Soul Bound [OLD VERSION]

Chapter Five: A Chance Encounter With a Yellow Lab

He suddenly realised with startling clarity; he didn't know how to get to school.

"Coco, how am I supposed to get there? We - we both know dad won't wake up to take me." She nuzzled against his neck, chirping quietly. "What, you want me to try? I don't see the point, but whatever."

He went to his father's room, which was very much cluttered. "Dad. It's Monday." He got no response. "Dad!" He shook his father's shoulders, which only made him grumble and turn over so his back faced Virgil. "See?" he murmured to Coco.

Suddenly she was in the air, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him in the direction of the front door. Virgil wasn't sure what she was up to but he trusted her judgement.

They got out the door and Coco continued to drag him across the yard until they got to the side of the road. Virgil managed to piece together what she was trying to say. "Do you m...mean the bus? How do you know there even is a bus? Our old school didn't have one."

Just as he asked this, he heard the unexpected sound of a school bus approaching. He suddenly had several questions that he would probably never get the answers to.

"Convenient bus is convenient, I guess," he joked. "But how did you know?" He glanced at Coco, but she only licked his cheek. What an enigma.

The bus pulled up, the doors opening, and Virgil reluctantly got inside. He was suddenly hit with a nervous energy. He took a few deep breaths as he found an empty seat, occupying himself there and hoping — praying, even — that no one would want to sit beside him.

The bus rumbled along, Virgil becoming lost in thought. He was suddenly attacked with memories from Wyoming. He tried to shake them but they held on tightly. Images he couldn't get out of his head, words he couldn't get out of his mind, scars he would never get off his skin. He had been almost seven months clean. No more.

After a while of battling his brain, he finally arrived at his new high school. He was not excited in the slightest. In fact, he would rather live in a garbage can than go to school today. However, he knew it was inevitable, so he got to his feet and stepped off the bus.

The building's size alone was enough to intimidate him into making a run for it. He swallowed his fear and made his way into the building. He was supposed to talk to the school's principal as soon as he arrived, so he set out to find their office.

It didn't take long to locate, and when he knocked on the door, a man holding his... rabbit soul spirit opened it. Virgil would have expected him to have something more intimidating like a tiger or a bear — or an eagle like his old principal had — certainly not an innocent little desert cottontail. He still decided to keep his guard up just to be safe.

"Hello! Are you the new student?" Virgil nodded his head in a silent response. The principal's smile grew. "Nice to meet you! I'm Mr Sanders!" He held his hand out to shake, still holding his soul spirit in his other arm. Virgil reluctantly shook it, staring at the rabbit as it stared back at him. Mr Sanders noticed this and chuckled. "Let me guess; you weren't expecting a rabbit."

Virgil couldn't help the blush that brushed his cheeks. "Well, uh, I - I wasn't gonna s-say anything—"

"Don't worry about it! A lot of people expect a principal to have some scary soul spirit to keep 'em in line, but I don't need that. I don't wanna scare my students, I just wanna help em! Just out of curiosity, what did your old principal have?"

Virgil grinned. "An..." He struggled to finish his sentence. "An eagle. Sorry I - I suck at t-talking."

"That's okay! Anyway, why don't you come on in? I've got your schedule and locker combo, and someone's gonna swing by in a few minutes to show you around."