Boarding School

Hey guys, this is an AU where everyone is the same age around 13 years old. This is also based on UK boarding schools. (I don't know if there are boarding schools in America or what they are like but I will be focusing on the UK ones as I can find more research online like you tube videos of documentaries based on life at Harrow or Sunningdale boarding schools.)

The age gaps and actually years of birth do not count here neither do some other details because this is fictional.

Anyway let's go!

Danny p.o.v - 2012

Today is my first day at Harrow boarding school. I flew in from Los Angeles California a week ago so I could get used to the time differences before starting school. I think I am being put into West Acre house; I will only know when I get there. I don't think I know anyone else who is going to be going there. I read over the letter in the car on the way to the school and I know I am definitely in West Acre house which means I am going to be one of 66 boys who will be living there. "I know you are nervous Danny, but I know once you settle in you will be just fine," my mother tells me. The only thing that I am worried about is knowing that my family are on the other side of the world pretty much and I will be alone in the house with no one I know.

"I know, I just don't know how I will do being on my own," I tell her. We are almost there and I can tell there are already butterflies in my stomach. At least I have a phone so I can contact her over the next few days and weeks while I settle in. "Don't forget you can phone me whenever it gets too much. The house master will know how you are feeling because he deals with every year and they will support you," mother tells me. I just nod, knowing she saw me and look out the window to take in London's scenery in before we get there. there are 324 acres which is where the school is located. There are 12 boarding houses as well. It is a lot to take in. I don't even know how I am going to remember all of these things; I am probably going to forget a lot of them at first.

Then we arrive and part of me doesn't want to leave the car, but I know I have to. Mom hugs me tightly when I do get out of the car. "Don't panic Danny. I will be with you for as long as they allow me to," she tells me. It made me feel a little bit better and I didn't have to worry about my mother suddenly leaving me without saying goodbye. We get my suitcase and then walk into West Acre house for the first time. I feel so overwhelmed because this house looks so huge. There are 65 other boys in this house at the same time some of them will have been here before as they go through the years. We are now known as Shells and are some of the 160 who will have enrolled in the school this year. I am probably not the only American either.

Martin Smith is the current house master but it his last year so for the other 5 years we will have someone else. The matron is a lady called Cate Bain and she is a here to make sure that we settle in and that we are all okay. We were introduced to them first before I was introduced to any of the boys. I don't even know which room I am going to be staying in yet. "Welcome Daniel, hope the travel from California wasn't too exhausting for you," Martin says, as we shake hands. I think I am going to be shaking a lot of hands today. I stay somewhat close to my mother because I was still nervous about it and a bit scared of how many new people there are. "We came a week ago so we could get adjusted to the time zone difference before term started," Mom replies.

I was too nervous to talk to begin with. I also had to complete and hand in some more of the entrance tests before term started as well. "Ahh, there are two other boys who have also come from California and they have done the same thing. You might know them already, but all of the Shells are in the same boat as you," he tells me. It is good to know that I am not alone and not the only boy who is basically moving away to another country just for academic reasons. Most people are from London or other cities in the UK. There aren't many people who are from America or a different country. From what I have heard this is a very expensive school and I was lucky enough to be a music and academic scholar. That means the scholarships I have will pay for my time here.

"Ayyy Danny!" Someone shouted, and I turned around in a full circle to spot the familiar voice who shouted my name. It turned out to be Dylan who used to be one of my friends when we were in middle school in Los Angeles. "Oh hey Dylan," I tell him, just as he tackled me to the floor. My mom was happier now she saw Dylan. At least there is someone I know to keep my company here. We get up off the floor and then hug each other more gently. "It's good to know that you are here Dan. I was beginning to think that I wasn't going to know anyone here," Dylan tells me. I felt the exact same way because you come to a new country you have no idea what the people are going to be like and if there are going to be anyone you know there.

"Yeah, it is good to at least have one friend around," I tell him. Both my mother and Martin were smiling at us. I felt quite relieved now and I can't wait to have lessons with Dylan again. It has been a long time since we were in a classroom together. We had a tour around the building and then we were told that Dylan and I are going to share a room. That makes it even better for the two of us to settle in to the new life we will be living. UK education is a lot different to American education for sure. Everyone we have walked past have such posh English accents and Dylan and I are just here like we can speak as posh as they do, but we have American accents. I am hoping that it is not something we are going to be made fun of for.

The only other American in our boarding house is a lad called Jordon. I have seen him before, but I have never actually spoken to him. He never went to the same elementary or middle school as us, but I have seen him around Los Angeles. We were with our parents the entire time and now Mr Smith told us it was time to send us one way and the parents the other which means that it is time for the bit I have been dreading for a long while. "Call me later on okay Danny? You'll be fine with Dylan here," she tells me as I hug her as tightly as I can. I look and see Dylan was hugging his parents just as tightly as I was hugging my mother. "I'll call you later mom I promise," I tell her, and then it is time for her to go back to the hotel we have been staying in.

We sit on the floor when it is time for bill which is basically register which happens in the house three times a day. When we go through the years we will be allowed to sit on the sofas for bill, but as we are shells we sit on the floor for the entire year. We can sit on the sofas at other times though, we are not completely banned from them. Dylan puts his arm around me and I felt a little more comfortable despite the face my mother just left. We listen to Mr Smith's speech and he told us shells to start introducing ourselves to each other because we are all in the same boat and it will help us. That was where we formally met Jordon who was also from Los Angeles like us. We also met three lads who are from London who seem to be pretty cool.

They were Jorel, George and Matthew. "Wait so the three of you are from Los Angeles? What made you want to come to the UK and Harrow?" George asks us. We had sort of formed a circle and we were getting to know each other more. "My parents wanted me to go for a different education because I am too young for an American boarding school," Dylan says, I knew his parents could easily afford for him to come here. Jordon was also here on a music and combined scholarship like I am so we had the same answer as each other. "My mom wanted me to see what I could do with my musical talents and if I can benefit any more from a British education than the American one I have been having," I tell them. Jordon said pretty much the same as me but he included his dad in his answer. My dad hasn't been around for a few years now, so I tend to not include him in anything.

Dylan and I went back to our room and we started putting our things away and making our room more like ours. I put my duvet covers on the bed and made it look almost like my bed back home would look like. I didn't have one of my blankets, but I knew there was no way I would have been able to fit it into my suitcase so it was a sacrifice I had to make. I will be just fine without it and I know that it will be waiting for me when I get home once this school year is over. "Wow Danny you are a pro at this," Dylan tells me as I teach him how to put the pillow cases on the pillows the way my mother had taught me years ago. First I put the pillow in a little bit and then shake it until it goes all the way down. It doesn't quite work for the duvet cover but I have my own method for that.

"It was one of the things my mom taught me a few years ago. She also taught me how to put the duvet cover on," I tell him. I do it when the cover is inside out first and grab the corners of the duvet then flip it so it is the right way round and then give it a shake, put the other two corners in, do the buttons and give it another shake before putting it onto the bed. I help Dylan with his and then wave to Jorel who walked in. "How are you guys doing?" he asks, just as I dump Dylan's finished duvet onto his head. He gives a thumbs up as he finishes sorting his bed out. "I'm doing alright thank you. How are you?" I ask. It is nice to just gave these conversations especially since you will be living together 24/7 for weeks at a time and only going home on holidays.

"Did you all find the chocolate on your pillow?" Jordon asks as he rushes in with his. We had all found ours and I had put mine away for a later date. I don't want to eat it straight away. It is weird to be one of 14 Shells, but we are quickly adjusting to it. "Yes, did you also find out that we have lessons on a Saturday morning?" Jorel replies, and I hold back the laughter as Dylan and Jordon's faces drop. I sort of knew already because I had gone to the new boys tea party and some other events when they told me what to expect here. I think I will be okay once I have been here for a few days. I think on our first official day of term we are getting a tour around the whole school. I already feel a little lost walking around the house.

"Yeah, but it could be a lot worse. You could have lessons on a Sunday," I tell them. I was hanging up all my uniform because I didn't want it to become all creased before we have our first day in school. The hats look quite cool, but they also look like they will break quite easily. It suppose that it was happens when they are made of straw. I have heard stories about the tops of the hats falling off which is not a good thing because you have to wear that hat every day. "Does everyone know how to tie a tie?" Dylan asks, after a while. Jorel was done with his room already and he was sitting on my desk chair while Dylan and I walked around the room unpacking everything and making sure that it was all tidy. We all have a computer which is pretty cool.

"I do" I tell him, and Jorel himself looked at little bit unsure. I had been practising for months to make sure that I knew what I was doing and I didn't have to rely on someone else to help me to it. "I sort of know, I'd have to watch someone to be one hundred percent sure," Jorel tells us. It was weird to hear how much our accents stand out compared with his. As he is from London he blends in with most of the older boys, but Dylan, Jordon and I stick out like sore thumbs because our accents haven't changed to sound more British. "Don't worry Jorel, if you struggle to begin with by the first exeat you will know how to do it," one of the Removes tells us. He is basically a boy who is in the year above us and will be one of the ones helping us settle in.

Exeat is when we get to go home for a weekend and it happens at least once per half term. For Jordon Dylan and I will we probably have to spend that weekend at our friend's house. I don't expect my mother to fly back from California just for the weekend and then fly back again Sunday evening. Then again it would be something that we probably could work out as they get closer. I don't think I want to burden one of my new friends parents by staying at their house when they would want some more private one on one time with their sons. I really over think things I have noticed. "Also don't get custos report whatever you do. They are given to you for minor uniform offences and you have to be there between seven fifteen and seven thirty in the morning," the remove tells us.

I definitely do not want to be on custos report then. I struggle to get up in the morning to begin with. I am only just getting over the jet lag from being 8 hours away from where I was born and raised. It's not an 8 hour car ride either, it's an 8 hour flight and time zone difference. I am going to make sure my shoes are clean and polished and my uniform looks the best at all times because the custos report is just not worth getting in my opinion. The uniform is expensive as heck so why would you ruin it. I get that the sports gear is going to get muddy but that is to be expected and it can be washed. We also have to prepare ourselves for the many house competitions we will be participating in. Apparently West Acre is known for it's musical talents, so I am personally looking forward to the music challenges.

There is a piano which I could not resist the opportunity to play. I went for the traditional Fur Elise. Dylan and Jorel had followed me down and were listening to me play it all the way through. I had professional lessons back in Los Angeles as well as attempting to teach myself as the lessons had become too expensive when I got more advanced. I just love the sound when I dance my fingers across the keys in the oh so familiar melody. One day I would love to be able to play In the Hall of the Mountain King without having to look at the sheet music for it. Then again it is more difficult as Grieg never intended for the song to be played on piano. Maybe a song like Bohemian Rhapsody or Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy would be easier.

"Ahh I can tell why you got onto the music scholarship then. I bet you would be ace at the glees and twelves Danny," One of the upper sixth boys told me. He was in the room and was listening to me play. I accepted the compliment, but I was a bit confused by what he meant by glees and twelves. "The glees and twelves is one of the many interhouse competitions which is as an acapella singing competition. One of the upper sixth will be in charge of the nine boys who will be on the team. I don't think the song has been chosen yet, but I have a good idea of the song," the upper sixth boy explains which makes a lot of sense. It reminds me of the show Glee and the glee clubs that have been around for a long time. That would be fun to do for sure.

"Maybe, but what if my singing is rubbish. I can play piano just fine, but you can't do that in an acapella competition," I tell him. I then get asked to sing so we could find out so I settled on the song S.O.S by Abba. That way I could focus on the piano keys while I sang. I really tried to not look at the other boy's faces otherwise I might have messed up. Jorel sang with me, which I didn't expect but I rolled with it because he sounded really good. Then for fun Dylan and I sang Lay All Your Love on Me, I thought that was just a fun Abba song to sing with him. We would alternate who would sing which part whenever we sang it. Jackson which was the name of the Upper Sixth lad who was with us and Jorel even joined in while we sang to the karaoke version of it.

"Yep, all three of you would be good candidates for the glees and twelves," Jackson says once we had finished singing. We were starting to draw a lot of attention onto ourselves and the nerves sort of crept up again. "I didn't know you listened to Abba Danny," Jorel says, as we make our hasty retreat back to mine and Dylan's room. "Yeah, my mother wanted me to grow up with as much music diversity as possible. I used to listen to Queen and all kinds of bands when I was a little younger. Not so much now, but I still enjoy them," I tell him. My mother used to wake me up by singing Bohemian Rhapsody every morning. I am going to miss that the most, however I do not expect anyone else to fill in for that role. I would rather my mother do it.

"Anyways, what lessons are you most looking forward too," Jorel asks Dylan and I. it was something which I had considered because different countries have different ways of teaching people and I had done my research. "I think I am personally looking forward to learning about History. I want to learn about British history like kings and queens and the war," I tell him. I don't think Dylan is going to have the same opinion of me. "I am more interested in science personally," Dylan tells me. That makes more sense because he always loved the science lessons back in Los Angeles. I loved history back in LA too, but I wanted to learn more about different countries all the time instead of about how America was founded and things like that.

I guess it is because I am from there that I would find it more boring and why the United Kingdom's history and the Kings and Queens past is so much more interesting to me. We talked until the house master told us to get ready and to go to bed because we will be incredibly busy over the next few days as we settle in. We will be learning a lot and getting used to all of the weird and wonderful traditions that will lead to us becoming fully fledged Harrovians. We also have to pass the new boys test which is about the house names, the beaks (teachers) names and initials as well as the house colours. We also have to learn the song Forty years on. That is one of many songs that we will be learning this year. Even if you are not a musically strong house, you would still be singing during the school events throughout the year.

4 Weeks later – Danny p.o.v

These last 4 weeks have been the busiest I think I have ever been in my life. We were all starting to hang out more and Jorel and I had made it on to the Glees and Twelves team and we were going to be singing Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. It is a song which came out 6 years ago and was acapella by nature which was perfect for us and we have been practising and practising ready to sing it in front of the entire school and make Mr Smith proud of us. We need to make the other boys of West Acre proud as it would be an incredible achievement to win the Glee competition. I can't wait even though I am probably going to be more nervous on the night. We even have the shell playlet to perform this term as well. I can see why we have the packed time table.

It has definitely helped me feel less homesick because I would not have as much time to myself where I am alone and can really dwell on my feelings and how much I miss my home and my mom. I have been calling my mother pretty much every night since the first night and she was happy with how much I was settling into my life at Harrow school and West Acre house. I have taken up rugby but I had been cautious to not get injured before the competition tonight. They don't want us to go to hospital and break a bone which could mean that we would have to pull out of the competition. Everyone has been talking about how it is the biggest competition of the whole year and it would be so huge for us to pull the win for once.

"We are performing tonight Danny, how are you feeling?" Jorel asks me, we were getting our suits on and making sure that we look the smartest we can. I believe we are the first ones performing as well which is both good and bad. "Currently? Absolutely bricking myself. Ask me once we are done and I might have a different answer for you. I have not even performed in front of one hundred people before," I tell him, being completely honest. I had started picking up some slang terms from them and my accent is slowly starting to change. I still sound out of place, but I can harmonise well with my fellow team members which is all that matters. "Don't worry Danny, I am going to be on the opposite side to you and you can focus on me if that helps you," Jorel tells me.

"Thanks Jay. I think I am going to do that to be honest. If I look at all at the hundreds of people looking at me back I don't think I will be able to do it," I tell him. I use my comb and hair gel to make my hair look as neatly as I possibly can which should last me through the night. The head of our team is called Steven and he knocked on my door and I let him in. I had just given my hair gel to Jorel to sort his hair out if he wanted to. "Are you two almost ready?" he asks us, and we both nod. I was ready, I was just waiting for Jorel to be finished. "How are you two feeling about tonight?" he asks us, we were now ready to go and we were walking to the lobby of the house to meet up with the rest of our team. "I'm quite nervous actually. I have never performed in front of this many people before," I tell him.

"No worries Danny. We all feel a bit nervous especially on our first performances. The way you guys are all set up will hopefully allow you two to look at each other and they won't deduct any points for it because they will know Shells get nervous," Steven tells me. It made me feel a little less nervous and I know Jorel is nervous too, but he was not as ready to admit it as I was. I have no idea what the other 5 houses are going to sing, but we don't think it is going to be the same song as ours. Well, I hope it isn't going to be the same song as ours. I haven't paid too much attention to what exactly is going to happen tonight, but I knew that we are going to be performing first. I bet even some of the older boys are nervous, they are just better at hiding it.

I felt goose bumps as we sang our song and I was so relieved when it was all over and we all gracefully walked off the stage to watch the rest of the performances. Some were really good, and it made me feel as if I was going to let the whole team down. Some were also really bad, but I did my best to keep a neutral face. I had over heard some boys saying that I didn't fit in with the rest of my team because my accent made my voice so much more different to everyone else's. I paid no attention to this because I knew that my accent can be used to my advantage. Who want's to sound like every British boy from London when you can sound different? I certainly didn't want to sound like every posh boy I have met in my month here.

The third and second places were read out and it wasn't us which made us feel even more nervous when he said, "And in first place," then he took a long pause in between that and his answer. I looked to Jorel who was looking at me. Jordon, George, Matthew and Dylan were here supporting us and were desperate to know what the answer is. "West Acre," the judge said after what seemed like forever. We all instantly jumped up and cheered. We finally won the glee and it felt so good. My accent wasn't out of place enough to make us loose. Steven goes down to get the trophy and holds it very gently because he didn't want to drop it. Now it is time for us to all walk back to the boarding house so we can celebrate our victory with Mr Smith.

We were invited to the house master's side of the boarding house which is somewhere where we are not usually allowed to go into. We listened to his speech and then performed our song again for the house which is yet another tradition. We also had some pizza and chicken wings which was pretty nice. Then we went to out side of the house to enjoy some time with our friends who we had become extremely close to over the past month. "Damn boys, I knew you two were good singers before but man did you pull that off," Dylan says, and hugs me tightly. I hug him back then get jumped on by the rest of the guys who were equally as impressed with our singing skills as Dylan had been. "I think we are going to have a good year with the singing competitions," Steven says.

A few short hours ago I would have been more inclined to disagree with him. Now though, I am more inclined to agree. "We also have the house play to do as well," someone else says, which makes the boy who has been given the honour of directing our house play this year groan. Apparently it involves quite a bit of cross dressing which sounds interesting to me because I have never experienced that before. I am quite interested to perform more and more as the school year goes on. Now that I have done it for the first time I am more inclined to do it more because I am finding myself enjoying it despite how much I was terrified of performing beforehand. I think the matron had recorded it so that we could sent it to our parents.

I can't wait to show my mother the video. We had been discussing how she would be able to attend some of the annual events and we decided that we would try and record the ones she couldn't go to so that she could feel like she was there even if she wasn't. The events closer to the holidays and Exeats will be the ones she is more than likely to go to. That way we can spend more meaningful time with each other and when she has to leave again I won't be as upset because I will know that we had a lot of fun together. "Do you know where Churchill's songs are being held this year?" Jorel asks one of the older boys. That is the next big event that is happening in a few weeks' time. All I know is that it is named after one of the prime minsters who used to attend the school.

"The Churchill's songs this year is being held in the Royal Albert hall and is expected to sell out as it does every time," Jackson replies. I have definitely heard of the Royal Albert hall before and that is a massive venue to sing at. I believe there could be over 5000 people there listening to us singing songs like Five Hundred Faces and Forty Years On. Every 5 years we go to the Royal Albert hall to do these songs so us Shells will do it twice during our time here. It started when Winston Churchill was prime minster for 10 years and he felt quite depressed. His secretary suggested that he come back to this school and the pupils there would sing him songs and thus another strange yet wonderful tradition was born. It is going to be different for sure.

I think I would love for my mother to be there and to sing the songs with us. She was the one who introduced me to music. She was the one who pushed me to try my best when I was trying to earn my place here and it would be the best if she were here to see how much I have embraced school life now. The Matron sent me the video which I immediately sent on to my mother. I felt a little more homesick tonight than I have in a while and George was the one to pull me down onto the couch while we were in the main gathering area. "It's been a tough month for you I know, but you did so well today you should be proud of yourself," George tells me. I was a little bit sad, but I was trying my best to hide it even though George already knew.

"I know, I guess it hasn't quite hit me until tonight either. I knew what homesickness felt like before tonight, but I think knowing that it was my first major Harrow event and we won and my mother is an eleven hour plane ride away as well as being eight hours behind time wise is a lot to take in," I tell him. I would have opened up to him anyway even if the Matron weren't around keeping an eye on us. I think she was worried about me tonight more than usual. "Well, she will be overjoyed when she watches the video of you in the drawing room. Maybe we can get you a picture of you holding the trophy to send to her as well. That would be a nice picture of her to have at home," he tells me, and we get permission from the house master to take a picture with the trophy which I text to my mum just as she sends me a text about how well she thought I sang tonight.

I hadn't told her that we had won the competition yet. I wanted to wait to see how she felt the performance had gone and got a feeling of what her reaction would be if we were to lose. It went how I thought it would go and she told me no matter if I won or lost she would be proud of me regardless especially because I took part. Then I sent her the photo of me holding the trophy that George had just taken. She was very excited and told me it was one of many wins our house is going to get this year and she couldn't wait to come and visit. George then talked to me about what his childhood was like here in the UK and encouraged me to talk about mine. It was a good tactic to help keep me distracted for a little while.

Later on that night I went to bed on a high. No, not a drug high because there is no way in hell that I would be allowed to even attempt to get some drugs around here. I was happy, I had worked so hard in this last month and it has all paid off. Apart from Dylan I had started at this boarding house with only one friend and now I have at least 6 with more of the house boys wanting to be friends with me as the days go on. This was something that I had not quite expected. Dylan had fallen asleep already by the time I had finished getting myself ready for bed. I had spent a lot of time talking to my mother about how I am finding life at Harrow. It might be 11 pm for me right not but it is only 3 pm for her. I eventually fall asleep after she had sent me a song.

That is the end of another one shot! Hope you enjoyed and let me know what you thought about it. As I write this I know times are tough so please if you need someone to talk to please let me know and I'll try my best.

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