The flood gates are failing

[Tempest Diamond]

Tempest sighed lightly as he woke up to the sound of his very loud alarm. He turned it off and groaned lightly, He so wasn’t ready to wake up. It was the weekend and he’d already allowed himself some sleeping in time but he didn’t have a good night’s rest. He turned over and for a while he dozed off again but soon was bothered by his snooze going off. He sat up and rubbed his face a little before turning off the alarm and getting up. He stretched and smiled as he felt the wonderful crack in his back and other joints. Taking his clothes for the day he dressed in a light pale blue t-shirt with short sleeves and fashionable print, a nice pair of grey skinny jeans with a pair of white converse and a dark blue jacket in case it got cold. And then he was off to get a bit of fruit for breakfast and find the dorm head. It was around half ten now and he knew that the man might still be sleeping so he took the long way there... Well, there wasn’t that much of a long way but he took his time getting there. He knocked on the door and waited outside looking at his shoes hands in his pockets not really sure why he took a jacket, already he was getting too hot. Why did he put his jacket on already? He took his off and shook his head at his own question. He was probably still half asleep. He sighed a bit and then bit into the apple he’d brought with him, his jacket now tied around his waist as he waited.



The brunette male went looked around a little down the hall’s the sunlight streaming in through illuminating the way from the other dorm rooms to this one a little.. Only two but it brightened the place up nicely he thought. He smiled a little knowing hoping that maybe the rest of the weekend wouldn’t be so.. Awful. Instead he turned his thoughts to sun light attempting to keep his mind from other paths. He loved the sun, but didn’t like when it was too hot, he already got overheated already and sometimes fainted in the summer. He had an elevated body temperature already and often wore t-shirts until the middle of winter because of it. He saw a pair come out of a dorm room and talk and chat on the way happily. He sighed looking down any hint of a smile seemingly gone forever. He needed some more friends. He already had a few but they were growing apart from getting into different classes. He was upset with them too. He thought they would be forever friends but obviously he was wrong..



Temp didn’t understand how they could have been friends for near two years and then they could just drop him like he was nothing. He sighed and sniffled a little, he hadn’t been able to get them to reply to any of his messages online or on the phone and when he’d gone to their dorm they refused to see or let him in. He had went over everything and what they’d said was that he was boring that he never had his own opinion and that they hated that. So, in anger he’d told them just what he thought of them all and sadly had nothing good to say. He’d made a bad mistake there but when he was angry he couldn’t keep anything that he’d observed about others to himself. He kept their secrets but other than that everything else had just poured out like a fountain of stress. He ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath and calmed himself, he shouldn’t be doing this. ‘Stop being so miserable.’ He tried to think to himself. With another bite into the apple he tried to further distract himself from his feelings of rejection just piled onto some more deeper unresolved family issues and bit his lower plush pale peach lip with the saddest puppy eyes ever. He couldn’t think or anything to be very happy about at all. His mouth was twitching like it wanted to smile and frown but couldn’t make up it’s mind to do either. His eyes stung and tears welled at his lids, his hands had a dull ache and his head began to pound with the beating of his own heart. He took a hitched breath in and a small sob came after. He shook his head and turned to leave however before he could clear himself of the door, it opened.

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Zeb hadn't slept the night before. He'd given up somewhere around four in the morning. By the time the sun was coming up, he'd already finished one pot of coffee. He was waiting for his second one to finish and decided he might go outside and smoke his pipe a bit. Maybe the morning air would help him be more alert.

When he opened the door however, all thoughts of his own problems with sleep vanished. "Mr. Diamond," he said, the concern clear in his voice. "Are you okay?" At first he worried that the boy was hurt. It happened sometimes. Kids could be rough and even if they didn't mean to hurt anyone, sometimes the students didn't know their own strength.

It didn't look like Tempest was hurt, but it was obvious something was wrong. "Come inside," he said, stepping inside to invite the boy into his apartment so the two could have some privacy. Once they were inside, Zeb took a seat at the little table in his kitchen. The coffee was still brewing and it was starting to smell great, but he kept his eyes on the sobbing boy. Zeb gestured for him to take a seat as well as he waited to find out what had happened.

[Tempest Diamond]

Tempest sniffled and tried to wipe his eyes. "...Z...Eb.." he said and then looked at him with sad eyes. "U..Uhmm.. " he said and then nodded a little defeated. He went in and then looked around a little, he sat down when asked and he looked down. He felt so bad that he just kept crying. He hadn't a clue what to say at all. He just watched him a little through blurred eyes and then whined a bit. He looked around a little again not sure he wanted to be there. He sighed and then frowned. "I.. Don't know what to do.." he whined a bit. He sighed and then swallowed. "My friends and I fell out.. Save one.... They said that I don't have any of my own opinions." He sighed. "And then I told them my opinions and well they wouldn't like it.. And they didn't..... And... And... I'm just really afraid that no one will like me now and that they don't anymore and that I won't make any more friends.. I don't want it to be like at home.. I like it here.. I" He rambled. "I haven't gotten one single letter from any of them in four years.." He cried a bit. "They put money in my account every month but to them that's only pennies.." he curled up and began crying harder.

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Zeb pulled a clean handkerchief out of his pocket and offered it to the boy as they walked back into his apartment. It literally hurt for him to see any of his students this upset, especially when he knew that more often than not there was no quick and easy solution to make it all better. All he could do was wait while Tempest explained why he was so upset and hope he could offer some advice to make it not seem like the end of the world.

He listened quietly as the boy let it out. And though he had trouble following along towards the end, he understood enough to grab the basics of the problem. He sighed as he leaned towards Tempest. "I'm so sorry," he said. Teenagers could be harsh. More often than not, he knew that these little fallings out had a way of working themselves out in the end but he didn't think Tempest would want to hear that right now.

"I really don't think you have to worry about no one liking you though," Zeb continued, giving the boy a compassionate smile. "You're a great kid. And I'm glad you like it here. I'm sure a lot of people like that you're here too. I know I do." And it was true. Tempest was one of the students Zeb didn't usually have to reprimand. And though Zeb wasn't aware of all of the details, he knew enough about the boys past that he tried to keep an eye on him. Kids at Hammel often had enough to deal with, that he couldn't help but feel sorry for those who hadn't had the best life before their time here.

"Who? Your parents?" Zeb asked. He had a pretty good idea that's who Tempest meant, but he wanted to be sure before commenting further.

The coffee had finished up and though Zeb felt bad for getting distracted, he wanted to be as alert as possible for this conversation. "Excuse me, I'm just gonna grab some coffee. Would you like something? I've got milk, soda too." He gave another warm smile as he rose and walked the few steps to his small kitchen area to pour himself a mug.

[Tempest Diamond]

Tempest took the handkerchief when it was offered to him and he wiped his eyes a little however it didn’t work too well. He sobbed lightly and curled up in the chair trying to stop crying already. He trembled and sniffled before notting. “Yeah... My.. Family... I.. I hated being with them there and no one liked me I wanted friends so I made some but they all left and I’m alone again and it feels like this place has become like home and I dislike that. This place is where I belong and home was never where I was meant to be.” He shivered and pouted a little staring at the floor. “I covered for them so many times.. No it was just an accident, no I’m fine I just fell off my horse... I never had a bloody horse it’s my little brother that jumped horses. I just got beat cause I couldn’t get 100 percent in all of my tests at school...” He cried harder and he felt as if he really needed to cool off. Literally he was too hot.. Like all of what he was saying made him warmer. He was very aware of the scars he had under his shirt and was suddenly nervous of what he'd blurted out.

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Zeb continued to listen as Tempest talk. He knew that sometimes a student needed to just get it out. Especially when it was something that was hard to really express to their peers.

Tempest didn't have to worry about Zeb judging him or acting surprised by what he heard. He already knew that the boy had survived a violent upbringing. After all, he was one of the dorm monitors so knowing a bit of background on each of the students, particularly those with trouble pasts or who those who might cause potential problems. Unlike Dr. Neville may have, he didn't have detailed files or anything. But he knew enough.

And the little that he did know made him want to physically hurt someone. But none of that showed on his face or in his tone.

"I'm so sorry for the way you were treated. You did not deserve that. You know that right?" he said, holding the boy's gaze.

"And you're safe here," he added as he poured himself some coffee. He held out the pot in a 'want some' gesture to the boy before continuing. "I know some days it may not seem like it, but Hammel is a fresh start."

[Tempest Diamond]

Tempest shook his head a little when he said that he didn't deserve to be treated in such a way. He looked down and was now just shaking his breath a little quiker than usual. He shook his head again at the offer of coffee. "I.... " He sniffled as tears tracked down his cheeks. "I.. Don't want..." he bit his lower lip. "She said I wasn't her son." He said weakly. "Before coming here she wished she'd never kept me." He sniffled. "They say I.. If a mother can't even love her son no one will......" He went silent after that and began panicking a little staring at nothing but focused on one point in the room. He didn't know what he even came there for but he was very very sad.

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Having gotten himself his coffee, Zeb returned to his seat across from the boy. He took a long drink from his cup, burning his tongue a bit, but he hoped it would help him to wake up and focus. Of so he hoped. Though, usually whenever a student or anyone for that matter came to him with a problem it was fairly easy for him to shove aside whatever he may be dealing with in his own life. His sister called his is "mother hen" complex.

Still it was pretty early in morning. Zeb was still working on waking up.

In an effort to keep from reaching out to hug the shaking boy, Zeb gripped his knee with one hand. It hurt. It literally hurt. He just felt helpless when he saw another person in pain like this.

"Have you talked with anyone about all this?" Zeb asked, softly. "Like Dr. Neville maybe?" Not that Zeb ever tried to push anyone in that direction. It was one of the reason he enjoyed his job so much. Some of the students didn't feel comfortable talking to someone with a 'doctor' title.

"I don't know who told you that," Zeb added. "But they were wrong."