The alarm clock went off at 7:00 with an ear piercing BEEP telling John he need to wake up for classes that were to start in an hour. John sluggishly fell out of bed to turn off the clock. He had a severe case of bed hair that had spikes going in all directions. He let out a little yawn and stretched. He walked his dresser to grab his clothes to get ready and when he turned around he realized Sherlock his weird yet interesting roommate had already got up and left. Huh? I did not hear him leave? Was last night a dream? John finished getting ready trying to figure out what exactly happened last night and if that lingering smell of Sherlock's cologne was just his mind playing tricks on him. He finally gathered up the binders and books he would need for the day which was just three classes: English with Ms. Hudson, Science (Biology) with Ms. Donovan and History with Mr. Moffat. After leaving the room John went down the white hallway towards the stairs. Thanks to Lestrade John remembered the way to the classrooms. John made it to English with ten minutes to spare. As he walked into the classroom he saw students were already there sitting and talking to one another. He also found that there was a seating order. The desks were oak with a cubby under the desk top. John went to find his name and sat down. He looked around the room seeing the clock, beige walls, the chalkboard – then a student walked by him and sat next to him. John looked up to see who it was and it was Anderson.
"Hey there buddy! Did you sleep well? I slept like a bear in hibernation."
"Yes I slept well thank you and good morning to you too."
"Well I am glad I have class with someone I know. I hear this lady is tough and we can suffer together and help each other out. Man last night though I heard there was a fight in a room a little ways down from my room. My roommate Sheldon said that since he stayed up all night playing some ROPG game…." John began to tune out Anderson's rambles though he was glad to know someone in this class and maybe other classes but his rambles were too much. Something caught John's eye it was his roommate Sherlock. He was at his desk with his head down mist likely sleeping. The peaceful sight made John feel like he was watching one of those adorable kitten videos.
"Woah man! That kid is such a loser. He does not sleep much and sleeps through class. Sheldon thinks he was the one in the fight most likely with his roommate because he has no respect for anyone. Typical, that does not surprise me much. He seriously puts those looks to waste in my opinion. Wish I had his looks so I could go after those ladies! Though like I said you do not want to get mixed up with him. He is up to no good." Anderson gave John a stern look as if he knew that he was thinking that Sherlock had some good features. Before John could ask Anderson a question there came a soft but stern voice.
"Welcome first years from dorm 2 I am Ms. Hudson and I will be teaching you your Basic English skills. I am a very understanding woman as long as you are on my good side. I have been teaching for 30 years and have known many of your family members whether it be your cousin, father, brother ect. Though while I have seen most of you from time to time you all may not know each other so let us go around the room and introduce ourselves with our name, interest in career field and a fun fact about you. Hmm Let's start in the first row." John looked at the older woman with surprise. How was he supposed to be terrified of this woman? She was not very tall. Her short sandy brown hair made her face stand out with the hint of red lipstick. She was dressed very well in a blue skirt /jacket combo. Her smile was warm and motherly and John felt for a moment he was at home. John snapped out of the feeling and realized he was on the last row next to the window and needed to think up of something fast and good so when he is finally introduced to the people he is sharing a hallway with he would not sound stupid.
"Sherlock Holmes?" John without thinking looked back at the messy haired boy who was not asleep but slouched back in his chair stand up. The room was eerie and quiet.
"My name is Sherlock Holmes and let me just say this. I have no real interests other than finding interesting puzzles to solve. People are stupid and bore me so why bother with friends so please let us save our breathe and not bother with each other." He sat back down with grace. Ms. Hudson was appalled and bewildered by his introduction. The class gave him a stare as if he was some form of monster that needed to be staked. John was still in shock and looking at the strange boy wondering why he would purposefully alienate himself from the rest that he did not even notice that it was his turn to give his introduction. When he realized everyone was looking at him with eager eyes since he was new and unusual he jumped out of his chair clumsily with a CLANG from his chair.
"Umm I am John Watson. As you all know I am the transfer scholarship student and I am interested in becoming a doctor. One fact about myself is that I love jam and tea and relaxing at home reading a book." John stuttered through his speech, tripping over his words sweating it out thinking that he had been caught taking a look at the mysterious Sherlock. The class just stared but not with a critical stare but one as if they were seeing some wild animal for the first time amongst themselves. John then realized he was not in the uniform like the rest and grabbed at his slightly worn pants at the thought of embarrassment. As the last of the introductions went on Anderson patted John on the back and gave him a quirky smile.
"OK so since that is over with now onto our lesson for the day. We will start with the introduction to writing. The basis of this will be for your end of the year research paper that will be ten to twenty pages long. The topic will be your choice and you have to present an excerpt from it as well which is your main point. Now who can tell me some main techniques that can help your papers be strong papers?" Some students raised their hands and other just sit back playing it cool. "Ok Mr. Anderson what is one technique?"
"Tone, Ms. Hudson."
"Very good and what is tone?"
"It is how you use words to portray your view or the topic you want to get across."
Sigh "Close enough Anderson. What are some more? Mr. Watson?" All though John did not attend a school like this before he did know the basics for essay writing since he was a bright boy.
"Thesis ma'am."
"Excellent…" The bell rang for the class to be concluded since the introductions and getting situated on the first day took a while to do. Everyone got up to leave the class and Ms. Hudson sat at her desk watching the students pack up to head to the next class. She gave a warm look at John who in turn smiled. The students forgot he existed again. Even in middle school he went through the halls like a hobbit not being noticed by others. He liked it but the loneliness gets to him every now and again. Anderson though stayed behind to make sure John was ok and wanted to walk to class with him.
"Boy are we lucky or what? We get out before you really get to see the side of Ms. Hudson everyone knows well. I do love that she is our homeroom teacher for our tests and special dorm gatherings. Next is my favorite subject science. We have a new teacher this year and wow I cannot wait to do the labs and test things out!"
"You know you are right about that. Science has always interested me though Biology more than Chemistry. Since we have a new teacher it shall be a great learning experience for us both."
"Ha. You do have a great point there. Though the one thing that really gets on my nerves is that stupid shadow that lurks in the room that pretends he is oh so cool and runs this place. How can teachers let him do that and sleep in their class and still pass him?" John forgot all about Sherlock after his introduction nightmare. Both Sherlock and Anderson really did not seem to care about how he was dressed or how unusual he was in that society but why the dislike towards Sherlock. Does anyone really know his name? Everyone including Anderson just call him a creeper or shadow.
The halls are crowded as first years hustle to their next class getting accustomed to the routine and placement of the class rooms. John though happy to have a friend for once to roam the halls unlike middle school where all his friends were in a different program from him and were so far away, was not used to getting bumped into by other students. He realized it was from walking side by side with another student. Luckily the science room was three doors down from English. Anderson and John sat next to each other in the room that smelled of cleaning chemicals. Students were pouring in as the final bell began to ring. Chatter filled the classroom. Anderson discussed that he wanted to either be a forensic detective or archeologist. John thought it would be a rather suiting field for him to go into in many different ways. There was a sudden loud noise as a tall, black and curly haired woman burst through the door like Professor Snape did in the first Harry Potter book. Though she did not give off that disgusted aura she did however seem quite drill sergeant like.
"Listen up and listen good! I am your science teacher this year Ms. Donovan. I maybe new but I sure as hell am not a push over. There will be no horse play in my classroom or you will fail instantly since some chemicals and tools we will be using are dangerous. Do not talk out of turn. That is a super pet peeve of mine and no sleeping in my class which goes for you in that back!" Everyone turned to look with no surprise except to John that it was Sherlock who was asleep at the back black long table alone. John did remember him coming in at all or even seeing him in the halls. Sherlock popped his head up and slouched back giving a glare at the tan skinned science teacher. She went on giving no mind to the glare to say no food in the class at all times. The science class this year was a Biology class which made John really happy. She discussed the agenda for the class which had some dissections involved. Anderson sighed at that since his science he loved was chemistry. Ms. Donovan did not particularly care if she remembered the students' names or if they gave an introduction for her to get to know them. The class went by rather quickly. The bell rang and it was off to next class. It was history with Mr. Moffat. This classroom was across the hall from the science room. This discovery was a good one for John. Less walking in the crowded halls. Mr. Moffat's class was a world history class and the main focus was on wars, genocide and destructions. This guy apparently likes the flare of death and everyone you know dying in some ironic or tragic way. John was unnerved at the coolness as he talked like it was normal as if he was the devil's messenger. Anderson and John gave glances every once and a while to each other saying he was crazy though no words were used. Sherlock just slept and Mr. Moffat did not care. He is the teacher that lets the students make their grades and that he should not care if they make the wrong ones.
After the class ended it was 11, time for lunch. Anderson and John walked to the cafeteria to eat. Today's lunch was a pastrami sandwich and chips. The duo got a table and sat across from the other.
"Today was a very interesting day. Our teachers are on different levels of insane but nothing we cannot handle right?"
"Right. Where I come from the teachers just babied you, helped you along so you can pass. They just wanted you out of their hair. There were problem students in almost every class that could care less if they passed or failed. They were there for their parents, being forced to go to have a bright future and all that good stuff. Here it is a whole new ball game. Here you work for yourself and get a little guidance along the way."
"Woah! Never thought the middle class could be more wild than you!" Anderson said this between mouth fulls of meat and bread. John stopped talking from being mildly offended by the ignorant boy. He knew that he meant that as interest and all but just the tone and wording irritated John a lot. Anderson went on talking about how crazy some of the teachers are and what to expect from tomorrow's new set of teachers. Though there was six classes in all there were three a day. Three were Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The other three were Tuesday and Thursday. This pleased John knowing the better subjects were three days a week unlike Gym, Math and Art which John was not so great at. He was just a skinny boy with no real talent in art or sports and math gave him a headache. Lunch ended and the free time/club activities began until dinner. Anderson had some sort of club for future archeologists so he left John. John was again alone. He had nothing to do so he went to go looking around the school.
John wandered around for what seemed like hours in the crisp autumn air. The wind whisped through his ashen hair. He saw sports teams doing tryouts and practicing for their different sports meets. Through windows he saw clubs doing various activities. John really didn't want to join a club since nothing peaked his interest. Maybe he did not have the time with all the studying and work he would have to do to keep up his grade. The sun was rolling across the sky starting to cast shadows on its decent. John knew he walked the school maybe a couple of times. Dinner time was soon and John was looking forward to the chicken stuffed mushrooms. He never dreamed of having anything this posh before in his life especially when it came to food. Before he had a chance to walk back to the cafeteria he noticed Sherlock poking around the bush in front of the art room. He had his sleeves rolled up which exposed his toned slender arms. John stopped and stared for a while wondering if he had lost something. Sherlock began to walk off. Something inside John made him follow the bouncy messy hair as he crossed the courtyard that lead from the dining room to the sports field. After a while John lost Sherlock. He must be a ninja of some form. John thought as he looked around the courtyard. John went into the dining hall to eat what he was looking forward to. Though since he wanted time to read his book John opted to take his mushroom heads to his room. Though this was frowned upon because of messy students it was not prohibited. This would give him time away from Anderson and his rambles. As John was about to turn the corner of his hall to reach his room knowing it would be empty and peaceful someone came out of nowhere and grabbed John from behind. All John could do is gasp and drop his plate onto the floor and hope he would not be beat up or worse.
