Enjoy Chapter 2. Let me know any feedback you might have.
The door opened and the click-clack of sharp heels from a pair of brogue shoes moved across the linoleum floor. They headed over towards a bench where another couple of people were waiting.
"Is the project going according to plan? Have we successfully combined the arachnid DNA?" The owner of the brogue shoes asked.
"Yes sir, we have," replied a female voice. "5 species of spider have been combined to make this new one. 42 trials and this is the successful one. Ironic really, the meaning of life being 42, too."
"What?" Snapped the first voice.
"The meaning of life? Douglas Adams? The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?"
"I'm not here to talk fiction, I want facts. Will this provide us with the silk or not?"
"Yes, the silk will be the strongest in the world, tougher than Kevlar and stronger than steel. The spider has been shown to produce up to ten times more than an average spider. That's up to 100 meters a day. It is spectacular," a second male voice chirped in.
There were approving sounds given by brogue shoes.
"Excellent. Our clients will be very pleased about this. Ensure that the spider is locked away and ready for our demonstration in a couple of days. I'll contact the client and set up the presentation. I trust you'll keep this to yourselves until then. Just remember the NDAs you signed."
"Yes sir," the male and female chimed together, as the three of them parted ways.
The door opened and the chatter of three boys filled the air, as they entered the room. It stopped as soon as they came face to face with Benjamin. A moment of awkward silence filled the air. It didn't last long as one of them stepped forward.
"Hey, you must be Benjamin. I'm Atkish, Atkish Kumar. That's Oliver Palmer and Ayo Agabundi. We've been looking forward to meeting you. Welcome to Rowntree House and Rom 12, the best dorm in the school."
"Good to meet you all too," Benjamin smiled nervously. Meeting strangers was not a comfortable thing for him to do. He was desperately trying to work out if these boys were being genuinely welcoming, or if they'd be the typical private school bullies, who'd make his life a misery.
"I know that look," Ayo said. "You think we're here to make your life difficult," he smiled a warm smile. "Trust me, we aren't. We're happy you're here. Any questions you have, please ask us."
"Truth be told, we're all slightly outcast here," Oliver said. "We like to stick together."
"How are you outcast?" Benjamin asked.
"Does the accent not tell you about me?" Atkish said. "There are some who don't like an Indian being here. Also being the son of a textiles magnate is not seen as the best way to earn your money."
"Well, that's not right. I think it's cool you're here."
"Thanks, mate."
"I'm called a nerd for having a passion for technology," Oliver replied. "Geek, nerd, and dork are just a few of the more 'pleasant' names I've been called."
"Well, that's no bad thing. My dad's company use a lot of tech and I'm quite into it too."
"Nice."
"And we're both here on scholarship. Our fees are paid for us, so the others take the mickey because we're 'too poor' to come here 'normally'," added Ayo, about him and Oliver.
"My family wouldn't have been able to send me here a few years ago, we got lucky really with dad's company doing so well. It's great to meet you all."
The boys set to learning a little more about each other and settling Benjamin into life at the school. They gave him a lowdown on some of the staff, other kids in their year and how things should be done.
"Keep away from Prince Arthur too," Ayo added. "He thinks he's so high and mighty just because he'll be king one day. He and his goons can get you into all sorts of trouble."
"He always looks so friendly on the tv," Benjamin thought, as he recalled the few times he'd seen the prince on television.
"It's an act," Oliver replied. "He once had me clean his dorm's toilet with my toothbrush."
"That's horrific," Benjamin said.
"I think it's an attention thing, it must be quite lonely being a royal and made to come to boarding school," Atkish said.
"Don't defend him," cried Oliver. "It wasn't your toothbrush used!"
"Sorry, not defending him, but trying to understand."
The conversation shifted and moved on to other topics, right until a bell rang throughout the corridor.
"That'll be house meeting time," Ayo said. Each night at 6 o'clock before dinner we meet with Mr Gregory to go through school notices and anything else important. Then we eat and after is homework time, except Friday, Saturday and Sunday when we get some free evenings."
"Lucky it's Friday today then."
The boys gathered themselves together and headed out of their room and down to the communal living space where others had already begun gathering. It took a few more minutes for everyone to gather in the room, as Mr Gregory walked in and positioned himself at the front of the group. He cleared his throat and brought silence down on the boys.
"Ahem, are we all here?" He asked.
"Not quite," a voice in the crowd said.
"Who's missing?"
"Who do you think?" Replied another adult who had appeared through a side door.
"That's Mr Williams," Oliver whispered to Benjamin. "He's the deputy housemaster. He works closely with Mr Gregory."
Benjamin watched Mr Williams move closer to the front of the room.
"Of course," Mr Gregory nodded. "I'm sure there will be a good reason for his absence this time."
There was a heavy amount of sarcasm folded into the housemaster's remarks. Benjamin wondered who they were taking about. He glanced around at the other faces in the room. It was a sizeable communal area, fitting, in total, around 160 kids. Each year had around 32 kids in each year, per house, with 8 rooms of 4 students per year. The boys had organised themselves in age group, Benjamin and the rest of his room being in their first year, sat together.
"They're talking about His Royal Snooty-pants," Atkish leaned over and whispered. "He likes to come in on his own time. He thinks he can do whatever he likes, just because he's royal."
"He really can't be that bad, surely? People would talk and spread rumours outside of school?" Benjamin asked.
"He just has his goons threaten you and says he'll get MI6 to track you down," Oliver replied.
MI6? A Prince couldn't have that much influence on the British secret service, could they? Benjamin's thought process was soon interrupted as there was a loud bang, created by one of the doors opening too fast and hitting the cabinet on the other side. In walked a figure which drew some deep breaths from the boys, scowls from others and irate looks from the two teachers. Into the light stepped Prince Arthur.
Benjamin had only ever seen him on tv, but in the flesh, he was quite impressive. Tall, handsome, smooth-looking skin. His teeth were bright white and a little sharp looking. He held himself up well, though Benjamin did notice his clothes looked a little baggy on him, which was slightly unusual.
"Ah Mr Wales, so glad you could join us," Mr Gregory said, trying but not succeeding to hide his annoyance.
"I come and go when I want, sir," sneered the prince.
"I'll report back to the palace your attitude sir. I'm sure they'll be happy to hear what you have to say."
Mr Gregory's comment seemed to hit a sore spot. It was as though Prince Arthur had maybe been told off by someone at the palace about his behaviour and didn't want them to hear any more about it. His face fell.
"Sorry, sir," he mumbled with a bit of venom, taking his seat in a spot saved for him by one of his goons.
"Right, we shall begin," Mr Gregory said.
The house meeting was full of information about the rest of the week and any other notices which needed passing onto the boys. It was also time for any questions to be asked and introductions to be made. Benjamin hated being at the centre of attention and wanted the floor to swallow him while as he was invited to the front to introduce himself to the house and tell them a little about himself. It was soon over and he was able to rejoin his roommates.
After a final round up of details, the boys were dismissed to get ready for dinner. Some of the boys moved off to help set up the plates and cutlery, ready for service. Tonight it was going to be beef bourguignon or vegetarian curry for those who didn't eat meat.
Benjamin watched the prince as he left the room, surrounded by his yes-men, all telling him how great he is and we'll done for trying to stand up to Mr Gregory. There was a strange feeling Benjamin had about Arthur and he couldn't put his finger on it.
Dinner went well and was surprisingly tasty. Back in the States, Benjamin had always heard bad things about British cuisine, but they seemed to be unfounded. He enjoyed his beef and then a healthy helping of sticky toffee pudding for dessert.
Then, it was free time. Room 12 headed back upstairs and spent the rest of the evening, until lights out, chatting, finding out more information about their new roommate and he about them. By the time they were laying back in their beds, Benjamin was feeling a bit better about moving to a new country and away from his family. Of course he would miss them, terribly, but he felt more confident with these new friends. He had shot off a quick email to his parents before settling down, phone use was restricted. They had replied quickly and he gave a smile at their best wishes.
"Lights out!" Came the call along the corridor and the room was plunged into darkness.
Benjamin shut his eyes and soon fell asleep.
"Quickly, get this through here," came the hushed voice of a woman, as something heavy moved along the carpeted corridor.
There was a bump, as the heavy object hit a cupboard. Benjamin's eyes shot open. The noise had brought him back from the land of Nod. He could hear the whispering voices of the woman and a man out in the corridor. What was going on?
Benjamin slipped out of bed and tiptoed past the other boys, each still fast asleep, oblivious to the sounds. He cupped his ear against the door and tried to listen to what was going on.
"You idiot, come on before we wake anyone up," the woman was saying.
"We could have gone a different way round you know," the man said.
"Yes, we could have, but it would have been slower and gone past more of the dorms. Why on earth do we have to be based in a school, I don't know. Come on."
Benjamin very carefully took hold of the door handle and millimetre by millimetre twisted it open, careful not to make a sound. He inched the door backwards, just enough to open a gap to see through. He was able to make out two figures, dimly lit by the emergency lighting, both wearing lab coats and between them was a large metal trolley cabinet. One of the doors had come open and the male figure was just shutting it up. They were mere metres from the door.
"Right, let's go," the woman said, yanking the trolley from her side and taking her colleague by surprise.
They moved off into the distance and went out of sight and sound, leaving Benjamin wondering what on earth it was all about. Maybe this was just an eccentricity of being in a boarding school in the UK. He started to close the door but was unable to see, in the dark, the movement of a spider, crawling across the carpet and through the gap. It made it through into the bedroom, just before the door clicked back into place. The spider then proceeded to follow Benjamin back over to his bed, jumping up onto the wardrobe and climbing to the top.
The spider then proceeded to spin a web and make itself at home above Benjamin's bed, the teen completely unaware of its presence. It would be a while too before the spider's disappearance from the trolley would be discovered. Things had been set in motion for lives to be changed. The board was set, the players in place, the only thing was, they didn't know they were playing. But by the spider being here now, the first piece had been moved.
Benjamin closed his eyes again and the next time they opened, daybreak was happening, the sun coming over the horizon and spilling into the room, through the window.