Alexander grimaced and pulled open the other door for himself. “No,” he growled, passing Van and stopping at the next door, which was locked.

Van watched Alexander pass him and gave a mockingly hurt sigh as he followed. He produced his student card, scanning it at the door which opened for him, “You need your ID to get into the build—.”

Alexander passed him without word, stopping just inside to wait for him. “The headmaster already told me about that,” he informed.

“Did she tell you what else you can use it for?” Van said, arching another eyebrow at Alexander.

“I’m sure it’s in the student handbook,” Alexander replied sourly, now following Van past a small security office. Here, a female guard sat behind a window playing on her phone, looking bored—though she did make a note to look up when the door beeped, only to look back down again once seeing Van.

“Would it kill you to have a conversation with someone?” Van sighed leading Alexander into the main foyer where there was a common area filled with couches and low tables as well as bar counters. There were also a number of students here, books and papers forgotten under bags of chips and other snacks. They were all talking until they saw Van, at which point they stopped.

“Hey King!” one of the boys waved.

Van grinned and strolled over, but not before grabbing Alexander by the arm and dragging him along. “Hey guys, got a spare?” he asked, eying the room. “Most of your class is here.”

“Teacher was out with a cold,” a girl replied, her eyes roving over Alexander. “Who’s the new kid?” she asked, nodding towards him.

“Oh, yes,” Van began, briefly catching Alexander’s eye, “Princess, here is a new student—A scholarship from Canada,” he introduced.

“For the love of—,” Alexander rolled his eyes and turned to the group. “My name is Ale—.”

“Princess,” the first boy interrupted.

“D-definitely Princess,” a shy girl flushed from a nearby couch.

There was a chorus of agreement from the room in general before the first boy spoke again, “If King Van says your name is Princess, then it’s Princess,” he waved dismissively.

Alexander recoiled, pulling his bags closer to his chest as he lowered his head to hide behind his bangs once more. His mouth opened briefly to say something before he closed it again, his lips setting into a tight line. He turned away from the group, before speaking in a low, strained voice to Van, “C-can you just show me to my room? I’m really tired from my trip.” With that, he walked away, stopping at the bottom of the nearby stairs to wait for Van.

Van put his hands on his hips and gave a concerned smile, his gaze following Alexander before he turned back to the group. “I think I teased him too much,” he sighed. “Give him time. I think he’s had a rough life,” he said, waving over his shoulder to the students as he walked away. Before starting up the stairs, he pulled out his phone, checking something. “Looks like you’re in five-fifteen,” he said. He looked to Alexander, who hadn’t said anything or moved yet. “Look, I’m sorry, alright?”

At his apology, Alexander visibly flinched and started up the stairs ahead of him, albeit slowly. “I’m just tired,” he reiterated. They could hear the students in the main room whispering—more than a few of them appalled that Van apologized.

The two of them climbed the stairs in silence, making their way up the five flights without a word to one another. They reached the top and found themselves in a hallway stretching in either direction. Van turned left, “Your room is this way,” he said finally.

“Do all those kids stay here?” Alexander asked after a moment.

“Huh?” Van turned a bit as Alexander fell into step beside him. “The ones downstairs? No. Only three or four of them do,” he said. “If you’re worried, they’re not in the same class as you are—if that helps your anxiety at all.”

Alexander tensed, “Who said I was anxious?”

They stopped at a door at the far end of the hall. “Princess,” Van chuckled, “It’s written all over you.”

“I’m just tired,” Alexander said again.

Van heaved a heavy sigh and swiped his card on the door’s reader, allowing them into the room. “You need to relax. No one’s gonna eat you, you know,” he said, prompting Alexander to enter ahead of him.

“Why can you open my door with your card?” Alexander asked flatly as he strode past Van and into the small room. The entrance was an alcove that had a small door to the left that opened into a tiny coat closet. The end of the hall revealed the rest of his room which was surprisingly spacious. The back wall had sliding glass doors that opened onto a balcony and the left wall had another window with a view of the city and harbour in the distance.

“King, duh,” Van said, as though it answered Alexander’s question. He waltzed into the room and pulled open the curtains on the window and balcony doors, opening those too, to let in a cross-breeze.

Meanwhile Alexander moved to the right-most wall of the room where a bed stood with a desk crammed next to it along the wall with the alcove. He sat down on the bare mattress, looking a bit lost, still clutching his bags close to himself. “I still don’t see why you’d need access to my private room,” he reiterated.

Van leaned back against the window frame, studying Alexander. “Normally I wouldn’t use the privilege, but your hands are kinda full, Princess. Besides,” he waved uselessly, “I’d rather be open about the fact that I have access than keep it a secret from you. What would be the point anyways?”

“I still don’t understand why,” Alexander frowned.

“For emergencies,” Van stated. “Generally, if I use it for anything else, I could get in serious trouble.”

“Generally?” Alexander arched an eyebrow at Van.

“Well, as you can probably tell, I’m very well liked. And sometimes it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission,” he winked.

Alexander frowned and looked away to the floor, “It makes me uncomfortable knowing someone else has access.”

“Like I said, emergencies only,” Van reiterated. “Why don’t you unpack?” he added, desperately trying to change the subject. “Do you have any other luggage being delivered?”

Alexander shook his head, his grip tightening around his bags. “The witch burned up my stuff. This is all that’s left,” he explained.

Van frowned, “I hope you didn’t lose anything too important.”

“No,” Alexander shook his head. “Just my clothes and other replaceable things.”

Van let out a soft chuckle, “A pragmatic kid. Princess moves away from home, across the ocean, and doesn’t bring anything sentimental with him?”

“I don’t own a lot of things,” Alexander replied, finally relaxing his grip on his bags. “Evan doesn’t make a lot of money and it never occurred to me to accumulate stuff.”

“I see,” Van mused, folding his arms. “Hence the scholarship,” he added. “Cranberry isn’t cheap, that’s for sure.”

Alexander was silent a moment. “I wouldn’t have come if it weren’t my only chance,” he held up his bandaged arm inspecting it briefly before letting it lay across his bags, “I’m starting to regret not staying home.”

“Your only chance?” Van inquired, arching an eyebrow.

Alexander seemed to deflate a little. “I was expelled from the local school board. Evan couldn’t afford to send me to private school or to another district out of town—not that the busses would take me if she could,” he said, his expression bitter.

“What happened?” Van asked.

Alexander shook his head. “Simply put, I was accused of being a witch.”