Steve's sure he didn't lose his way. Pretty sure. Relatively. Ninety percent.
There are still places in the academy he's never been to, that are for the youngest of the boys, and others, for upperclassman, that he's not privileged to yet, but none of them, he's very certain is a bar. Because, whatever else this place is beside that, it's very much a bar. There are rules and the one way ticket to expulsions is clear.
Even if that's not entirely the reason the place makes him feel on edge, curious but with a dose of wariness layered under it.
Plus, it's distracting all on its own. Crowds of people. A lot of them kids. Like a lot them. Younger than he's gotten used to being under foot at The Academy, and more than half of them girls. Including the one that just went sprinting by, and the girl who jumped up off to his side, with a yell. Sending him looking to her, and then toward where she is. Where there're indeed even more girls, a pile of them, on top of little boy.
That's at least a familiar scene, pack of girls instead of boys aside, picking on some kid half their size. "Hey, break it up!" He's pushing off his stool -- not the first or last time this week even he's rounded the corner on a smaller boy being pushed on the stairs or having their bag yanked or being pressured in a library -- and sidestepping the stools near him, headed for the kitchen doors. "What'd you guys think you're doing?"
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There are still places in the academy he's never been to, that are for the youngest of the boys, and others, for upperclassman, that he's not privileged to yet, but none of them, he's very certain is a bar. Because, whatever else this place is beside that, it's very much a bar. There are rules and the one way ticket to expulsions is clear.
Even if that's not entirely the reason the place makes him feel on edge, curious but with a dose of wariness layered under it.
Plus, it's distracting all on its own. Crowds of people. A lot of them kids. Like a lot them. Younger than he's gotten used to being under foot at The Academy, and more than half of them girls. Including the one that just went sprinting by, and the girl who jumped up off to his side, with a yell. Sending him looking to her, and then toward where she is. Where there're indeed even more girls, a pile of them, on top of little boy.
That's at least a familiar scene, pack of girls instead of boys aside, picking on some kid half their size. "Hey, break it up!" He's pushing off his stool -- not the first or last time this week even he's rounded the corner on a smaller boy being pushed on the stairs or having their bag yanked or being pressured in a library -- and sidestepping the stools near him, headed for the kitchen doors. "What'd you guys think you're doing?"