Chapter 2- The Boarding School
Cathval Home, USA 11:45 p.m

The Chevy pulled up to a large building with many tall oak trees visible from behind. The sun had already started to rise with the small bits of gold piercing the black-blue sky above. Irma awoke as the car stopped.
"Here we are."
Irma looked out at the dull, grey building. With all those windows, Irma thought, there must be a lot of other kids. Irma glanced at her brother who was snoozing on her shoulder. His father's hat (he had picked up on his way to the foyer. It was far from his corpse due to when it had flown off his father’s head the first time he had been tossed like a rag doll) had fallen over his face. It had to be too big for the little boy’s small head.
"Hey kid," said the driver, “Wake up."
Silver drowsily lifted his head and looked out the window.
"How long was that ride?" Silver yawned.
"About three or four hours I guess." The driver stretched.
Silver's head slammed into the window. Irma looked at her brother shocked.
"Four a.m.?"
"More than that, I’d say. Just look at the sky." Silver glanced at the sky. The sun was definitely rising. "Alright. Get out."
Silver lazily pushed on the door. Only instead of casually getting out the car-
"OOF!"
-he managed to fall onto the side walk leading into the front entry way of the “boarding school.”
"Good going!" called a voice from above.
Silver jumped. Staring up, Irma saw a young boy. He might have been a year younger than her. He was staring down at Silver with a lot amusement.
"We don't get a lot of stupid stunts like that around here," the kid called once more from the window. He rested his elbows on the window pane and laughed.
From the limited light Irma had, she seemed to make out that his hair was purple! At least, most of it was. There were still streaks of blond running through it at random spots as if he simply dropped the can of paint on his own head.
Silver jumped to his feet. "Nice hair! Who died it for you?" he mocked.
The purpled hair boy smiled. "For your information I did-"
"MURRAY!" a loud and angry voice sounded from within the building.
The boy hit his head on the window in shock. He quickly pulled his head back within the room and slammed the window shut.
"Come along," said the Chevy driver, leading Silver by the shoulders.
Irma followed and could not help but laugh at Silver's scorn face. No one had ever spoken to Silver that way. As the group walked into the main entry way, Irma noticed a few women wearing completely grey dresses with snow white aprons over top and tied around the back. There's one way to keep the place looking like the world just ended for you, Irma thought unhappily.
"Ah! Welcome!" a high and shrill voice said from behind.
She too had on the full grey. It was not until now Irma noticed everything else here, in this orphanage, was also plain and grey (save the out-of-place painting of a doujo surrounded by cherry blossom trees). The two adults began talking.
Silver grumbled something to himself. This was probably about the purple headed boy he just so kindly met. Irma smiled. Silver, of course, was not used to that sort of thing.
"Alright you two!" the shrill voiced woman said. "Come with me!"
The woman led Irma and Silver towards and up a large wooden staircase. It was not rugged at all so, naturally, the stairs squeaked in protest as they ascended to the second floor. Then, the third and finally the fourth were the woman stopped and led them down the left hall. The halls were lined with doors, doors leading to rooms of “students” or “class rooms.” This was at least rugged, though with an ugly grey-purple.
"Here is your room," The woman addressed to Silver. “I’m quite sure the two of these boys are awake. I actually had the experience to find this out about five minutes ago."
She turned the tarnished knob of the wooden door and swung it open. Inside were two boys that were most likely the same age as Silver. There were three beds, but only two were occupied with belongings. The boys already within the room looked up from what ever they were previously doing to see their intruders. How ironic….
The boy sitting on the right-hand side was the same purple-haired boy that Silver had met. On the left of him was a shorter boy with green hair.
Irma could make out more of the two boys when the woman rushed over to the curtains and flung them open. She glanced at the purple headed boy who grinned at her mockingly. She, however, frowned back at him.  
He turned to the siblings and said, "Hey there! The 'name's Murray Meinrad."
The other boy sighed as the woman headed for the door. Murray was at least a head taller than Silver and maybe one and a half as tall as his roommate. His eyebrows were blond, unlike most of his hair. From his sleeveless arms, he looked a lot stronger than either of the boys as well. They were oddly more muscular looking than an eight-year-old boy would normally have.
"Don't mind him," Murray said nodding towards his roommate. "He's just mad 'cause of his hair."
"Well, my hair would still be white-blond if somebody didn't drop paint all over it!" the green haired boy snapped kicking the open book in front of him closed.
"I said it was an accident!" Murray protested. "Hey, I even knocked purple on mine!"
"At least your whole head didn't turn the color!"
"Now, now you two!" said the shrill lady.
With out continuing, she disappeared out the door. Silver stepped forward. He was trying his best to look leadenly and grown-up. With that face and posture, it was very difficult for someone such as him to accomplish.
"So….," Silver began. He looked over at the green-headed boy.
"My name is Benton Verden," the green-hair boy said picking up another book from under his bed. "I hate my last name more now, by the way."
"Why's that?" Irma asked in a shy and unconfident tone. Irma was not the most social girl.
Benton's head jerked to Irma's direction as if he forgot she was even there (which he probably had done).
"Well, verde in Spanish is green in English," he said leaning forward over his book.
Irma smiled. Silver laughed along with Murray.
"See!" Murray said leaning against the head of the bed. "I didn't do that bad of a job!"
"Eh hem!"
Irma turned around. The woman who had left less than a minute ago had her head pocking from behind the door.
"Come with me young lady," she said in her high voice.
Irma left her brother with his two new roommates. The two made their way down the hall in the opposite direction from which they came to another stair case. Irma reluctantly followed the leading woman up another flight of stairs.
This floor was carpeted with red. At the end of the hall was the door Irma was led to. When the woman opened it, inside were only two beds and a small window. One bed was taken by with a girl, whom Irma presumed was the same age as her.
"Well now Miss Leto!" The woman said from behind Irma.
The girl did not respond. She had messy sandy-brown hair and long bangs that came over her eyes as she tilted her head foreword. She continued to sit cross-legged on her bed, clutching the sleeves of the purple sweater she was wearing.
"Oh well!"
Irma made her way to the untaken bed parallel to her roommate. The girl looked up for a moment. Irma could see her eyes were a very pale blue, almost silver.
Irma lay down onto her new bed. What now?, she thought.
“What’s your name?”
The sound of another voice startled Irma. It was very smooth, almost like the wind. She sat up to see the pale girl looking at her.
“I’m sorry? What?” Irma replied to her new roommate.
“What’s your name?” the girl repeated.
“I-Irma Cathval. You’re Leto, right?”
She turned her head away. “No, it’s not.”
Irma’s eyes widened slightly. Why would she say that? The employee had just called her by that name. “Then, why….”  
“That’s my last name, but it’s not important what my first name is….”
“Not important? What are you talking about?”
“No one cares anyway.”
The pale girl got up and walked out the bedroom door. Irma’s eyes lingered on the open door left swung open. This girl was difficult to talk to. What did she mean that ‘nobody cared?’
She tried to think it over. This was difficult also as she continued to think about what would happen to herself and her brother when and if they found a will from their parents. Where would they go? Who would become their guardian?
Irma let her eyes drift over the room once more. The walls were a pale grey as well. Out the window was a view of a large yard. A cluster of oaks stood within the middle of this scene. The leaves, from the rising sun, looked gold as did the grasses.
Irma was still taking it all in when her roommate returned holding a folded piece of paper. She bounced onto her bed and quickly unfolded it to read its contents.
“What’s that?” Irma asked leaning against the window.
“Hopefully,” ‘Miss Leto’ half whispered, “It’s my ticket out of here.”  
Irma watched as her eyes raced over the paper. Slowly her face became less excited. Eventually, as she reached the bottom of the page, her face had become completely depressed.
She tore the page in half and through it to the ground. Irma watched the halves slowly fell to the floor, swaying like feathers.
“I guess it was bad?” Irma said to the now teary eyed girl.
“I hate this place…”