~

A yawn escapes my mouth, and I cover it with my hand, until I've finished yawning.

That was the 6th time I've yawned today. And it was only 6.30 in the morning.

I'd woken up early today to make myself a cup of tea before Breakfast, as I now know that they don't offer hot drinks in the cafeteria.

And I needed my tea in the morning.

Classic British traits.

I stir the spoon in my cup, then use it to lift the tea bag out, and holding a hand out underneath the spoon, carry the tea bag and drop it in the bin. I then find milk in the fridge, and pour that in my cup, stirring it again.

"What you making?"

"BLOODY HELL." I shout out, turning around quickly and almost knocking over the milk. Almost. It was very close.

Thomas is standing behind me, eyes wide in shock, dressed in an oversized dull blue shirt, and-

His boxers.

I only know it's his boxers because they peek out a little from underneath his shirt. And whenever I do the laundry at home, there's always a pair of boxers in there somewhere.

Thank gosh for oversized shirts. I mentally thank the creator of oversized shirts and look at Thomas' face, who seems to be stuck at whether to laugh or to grin.

"Thomas, don't do that to me again!" I laugh, slapping him across his shoulder playfully. "Scared the bloody heck out of me!"

"I know." He grins even more, a smirk arriving on his face. I just shake my head at him and turn back to my cup of tea, impressed that nothing spilled.

I add sugar, 2 teaspoons - yes, I loved my tea sugary- and then also mix that in, all while Thomas is still watching me.

When my tea is done, I pick up the cup and turn around, leaning against the kitchen counter and taking a sip of it. The sweet, hot drink fills my mouth, wakening up my brain.

"Mm." I sigh happily, and Thomas raises his eyebrows at me.

"What are you drinking?" He asks, genuine curiosity in his eyes.

"What do you think I'm drinking?"

"Tea?"

"Bingo, Sherlock." I roll my eyes at him, smiling as I continue to sip my tea.

"You woke up early to drink tea." He states sarcastically, smirking at me.

"Yes. Problem?" I smile, lowering the cup from my face.

"No." Thomas' smirks deepens. "Is it good?"

I roll my eyes again, and hand him the cup. He looks at me to confirm he can try it and I nod at him. He then lifts the cup to his face, drinks the tea and-

"URGH!" Thomas runs over to the sink and spits the tea out. I begin to laugh uncontrollably, as he hands me the cup quickly and wipes his hand over his mouth, looking at me in shock and giving the cup dirty looks like it did anything.

"Why is that so sweet?!" Thomas exclaims, his eyes wide.

"I like my tea sweet." I smirk, sipping the tea in front of him as he makes disgusted faces at me.

"Are you trying to make me spit the tea all over you?" I sigh again, smiling at him.

"Woman, if even a drop of that disgusting drink lands on me-"

"SHANKS QUIET DOWN!" A voice shouts, not sounding that loud because of the thick walls, but I can still tell that they're shouting.

Thomas looks at me.

I look at him.

And then we're both giggling hysterically, laughing so hard that my stomach aches, and I'm sure Thomas' does as well, because he's clutching it as if it's going to fall off.

"I think we woke Minho up a bit too early." I snort, finishing my tea.

"He's supposed to wake up now anyways for his run." Thomas breathes heavily, still struggling to breathe.

"So then what's his problem?" I ask, heading over to the sink, and beginning to wash my cup.

"He likes to get all the sleep he can get." Thomas smirks, as the door to the Boy's bedrooms opens up, and Minho appears, dressed in his running clothes and a black wristwatch on his left wrist. His face is stormy, however, and his hair looks like its trying its very best not to stick up.

"Morning." Thomas smirks again, as I finish washing the cup and begin to dry it.

Minho doesn't say anything, only stands there and fiddles with his watch.

"Helloooooo." Thomas walks over to Minho. "Earth to Minho." He waves a hand in front of his face, but Minho doesn't show any reaction.

I finish drying the cup and put it back in the cupboard I found it in, and then look at Thomas, who's now clicking his fingers at Minho.

I snort. "Leave him be, Thomas." When the words exit my mouth, Minho looks up. He looks around the room, and seems unhappy with whatever he sees.

"The shuck were you two doing?" He snorts, rubbing a hand through his hair.

"Drinking tea." Thomas smirks. "Well, she was."

I just smile faintly at that.

"Right." Minho grimaces, and then abruptly leaves the door. I'm surprised he doesn't slam the door shut.

"Is he alright?" I ask, genuinely concerned for Minho. He seemed a bit, off. He certainly wasn't the same, bubbly, sarcastic Minho I'd seen for the past 2 days.

"I think his hair is putting him off." Thomas shrugs, although he also looks worried. "Maybe you should ask Lyra to let him have his hair gel back."

"Whatever makes him feel better." I sigh. "I'm going to get ready now." I tell Thomas.

"What's wrong with what you're wearing?"

I raise my eyebrows at him, and then look at my clothes. Or, my pyjamas. I'm wearing Lilo and Stitch pyjama bottoms and a white tank top with spaghetti straps. Not very appropriate for school.

"These are my pyjamas." I state, looking at him in disbelief. He's just smirking.

"So? They look fine."

"I appreciate the compliment, Thomas, but no thank you. I suggest you also get dressed." I snort.

"Why?" Thomas smirks again. "I'm sure everyone wants to see me in my boxers."

"I don't." Thomas clutches his heart with his hand mockingly, and I just shake my head, laughing a little as I leave him in then Homestead and head to my room.

~

"English." I grumble. It was time for our first lesson, time for Glade Boarding School to actually feel like a school.

"Wish you were with us." Lyra's lips form a thin line. Yeah, her and Fawn were in the same lesson. I don't know who else I had the same lessons with, as the boys had disappeared somewhere, and I didn't see any of the girls.

"I'm just glad we didn't have lessons yesterday. I would die if I had English twice first thing in the morning." I sigh.

"We'll drop you off at your lesson." Fawn smiles sympathetically, and I smile back gratefully.

Eventually, we reach the English corridor. I say my goodbyes to Fawn and Lyra, and then wander the corridor, looking for my classroom with my teacher's name on it: Miss Wilson. I find it right at the end, and I enter the classroom. I notice that everyone is stood at the back of the classroom, so I assume I'm not late, and I sigh in relief.

"Livvy?"

"Thomas?" He steps out from the group at the back, and he runs towards me, just as I hear a woman shout out 'Young man!'.

"Thank gosh you're in my lesson." I smile wider, the unease in my stomach leaving my body.

"I want to jump up and down in happiness right now." Thomas grins, looking at my face.

"We're doing that in my head right now." I grin back.

Thomas opens his mouth to say something, but a stout woman appears, who looks to be in her 60s, her grey hair packed tightly in a bun which seems to be falling out. Oh, not to forget, the bright red grandma glasses seated at the ridge of her nose.

"Young man! What do you think you're doing?!" The woman, or Miss Wilson, as I assume, tries to put on a tough front, however the height difference between her and Thomas says otherwise.

She comes up to his elbow. That is very short. For me, I'd say she's as tall as my shoulder.

"Just greeting a friend." Thomas says politely. I already know he's going to give up being nice to her in the first week.

"I assure you, young man, you can talk to your girlfriend later." Miss Wilson crosses her arms, her knitted cardigan stretching across her body.

"Oh, she's not-"
"We're not dati-" Thomas and I begin to say at the same time, however she cuts us off.

"I don't care! Head to the back of the classroom, both of you, or I will have to give you isolation!"

Thomas' face turns pale at that. "Come on, Livvy." He motions with his hand for me to join him at the back of the classroom, and without questioning what 'isolation' is, I follow him.

"Right, children, let's just try and forget that disturbance never happened." Miss Wilson literally snarls, flashing her white teeth at us. I'm about to start laughing, so I pinch my mouth to stop myself.

I already hated English, and now I had this cranky teacher? At least I had Thomas with me.

"For today, you get to be in pairs!" She leaves a dramatic pause, as if she said something remarkable. I look at Thomas, and he nods at me.

"Oh now, you two don't." Miss Wilson catches us with her beady eyes, like a hawk. I sigh inwardly. "Thomas, you can go with Rowan." Thomas' eyes widen in shock, and he mouths 'help' at me.

"And, you-" Miss Wilson looks me up and down, making me feel uncomfortable. Why was she judging me? What did I even do?

"What's your name." She snaps quickly, peering at my face, adjusting her glasses.

"Li-Olivia." I stumble on my words. I nearly said Livvy, and I'm shocked. Thomas knows exactly what I was going to say, and smirks at me from behind Miss Wilson's back. I just stare at him blankly. I didn't want her to think I was rolling my eyes at her.

"You're new here?" Miss Wilson asks, and I nod at her. "Perfect." She flashes me a wicked grin, which sends a shiver down my spine.

I don't think this woman is mentally okay.

"You can go with Ashton." Thomas' face goes even more pale at that, and he steps forward.

"Miss, can't she go with someone else-"

"There's nothing wrong with me, Thomas." A tall, broad-shouldered guy, with sandy coloured hair emerges out of nowhere, a light tan to his skin and a smug expression on his face.

"Young man, go mind your business." Thomas scowls behind Miss Wilson's back at Ashton, and then gives me a warning look. I just shrug at him, and he walks away to a curly-haired girl, who I assume is Rowan.

"Now, Olivia, I assure you Ashton is a star pupil. He'll be a way better influence than him." Miss Wilson beams at Ashton, and he smiles back at her.

I don't like the jab at Thomas, yet I don't say anything to argue. I think it's better if I just stay quiet.

Miss Wilson then explains to everyone the task we have to do, seats every single pair, and then leaves us to do our work.

Me and Ashton get a table in the back corner. I follow him as he heads to the table and sits in the corner, and I sit next to him awkwardly.

Like Thomas was sat yesterday, he's leaning against the wall to look at me, although I don't feel nearly as comfortable as I did with Thomas.

"Olivia, right?" He begins to speak, smirking a little. I nod at him. "Any nicknames you go by?" I shake my head.

"Don't you speak?" Ashton starts again.

"Of course I speak." I snort, taking the pen and lined paper on the table, writing my name at the top.

"Sorry, I probably seem really weird to you." He looks down at the table, and I look at him, my expression softening a little.

"No, I'm sorry. The teacher put me off." Ashton looks up at me, and I smile at him. He smiles back.

"You'll get used to her." Ashton rubs a hand through his hair. "Ash." He sticks a hand out at me.

"Olivia." I accept his handshake formally, and then let go.

"How come Thomas calls you Livvy?" Ash tilts his head to one side, looking at me curiously.

"I don't know." A smile begins to form on my mouth.

"Can I call you that?" Ash asks innocently, and I look at him. There's a smile plastered on his face.

"I don't think Thomas would like that." Is all I say, instead of being rude. I didn't want to stop him being happy.

"Ah, of course." He shakes his head dramatically, and I smile sympathetically at him.

"So, uh, do you wanna exchange numbers?" Ash says awkwardly.

I cough a little, uncomfortable. I only just met this guy and he was already asking for my number? Although, to be honest, I can't say much, as I did the same with Lyra and Fawn.

But that's different, right?

"Sure." I say quickly, and I rip the corner of my paper to write down my phone number. When I'm done, I slide over the paper, and as Ash's hand makes to take it, our hands touch. I quickly remove mine, and Ash does the same.

Right.

~

A/N

We're nearly at 500 reads? AHHH THANK UUU 🫶🏽🫶🏽

New character introduced, what do you think of him??

Also had lots of cute Thomas and Olivia moments which I absolutely enjoyed writing!!

Thanks for reading my lovelies, love you all 🤎