After I had spent the whole day showing Near the hall, the rooms, the different classes, and all the necessary places he should know about, I had to admit that he was pretty boring. I tried to talk and have a conversation with him at various times, but he either just nodded, or replied with a couple of words. Just before dinner, I had played a soccer match, which I of course won, while Matt was sitting on the grass, playing a video game. We then walked to the dining hall together, sitting down at our table. As we were eating our dinner, Matt raised an eyebrow at me. "You've been awfully quiet today." he remarked, as I was taking a chocolate bar out of my pocket. I looked at him, forcing a smile. "Well, for most of the day, I had to show a weird kid around. And then there was the soccer match. I haven't really had time to talk." He nodded, convinced. "Well, I guess that's true. Who's the new kid, anyway? Erm, N- Neal? Neat?", he asked, obviously thinking hard about his name. I rolled my eyes at him, laughing. "It's Near, you dumbass." He laughed, and we kept quiet for about ten seconds before he asked me a new question. Matt was cool, really, but he was sometimes too curious. "So, what's he like?" I shrugged, not knowing how to answer. Frankly, I didn't care about him. Trying to change the subject, I punched Matt's arm gently, grinning. "So, it's your birthday next week, huh?" He looked at me in confusion. "It is? Wait, is it January already? Wait- What day is it?!" He asked, obviously nervous. "…It's the 19th, Matt." He suddenly stood up. "Shit, I've got an essay due tomorrow- See ya!", and with that, he ran off, leaving me sitting there like a loner.
Here, at Wammy's house, we had to stay in the dining hall until 7:30. That was a rule. We had to be there at 7:00, and we had to take our time and eat until the bell rang. I didn't really care. I had been here a year, and I got used to it, as everybody had. Matt running off would have caused problems, if only teachers actually noticed him leaving. They never did. It was another reason why I found him cool- He was pretty quick. That was why I was surprised when a teacher pushed a small boy into the hall, obviously in a rude manner. I mean, of course, the kid was late-it was already 7:20, but he was just a kid. I leaned my head to the left slightly, to take a look at the kid's face, before I realised what colour his hair and clothes were. I gritted my teeth, praying that he wouldn't walk to my table- which he, of course, did. He looked at me, and spoke quietly. "Can I sit here?" He pointed to the sit in front of me with his free hand, while his other hand was carrying a plate, to the place where Matt had previously sat down. I shrugged. "Go ahead." He nodded in thanks, and, putting his plate on the table, he sat down.
For the entire ten minute, we said nothing to each other. Literally. Not one single word. All he was doing was eat his food, and all I was doing was eat my chocolate. As the bell rang, I stood up, wanting to get away from him as soon as possible. I quickly said something like "Well-bye.", before running off to find Matt. Of course, I knew where he was going to be. In our room. I mean, it was obvious. The library was open at dinner time, but it was nearly impossible to go there without alerting the teachers, and Matt would make too much noise. I quickly walked up the stairs to where our room were, and, opening the door, I took a look inside, only to find Matt sleeping in his chair, with a book over his head and a pen in his hand, that could fall at any moment. I tried not to laugh, and, taking the book from his head, I slammed it back on it. It shouldn't have hurt as much as you could imagine it did, really. It was quite a gentle slam, but it was still hard enough for him to wake up with a small "Ow!", rubbing his head. He shoot a look at me. "What was that for?!" I laughed. "Go back to doing your essay. It's due tomorrow, remember?" He sighed, defeated, and grabbed the book which had fallen on the floor, putting it back on his desk. "Alright…"
With that, I went in the bathroom to change, before walking back in, grabbing a random book from the bookshelf (which was mostly mine, Matt didn't read. Apparently, his video games were better than any book.), and lying down on my bed. As I was reading it, I heard a strong knock on the door. I raised an eyebrow, while Matt was looking at me, urging me to answer, as he obviously didn't want to. I sighed. "Come in." I waited as the door opened , before seeing Roger walking in. "Roger? What is it? Is there someth-" I stopped mid sentence as I saw a small boy with white hair behind him. I looked at Roger, waiting for an explanation. "As there aren't any room available right now", he said, after a while, "I decided to let Near stay in your's and Matt's room for the next couple of weeks." As I was going to protest, he shook his head. "No arguing. Isn't there a spare bed somewhere?" I glared at Matt, not wanting to be the only one talking. "Erm…There's one, yeah." He said, pointing to a relatively small bed, right next to the door. Roger smiled. "Fabulous. Good night, boys." Near and I nodded, while Matt shrugged. For a minute, Near and I just looked at each other, me frowning, and him raising one of his eyebrows. He then slowly walked to the bed and put his suitcase next to it, before climbing in it and closing his eyes. I mean, really. Without saying even a single word. I caught Matt's expression, which cried "Who the hell is this freak?!", and shook my head, mentally telling him not to care about it. I slowly fell asleep, Near already snorring and Matt writing his essay. This was going to be a hell of a horrible two weeks.
