"Money, yes, money. That's all I need right now, just money, enough of it and everything will be okay, yes that's it but how do I get, just how? It's hopeless, I'm hopeless, I fail and I just had to be poor, too poor to help. No that's not right I'm not poor, I just need more money, yes money. If I had enough everything would be just fine", Astrape thought to himself.
As he walked back to his room in the cold of the early night, his head facing down and tears in the corner of his eyes. Lifting his head up to properly wipe the tears off his eyes, he was glad to notice there was no one around to witness what he considered a pathetic sight for himself. And as the cool night breeze continued to blow, his blurred vision noticed a figure in the distance. Not close enough to tell what it was exactly but not too far not to know it was a fellow student.
"It's definitely not a teacher and they're obviously a student, and since this is the Male Dormitory Area, means it's probably just some random dude", he thought.
"Isn't it long past curfew though, what is he doing here", he thought.
"Uhm… excuse me, is everything alright", said Astrape.
As he drew closer to the stranger, Astrape could hear sounds of sniffling, and could see what seemed to be like a young boy wiping off tears from his cheeks. As the boy looked back to see who was approaching it confirmed Astrape's suspicion.
"Oh… so just like I thought, he's not a second year, in fact he looks too young to even be in high school. Middle school? No, that's probably not it either, so the most likely answer would be Elementary school", Astrape thought.
"Are you ok? Wait, are you actually crying?", he asked.
"It doesn't matter, I'm fine", assured the little boy. "Just taking a piss that's all, you can go away now. I don't need your help, plus isn't it wrong to approach kids alone in the dark like this. Are you what they call a Ped…?".
"Wow, wait, just calm down kid, how the heck do you even know that word?", interrupted Astrape. "Little piece of… huh, calm down, calm down… it's just a kid, it's understandable that he's a pain", he thought to himself.
"Anyway kid, you said you were just taking a piss?", he asked.
"Yeah, so?", the boy answered.
"Then why are you doing it out here in the open, couldn't find any rest rooms?", he asked again.
"Yeah, they're probably too far war from here anyway. Did you think I'd just do it in the open like I'm crazy?", the boy answered.
"Right, right. So, you're saying the closest restroom is probably too far away, right?", he questioned.
"Well obviously, y'know you're pretty dumb for a ped…",
"Oh, shut up!", Astrape interrupted once more, right after smacking the little boy's head. "Why are you even abusing that word so much? Do you even know what it means kid?", he frustratingly asked.
"Ow, hey that hurt", complained the boy, whlie rubbing his sore head.
"Answer me this first, what's this building next to you? And what's it used for?", he asked.
"Uhm, I don't know, what's with the sudden interview?", the boy asked.
"Well just so you know, it's a restroom! And you standing right next to it. So why would you be pissing right outside a restroom? You're lost, aren't you?", Astrape asked.
The boy started to avoid eye contact, "What? No… of course not".
"I saw you wiping off your tears kid".
The boy looked away embarrassed, "Uh, well it's none of your business so uh… could you, y'know go now?".
"Huh you sound like such a pain, it's so annoying. Though I'm still kind of wondering what the tears were for and why you're walking around at a time like this? Isn't it past curfew?".
"Okay, okay, fine you're right I'm lost. I'm new here and I guess I thought it'd be a good time to get to know the place. But then, well…".
"Then what? What happened?", questioned Astrape.
"Well, it got dark and then I kind of… got lost… you know".
"Okay that explains it. So, then which one is your room? Can you remember it?", replied Astrape, as he grabbed the little boy's hand, "If you can remember what it looked like or even its name or something I can help you find it", he added.
"O…okay, uhm sure", the boy replied.
"I'm really not sure, it's only my first day so… I still don't know the place that well", the boy added.
"Oh, that makes sense then the only place I can take you to is the guidance counselor's office. At least he'd know what to do with you,", assured Astrape, "Oh, my name's Astrape by the way, I'm a first-year in high school".
"I'm Mikol, second-year elementary", replied the boy, "Oh and did you mean high school or middle school?".
"Isn't it obvious?".
"If I had to guess, I'd say middle-school".
"What?! I'm in high school".
"So, since you said first year that must be tenth grade right".
"Yeah, tenth grade", Astrape replied.
As they walked to the guidance counselor's office, Astrape proceeded to give Mikol a short tour of Vex Academy and offer some advice and knowledge about the school. And as their journey continued, unknowingly to Astrape, Mikol grew fond of him, which is why it came as a surprise to Astrape as Mikol suddenly held his hand.
Meanwhile back at the guidance counselor's office, Mikol's sister waited, distressed and in panic after realizing just how bad the situation might be after her brother was nowhere to be seen for over three hours. The guidance counselor Mr. Tugboat already doing his best to calm her down was now out of ideas. Right before he was about to declare it an emergency, a knock on the door was heard and to their relief the unexpected visitor was none other than their missing person's case. The young lady rushed to check up on her lost but now found little brother.
Failing to hide her worry, relief and then anger she rushed to him in a fit of rage as if to give him a mouth full. However, seeing his bright and excited face, she became hesitant to continue her fit of rage.
"Where were you? I've… we've been looking all over for you. Mr. Tugboat was about to issue an emergency just because you were missing", she said.
"I think you just overreacted", he answered.
"Overreacted? Do you know what you put me through? You were gone for almost four hours and under my care, while I was giving you a tour of the school. Mikol, you need to think about your actions before you actually go through with them, when school's done, I'm so gonna to tell mom about this and she's gonna ground the heck out of you", she lectured him.
"Well, everything turned out fine in the end, right? Plus, while I was gone, I met Astrape, he gave the tour you were talking about".
"Astrape? Who's that? Mikol what did mom tell you about strangers?! What if you got hurt or worse this world is full of creeps y'know", she told Mikol while Astrape stood there awkwardly in silence.
"Uhm… ouch, that kinda hurts", whispered Astrape. Mikol's sister now noticing him gazed at his awkward expression and then back at Mikol's embarrassed face and had a moment of enlightenment. Avoiding eye contact while trying her best to hide her nerves, she apologetically extended her hand to introduce herself.
"Hello, I'm Mikol's sister, Odigos, but you can call me Odis for short", she said to him, "And you're Astri, was it?", she asked while wondering why she hadn't noticed him all that time. "What's up with this this guy? Is he invisible or something?", she thought.
"It's Astrape, actually and you said Odigos right? Or Odis for short? That's a great name, I'm not sure which language but it means wealth, right?", responded Astrape.
"Oh Astrape, ok got it and yeah it actually does. Although that's only true for Odis which is the short version, my full name Odigos means guide. And I'm sorry if I offended you in any way, I wasn't trying to… I was just giving Mikol some advice so… yeah".
"It's cool, I could see that much. Anyway, I'll be going now, I got curfew so I guess I'll see you around", said Astrape leaving for the door until he was halted by Mr. Tugboat.
"Wait, actually it's good you're here Astrape. Odigos, you and Mikol are free to leave, we'll finish filling out Mikol's details on the morrow", said Mr. Tugboat.
With a nod, Odigos ushered herself and Mikol towards the door as they took their leave. Mikol looking back at Astrape with a smile while miming the words "see you later", as Astrape gladly responded with a simple two finger salute.