Students at Mount Ellis had an hour to themselves before bedtime, "Quiet Hour" it was called colloquially. While it was designed mostly for homework, students who finished such assignments could write, draw, read freely, or perhaps even play cards/ board games of their choice. The only caveat asked of them was silence. For those who distinguished themselves academically, not only did they get an extra 30 minutes tacked onto this leisure time, but also the privilege of using their phones (provided of course they kept their chatter to an appropriate volume).
One can only guess where Stumpy Paulson had this honor or not.
"No way? Diarrhea for three days." He said trying to suppress a hearty chuckle. "Don't get me wrong, as bad as I feal for Gerard…man, Eustace's guardian angel deserves a fruit basket or something for that."
"Shur does." Fifi said while engaging in the laugh he had no luxury of engaging in. "''Nyway, I betcha y'ur at th' top of th' class by now?"
"Surprisingly, no." Stumpy said. "I'm definitely in the top twenty five percent, which is how I'm able to talk to you and Brawny when I can, but there's still a healthy handful of people who can wipe the floor with me in terms of academics."
"Ah bet that mus' make-ya mad."
"Far from it." Stumpy replied. "Theoretically, to have a rivalry in a field in which you excel keeps you sharp. That is provided it's a healthy one. A rival should use their ambition as a ladder so both can climb and reach their full respective potentials in whatever given field both flourish in. Unfortunately, many forget that…and I always worried that I'd unwittingly stumble in an acrimonious rivalry, rather than a friendly one…as it is, I didn't really have friends to begin with at RS 59."
"At least not at first." He continued catching himself.
"I was gonna say." Fifi said. "Me n'Brawny miss ya something awful."
"And I the both of you. But would you like to know what has helped me lately?"
"Wha'"
"When I look out my dorm window on a night like this, I think the moon…and how despite all the miles between here and the ones I care about…the same moon here is the same one seen in Thicket Valley. It's bittersweet, and paradoxical, but it helps."
"Para-whositnow?"
"Meaning that even though the same moon unites us and makes us feel closer, it also in its own way makes us feel more apart."
"That's like that other word you used once, 'contra-dictionary' or something."
"Very close." Stumpy said with pride. "Contradictory…but it's like a song I once heard as a kid about how the moon is a nice place to visit, but not to live…(starts to sing)… Though I'd like to look down at the earth from above I would miss all the places and the people I love. So although I may go I'll be coming home soon…'Cause I don't want to live on the moon. Sometimes I feel like that though…like a visitor on the moon here. But once the term ends I'll be back with-"
"-with the people you love." Fifi finished.
It was then that the impossible happened to Stumpy. Words failed him. All the feelings he had hidden, denied, attempted to stifle and explain away came out in full force along with a heavy stream of tears.
"Stumpy, are you…"
"Yes." He sobbed slightly. "I'll be back in Thicket Valley with all the people I miss and love. And I always hoped…I always hoped…"
"Uh huh?" Fifi said with anticipation.
"I always hoped that at the forefront of that group…was…well, you Fifi."
Now it was Fifi's turn to have words fail her.
"You mean t'say…" she began.
"…that ever since that class…" he responded.
The timer in the dormitory began to chime, thus alerting one and all to the end of this extension of "Quiet Hour." The rest of the pupils heeded the unwritten expectation that came with this timer, save for one who at that moment found himself speaking in tandem and in sync with the melodic clanging that filled the room.
"I love you."