Arnold woke up with a grunt. It was the start of the last week of school before they broke up for the Christmas break. He listened to the sounds of his house and heard the running of a tap, which meant that one of his family members were using the bathroom already and he would have to wait his turn. He was tempted to go back to sleep but knew that wasn't a smart idea and so he got out of his bed and stretched. Jacob was already up and about he saw as his bunk was empty, but Brendan and Rudy were still in their bed, Brendan was awake and waiting whilst Rudy was still asleep or pretending to be at least.
"I'll use the bathroom next," Arnold said, and Brendan nodded in agreement. Arnold waited patiently for it to be free and grabbed his clothes whilst he waited.
Arnold had never looked forward to Christmas as most kids did. His family still being poor never really got him anything for it. A handmade card and something his nana had knitted perhaps but nothing amazing. Last year had been different though as Will had brought round a bike last year on boxing day saying that he had just got a new one and didn't need his old one anymore. Sure, it was a little small for him now but still, it had allowed him to go on many bike rides with his mates and he no longer felt left out. His parents were a little sad that this had happened as it showed that they couldn't afford to get him stuff themselves, but he said that Will was free to do what he liked, and he wanted to keep it. To thank Will in a way he had saved some of his alliance this year and had got a small Lego kit for him, it was just a fire patrol helicopter. He would give it to him later this week as they still had a couple days left at school.
He heard the door open on the bathroom and he rushed out of his room to claim it next and made it before one of the girls did. Freda was taking longer in there than anything and he suspected it was to do with her wanting to apply makeup to look good for the boys in her grade. Arnold had a quick wash as he knew the rest of them would complain if he had a full-on shower. As he looked in the mirror, he could see that his blond hair was getting longer and his mama would moan at him to get it cut soon, or even worse do it herself and he'd look even more of a dork. His hazel eyes were still the same and looked over his face, he saw another spot on his cheek and a few more hairs below his nose where a moustache should be, Jacob and his dad said that as he got older they would grow better there as well as elsewhere on his face but that he should shave them in the meantime and his father had shown him how. He did it every weekend when he got to use the bathroom for a bit longer. He had other hair growing elsewhere on his body that confused him but he daren't ask about it just yet and look stupid. He sprayed some deodorant on and then got dressed and left the bathroom and saw Freda enter it next, this made him feel bad for Brendan but there was little he could do about it.
He made his way to their kitchen/dining room and saw that Jacob and his mama were already there have a heated debate as they often did these days. She didn't like the way his hair looked as he had grown it out into a popular style of the mullet. It wasn't just that they argued about as Jacob was doing well in school and seemed likely to get the scholarship he hoped for and she didn't want him to go but father was proud of him and was saving up some funds to help him in a way to get there. Jacob would go there the year after next if he was successful and by the looks of it, he was going to be successful having got good grades, mostly A's and B's and was doing well with the wrestling team that he was part off. They both stopped when they saw him and said hello and he gave the greeting back. He grabbed some breakfast and ate it quickly, other members of the family wandered in from time to time and they all talked together. Once he was done he went back to his room and grabbed his stuff for school, nowadays they didn't all walk together as they once did as Jacob often set off before them and Freda went to one of her friends to walk with them to the high school as she went there now but he still had to look after his younger brothers. So, he had to wait for them to be ready which depended on when they got in the bathroom, if they were awake early enough they could make pretty good time but if they slept in a little and Freda got in there before they did they had to rush to make it for the bell.
This morning they had to rush and as soon as his brothers had finished their breakfast, they grabbed their bags and ran out of the door. They had to go at the pace of Rudy who was the smallest of them which annoyed Arnold sometimes, but he couldn't make him go any faster no matter how much he shouted at him to move his ass. They eventually made it to school, and they went their separate ways and Arnold hurried to class as he saw that his friends weren't outside. He just made it into class as the bell went and he sat down at his desk which was next to Will's who smiled at him as he sat down and they shared a few words before the teacher started the register. Will looked the same as always though his brown hair was long and messier now his brown eyes were still the same and he too had grown a bit taller and had a few spots on his face.
Even though this was the last week before they went on break the teacher had them doing work and the first two lessons that day was math-based which Arnold was ok with though it was still a little early for so much thought. Will still struggled with it, so he would often have to help him with some of the harder questions that the teacher had them doing and explaining how to work it out but not actually giving him the answer. This was the only subject which he was better at than Will, but he didn't rub it in and when it came to something he struggled with, Will was there to help him. The time passed surprisingly quickly that morning and soon enough it was time for the break and the kids walked out of class, glad to get some fresh air.
"How come you were late this morning?" Will asked as they were walking to the playground.
"Same old story, my brothers were late getting up so had to wait for Freda to finish in the bathroom" Arnold replied.
"Girls, eh, that take a ridiculous amount of time to get ready, I know that with Anna," Will said.
"That they do and it only started when she started going to the high school, she never took that long when she came here, she might put a bit of lip gloss on but that was it and that didn't take forever" Arnold replied.
"Yeah and I see the same on the girls here, they don't seem to try to be pretty," Will said.
"That is true, some just are pretty" Arnold replied.
"You would never have said that last year," Will said.
"I know man, what has become of me" Arnold replied.
"Puberty I reckon, my dad has told me a little about it, says it changes us," Will said.
"That probably is it, we'll learn more after this Christmas break" Arnold replied, right then Jason and Malcolm joined them, and they changed subjects to what they were going to do over the break. Jason would be going away this year to go visit his grandparents in Florida, his dad said that his grandfather might not make it to next year with him having lung cancer, so they were going there to give him a last good one. Malcolm would spend the time with his family here but would be up for anything after the day itself. Will said the same thing and said he would think on the matter and hoped for some snow as they hadn't had yet much yet and it would be good to get some sledding in. Arnold said he would try and get some free time to come out but as always, his family expected him to help in the shop. Jason was the thinnest of all even though he ate better than Arnold he didn't do nearly as much work, his black hair was sticking up with gel he used, and his green eyes were full of laughter, he was quite lucky as he didn't have any spots yet. Malcolm, on the other hand, was certainly the tallest out of the four of them and stood quite stiffly, his brown hair was very short and smart, his blue eyes were looking everywhere for trouble, he had one or two spots showing on his face. They then discussed what they hoped to get for Christmas, Arnold didn't expect much as always but had asked for a new book to read and hoped to get a good one. Jason said he expected to get several joke shop items from his uncle but had no idea what the rest of his family would get him. Malcolm expected to get some boot polish or something from his folks, maybe a new toy if he was lucky. Will said he had no idea what he was getting as his parents managed to keep it a secret and he hadn't asked for anything this year. Soon enough the bell rang, and they had to go back in and continue lessons.
YOU ARE READING
Your Princess is in Another Castle
Teen FictionThe second Novella in my Retrograde series, this picks up just over a year after the events of Insert Coin to Continue as the friends get ready for the Christmas break. The bullies are still a problem but they are better equipped to deal with them p...
