17 Seventeen - Bagging beds

Hugh slapped his knee in laughter while Phineas turned to the side. Telea and Melesse covered their mouths and bent over while holding their tummies with their other hand. Orlan slapped Phineas on the back and shook his head. Beryl threw her head back and released a long belly laugh. Then she coughed and cleared her throat.

"A very honest answer," Beryl coughed to stop herself from laughing again. "Thank you, Stacey. Everyone, have a seat. The groups that are called may run to the dormitories and bag their beds first. You don't have to stay in your groups in the dormitories. You are free to pick and choose any bed or room you would like. Winners of the mini competition - that is Group Five, Group Nine, Group Fourteen and Group Twenty-one. You may go first."

"That's us! Quick, Stace," Flail dragged Stacey upright and Ken grabbed her by the wrist to tug her along.

"We need to get there before the other groups do."

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Ah, Group Twenty-one have already left! Hurry up!"

"Our bags! Our bags! We need to get our bags first!"

The four skidded downstairs where the boys picked up their bags and raced the other three groups to the dormitories. The girl groups split off and were directed to a different side of the building from the boys. Stacey didn't think ahead. She just followed Ken, Endo and Flail. Largely because they were still holding onto her and dragging her along. She didn't have a choice.

"I hope they have a four bed room," Endo shouted over the sound of running feet, clattering wheels and other groups hollering while he ran. "It would be awesome if we could stay together."

"Great idea," Flail yelled back.

"Less talking! More running!" Ken scolded.

They raced upstairs and could hear two of the other groups ahead of them already running and commenting on the rooms.

"That's a twelve person bedroom! It'll be too crowded."

"Hey there's a bedroom for two! How awesome is that?"

"I like this six person bedroom. It'll fit our whole team."

"I promised someone else I'd bunk with them."

"Aww."

"Hey! I bagged that bed!"

Down the corridors, Stacey and her group peered into rooms and dodged out of the way when someone from one of the other groups zoomed past.

"Here!" Ken dragged them all into a room where the room opened up in a mini common area with a small round table with four chairs. Behind the table were two bunk beds against opposing walls. "This is our room. It's perfect. There are four beds. The toilets and showers are just over there. We'd have first dibs in the mornings if we're fast enough."

"I bags this bed!" Endo jumped up onto the top bunk of a bed, while Flail flung himself on the bottom bunk of the same bed.

"Which bed do you want, Stace? Top or bottom?" Ken looked at Stacey and rubbed his head.

"Uhh," Stacey rubbed her forehead wondering if this was ok. "Top?"

"Alright then," Ken grinned and threw his bag on the bottom bunk.

A group of boys peered into their room.

"Awww. All the bed are taken."

"This looks like a good room. Pity."

"Hey. Isn't she a girl? What's a girl doing in the boys' dormitory?"

Everyone inside the room froze and stared at Stacey. Ken face palmed.

"Stacey?" Endo pointed and then hesitated. "Of course she's a... girl..."

"Sorry, Stacey. I totally forgot you were a girl. I'm so sorry," Ken said.

"Does that mean there'll be a bed free in here?"

"To be honest, I totally forgot for a moment too," Flail said, rubbing his cheek in chagrin.

"You're really way more like us guys than those girls," Endo agreed. "Respect. I never thought I'd ever meet a girl who got along with Ken and me so well that we'd forget you weren't a guy. Why can't there be more girls like you? You don't make me feel nervous like those giggly, squealy girls do."

"Uhh… Thanks?" Stacey said, not sure whether that was more an insult or a compliment.

"Just stay here for now. Let's see if they'll let you just stay with us," Endo suggested. "It wouldn't really matter which bed you got on the girl's side anyway. If you stay with us here, we'll make a curtain around your bed so you can get changed and take care of you like a sister."

"Umm. Ok," Stacey shrugged. Whatever. She didn't mind either way. It'd just be a matter of whether she was overlooked here or not.

"So I can't have her bed?" the boy at the door persisted.

"No. Go try somewhere else," Endo pushed the boy out the door. Endo rummaged in his bag and pulled out a rolled up bedsheet. "I'm so glad my mum made me bring this now," he said, tucking the bedsheet under the mattress of the top bunk to form a curtain around the bottom bunk. Look. See? You've got a privacy screen."

"That was gonna be my bed, Endo," Ken snorted at his friend but then waved a hand, "but good idea. Stacey, you should have the bottom bunk. I'll take the top. You're a girl. You should have your own private space for when you get changed and stuff."

"Aww, Flail, did you hear that? Ken just praised me. He said I had a good idea," Endo fist bumped Flail, jumping up and down in excitement. "It's the first time this year. I only got praised by him eight times last year. I aim to beat my personal record of twelve in a year. Do you reckon I can?"

"I don't see why not," Flail laughed, "but if it's you, I'm not sure how possible it might be. I mean, you have some pretty dumb ideas sometimes."

"They're not all bad, right?" Endo flopped on his bed.

"I don't know. Most of them are pretty rotten," Ken ribbed Endo and Flail played along.

While the boys were teasing each other, Stacey sat down and then lay down on the bottom bunkbed, leaving her feet on the floor. It was so nice to lay down on a mattress again. It wasn't a bad mattress either. It was pretty alright. There was even the nice clean scent of sunned sheets and lavender wafting up. So nice. So relaxing.

She would just close her eyes for a moment. Just a moment.

Before she knew it, she'd fallen asleep.