Chapter 2 at Hammel (Open)

[Grayson Sato]

Grayson finally got settled in. He was starting his second life at Hammel. It felt good to be back in some familiar territory. It did feel a little weird to Grayson. To be a staff member instead of a student. It was going to take a little bit before the weirdness would wear off. When Grayson was student, he didn't think that he would end up getting a job at the school he went to. Now it was his turn to help the current students get through their school days. Grayson looked around his new room. It was most certainly weird but right. He picked up the notes that the other dorm monitors left for him. Notes were on which students to keep a close eye on.

Gray was tried. He didn't get very much sleep in the past few days. Maybe, since he was in familiar territory, sleep would come to him easier. Perhaps he would try to take a nap. He turned on some classical music. Grayson made himself comfortable on the couch to take a quick nap. He closed his eyes when there was a knock on his door. He groaned. Grayson got up from the couch, "Just one moment." He went to the door and opened it. "Yes? What can I do for you?"

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Unlike Grayson, a part of Zeb had always known that he would return to Hammel to help the next generations. He felt that the staff at Hammel had done so much for him as a student that he wanted to give back. Pay it forward and all of that. Who knows how long he would be doing this for, but for now, he couldn't see himself doing anything else.

Still he remembered the awkwardness of returning to Hammel and making the switch to being a staff member instead of a student. So even though he had left Grayson some information, he figured he'd stop by to check in on him.

"Actually I was stopping by to see if there is anything I can do for you Mr. Sato," Zeb said with a smile. "Do you drink coffee?" He was holding two mugs of coffee in his hands. He figured if Grayson didn't want the other one, he wouldn't mind drinking it too. Zeb lived on the stuff and couldn't function without it and though he couldn't recall many details about Grayson as a student since there was a few years between them, he had remembered that he had been a fellow insomniac at the time. Of course things could have changed...

[Grayson Sato]

Grayson opened his door to find Zeb with a smile and coffee. "Please, come in." Grayson moved aside to let Zeb in. "You don't need to use mister with me. Yes, I do," Grayson happily took the coffee mug Zeb offered to him. Grayson took a sip of the hot beverage. "Thank you, Mr. Hayes. Please, take a seat. Make your self comfortable." Gray gestured to the couch.

The name Hayes had a familiar ring to it. Gray knew that he had heard the name before. Gray had meet many people from public school, to Hammel, and all his travel across America. He didn't remember every face and name. There were some names that stuck with Grayson as well as faces. Even though there were many new faces at Hammel, Gray felt very much at home.

"I'm readjusting to Hammel life. I'm back in familiar territory." Gray sat down next to Zeb. He took a long sip from the mug. "How long have you've been working here? If you don't mind me asking." Grayson asked out of curiosity.

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Zeb smiled as he walked inside. "Fine. Grayson it is. As long as you call me Zeb," he said. Though he didn't mind Mr. Hayes he usually asked most people, even the students he was closer to, to call him Zeb. For the some students, he felt it helped break down the whole staff/student barrier and made it easier to approach him. Which after all was Zeb's goal. He wanted everyone to feel like they could knock on his door whenever they needed, though he would prefer it was after he had some coffee.

Zeb took a seat at the couch, sipping his own coffee. "Yeah, it took me a while to realize I wasn't a student anymore and should actually be stopping kids rather than joining in with them sometimes." He laughed. Seriously though some days he still had trouble with the whole discipline thing.

"I don't mind at all. Ask away," Zeb said, happy to help answer any questions Grayson might have. "I've been here since..." he paused to think a while and count on his fingers. "2007. Wow." It suddenly hit him just how long he'd been working at Hammel. It has started out as a temporary thing while he worked towards a higher degree. But over the years he'd kinda slacked on that. Partly because he didn't have time for it as much as he thought it would. Secondly, he had found his calling and was debating whether he needed to be spending more money on another degree.

"So what made you return to Hammel?"

[Grayson Sato]

“No kiddin’. I graduated in 2007.” Gray chuckled. Of course there were going to age differences between Gray and his colleagues. To think that Gray was finishing up his time at Hammel and Zeb was starting his second round. Gray tried to recall the names and faces of the dorm monitors during his last year. He didn’t have any clear memory of Zeb, but his face was familiar to Gray.

Gray sipped his coffee. “Traveling. After high school I went back to my family in L.A. I stayed there for a little bit and then I started traveling. I went across America. I did that for about eight years. And next thing I know I’m back in Pilot Ridge.” Gray leaned against the back of the couch. “I thought I would stick around here.”