He sighed sadly at the missing piece of toast, but kept eating at the same pace. Conrad would rather not think about school, or classmates. Education was worthless to people like him. In fact, it was worse than worthless. Not only was he poor, but he was poor with a 'good' education. A double reason to be looked down on. Moe glanced at her old watch- it was one of the few around here. And then she was gone. For the first time since he had sat down, he slowed his eating.
"I don't see why we should even bother with assembly. It is just another chance for them to go on about the schools 'generosity' and 'charity' in bringing us in."
"I'm running to school.. think you can keep up?" Cass tossed out the challenge casually, but it was a challenge.
He grimaced, looking down at his empty plate and back up. "But, what about sec...." He sighed, Cass was already gone. And so it would begin. Conrad bolted after her, pausing next to the door to snatch an old drawstring bag and tugging the door shut with just the tips of his fingers as he left after her. The cold air had risen goosebumps on his skin the moment Moe had opened the door, and again when Cass had- but now he was just numb. Conrad had had a coat, but forfeited it to a younger orphan a month or so ago. The cold wouldn't kill him, hopefully. The air certainly seemed colder when sprinting through it like this. If had been up to Conrad, he would have walked and skipped assembly. If it wasn't for this kind of challenge from Cass and the others he would have been happy to be as lazy as possible. As it were though, they were keeping him in some sort of shape. He heard the announcement just as he reached the school gates, passing by Cass he tugged her arm. "Come on, we have to get in and find Moe before we are stuck standing with all these..." He swallowed back an expletive. (Conrad had begun watching his language over the summer after an incident with a younger orphan.) "Looks like it is over there."