Adam lied in his bed curled up in a little ball, his hand absently petting Peanut. He was pale and shaking. Adam didn't like being in his house. The only reason he was here now at all was because he wasn't allowed to go in the Teppenpaw common room and didn't even know where it was. If he'd gone anywhere else in the school, he'd have been at the mercy of not only Crotali but the other houses as well.
He was totally miserable. Adam hated his house. There wasn't one single person here he felt safe and comfortable around. He didn't trust any of them. He was pretty sure his roommate hated him and a lot of the others were the snobby proper type who made him nervous. The kind that thought about family name and proper pureblood manners. He feared doing something wrong around them. Plus most people just seemed to think they were better than him. Adam figured they were probably right. He was a loser. A complete and total loser who didn't fit in. Not only in his own house but at Sonora as a whole. It wasn't that Adam wanted to go back home, because than he wouldn't be around Kaylie at all and he didn't like that either. He was just stuck in a bad situation that he couldn't get out of. It was so awful Adam felt like he couldn't even breathe.\n\n
The holidays had been a trial almost from start to finish. Things had seemed alright at first, with his mother being pleased at his recent weight loss, but once Christmas hit things just see downhill fast. Being back at school, away from Mother, away from Xavier, out of the grasp of Grandmother even... the feeling was like he had been suffocating, and finally he could breath freely again.
The last few days had been the worst.
It had started with his mother being a little more vindictive than usual. He had woken up one morning to discover that all this quidditch magazines had been confiscated again, and his mother refused to let him attend any meals that day.
He came downstairs to see her kneeling in front of the fire, leaning in to talk with someone he couldn't see.
"I can't stand the self-righteous way that freak keeps on about in the media. And I've heard from Geoffrey that there are still girls - and so-called proper pureblood young ladies - playing quidditch at Sonora. Diggory refuses to let me remove him from the school though. At least there might be some proper change now that Mother has had that wretched Mar-"
Geoffrey, realising that he was overhearing something that might be dangerous to hear had retreated, missing the end of the conversation but feeling safe only once he had regained his room and had a chance to think.
Back at school things had become a little clearer.
Headmistress Marnett was gone, replaced by Headmaster Bulla. How that would help his mother's cause, Geoffrey had no idea. It almost gave him chills, except that Father seemed to think rather highly of the Bulla's.
He was thinking about all this again as he entered the dorm room he shared with Adam Brockert. Obviously it had something to do with the lesbians who - Geoffrey had learned - weren't actually the inhabitants of one of the greek isles. The lesbians and quidditch, and his mother wanted Jennifer to give up the sport because she was a pureblood and that apparently meant that she should finish school and then stay home once she got married to a proper pureblooded wizard. The random thought that he was a pureblood popped into Geoff's head, but was overpowered by the idea of Jeniffer having to quit quidditch. It worried him. Jennifer was their captain. Where would the team be without her?
His head was so full of thoughts that he had sat down on his bed and instinctively cringed at the sound of the protesting springs before he realised that his room mate was in attendance.
Geoffrey looked at Adam as surrupticiously as he could for a moment, trying to judge what was his best move. Adam didn't like quidditch, so they hadn't bonded through love of sport. He was a pureblood, like Geoffrey, but they hadn't bonded through that either. Mostly, Geoffrey realised, they tended to ignore each other and get on with their own things. Adam as a bit strange though. He clearly didn't like being where he was, a message that Geoffrey had got loud and clear from day one despite the lack of communication. Geoff had felt a little the same at first, but now he came to prefer his time at school. This year at least.
The feeling of being accepted by the quidditch team, and Jeniffer in particular had helped. And doing well in his classes. And hanging out in the Library with Stephen.
He thought that he had seen Adam hanging out with a small crowd too, but maybe it hadn't been enough for the other boy. He looked like he was shaking. Maybe, the idea suddenly occurred to Geoff, Adam was sick. What if it were catching?
"Are... are you alright?" Self defence was as good a reason as any to start a conversation.\n\n
39Geoffrey SpindlerFree at last79Geoffrey Spindler05
Adam looked up in surprise when his roommate spoke to him. They never spoke. They had nothing in common. He didn't like Quidditch at all, and his roommate was obsessed with it, for example. He thought Geoffrey hated him, why was he asking if Adam was alright?
Furthermore, he wasn't sure how to answer the question. It was clear that he wasn't and if he said he was, he'd be lying and Geoffrey would know. Adam wasn't a very good liar anyway. It would show. However, if he said he wasn't okay, he'd have to explain why. Then Geoffrey would laugh at him and think he was a baby. Then Adam wouldn't suspect his roommate didn't like him, he'd know it for sure.
"Well, I uh, um.." He shook his head, implying full well he wasn't "Uh, not really." How could Adam ever explain to the other boy how uncomfortable and nervous he felt? Geoffrey seemed to fit in very well and Adam didn't. The other boy appeared to have the qualities looked upon well by others.\n\n