Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.
AN: Thanks to those who reviewed, hope you are still enjoying the story…finishing soon...
Chapter 16:
"What the hell." Manny stared at the room in belief, drinking in the sight of his dormitory for the next few months. A small living room area meets him; in the middle, facing the wall, seats several sofas and coffee tables, with lamps for any late night reading. A dining table is pushed against another wall, with a mini fridge conveniently behind it. A small bookcase, already half-filled with books, is sat in the final corner of the room. "Wow."
Even if he was loathe to admit it, these dormitories - at least, from his prior knowledge of Valley's own dormitories - were far larger and comfier than anything Valley could even dream of producing.
Diego chuckles as he gestures to several doors that are linked to the tiny living room that they find themselves in. "These are your rooms. Two in each room, I think you're allowed to decide the allocations. I have to drop my stuff off and go to training, so I'll come by to pick you up for dinner later."
He gives them a quick wave, then darts out the door.
"I'm sharing with Shira," Ellie points to the right-most door.
"We're together!" Eddie and Crash call as they grab their things and run for the door in the middle.
Manny sighs as he looks at Sid.
Sid beams in response. "We're going to be roommates, Manny!"
"I'm aware," Manny mutters as he pushes his way into the room. Deciding to take the bed facing away from the window, he throws his bag on there and then sits down, admiring the room. Even with the dining table and coffee tables outside, there are still two study desks at the foot of each bed.
"This is great!" Sid enthuses as he willingly takes up the other bed. He sits on the bed for only a moment to test its softness, then stands up almost immediately afterwards and starts to unpack.
Manny groans and rolls his eyes, shoving his bag onto the floor. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when Diego gets here."
"Sure thing!" Sid chirps back.
As it turns out, Sid didn't need to wake Manny up. The larger boy jolts awake at the sound of a loud chime echoing through the room, clanging for several seconds before repeating its pattern.
"What the hell is that?!" He demands.
Sid looks up from where he's been reading a book. "That's the dinner bell."
Manny blinks. "There's a dinner bell?"
"Knock knock," Diego leans against their room's doorframe. He gives an approving hum at the decorations Ellie had put up in the time he had been gone. "Nice."
Ellie beams at him while Shira gags.
"Ready for dinner?"
"More than ready," Shira nods. She scowls at the ceiling. "Is the bell really necessary?"
"Afraid so, kitty," Diego coos in mock sympathy. He ducks out of the way, laughing, as a pillow flies by where his head just was. "I'll be waiting outside."
Shira growls at the door as she stands to retrieve her pillow, but there is hidden amusement In her eyes.
Ellie grins knowingly. "Kitty?" She asks.
"Shut up," Shira snaps.
Ellie laughs and walks out the room, Shira following close behind. They join the herd, already assembled - though Crash and Eddie grumble about how long the girls took to get ready until Ellie shuts them up with a well-placed glare and twin whacks on their heads - and head out.
Diego glances back at them. "After dinner, there will be a session about the lessons, and then it's off to bed."
"That's it?" Ellie asks, surprised.
Diego nods. "The teachers assumed you'd be worn out from the trip." As they walk by countless halls and floor to ceiling windows, the darkening evening sky provides their only indicator of how late it is getting.
The canteen is bustling with activity, students swarming everywhere as they take their pick of hot meals, salads, desserts, and drinks. Shira takes it in, eyes wide with astonishment. She had never been to a boarding school before, having always commuted home from Valley, and this seemed unreal for some reason.
"Almost like a dream," she murmurs, half to herself.
Diego smiles gently at her, then raises his voice to be heard over the din. "Main course, salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza, desserts, drinks." He points at the areas. Eddie and Crash's eyes light up at 'pizza', and they are gone before anyone can blink.
"Are you guys going to be okay?" Diego asks.
"Yeah," Shira nods, realising that some of Diego's friends were waving at him. "Go ahead."
Diego smiles at her with a gentleness that surprises her yet again, then darts off to get some food.
"So, sandwiches?" Sid offers.
Ellie nods. "I'm not that hungry."
They march over to the sandwich line, waiting patiently as students shout out their orders or shove one another to get a specific ingredient. By the time they emerge with sandwiches - and mostly unscathed - Eddie and Crash had managed to grab a table near the window. Shira catches sight of Diego, talking with the pack.
She catches Diego's eye, and he gives her a quick smile. Shira returns a little half-smirk, holding up her sandwich triumphantly, and watches with satisfaction as Diego's smile grows wider. Soto notices and says something to Diego, who rolls his eyes and flicks a spoonful of salad at him.
Looking back down at her meal, Shira starts to eat, feeling a whole lot lighter.
As soon as the bell rings, the students disperse. Some of the smarter ones had either already gathered before the bell, or had made plans to meet up with their Half-Peak student guide beforehand. Unfortunately, Diego and the herd were not any of these groups.
Fortunately for Diego and the herd, Eddie and Crash are halfway through their second pizza when the bell rings.
He easily finds them seated where he last saw them, the trio watching the twins with barely concealed amusement as they pout at their pizzas. Diego rolls his eyes and produces a foldable paper box, offering it to the twins.
"Take that away."
Shira looks around, noticing other Half-Peak students carrying boxes and bags of unfinished food.
"Should we bring bags?" Shira wonders.
Diego nods. "There should be some in your rooms; with how big Half-Peak is and the fact we're a boarding school, there isn't any lockers for us here, so we have to eat pretty quick and rush around to get our stuff and to the classrooms on time."
They follow him as he leads them out of the canteen.
"What are the Half-Peak student rooms like?" Ellie asks.
"Pretty much the same as yours," Diego answers. "I share a room with Soto." That is all he offers before the doors of the hall come in view, and Diego wraps his hand around Shira's wrist. "Come on, we need to make sure we get a back seat."
"A back seat?" Manny asks uncertainly.
"Speeches are boring, and you can get away with more in the back. Trust me."
For some reason, Shira doesn't think that phrase worked with Manny, but she herself merely grins as she lets herself be led to a corner seat in the back of the hall.
At the end of the day, Shira finally settles down into bed, wondering what the next day will be like. This day had been pretty awesome so far - almost like a fairy tale, and she hopes the classes would be the same. Turning around to see Ellie also sound asleep, she closes her eyes.
Tomorrow was another day, after all, and she needed to get her sleep.
