Real Identity [Identity V]

Chapter 05: Understanding

Last night was tiring.

Ashley was awake all night listening to Scott's ramblings. She'd surely die out of boredom should Edward wasn't there to crack occasional jokes.

But forget it. This afternoon, Ashley decided to do something.

There's an unoccupied room next to Henry's room. No one dared to go inside or even touch the door handle. But today, you could occasionally hear random sounds coming from inside. When you walk past the door, you'd hear bangings and sounds of metallic things being dropped, and sometimes, some whimpers could be heard as well.

Everyone doesn't seem to care about it though. Not even Henry who lives next door cares enough to check what's happening inside. Except maybe Ashley, who got a bit curious. Maybe someone was in there all this time, but they decided to keep quiet on the first few days we started live in here? Maybe a ghost, even? So many possibilities.

Ashley took a deep breath, staring at the door handle of the probably haunted room. She placed her hand on the said handle, trying to push open the door, but to no avail, as the door has seemed to be blocked by something.

She tried to push the door harder, and to her surprise, after a few attempts, she managed to push it open, as a loud shriek could be heard from inside.

Sitting on the floor with a horrified expression is a man with short grey hair. Behind his black-framed glasses is a pair of yellow eyes, opened wide in shock, mouth open agape as his body trembled nonstop, sweat dripping down from his slightly tanned skin.

"I-I'm sorry! I never knew someone is inside..." Ashley stared at the poor man with an apologetic look, genuinely feeling bad for surprising him by the sudden visit.

"P-Please don't h-hurt me...! I'll do a-anything, so please...!" The man then bowed, planting his forehead to the floor, his body still trembling.

"N-No, what are you talking about? I'm so sorry for bursting in so suddenly like that, raise your head, please." The girl rushed to the man's side, holding his arm as she tried to get him up back to his sitting position.

The man, still trembling, breathed heavily, violently wiping the tears coming from the side of his eyes with his hand.

They both stayed quiet for a few minutes, with the occasional whimpers from the timid man as the only sound present once in a while. Trying to break the awkward atmosphere, Ashley decided to start a conversation, once she felt the man has calmed down.

"S-So, um... How long have you been here?" She asked, lightly rubbing calming circles on the man's back.

"...Y-Yesterday. I received an invitation, and arrived here in the middle of the night, s-so... I sneaked in..." He explained after a minute of silence, staring at the floor—not daring to face the girl next to him.

"I see..." Ashley nodded slightly, "...You didn't tell anyone about your arrival?"

The man shook his head.

"...That's understandable," The black-haired girl hummed in understanding, already noticing that he doesn't do well with interacting with other people, "My name is Ashley Walker, by the way. What's yours?" She asked, passing a small smile at the stranger.

Surprised by the kindness of the girl, the man turned to stare at her in disbelief. He expected to be scolded for sneaking in without telling anyone, maybe even get beaten up for that. But no, this girl, showed kindness and understanding, despite them being total strangers with no information about each other.

Ashley tilted her head a bit after noticing the man have been staring at her for quite a while now, "...Sir?"

"Ah," The grey-haired man snapped back into reality, shaking his head a bit before passing a terribly awkward smile (it doesn't even look like a smile, to be honest) to the girl, "...J-John Roberts Franklin. I am... a technician."

Ashley stared in awe, lightly gripping his shoulders as her smile widened, "You're a technician...! That's so cool...!"

John's face reddened. His head is a mess—not knowing what to do, he quickly placed his hands on her shoulders as well, "Th-Thank y-you...!"

"...Ah," snapping back to reality, Ashley blushed, quickly releasing her grip from his shoulders as she quickly stood up, coughing slightly to clear her throat, "...We need to introduce you to the others, Mister Franklin. You can't, uhm... stay hidden forever..."

"...Y-Yes, I know..." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "...M-Maybe tomorrow, then..."

"This night," Ashley crouched back down, firmly tapping on the technician's shoulders, "dinner time," she exclaimed, standing back up as she walked to the door, "...I'll come get you at dinner time, Mister Franklin. I'll help you out! Please get ready." She said, now closing the door.

John sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration, grey strands of hair becoming messier than it already was, "...I don't even get to decide..."

---[★]---[★]---[★]---

Dinner time went horrible.

Though most of the others doesn't seem to mind John's sudden appearance, Tyler and Gwendolyn, being the ass they are, criticized him for 'being a pussy'.

John couldn't stop shaking at those snarky comments, luckily, Ashley and Fye was there to calm him down, understanding how he must've felt.

"I-I'm sorry for the mess I've made... I-I sh-shouldn't have came..." John bowed his head slightly and his body, once again, trembled, his eyes shut tight as if he's trying to hold back his tears.

"No no no, don't say that, Johny!" Fye grabbed his shoulders, repositioning his body as he grinned at the man before him, "I'm sorry about Tyler and Gwen, they can be a little rude sometimes, but I bet they didn't mean to hurt your feelings... Don't worry about it, okay?" The fortune-teller reassured, tapping the technician's shoulder lightly in an attempt to comfort.

"Johny...?" The grey-haired man mumbled, confused of the nickname he just received.

Ashley smiled, "Fye likes to give everyone a nickname... I think it's very nice. He didn't give nicknames for Mister Holmes and Tyler though, maybe their names are too complicated to be turned to a nickname..." She explained, mumbling the last part.

Fye, now lightly pushing John to his room's door, chuckled, "Don't you like the nickname though? Johny sounds pretty cute to me," he lets out a small laugh, "Well, go get some rest now, Johny. I know you're tired just from your expression. I guess socializing is pretty tiring to you."

"Y-Yeah..." John unlocked the door to his room, moving his foot inside one step, before stopping and turning his body around to stare at both Ashley and Fye, this time, his yellow pupils radiating a sense of warmth and happiness, "...Um, thank you, for being the only ones who decided to understand and be kind to me. I know I'm a coward but... I... I hope you still want to stay being friends with me until the end."

"Awww..." Fye wiped the tear threatening to come out from the side of his eyes, pulling both John and Ashley to a tight group hug, "You can trust us, I promise, Johny."

John closed his eyes once more, this time, a genuine smile appeared on his face. He lets out a sigh, letting tears of relieve stream down from his closed eyes, as he muttered another soft thank you in the welcoming group hug.

Ashley smiled once more, now closing her green eyes as well. She knew how the man felt—heck, she felt the exact same during her first time coming here. Almost everyone was cold, but over time, they managed to open up a bit, and she managed to make friends.

She believes that John, too, will be able to finally accepted by others fully, should the right time has come.