Trenton Academy

Chapter 2 - My roommate's a part-time tour guide

Nyx woke up to find a girl coming out of the walk-in-closet—her hair wrapped in a towel. She is wearing a white shirt and blue shorts, with a mug in one hand, and a book in the other. The girl looked down at her to see her awake. “Oh hey, sorry. Did I wake you?” she asks, concern clear on her face, placing the mug on her desk. 

Nyx shook her head. “No, it’s okay. You’re good,” her voice a bit groggy. The girl nodded and sat on her chair to face her. Nyx also sat up and pulled her legs to the side of the bed and looked up at the girl. 

“So hi,” she waved, speaking with an upbeat tone. “My name’s Serenity King, but you can call me Rene. I’m your roommate.” she smiled. “And your name is?” she raised her eyebrows, slightly leaning her head to the side. 

“Onyx Larsen. Nyx for short.” Nyx shrugged a shoulder. Rene mouthed an oh. “What were you reading?” Nyx asks, motioning to the book she was holding closed. 

“Oh,” Rene looked down at it. “It’s The Hound of the Baskervilles. I’ve read it before but I kind of forgot how it ends so I’m re-reading it,” she answered, holding up the book to let Nyx see the cover. 

“That’s nice,” Nyx remarked with a smile in her voice, nodding her head in approval. “It’s been so long since I read one of those. I was obsessed with all things detective and mystery. And I still kind of am, to be honest.” Nyx giggled as Rene said, “Same,” with a quiet laugh. 

“So how do you find the school so far? Max took you on the tour, right?” Rene asked, then sipped on her coffee. 

“Well, no. I mean, I asked if we could do it next time cause I was too tired from travel. We headed straight here. And I slept after I finished unpacking.” Nyx replied, smiling sheepishly. 

“Oh,” Rene laughed. “I can tour you now if you want. There’s a lot to see. And dinner is not until six.” she looked at the built-in digital wall clock on the accent wall. “It’s just five, so that leaves us about an hour to explore. What do you say?” she asked, her eyebrows wiggling up and down, and a wide grin. 

“Sure, that sounds fun now that I’m not a walking jetlag.” Nyx agreed, standing up to wear her black lace-up boots. Her teal hoodie and black leggings looked okay to wear out. 

“Great! Let me just change real quick,” Rene said, already tugging at the towel on her hair. She changed her shorts to faded wash jeans but kept the white tee. She brushed her long, half-dried blonde hair out, put on a denim jacket and chunky, white sneakers. “I’m ready, let’s go.” taking her phone and putting it in her pocket. Nyx did the same and followed her to the door.

“To start off our tour, every floor has a small communal kitchen and laundry room,” Rene said, pointing to an opening at the other end of the hallway. Nyx hadn’t seen it yesterday.

Then they got in the elevator and rode it down to the ground lobby. “The first and second floors house the teachers and other staff.” Nyx hummed and nodded okay. Now they were in the ground hallway, with twinkling black quartz tiles and white walls decorated with a few wide frame photographs. “You’ve already seen the lobby,” Rene pointed to the left where the reception desk was and on the farther side where the hallway leading to the boys’ dorms were. 

“Here,” they turned right and walked to the end of the hallway, which she finds out is actually not the end of the hallway. There is another hallway to the right. They walked along and it led to a wide dining area with two floors. A set of staircases was on either side of the room. Each table can seat around ten people. “All other rooms are common area. The hallway on the other end leads to the boys’ dorm. The main building’s entire ground floor is symmetrical, so everything on the other side is just a flipped version of this side. Got it?” Rene looked back at Nyx, who was falling behind her.

“Yep. That’s actually really nice.” Nyx commented, then walked faster to catch up and walk beside Rene. They rode an elevator on the right. The next floor is the library. A single row of tables with monitors is pushed up against the left wall. There is a reading area with tables in the middle. And the shelves are on the right. A few potted plants are littered about. It is cold, quiet, and smells of old books. The setting sun cast a golden light through the windows. Nyx could see herself spending her hours here, curled up with a good book—if not doing her theses. She sighed, then thought of something. “What time is curfew? Wait, is there a curfew?” Nyx asked, turning to Rene.

“There’s no curfew, but you can’t go out of the school grounds once it hits ten p.m. As long as you’re inside the school property, everything should be fine.” she paused, thinking, then continued. “I actually stayed in the library for almost two weeks one time. I had a lot of work to do. I only came up to my room to change.” Rene shook her head, recalling. 

“Oh!” Rene raised her hand halfway in sudden realization. “Before I forget to tell you, there’s a washroom on every floor. Just so you know, for emergency situations.” she made the you-get-me face. Nyx made the I-totally-get-you face. They giggled. “Let’s go up,” Rene suggests, entering the elevator once again. 

“The second floor is where the teachers’ offices are.” It has gray carpeted floors and a cubicle for each teacher. Rene led her to a wide, wooden table with a slim silver monitor and a few folders stacked up neatly. “This is principal Gardner’s table. I like her.” She pointed to a black nameplate with Iris Gardner written on it and Principal in smaller letters underneath. On the same floor, there also was an enormous conference room, with a clean whiteboard in front, and a projector on the ceiling. 

The next floor had a pool area, a gym, a basketball court, and a volleyball court. There were showers and lockers in between them. “We take P.E. classes here if not out on the field.” Nyx nodded, and they continued up. The rest of the floors were classrooms. They quickly toured around, but they all looked the same except for the science lab, art class, and music room. Nyx even played a short piece on the grand piano. She found out that Rene is learning how to play the violin and insisted she play for her. 

After touring all the floors, they went back down to the dining area. “So you’ve already seen the front garden. Let me show you the backfield.” Rene opened a double door at the end of the dining hall. It led to a large, covered patio area. A few outdoor sofas and tables. 

Beyond it was a massive field. There were a number of students playing soccer and some were running. “This is the field. I don’t usually go out here. I much prefer the front garden. And that’s all of it. We finished the tour!” Rene’s phone chimed from her pocket. She took it out and looked down at it, pocketing it again afterward. “Just in time too, it’s dinner. Come on.” 

They made their way back to the dining hall along with other students. A few stayed behind. “Meals aren’t a must to go to, but what can I say, I love food. The menu is fantastic too, as it should.” Students were already lining up when they got there. Rene guided Nyx, and she followed suit. 

Once they filled up their trays, Rene told Nyx to choose a table. Nyx wanted to go upstairs, so up they went. They chose a small table for two near the windows. Outside, the sun almost set entirely, the darkness taking over. Nyx saw the string of lights out on the patio turn on. The trees from afar were dotted with reds, browns, and yellows. It was beautiful.