Douglas Academy for Boys

It's All Pretentious

"Pippa, it will only be for a month" Mum reassured me with a kiss on the forehead, stroking my hair as she did when I was a child.

"Mum, I don't want it to even be a day" I whined.

"It's for the best darling" She reassured me with a nod.

She pulled her hand through my hair one last time before crouching down to pick up her brown leather weekender bag that Dad had bought her decades ago.

She turned to my Dad and gave him a slight smile before turning to her awaiting taxi. She got in and as soon as her door closed the cab pulled away. Back down the long gravel drive that would eventually lead to the even longer country roads back to the city.

"So it's just you and me kiddo, what do you want to do first?" Dad smiled.

With tears in my eyes I turned to him and said "go home"

He frowned slightly, shrugged and then turned to walk back into the huge limestone building behind us. The pretentious fountain that centred as a roundabout for the driveway was on, and the angel in the centre of it looked like it was spitting out a stream of water. Why did rich people think that an angel spitting water was fancy?

Tears spilled over as I tried to blink them back. I cannot believe she left me here with him.

It's only 30 days.

30 long days.

I knew my father was long gone into the building behind me so I took my time, waiting for the tears and disappointment to subside. My tears subsided, my disappointment didn't.

After wiping away the remains of my mascara from under my eyes, I turned on my heel and marched toward the large administration building behind me. The large entry way filled with sculptures and furnishings that matched the pretentious energy of the outdoor fountain. I followed the gold plated engraved signage in the building that pointed toward the boarding house. Before I knew it, I was back outside in one of the many gardens, trimmed and manicured to perfection. The queen of hearts wouldn't have wanted these canary yellow roses painted red, they were far too beautiful.

I followed the hedges down the courtyard, dragging my hand across the top of them, feeling each leaf hit my hand. Eventually I got to the bottom of the courtyard. The boarding houses. There was five, side by side, only slightly separated by another small hedge bush. It was clear that each was hiding the water heaters for the building.

He had said building four right? I thought to myself.

Each building had a name above the door frame, engraved on the same gold plate as the directions from the administration building. This was all too cohesive, it made me feel like I was in some sort of freaky neat zombie movie.

The first read 'Austen', the second 'Parks', the third 'Arden', the fourth 'Earhart' & the final 'Franklin'.

I made my way over to the building labeled Earhart and opened the door. The entry way was lined with marble tiles, and a beautiful winding staircase with gold railings. I could not believe this was a building that housed teenage boys, it was pristine and so stunning. I was in awe as I began to look up and saw the twinkly chandelier. Astounding.

"Martin?" I called, "Martin?"

I began to wander through the house awaiting a response. I entered into a room with cream carpet that made me suddenly know what walking on a cloud felt like. The back wall of the room had a large L-shaped sofa that could easily seat 15, as I turned I could see it was facing a large projector, which had a cabinet beneath it. Atop the cabinet sat a playstation 5, an xbox, a Nintendo switch and an apple TV box.

"Martin?" I called again.

I returned back to the foyer and decided climbing the stairs might be best, just to find him faster. I rested my hand atop the gold railings as I followed the stairs to the first floor.

"Martin!"

There was no answer yet again.

Far out.

"Dad!" I yelled.

"Pip?" He answered.

It came from another level of the house, so I quickly jumped to the bottom of the next set of stairs and began climbing them.

"Top floor kiddo" He said as he peered his head of the railings of the fourth floor.

As I got to the top floor he turned as if encouraging me to follow. He opened the only door at the end of the landing and it lead to a small studio apartment.

The large windows facing the courtyard brought in lots of light. He had a small kitchen space, a large mahogany desk that matched the kitchen cupboards. The room was lovely.

"Welcome" He said gesturing his arms out wide.

"It's great" I nodded.

Then it clicked.

"Martin, it's a one person studio" I said, noting in my tone that there was no way in hell I would be sharing it with him.

"Oh yes, didn't your Mum tell you? We arranged something"

I raised my eyebrow at the man that had not been in my life for 6 years. He and Mum coordinated? Have I entered some sort of parallel universe?

"I just need to go and speak with Headmaster Collins about it" He said, before promptly exiting the room and beginning to make his way down the stairs.

"You can sit up there or use the living room, it's up to you" he yelled as he descended the staircase.

Next thing I knew the huge wooden front door slammed shut and he was gone.

I climbed down the stairs to the ground floor, and wandered back into the living room. I sat myself directly in the centre of the couch, sinking into it more than I thought I would. I looked around for a bit and cracked my fingers. Then assessed my nails, they were painted a pale blue but had various chips across each nail. I looked up and remembered the gaming systems on the cabinet. Searching around for a TV remote of some sort, I ended up finding that the far arm of the couch opened up and inside were an array of remotes for each console and for the projector. So, I switched it on and got the Nintendo switch on. By the time I had started my sixth round of Mario kart Martin had returned.

"Kiddo! Thought you might like it in here" He said as he plonked himself down by my side. A little too close if you ask me.

I paused my game immediately and turned to face him, wary that he may ask to join my game. 'Thought you might like it in here?' How could he think anything about me? The last time he saw me I still wore light up sneakers.

He sensed my tense reaction to his presence and held up a set of keys, then threw them, I caught them in cupped hands and looked back at him.

"Room 311" He smiled, "It's not as big as mine, it's a student room but it'll do the job"

"311" I mumbled looking down at the keys in my hand.

"Arden building"

A separate building. I could avoid him all I wanted. Maybe this would work out better than I thought.