He already hated this.

Todd Anderson's hands had only stopped shaking ten minutes ago – or at least, he thought it was about ten minutes ago. His parents had led him out of the chapel and to here, the Academy Honor Room, where the rest of the juniors were waiting to be called upon by Nolan.

Along the way, his father had said something about Todd's older brother and how he had been "so successful here at Welton and you will be too, of course", but Todd hadn't really been listening.

His mother had brushed his hair back, her fingers barely moving through his hair for fear that the pomade slicked in his hair would get under her finely-done nails. She had given him a gentle kiss on the forehead, squeezing his shoulder with all her might before she was pulled away by his father, and Todd was inevitably left alone.

He hated this.

He stayed tucked in the corner of the room, over-watching the hushed conversations going on around him. These were his schoolmates and his future classmates, and he was terrified. Oh God, why couldn't he have stayed at Balincrest? At least there, everyone had gotten used to his quiet and unsocial nature. Here, he'd have to re-establish that identity and go through all the awkwardness of first introductions again before people realized he was too shy to associate with.

"Overstreet, Perry, Dalton, Anderson, Cameron," Dr. Hager called out, startling Todd. "Come."

Todd pushed off the wall he had been leaning against and followed the others up out of the Academy Honor Room and up the staircase.

"Who's the new boy, Meeks?" He heard someone whisper as he passed.

"Anderson," the boy – who was probably Meeks – whispered back.

Todd passed through into Mr. Nolan's inner office and came to a stop beside the other four boys. They were lined up in a straight row in front of Mr. Nolan's desk where he sat wit ha hunting dog resting at his feet.

"Welcome back, boys," Mr. Nolan nodded. "Mr. Dalton, how's your father?"

"Doing fine, Sir."

"Your family moved into that new house yet, Mr. Overstreet?"

"Yes, Sir, about a month ago."

"Wonderful," Nolan smiled briefly and Todd noted that it wasn't the least bit friendly. "I hear it's beautiful." He patted the dog and gave it a snack while the five boys waited in awkward silence.

"Mr. Anderson," Nolan said and Todd's breathing stopped. Again, he hated this. "Since you're new here let me explain that at Welton, I assign extracurricular activities on the basis of merit and desire. These activities are taken every bit as seriously as your classwork, right boys?"

"Yes, Sir!" The others said in military unison and Todd swallowed over the lump in his throat.

"Failure to attend required meetings will result in demerits. Now, Mr. Dalton: the school paper, the Service Club, soccer, rowing. Mr. Overstreet: Welton Society Candidates, the school paper, soccer, Sons of Alumni Club. Mr. Perry: Welton Society Candidates, Chemistry Club, Mathematics Club, school annual, soccer. Mr. Cameron: Welton Society Candidates, Debate Club, rowing, Service Club, Forensics, Honour Council."

Todd tried to keep his hands steady as he listened. His stomach flipped a nauseous feeling building up.

"Mr. Anderson, based on your record at Balincrest: soccer, Service Club, school annual. Anything else I should know about?"

Todd stood silent. He struggled to say something, but the words just wouldn't come out no matter how hard he tried. They almost never came out.

"Speak up, Mr. Anderson."

"I... would... prefer... rowing... Sir," Todd bit out slowly, his voice barely audible in the space.

"Rowing?" Nolan shot him a look that made Todd want to faint. "Did he say rowing? It says here you played soccer at Balincrest?"

"I... did... but..." he managed to stutter out, but his tongue felt swollen in his mouth, knotted and barely useable. He clenched his shaking hands against his side, trying to ignore the feeling of five sets of eyes pinned on him.

He was going to cry.

"You'll like soccer here, Mr. Anderson. All right, boys. Dismissed."

Great. Just great. Has he mentioned he hated this yet?

••●••

Everything looked the same at Welton.

Todd had been wandering aimlessly down the halls that all looked the same, peered into rooms that all looked the same, kept his gaze away from all the boys that dressed all the same, spoke all the same, and even laughed all the same. It had all blurred into a dull patch of sameness.

Perhaps Todd could come to see all of this sameness as a thing of comfort. He wasn't so sure. All he knew was that he had finally stopped shaking, his stomach had stopped churning, and somewhere inside his mind, he had accepted his fate.

He was at Welton and would be here for this year and the next if all things went according to his parent's expectations.

"Oh, hello!"

Todd stopped staring at the room number plaque above his head, realizing in that brief moment that his eyes hadn't registered a thing and that he had just been staring aimlessly. His throat tightened and his tongue looped again into an awkward position when he saw the boy standing by one of the two beds in the room looking right at him.

It was one of the boys who had been in the office with him. One of the boys who had seen him open and close his mouth like a pathetic fish out of water.

"I'm Neil Perry and I guess we're roommates," the boy introduced himself in a flurry of words, a bright and friendly smile on his face.

"Todd Anderson."

"I know. Welcome to home, sweet home, Todd." There was a twinkle in Neil's eyes, an impish look that both comforted and terrified Todd at the same time.

"You left Balincrest, right? What made you want to come here?" Neil asked, continuing to settle his stuff into appropriate drawers and chests.

"I didn't. My parents wanted me to go here. My brother went here."

"Oh, so you're that Anderson," Neil said with a knowing nod.

Before either of them could say anything more, another boy stuck his head into the room. "Heard you got the new boy. Heard he's a stiff," he cackled until he turned his head to see Todd standing beside him under the doorway. "Oops!"

He darted away after realizing he had actually insulted Todd straight to his face.

Todd awkwardly shuffled into the room afterwards.

Neil rolled his eyes, but there was a faint light of laughter over his face. "Don't mind, Cameron. He was born with his foot in his mouth. You know what I mean?

Todd just shrugged, dropping his suitcase onto his bed and turning to get on with the task of unpacking, but not even a minute later, three other boys appeared at their room door.

"Hey, Perry! Rumour has it you did summer school."

"Yeah, chemistry," Neil replied with a grin. "My father thought I should get ahead. How was your summer, Slick?"

"Keen," the boy replied, walking into the room much like he owned the place. He turned to the redheaded boy he entered behind him. "Meeks. Door. Closed."

"Yes, Sir," Meeks replied, shutting the door quickly.

Neil surveyed the three boys who had entered the room. "Gentlemen, what are the four pillars?" He asked in a deep, dramatic voice that mimicked Nolan.

"Travesty. Horror. Decadence. Excrement," the others chimed, before cackling.

The first boy - the one Neil had called 'Slick' - fell onto Neil's untouched bed and made himself comfortable. "Okay, study group," he said. "Meeks aced Latin. I didn't quite flunk English. So, if you want, we've got our study group."

"Sure, but Cameron asked me too. Anybody mind including him?"

"What's his specialty?" The boy laughed and sneered playfully. "Boot-licking?"

"Come on, he's your roommate," Neil said, taking a seat on the window ledge in between the beds.

"That's not my fault."

After that statement, he pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his back pocket and lit one up. He passed the packet and lighter around.

One of the other boys appeared to have finally noticed Todd and he walked across the room to him. "Hi, I don't think we've met. I'm Steven Meeks."

Todd extended his hand to accept the handshake despite not really wanting to. "Todd Anderson."

"Charlie Dalton," the boy on the bed said with a smug look.

"Knox Overstreet," the remaining boy introduced.

"Todd's brother is Jeffrey Anderson," Neil told them.

Charlie whistled. "Oh, yeah, sure. Valedictorian. National Merit Scholar..."

Todd nodded stiffly.

"Well, welcome to Hell-ton," Meeks laughed.

"It's every bit as tough as they say unless you're a genius like Meeks," Charlie said.

"He only flatters me so I'll help him with Latin."

"And English, and Trig... and any other subject our dear teachers throw at us," Charlie added as Meeks smiled and rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

Todd surveyed the boys in his room as they chatted animatedly. What he would give to be able to talk like that. To be able to talk with so much voice and steadiness. Instead, he was a stuttering ninny who could barely rise his voice above a whisper if more than two people were in his vicinity.

"How about study group, tonight at eight? Todd, you're welcome to join us," Charlie called over to him and Todd gave him a hesitant nod.

It was a moment later that two knocks sounded on the door. Charlie began coughing and quickly stamped out his cigarette on the floor as Neil pushed the window open and waved the smoke from the air.

"It's open," Neil called out.

An older man, Neil's father, Mr. Perry entered the room.

"Father, I thought you'd gone," Neil said, getting up from his seat on the window ledge.

The other boys stood up quickly, greeting him, but were quickly waved off and told to keep their seats as he spoke to Neil.

"Keep your seats, fellows, keep your seats. Neil, I've just spoken to Mr. Nolan. I think you're taking too many extracurricular activities this semester, and I've decided that you should drop the school annual."

"But, Father," Neil cried out, his face in shock. "I'm the assistant editor!"

Mr. Perry stiffened. "Fellas, would you excuse us for a moment?" He said and nodded for Neil to follow him.

The others shifted awkwardly, their eyes not really knowing where to look as the father and son moved outside of the room to talk. Every word of their conversation was still very clearly audible outside.

Mr. Perry grabbed hold of Neil's arm and jostled him slightly. "Don't you ever dispute me in public. Do you understand?"

"Father, I wasn't disputing -"

"After you've finished medical school and you're on your own, then you can do as you damn well, please. But until then, you do as I tell you. Is that clear?"

Neil swallowed, his eyes glazing over as he nodded. "Yes, Sir. I'm sorry."

"You know how much this means to your mother, don't you?"

"Yes, Sir." Neil clenched his fist by his side. "You know me, always taking on too much."

"Well, that's my boy. Now listen, you need anything, you let us know, huh?"

Another stiff nod. "Yes, Sir."

Seconds after Mr. Perry left, Charlie, Knox, and Meeks poked their heads out of the door to look at Neil who stood with his back pressed against the wall and a mixture of a soured and defeated expression on his face. He threw his head back, hitting it against the wall.

Finally, Charlie broke the silence. "Why doesn't he ever let you do what you want?"

"Yeah, Neil, tell him off. It couldn't get any worse," Knox added.

Neil wiped his eyes. "Oh, that's rich, coming from you all," he glared. "Like you tell your parents off, Mr. Future Lawyer and Mr. Future Banker."

"Okay, so I don't like it any more than you do," Charlie bit the inside of his cheek.

"Then don't tell me how to talk to my father when you guys are the same way."

"Alright, alright, Jesus," Knox sighed, uncomfortable with the tense air. "What are you gonna do, Neil?"

"What else can I do? Drop the annual," Neil said, pushing off the wall and shoving himself back into his room.

"I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep over it," Meeks said with an overly perky tone, trying to shift the tense atmosphere. "It's just a bunch of jerks trying to impress Nolan anyway."

Neil took a deep breath, accepting the change of topic with a wave of his hand. "It's whatever. I don't care. I'll be fine," he said and the others readily shifted back into their lax conversation.

"By the way," Knox said suddenly from where he sat at Neil's desk. "Did any of you see the new English teacher?"

"Keating?" Charlie asked back.

Knox nodded.

"And? Spit it out, Knoxious, unless you're eyeing up the new English teacher or something, what's he got to do with anything?"

Knox glared at Charlie, half ready to fling Neil's chemistry textbook at him. "I asked if you all saw the new English teacher because if you did, you would have seen the person walking with him."

Knox straightened in his chair, leaning forward to the others. His leg was bouncing and he was giving them all a funny look.

"Nolan mentioned his ward, right?" Neil asked.

"Yeah." And then Knox gave them all a cheeky smile. "I wasn't sure what Nolan was going on about the teacher's ward not leading to inconveniences for us because if it were just another boy, why wouldn't they just join Welton as a student, you know? But then I saw his ward and then Nolan's words all made sense."

"What?"

Knox grinned at the fact that he was the first of the group, perhaps even the first of the entire academy, to learn of the most important information ever. He hadn't even believed his eyes when he had seen it - when he had seen her.

"His ward is a girl."

Four sets of wide eyes stared at Knox in disbelief.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"What'd she look like?" Charlie asked slyly, looking intently at Knox.

He shrugged back in reply. "I only saw her from afar. Didn't get the best look at her. I just saw that she was with Keating and they were talking to Nolan before they left the church. Judging from her height, though, she looks around our age, maybe younger. Probably a right darling if Nolan thought it was wise to barely mention her as to not pique our curiosity."

"Think she'll be in any of our classes if she's our age?" Meeks asked.

"I doubt it. No inconveniences, as per Nolan's words, remember?"

"A girl at Welton?" Charlie said thoughtfully, "Damn, it seems God does answer prayers."