Time Warp: All I Want Is A Room Somewhere(Saki)

It was a pretty sweet deal from the way the recruiter explained it. Basically, free room and board. Meals. Education. Training for his stupid meta-power that had popped up out of nowhere and started this whole cascade of stop-and-go-make-a-decision-oh-wait-you-have-none-come-with-me-if-you-want-to-live events. Despite that, Oriel's scowl had not changed from the moment the recruiters picked him up and started driving him the long hours out of New York, up through Connecticut and into Vermont, where his "home" for the next few years until graduation was supposed to be, to the moment he stepped into his bedroom. For the whole trip he entertained visions of a life he never knew, stuff he'd only heard about in stories or saw on television. The sit-com perfect family life. He might go and become all lighthearted and jolly, telling the cheesy jokes that everyone laughed at before they cut to the credits. He might find himself a real girlfriend instead of these easy chicks he laid at his convenience from the street gangs he floated around and between. He might make friends with some jock and they'd get into playful brawls in the courtyard then get sent to the principal's office...not that he hadn't done that, but it there was never anything 'playful' about those fights that were hardly even fights. He was supposed to be heading towards a "normal" life.

But the second he stepped into that bedroom, the world came crashing down on him as he realized everything he'd left behind back in New York City. Sure it wasn't a great life back there, but it was his life. And he'd thrown it all away for this one that was obviously too good for him. The room was so clean, the bed new, the sheets unused and freshly washed. There were some clothes hanging in the closet, "donated" by the school. The small room, so quaint and delicate, was so incredibly big and empty. He couldn't breath looking at it, the urge to sully and destroy everything he saw started welling up inside him and with a jerk, Oriel shoved the bed aside, threw the covers off, splaying them across the floor, and chucked the pillows across the room, knocking the desk-lamp off the desk. He didn't even cringe when he heard the crash, just the sound of his own ragged breathing.

No....he wasn't going to cry. No matter how much his eyes burned and his throat hurt, he refused to let those tears fall.

This place wasn't for him. It was too nice. Everything was. And this street kid, this worthless child who had no future and would never amount to anything, this filthy rat had already ruined all the nice things this room had to offer in the span of 10 seconds just from touching them. With a chilling shudder and desperate expression, Oriel spent the next 10 minutes cleaning the mess he'd made and fixing the bed back into the same condition it was when he'd first arrived. There was nothing he could do about the lamp, it was broken, but still he set it neatly on top of the wooden desk.

The boy looked around, still feeling the oppressive aura from this new, too-good-to-be-true environment. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep here. Not if his life depended on it. But where else could he go? It's what bedrooms were for, right? Especially nice one's like this?

Oriel shuddered again and wrapped his trembling arms tightly around himself, backing up slowly into the corner and sliding down to the floor where he cradled his head into his knees.



A few days had passed since Oriel's arrival at the Hammel Institute. He'd spent most of his time outside and avoiding people and places that made him uncomfortable. He knew he had roommates, but he hadn't met any of them yet. At least, not in a friendly manner.

While he was not-sleeping in his room, Oriel heard various electronic sounds from the room next door. The guy sure liked video games. He heard a couple of doors opening and closing, voices of a girl and some other guy, but he didn't bother to say hi. Today, when he finally decided to venture out of his room, he opened the door to some older kid. A real nerd. Who only sneered at the young boy. Oriel just glared back and ignored him with a grunt.

Today, Oriel planned to....hell he didn't know. He just needed to get out of that room. The common area was fine for now. He curled up on the end of the couch, bringing his knees up to his chest, and flipped on the TV. Then he muted it. The noise was annoying. The silence was deafening. Regardless, he just sat there, watching the silent pictures flash on the screen with that same scowl frozen on his face.