Human

Capitolo 1

Max stepped out of the car. Gravel scrunched beneath his polished leather shoes, a gentle breeze first sweeping through the large trees of the estate before reaching his styled hair and wrapping around his tanned neck. He shivered, feeling the cold's wrath and pulling his cashmere jumper tighter around his slim body. He couldn't remember it ever being this cold back home.

He jumped when something heavy hit the gravel, one of his large suitcases nearly landing on his foot. Looking up at the cab driver who had brought him, he was met with the back of him. He didn't even apologise.

He bit his tongue, looking at the trees swaying with the wind, as if holding a dance ceremony. They had to be cold up there, he thought, as he looked up at their menacing height.

The building in front of him stood taller, however, a chunk of old stone that was planted at the top of an allotment of rich green grass and red and pink flowers. It had so many windows that it was impossible to see who was looking out of them; it was both mysterious and sneaky. He instantly felt that the building had it out for him.

"Ah, Mr West, it's so nice to see you again!" his head snapped round in attention to the sound of his name being called by a woman, but instead saw his dad in a polite hug with a thin, rather grotesque lady. She looked incredibly English, he found himself observing, and her accent mirrored this. She sounded incredibly posh compared to his dad's American drawl.

"Hey Andrea, we're so pleased to be here." 

Max rolled his eyes at the 'we'. He certainly wasn't happy to be here- unless his dad was referring to him and the cab driver, he had it all wrong.

"Well just look at this handsome young chap. How he reminds me of you, James." he watched her sharp eyes meet him, giving him a smile that didn't look like a smile before looking back at his father. Usually, he would have been worried she'd seen him roll his eyes, but in this case, he couldn't care less. He just wanted to go back home.

Turning back to look at the building, he saw students sat on the grass, either reading or playing various ball games, all of them looking pale and deprived of Vitamin D, apart from the few of a different race. They all had shiny white teeth, styled hair, and all reeked of white privilege. He could tell they were all the type of people that went to restaurants and were rude to the waiters. Observing them, he frowned as he realised something. He expected them all to be in designer labels, or golf outfits, but instead, they were all in uniform. A plain navy uniform with yellow fringing around the blazers, and gold and navy ties around their necks. The last time he'd worn a tie was at his mum's funeral. If his dad thought he was about to wear one again, he was wrong.

"Max, come and meet Andrea- well, Mrs Baxter to you."

He hesitated before doing what his dad said, slowly walking round the other side of the cab to where his dad and the woman stood. She eyed him from head to toe as he walked towards her, judging every inch of him, and he was suddenly glad that his dad had made him wear a suit.

"Hello there, Mr West, I see you've been taking in the surroundings." she used his formal name, and it made him cringe a little on the inside. Mr West sounded too much like his dad. And he wasn't his dad.

"Yeah." he half-sighed, raising his eyebrows and nodding. He wasn't going to pretend to be amazed by the view. He was intimidated, but couldn't admire it. It was nothing like home. The pale stone looked like it had sucked up any sun that had landed on it and destroyed it, and the windows were so small and sly that he bet it was freezing and dark inside. Home had huge windows, plenty of sky, and a beach on the doorstep. This looked like where people came to die.

"Don't worry, you'll get used it. In the meantime, I should probably show you to your room and get you settled in before fourth period."

Doubt it, he thought. "Wait, I have to go to fourth period?"

She looked at him as if he should already know this. "Of course. Where else would you go?" she didn't wait for an answer, nodding at his dad and giving him that smile. "We'll be in touch to let you know how he's settled in. It was nice to see you, James."

"You too, Andrea." his dad smiled that business man smile that had bought him some of the best sales and made him rich. Max tried not to gag.

She turned away, beginning to walk down the gravel path running between the grass, and Max hung back hesitantly as he considered making a run for it.

A hand landed heavily on his shoulder, the familiar pat of his dad making him jump and shudder. Shrugging the large hand off him, he decided he'd rather follow Mrs Baxter than spend another minute with his dad.

"You be good now, you hear me? Andrea's an old friend of mine. I'd hate for you to traumatise her like you've done to poor Bridget."

"Poor Bridget." He repeated his dad, sarcastically. "Poor Bridget, now that she's got me out of the way. Poor Bridget, now that she has the whole house and the pool and Meli to herself. Poor Bridget, now that she can start turning my room into a nursery. Poor Bridget."

He picked up his two suitcases in his hands, his strong arms lifting them with ease as he began to follow Andrea. With every scrunch of the gravel beneath his feet he hated himself more for following the plan his dad had set for him, but also knew that he couldn't turn back. Not now.

"I'll ring tomorrow, to see how you're doing." he heard his dad call, as he watched Max walk away.

"Don't bother." he called over his shoulder, feeling the perfect students staring at him as he frowned down at the grass. He wanted to tell them where to go, but knew he'd never do it. He was either too polite or too cowardly- he didn't know which.

~

"Here is your room." Andrea unlocked a heavy wooden door, before opening it and revealing a  bedroom with plain white walls and two single beds either side of it. It was surprisingly modern, and bright, the windows apparently bigger than they looked from the outside. Light shone in through the glass and reflected off the white sheets of the bed, which looked clean. One of them had a tartan blanket at the bottom, several pairs of shoes that all looked identical lined up along the bottom. A Harry Potter poster was blue tacked to the wall near the bed, and he internally groaned. He was going to be sharing a room with a nerd.

"As you can see, rooms are shared between two people. You'll be sharing with Harold, a star student here at Botanicas. I thought he'd be a positive influence on you, from what your father's told me."

He shrugged, not willing to discuss anything his father had told her. Walking inside the room, he set his suitcases down beside the plain bed, eyeing the clock on the wall that said it was 12:30 PM.

"Your uniform is on your bed, and your timetable and map is on the bedside table. If you get changed quickly you should have time to get some lunch and make it to your fourth lesson. Harry will talk you through the rest."

She smiled tightly, bringing a hand to the door handle. "I really hope you like it here." she said, before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her, leaving him alone. Sure you do, he thought- adults never meant what they said.

He sighed, looking down at the suitcase at his feet and pressing the toe of his shoe against it. The leather was worn and old. Although his dad was rich, he hardly ever got the chance to buy Max new things. Max was a minimalist; he clung onto things like toddlers clung onto blankets. Especially the suitcase, even if the handle was almost breaking at the stitches, and the zip kept getting stuck. He couldn't just let things go so easily.

Walking over to the bed, he tested the firmness of the mattress before sinking down into it, his long frame causing the bed to rock as he fell down onto it. He was exhausted from the long plane journey, and the mental pressure of having to hold conversations with his dad.

 Laying back with his head on the unfamiliar pillow, he stared up at the old, white ceiling, the room slowly spinning around him as if he was the sun and the furniture and the walls were planets, and at any moment he would ignite and burst out in flames.

Closing his eyes for a few moments, he let it all spin out of his control, and soon the moments turned into hours, and it wasn't until he opened his eyes again that he even realised he'd fallen asleep.