale boy under the armpit and dragging him to his feet.
" did you even think for one second that hypothermia could be a danger for your health?" John grunted, shifting his weight to better carry Sherlock over his arm. Once he reached the dressing room he sat the trembling boy in a shower and turned on the cold water.
" ah! It's too hot!" Sherlock withed and squirmed.
" It's on the lowest temperature, genius." It took John fifteen minutes to actually talk Sherlock into letting him put the hot water on.
" Why are you so stubborn?" John wiped his hands on his pants and went over to change into his school blazer.
" I'm going down to the cafeteria to get tea. Stay here." John pulled on his trainers
" where else would I go?" Sherlock's voice was bitter, almost mean.
" It's not my fault you made a stupid mistake" John huffed at his new acquaintance and walked away.