Breakfast is the most difficult part of the day for Charlie. Harry, Ben, and Tao are all absolute pigs in the mess hall here on the first floor. Nick Nelson sat nearby but as usual he's all quiet today. No one new to Moose speaks much on their first day. Charlie sits there with his arms crossed over his chest thinking about distant places where older kids do older things in apartment buildings in New York and life isn't this nasty stock yard. Getting stuck in a pair of pleather pants or getting into an argument with your boss at work seems far better than watching Harry Greene slop up a biscuit and some sausage gravy at nine in the morning. Sitting on a balcony hungover with a best friend surely beats the impending fear of Madam Rossi walking in with her ruler to start the day.
Tao, next to him, cuts an apple into tiny slices with a pocket knife and slides a couple onto the empty plate in front of Charlie. They share a glance and Charlie looks away. Tao rolls his eyes and drops another piece off his blade.
"You need to eat. You're bruising up again." Says Tao.
Nick Nelson looks over at Charlie with eyes of curiosity. This isn't a behavior he's used to. This Charlie boy looks abandoned worst than any person in the room. A girl named Tara Jones chooses to sit across from Nick Nelson. She's the last to arrive at breakfast as she always waits until the last girl has showered before she wakes up. It's her daily routine. It lets her sleep longer as she has so much trouble simply falling asleep.
"You're sixteen?" Tara asks him.
He nods.
She sighs, "Me too. That makes us the oldest kids here. I have a lot of work I do as that title holder. Would you mind sharing it with me. Eight kids are a lot to look out for."
There's a hint of suspicion on his face. He takes a moment to understand this. Mr. Hutcherson seemed really kind but he kept mentioning the strict rules and this Rossi woman. The intensity in Tara's eyes tells Nick that this is more than just chores. He'll need to act as a defender. He'll need to be willing to make tough choices for the collective.
"You can count on me." He tells her, "I'm Nick."
She smiles and reaches out to shake his outstretched hand with her own, "Tara Jones. Welcome to Moose."
Charlie is the only resident who doesn't jump at the sound of the crack every morning. For when Madam Rossi steps into the room silence falls. She's cracked her ruler across her hand and that means until one o'clock no one is allowed to so much as utter a word. Tara, with her back to the tyrant, holds a finger to her lips to show Nick he has to 'shh' until further notice.
No one would dare break one of Madam's rules in front of her. There's a bus outside the front door every day humming with life awaiting an unfortunate rule breaker who will be taken instantly to the darker place. Nick understands. He folds his arms across his chest and listens to what this woman has to say.
"Six to four." Her topic is the gender separation, "This isn't exactly fair. There's a new face among us today. Nick Nelson is being interviewed for a position among the boys. I'll be paying close attention over the course of the next few days as I don't like drastic opposition. If Nick Nelson is to stay one of the boys is to go. This is not up for debate, either. I will see you all in the library in half an hour. So much as whisper and I will pick one of you at random to put on that bus. Girls, this does not mean you are exempt from this. I have multiple young women at the state's holding center would kill for your position here. I'll send all you to the 'pit' if you're not careful. Finish your breakfast and prepare for the days lesson. Today we focus on geometry, an all new list of vocabulary, and the history of war."
With that her tall, pencil figure is stepping out of the mess hall. She's always dressed in the attire of a white house security guard. Her dress is made of the same rough fabric of suits. She's just as much a dark entity as the shadows always in Charlie's perifreal but she's wearing human skin and that makes her worse.
Ben Hope, across from Charlie, finishes his orange juice and leans forward. He never says anything to Charlie. He just looks. His eyes find the dry knuckles on Charlie's hands where blood is slipping through. He frowns. He lets out a quiet sigh. Then he's the first one to take his trey and dump it out at the trash bin before walking out of the room. He's done this exact routine for about three weeks now.
Imogen, a kind girl in bright pink and blonde pigtails, twirls out and dances in the center of the isle. She pauses to lift her foot to her side and stretch her muscles. Then she does a spin and follows Ben out the room. Harry is usually the third one out of the lunchroom as he's always the first to finish eating. Tara and Darcy Olsson are next. Elle leaves with Tao. Issac follows them. Charlie is always the last to leave.
He and Nick Nelson stand up at the same time. They give one another a brief smile and Charlie turns away. Just like in the garden Nick's hand catches Charlie's arm.
"You didn't eat. You're very small. I don't imagine you ever eat." Nicks voice is deeper than the other boys but no where near as patronizing.
Charlie turns to look at him, "I feel empty. When I eat the emptiness is still there it just fills like... like fish flopping in a swamp. I'm trying. We all are."
Ten desks are lined up in the open window set between shelves. Another adult is in here sitting at a white egg drop shaped desk with similar small tables around her upholstering potted plants that have leaves down to the floor. This is Ms. Evangeline. She's as soft as Mr. Hutcherson but less confident. She wears a dress and her brown hair falls in a long sheet down her shoulders and behind her back. There's worry in her face, always. Like she's watching something awful unfold and it's moving too fast for her to do anything about it.
Madam Rossi stands next to a white board. On it are a bunch of shapes. The more Charlie looks at them the more he sees. There's a layer of depth here. What, at first, appears as a series of math problems hidden in the corners of geometric shapes reveals as an entire hallucinatory message. It's always baffling to the other students when he does this.
His arm shoots up into the air and he says, "Nine thousand eight hundred and forty two."
Madam Rossi eyes him but it's not in anger. While no, students are not allowed to speak, she's not used to any of them being capable of equations like this. She folds her hands, cocks her head at him, and huffs.
"Yes, Mr. Spring. This is a nearly impossible problem. How did you come to this conclusion." She asks.
His heart is racing but he stands and walks past the nervous Ms. Evangeline to address the board. He begins to illustrate with the number and image changes as he adds details. From across the room it looks as though he's drawing a video. The picture moves so quickly that it jumps out at them. They all straighten with understanding as a horse galloping in green expo allows their minds to comprehend the multiplication of fractions.
Madam Rossi has nothing to say as he retakes his seat closest to the window. To his left is Ben and in front of him is Imogen. Paperwork is passed out and the students begin to solve the problem with an ease because of Charlie's explanation. Even Nick is baffled as this is something he struggled with a lot last semester. Apparently all the residents of Moose fall under the same grade line. It dawns upon Nick Nelson that there's no one here younger than fourteen. Where are all the little ones?
English out in the garden is no different. Poetry is read by each student as they all trim the hedges as rake leaves out of the snow. Charlie merely has to speak his line in the collection and all of them know exactly what the author is trying to say. None of them have to act. They all feel the words they say and can correctly explain their segment in the whole poem to Mr. Hutcherson. Madam Rossi again has nothing to say as she reads the small poems each of the students wrote while they wait for permission to be let out of the cold.
Charlie wrote about fruit. Nick Nelson wrote about Charlie. Madam Rossi doesn't know what to take of this.
A film is played down in the cellar about the french revolution. A musical titled Les Miserables. Nick chose to sit next to Charlie. This isn't something Madam Rossi approves of. When all the other students filter out of class she stops these two boys with nothing more and her feet stepping in their way.
"You two have a chemistry even I cannot deny. Charlie you are to avoid him until I've made my decision. If you do not I'll have you put on that bus. Do you understand." charlie hadn't even noticed the two of them had been so near to one another today. He's registering every moment he spent near the new boy and as he walks out of the cellar to the one o'clock hour after making the promise he feels he's done the one thing he swore not to do and that is to ignore his own spirit.
He crawls into bed and takes his depressive nap with trouble. His dreams are filled with this new boy. This ginger with the freckles who whispers in french under his breath. This warm presence who kept catching him today. He's seeing that face with him in the sheets and wakes up just in time for dinner in tears because Nick Nelson is in fact no where close to him. He's cold, alone, and haunted by the chill.
Out into the hallway he steps with his coat pulled tightly around his chest. The sun sets so early now. It's not even five thirty and it's darker than midnight outside. The other kids are talking though. Their voices fill the hall and he hears something so delightful that it hints at something he hasn't felt in a while; joy. It came from a laugh. Nick Nelson's deep, guttural laugh at something Imogen Haeney had to say. Ben and Darcy are there too and they're laughing softly but what ever she said tickled Nick enough to be red in the face.
They chatter like chipmunks. It's sweet and alluring but Charlie does as he's told. If he's to keep hearing that laugh he must avoid Nick Nelson. He's used to pain. It's just that as he slips past the high pitched chitter a dark chill runs his spin. He doesn't know this spirit. He doesn't believe it's here to protect. In fact his breath feels compromised completely. His body goes numb and he's got a vibration across his energy that feels irreparable. Suddenly he's hallucinating the screaming woman statue in the living area at the bottom f the staircase but she's weeping and screaming at him. Why go to dinner if you know you're not going to eat. So he just goes in the opposite direction. It's easier to go back to sleep than to listen to the screams.