Chapter Three
A Telescope Full of Stars
"Okay…" John muttered, looking at his door. Up and down the boy dorm hall, a variety of exotic doors marked the walls. He glanced at his class schedule, which also mentioned his dorm room number.
Room Ten
John Smith
It stated the words in swirling, gold lettering, backed against an oddly blue door with white squares toward the top. The edge of the door was dark, like something exploded within and the soot seeped through the cracks. John liked the color. It was the color he often associated with loneliness, but it was also soothing and gave him a sense of reassurance, the way a policeman's coat does.
Now. If he could find the doorknob…
Feeling slightly idiotic, John pushed the door, hoping it opened inward. No luck.
"Bloody h-"
"You've gotta scan your finger." A voice spoke helpfully.
John swiveled around, feeling totally humiliated. "Right. Of course."
The boy who'd spoken smiled. "Don't tell anyone, but I did exactly the same thing when I first got here."
The boy was skinny and held himself awkwardly, like he wasn't sure whether he was supposed to talk or not. Dirty-blonde fell into bright blue eyes and he had a large Adam's apple that bounced when he spoke. He wore a checkered dress shirt and a sleeveless jacket that looked like it came right out of Back to the Future. "I'm Rory, by the way." The boy said. He held out a hand and then put it back to his side like he wasn't sure whether that was the proper thing to do.
John nodded slowly, "Yeah, uh, hi. I'm John."
"I know." Rory said immediately, and then after seeing John confused expression, pointed at John's door. "Your name- on the door."
John glanced at the door and then back at Rory. "Right. Of course."
They stood in the hall awkwardly for a moment, and then John turned toward the door. "So I just-" he put his left thumb on the door, "And it scans it?"
Rory laughed lightly, "Ah- no. Not exactly." He stepped forward and moved John's other hand to a blank space on the wall to the right of the door. "Left handed?" he asked.
John nodded, pressing his right thumb against the wall. A blue light appeared and quickly scanned his finger. A lighthearted 'bing' sounded, and the door cracked open. John blinked. "Wow. I didn't know this technology existed in real life."
Rory agreed, "It's all a bit weird at first, but you'll get used to it. I arrived at the beginning of this year."
"About a two months ago then?"
"Yeah."
John nodded, poking his now unlocked door. He smiled at Rory, "Well it was nice meeting you, Rory." He stuck out his hand and Rory shook it.
"You too, John. See ya around?"
'I wonder what's special about him…'
John shook the voice away. He didn't have time to be delusional, especially right now when he didn't have a single friend.
Frowning in concern, Rory released John's hand. "Hey, you alright?"
Shaking the webbing of the voice away. John nodded. "Yeah. Fine. Sorry."
Rory nodded slowly "Do you do that a lot?" he asked, hands in his pockets.
John's brow furrowed. "Do what?"
Great.
He just ruined a chance to make a friend by weirding him out within the first five seconds... John honestly could say he'd never had a friend before. Everyone ran when they realized he was crazy… John sighed inwardly.
"You totally blanked out for like, three seconds or so."
Don't hid who you are, John. If they don't like you as you, then they aren't real friends. Sara's voice whispered in his head.
She was right, of course. No point in lying.
"Ah, yeah. I do that. Not sure why."
He waited for a condemning glance from the boy, but it didn't come. Instead Rory just nodded. "Eh, I've seen stranger things." He smiled. "Shoot, I've been stranger things."
John wasn't sure what that meant, but he figured he'd find out soon enough. "Well," he pointed into his dorm. "I better get unpacked. The schedule says dinner is at six."
Nodding quickly, Rory back up toward his door, which was across the hall and a few doors to the right. "Yeah, yeah. Sure. Go right ahead."
With a quick smile John started to slip into his room when he saw the color of hesitation make marks in the carpet after Rory. John paused, waiting at the door.
Sure enough, a moment before Rory entered his dorm, he turned back. "Hey, talking about dinner,"
"Yeah?"
"Well, my friends and I always sit together…"
John wondered where this was going.
"You can," Rory continued, "You know, sit with us if you want." Rory looked nervous, like was afraid John would say no.
John felt warmth fill his chest. Smiling widely, he nodded. "That'd be great!"
"Really?"
"Of course!" John chuckled, "Otherwise I'll have to sit by myself like a loser."
Rory grinned. "Cool! I'll see you then, then?"
"Yeah."
And with that, John slipped into his room feeling like a million bucks.
However, the moment he looked around the dorm, every thought about dinner escaped him. His blue backpack slipped from his shoulders and thudded on the floor. "Oh man, no way!"
He breathed.
A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth and he stood grinning like an idiot, surveying the dorm.
The room was a cascade of different shades of blue and grey, going from the lonely dark color, to greyish-blue tears, to baby-blue happiness and carefree laughter. John laughed right along with the colors, spinning in a circle. He picked up the backpack and threw it onto the bed, which was circular and as expected- blue with grey pillows.
The ground was made up of large metal panels that were cool against bare feet, and the walls stretched up, not blue but a waving, ridged steel. The bumps reminded him of the inside of cardboard when was split open on the inside. There was a stainless steel desk and a sky-blue lamp on top. A spinning chair sat in the middle of the floor, to be used at the desk, and a blue dresser sat in the corner.
The room itself wasn't overly large, as far as length and width, but it was at least twice as tall as a usual bedroom. In the corner, a stainless steel, spiraling staircase led up to a small loft where there was a large beanbag, a bookcase, and to John's delight, a telescope. He let out a shout and raced up the stairs. The bookcase was empty except for a single book on mechanics and engineering.
John gaped. "How did they know?" he murmured. How could they know how much he loved to build?
What do you want to be when you grow up, John?
I'm gonna be a maker.
A what?
A maker. I'm gonna make stuff that's all new!
Oh! You mean an inventor!
John smiled at the memory and flipped through the book. Some of it was simple, stuff he'd figured out on his own with Sara Jane's rather unhelpful help, and other stuff was beyond him. He'd been homeschooled for as long as he could remember, which basically meant Sara taught him what she could and gave him textbooks for anything she didn't know.
You could go anywhere, do you know that? With your grades, you could get into anything.
Just because I'm smarter than other kids doesn't fix me.
Oh John! Don't say that! You don't need to be fixed!
Yes I do.
John remembered that conversation went downhill from there. Maybe that was why he liked fixing things. He wanted to be fixed, but if he couldn't do that, then he'd settle for fixing everything else. This included the broken microwave, refrigerator, air conditioning, and anything else he could get his hands on throughout the years.
Sighing, John pushed his melancholy thoughts away. He didn't want to think about that right now. Right now, John wanted to enjoy his new room and forget his problems.
John took a deep breath and reached for the telescope. Here was another one of his favorite pastimes- stargazing. He could chart just about star above his house without even trying.
Studying came easy to him, and he often memorized the star charts from distant lands. He remembered being about ten or so and talking to himself.
If I'm not an inventor, I'll be an explorer. I'll build a super cool boat and go sail off somewhere no one has ever been before.
John grinned, looking through the telescope. Shame he was inside, the stars painted on the ceiling in no way compared to the real thing.
However, the moment he stuck his eye against the telescope and aimed it at the ceiling, he could see stars- real stars. John withdrew quickly. "What?" he murmured, placing his gaze against the telescope again.
There they were. All the stars were painted when he looked at it normally, but the moment he looked through the telescope, the ceiling transformed into a brilliant night sky like nothing he'd ever seen.
How did that work? John smiled. "That's so cool!" He breathed.
Excitement in his breath, John slip down the railing of the spiral staircase, and landed lightly on the floor.
He crossed the dorm and unzipped his backpack. Taking out his clothes, and other little knickknacks he couldn't live without, John placed the clothes in the empty dresser. He hadn't packed much just in case he decided not to stay. A few rusty gears, he placed on the desk, and a windup dog he constructed, he put next to it. Then John took out of picture of him and Sara Jane laughing as they danced in the rain. They were a vibrant yellow, which John knew was happiness. It was his favorite photo. Smiling gently, John set it carefully on the bedside table so he could see it when he woke up in the morning.
However, as he set the picture down, he froze. It's almost six.
John frowned. That was weird. He glanced at his self-constructed wristwatch and saw that his thought had been correct.
How strange… an inner clock? Interesting…
But he didn't have time to think about that, because if it was almost six, then he needed to run! He wanted to get to the dining room on time.
Snatching up a brochure he picked up on his way to the dorms, John glanced at the map within. Right. If he ran all the way, he could get there on time. He jumped forward, realized his shoelace was untied, tied it, and then rushed out of the room in a whirlwind.
Into battle.
AN: So what do you think of John's room? I had a lot of fun coming up with that:) Anyway, review, favorite, and/or follow. Thanks for reading!