After Mr. Darin's class, I had English for 2nd period. My teacher's name was Ms. Marina. She was a lady with unruly hair that fell to her waist. Thankfully, Allison had the same class, so she helped me get situated. 2nd period flew by. Before I knew it, the bell rang, and everyone gathered their things.
Next class was homeroom. Basically, all they do is take attendance and then you just sit there for 20 minutes until the bell rings. I slung my bag over my shoulder and followed Allison out into the hallway.
"Oof!" I grunted as I crashed into someone's back.
"Watch it!" He hissed as he turned around. "Oh, it's you..." Croy muttered un-amused when he laid eyes on me.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention..." I apologized, my cheeks heating up.
"Hey Croy!" Allison chimed when she laid eyes on him.
"Sup." He greeted unenthusiastically.
"What are you doing here?" Isn't your homeroom class on the next building over?"
"I came to pick up a book I forgot in my locker." He affirmed by raising the small piece of literature up to his face.
"Oh, you have Mr. Hartz next?" She asked when she recognized the book. He nodded. "Would you mind walking Hazel over to her homeroom class? She has Mr. Morgan. I would take her, but I'll be late."
"Yea that's fine. Let's get a move on, we have like five minutes before the next bell."
After waving goodbye to Allison, I followed Croy up the stairs and across the hallway to the next building over. Every girl turned her head as he walked past. A lot of them greeted him as we walked by.
"Morning Croy!"
"Hey Croy!"
"Morning!"
"Wow, he's really popular." I thought to myself as we turned the corner into a new hallway. "These buildings are all connected huh? I'll never be able to find my way around this maze." I muttered out loud as I shifted the bag on my shoulder.
"You'll get the hang of it, everyone does." I stopped walking. His response surprised me. I wasn't expecting a single word out of him since he hardly spoke during drill practice.
"What's wrong now?" He asked with a sigh when he realized I'd fallen behind.
"Nothing, sorry!" I apologized as I caught up to him.
"This is me." He said, stopping in front of door number 42. "Your class is a few doors down. If you have any questions, you know where to find me." He muttered before tugging on his bag and disappearing into the room. I walked towards the end of the hallway and stopped in front of classroom number 50.
"Here goes..." I muttered to myself before taking in a deep breath and walking inside.
I went up to the balding, pudgy man sitting in the back of the room. "Are you Mr. Morgan?" The teacher nodded, then proceeded to sign my program card with a grumble. Afterwards, he went back to reading the paper and drinking his coffee.
"Hey!" A familiar voice chimed from the middle of the classroom. I looked up to see a frantic hand waving me over. I ducked to avoid paper airplanes and spitball wads as they soared back and forth. "Nice to see you again." Jason chimed as I took a seat beside him. "Welcome to paradise." He enthused sarcastically as he placed his head on the table.
"Don't we have to read or do homework, or something?" He shrugged.
"Mr. Morgan doesn't give a crap. Word around camp is that he's related to one of the facility's private donors, so he automatically got the job. I don't even think he's got a teaching license." He mumbled before taking out a small black object and twirling it on the table.
"What's that?" I asked as I took out my doodling notebook.
"This...can be the difference between life and death." He clarified in an ominous tone before pushing a button and popping out a shiny blade.
"My pocket knife, it's been with me longer than I can remember..." He trailed off as he admired it.
"How long have you been in here Jason?" A sad smile spread across his lips as he stared at the scratched table.
"5 years and counting." He admitted softly.
"Jason I...I'm sorry." He shook his head.
"It's fine, I've made peace with it." He affirmed as he put the blade back in.
"What about your parents?" His leaf eyes darkened when he heard my question.
"I don't have any. My mother abandoned me on the staircase of a convent just hours after I was born. The sisters took care of me for two years, but after the convent closed, they had to send me to an orphanage. The administration gave me the name Jason Rosales. I spent 10 years waiting for my adoption, only to find out that people didn't want me because I was 'too quiet.' After that I ran away and joined a local gang. They took care of me. Besides the petty crime, I guess you could say we were kinda tight..." He trailed off.
"Are they the reason you ended up here?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah. When I was 11, we were in the middle of a B&E when things went south. We tripped a silent alarm system and when the cops came, I was the first one they nabbed..."
"I'm sorry." I apologized again.
"I already said it was fine. Geez, you apologize way too much!" He chuckled as he ran his fingers through his hair. I bit my lip and fought the urge to apologize for apologizing. Jason caught on and it caused him to laugh even more. "You know, you're actually pretty cute when you pout. I can see why Croy's so taken by you." My face flared crimson. What did he mean by, taken? I was about to ask, but the bell interrupted me. "Time for nutrition." He said as he picked up the knife and put it in his pocket.
"Nutrition?" I asked as I gathered my things.
"It's basically like recess. They give us crappy breakfast and time to relax. It's about 20 minutes long?" I didn't answer, as I assumed his question was rhetorical. Instead, I followed him quietly out of the classroom.
"Sup Jase." Croy greeted his friend with a fist bump. I stood awkwardly to the side as they chatted about their day. Eventually, I slipped past them and began making my way down the hall.
"Hey Hazel!" Jason's voice made me look back. "Would you like to eat breakfast with us?"
"Sure!" I enthused as they caught up to me and lead the way towards the cafeteria.
(A/N: I have to admit Jason is my second favorite character, right next to Croy! Which character do you guys like more? Thank you guys for reading!)