Friday, July 18th 2014. New Orleans, Louisiana. 12:05 pm

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Scott ascended the spiral staircase first out of the three and briefly wondered why the old lady even had a spiral staircase, seeing as she couldn’t climb it. Though the invite had indicated she was ‘close to the end’ as it were. She did look old; to the extent such that he momentarily didn’t recognise her at first. Though the way she smiled, called their names, the way she spoke, that was familiar, and for a brief moment Scott had felt like the child he was all those years ago. The child with the outrageous grin in the photo.

After taking a few steps away from the top of the stairs he turned to his fellow ex-classmates. “Hey guys, long time no see, didn’t we look young in those photos!?” He noticed Theodore hauling his bags up the stairs, “Oh hey, sorry man, I coulda given you a hand with those bags of yours, wouldn’t have been a problem for me y’know!” To illustrate his point he indicated his large black luggage case which he was currently casually leaning on. “Though serious question, are those the same glasses you had on in that photo? Hahaha, nah I’m just kiddin’ you man.” He jovially laughed the comment off. “Don’t get me wrong though, I think it’s great you’ve come today – the old lady, when she said your name man, I think she was happiest to see you out of the three of us. I mean, if memory serves me right you were probably the teacher’s pet of the bunch am I right!” He laughed again. “Oh, don’t get me wrong man” he added quickly, “I’m not saying that as a bad thing, now that I’ve been doing coaching for a few years I can tell you that when you’re trying to teach someone and help them succeed, there’s nothing better than an enthusiastic student y’know? Just makes the job so much better."

He turned to Eugene, barely pausing, “And Eugene wasn’t it… I’m gonna go ahead and say you were one of the quieter kids, I’m struggling to remember you if I’m honest. Err, you were into singing right?” He spoke quickly again before she could answer, “Oh hey you know what, we should probably save all this talk for later, otherwise you’ll be repeatin’ yourself to everyone else, y’know. Also, I dunno about you guys but I am real hungry, haha!”

He strolled over to the closed door at the far corner of the room. He had dressed particularly impressively for the occasion, wearing a light grey tailor-made suit with a deep red shirt and smart, recently shined black shoes. His designer shades had been tucked into the top of his shirt, so they hung down sideways over his chest.

Reaching the door he pulled the handle and swung it open revealing a large full bathroom. After a few moments he looked left along the corridor, counting the doors that he saw, before turning back and walking towards the others. His steps were slower this time; he was seemingly deep in thought. He paused close to them, clenched his right fist, stuck out his thumb and pointed it back over his shoulder at the bathroom. “If I’m right, that’s the only bathroom on this floor. I’ve counted 5 bedrooms. Do you know how in-demand that bathroom is gonna be?” He nodded at them, a knowing grin on his face, “Ya, and I don’t want to be stuck waiting in the mornings, though I do get up earlier than most! If I were you, I’d follow my advice and grab a room closest to it, hah!” He looked at Theodore, “Well Theo, I think it’s only right we say ‘ladies first.’” Playfully grinning at her he swept his right arm out indicating the rooms down the hall, “After you, Eugene”.