Chapter Two
[int. hallway --> courtyard - night]
The floor felt like it was freezing the soles of his feet through his shoes, and every slightly open window felt like a hurricane blowing through the halls. In the silent corridor, his footsteps echoed like thunder in the night.
Although his heart beat fast, his strides were long and cautious, as if trying to stall time, as memories were flooding back to him of his time in the school. He was headed to the bus stop. That meant reaching the main road. Lavender stilled as he was nearing a turn, checking if anyone was there. When he was sure he was alone, he kept going. The fact that he was running away was looming over his head, and he was feeling the pressure. Lavender had no clue exactly how much time was passing while he snuck around- he was too focused on getting out to check.
He was nearing the door of the boarding house and slowed, checking if anyone was patrolling. He walked on, checking every time he reached another hallway. He kept going, and going, and going, and suddenly- it was there. The door. The door that would lead to his freedom.
Lavender inched closer, step by step, taking care not to make any noise, and at last- he reached it. He placed his palm on the cold wood.
[beat]
He took a deep breath. The chilly surface sent goosebumps up his arms and neck, and he grabbed the handle.
It seemed almost like the knob turned too easily, like it was too simple. All these worries disappeared the moment he stepped outside. The courtyard was large and open, gravel paths and clearings cutting through trees and grass.
The frigid wind blew through him and made him shiver, the night was eerie, no moon to be seen. This part of the country didn’t get much light pollution, though, and Lavender could see the entire Milky Way. He stood for a minute, basking in the starlight he rarely got to see outside of looking through his dorm room window. He almost felt delirious with euphoria, trying not to laugh lest it alert someone of his running away.
The smile on his face would have been contagious if anyone saw it. Lavender spun around in circles, arms stretched out, face to the sky, admiring the first stars of this journey. When he put his arms down, he calmed, but a soft grin still remained. A few more minutes, and he would be free.
He took the first step toward the gate, and the ear-to-ear smile returned, and along with it- that same feeling of deja-vu. He ignored it and kept walking, a spring in his step, kept from skipping only by a heavy duffel.
The air of freedom seemed to smell better than before, there was no stench of rules and enforced labour . Lavender felt as if a weight had been lifted from him as he went.
He was at the opposite end of a long courtyard, at the other end of which were the dormitory gates, locked by one of the groundskeepers each night at curfew. The school had a few groundskeepers, though only one was memorable; a pleasant old chap who didn’t care much for strict rules and probably let far too many things slide. Lavender’s gait sped up as he moved along the perimeter of the courtyard, keeping in the shadows so as to be out of view of the bedroom windows.
The courtyard was empty, the coast was clear, but his nonexistent plan was just that- nonexistent. Could he climb over the iron bars of the gate? He wasn’t quite skinny enough to slip his pelvis through them. Hitching his bag higher up on his shoulder, he took a deep breath and ran the last stretch of perimeter left between him and the gates. He had to make it out of the gates before he could make his escape into the outside world.
As he reached the gates, he slipped his duffel off to hang on the top of the gate when- eyes. Lavender was staring into the dark, and the dark was staring back.
“‘Ello, chap. You should put on a coat, it’s a bit nippy.” Well, apparently, the dark was British.
[end scene]
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