The Andrew Graham Center wasn't really that far away from the city. It was still part of Yule, technically, just fifteen minutes away from the town's entrance by car. Connor passed through the gas station he and Alexis first arrived in on their way there, when Grace said she wanted to accompany him on his first day. Apparently, she knew some people who worked at the place. Alexis and Mikey had tagged along, too, although they weren't planning on staying for too long. Connor appreciated the company, despite dreading having to go and work on top of everything else going on in his life.
But Lisa had warned him from a start that he was going to do some sort of social labor to clear his file a bit, liked it or not. And if that meant going to this place once a week for two months to serve people food and whatnot, then he might as well comply. It wasn't like he did anything on Sundays anyway. Lisbug had said that he might be surprised by meeting some people he already knew there, though he highly doubted it.
The pictures he had seen at the guidance counselor's office did justice to the place; it was surrounded by evergreens that extended into the mountains, surrounded by a deep forest. The grounds weren't that big, but they were big enough to host three buildings. He knew the largest one was the homeless care shelter and dining hall, which was very busy especially on the holidays. There was the administrative building, where he would be spending most of his time, and then there was the psychiatric ward. It was amazing how a single place could serve so many purposes. This Graham person, whoever he was, was a visionary.
-"It's been some time since I've been to visit Andrew."—Grace said nonchalantly after parking her small white car and walking with the three kids towards the white administrative building in front of them—"I wonder how he's been doing?"
-"You know the owner of this place...?"—Alexis asked, watching the people walking around a bit distrustfully.
Connor grimaced watching Alexis taking in the place. It was clear she didn't like it one bit. One thing was having Connor away during school days, but they weren't used to getting separated this much either. Even if it was only once a week, he knew she would take a while to get used to it.
Mikey walked alongside Connor, his gaze focused on the floor. He didn't seem to be too fond of the place either.
-"Yeah, he's a family friend."—Grace said fondly, answering Alexis' question—"I've known him for years. He was the one whom we came to when I told him I wanted to become part of the foster system. And after several months, he gave us a call, and introduced us to Mikey."
Connor turned to Mikey, who sent him a shy smile. Coming to think of it, Connor hadn't ever asked his roommate for how long he had been in a system. If he had been in a place like this for a while, then that meant that probably for a lot longer than what he originally imagined.
They entered the lobby, which was decorated with several potted plants which seemed to be healthy and some hanging frames of cats, forests and beaches. A grey-haired and big bosomed lady in the reception received them with a caring smile, and judging from the pictures on her desk she was a cat person and loved her grandchildren to bits. Connor introduced himself, and submitted the forms Lisbug had given him to fill out.
-"Oh, you are here for community service! That's great..."—the lady said, smiling and picking up the reception phone and dialing a number—"It's so strange to find young and handsome voluntaries like you these days..."
-"Voluntary-? Ow!"—Mikey said right before Alexis' elbow on his stomach—"I mean... yeah Connor here is just dying to help out."
Thankfully the lady didn't seem to notice, and instead went on and on about how good it was to receive another voluntary. Though she turned it down a little when she read in Connor's form that he was a foster kid. They were told to wait for the person in charge of the program Connor would be helping out with, and so they did for about ten minutes, when a tall young man entered the room and headed towards the reception desk to speak with the lady. He was lean, but muscular, and was wearing jeans and white vest with a brown jacket on top. He had very messy brown hair, which stood very tall and seemed to be going in every direction, and his wrists were covered in what seemed to be bracelets. The minute he laid eyes upon the newcomer, Connor noticed he looked strangely familiar.
As the newcomer finished his talking with the receptionist, Alexis turned to Connor and whispered.
-"... Con... isn't that...?"—she asked, referring to the tall man—"Someone we know...?"
-"... I'm not sure..."—Connor answered—"You remember him?"
-"I think so... hadn't he... hadn't he been your roommate once, like five or six years ago...?"
-"You think...? But wait, that would mean he's... Oh! That's...!"
The tall man approached them, prompting everyone to stand up and greet him. Connor remembered now, recognizing the face of his former roommate all those years ago.
-"You must be Mrs. Helbig! Pleasure to meet you; I'm Richard Dillon, but please call me Ricky."
Ricky extended out his arm to shake Grace's hand with a wide, welcoming smile. The small lisp on his speech when pronouncing the "s" and the "t" was still as noticeable as Connor remembered. Grace shook his hand a little uneasily, like it was so usual of her.
-"Oh, please, it's Ms. Helbig."—Grace corrected—"This here is my son Mikey, and these are—"
-"Alexis and Connor!"—Ricky finished for her, then turning to the mentioned pair—"The world is a really tiny place. Been a while, huh?"
And what a small world it was, for both Connor and Alexis looked at each other in shock at the confirmation of Ricky's identity.
Needless to say, there was a proper introduction and explanation to Grace and Mikey, and about an hour later, Connor and Ricky had already sent them and Alexis back home and now the two of them headed towards the Foster Shelter building, where Connor learnt he would be helping Ricky out for his community service. It didn't take too long for Ricky to explain how he used to be Connor's roommate in a one of his previous foster homes some years back, and after that he gave them all a small summary of what his life had been since.
Ricky was already twenty years old, which meant he was already a full-grown adult in his full capacity and the system was no longer obligated to look out for him. The same could be said about Connor, who was eighteen, except for the fact that Grace had voluntarily offered her assistance in fostering him despite his age. After Connor and Alexis had left the foster home in which Ricky lived, he spent a couple of months in there as well. He was later moved to another couple of houses, and with the years he eventually started escaping the homes he was sent to. He said it was too much to handle with the terrible places he got sent to. Most foster parents do it for the cash, so it's not weird to find some really mean ones among them. One day, Ricky escaped the house of a man who treated his foster kids as inmates in a federal prison. Ricky said that he was an alcoholic, and that he kept making them steal booze for him. He got sick of it, and one day struck him in the face and ran away the second he saw the chance, stealing some money from his wallet in the process. Of course the man called the police and pressed charges. By then, Ricky had already made his way several miles from the house, but was caught in a convenience store as he was trying to shoplift some food. He was sent to juvie after that, at the age of sixteen.
-"I spent a whole year in that place-Not so far away from here, actually, in Tubula town."—Ricky explained to Connor as they crossed they approached the double-doored entrance to the hall of the building they were headed to—"But I did my homework in there; I behaved, I helped with the rehabilitation program... since I wasn't a junkie or anything they had especial treatment with me. But I was labeled as a violent case, so there's that... That's when I met Andrew."
Ricky stopped at the doors, and so did Connor with him. Ricky let out a sigh, turned to the green eyed lad and looked at him with a grin.
-"He's the owner of this place, isn't he?"—Connor asked—"Geez... he must have some nerve getting so many foster kids together..."
-"He's a top-notch guy, the best of them around."—Ricky said—"Gave me a second chance, and the people behind this door, too... That's why it's called the 'Second Life' initiative."
Connor looked at the door in front of him, wondering who he would meet on the other side. Just thinking about it made his stomach churn the same way it did back at Lisbug's office.
-"What will I be doing here...?"—Connor asked.
-"Basically you'll help me take care of the kids here."—Ricky explained—"We don't have many people helping; only me and other three guys and one girl are here permanently, so it's great to have one extra pair of hands, even if it's only on Sundays."
Connor nodded. It was weird seeing a person from the past after so many years, even more when it was a former foster brother. But Ricky had been the exception amongst all the other foster kids he had to endure in his life; he had been by far the kindest, most mature and the closest thing he'd had to a friend in years. He and Alexis owed a lot to him, so now Connor felt the obligation to pay back by helping out the best way he could.
-"Okay... Just tell me what to do, and I'll try my best."—Connor told Ricky, who smirked at the thought.
-"Now that's something I'd like to see! But who knows...? Maybe helping others is in you after all."
After those words, Ricky opened the double doors and the two of them walked into the hall. There were several couches all over the space, with bookshelves and beds and desks were teenager kids were sitting down doing their homework or napping or talking with one another. There were some computers in which some of them were skyping, probably with their relatives away from this place. Connor walked around in awe looking at how many foster children crowded the space.
-"The program's idea is simple; Andrew was a foster kid himself, and he got into juvie when he was fifteen. After that no family wanted to take him in."—Ricky explained, as he and Connor walked through the space towards the administration offices in the back—"So, in order to prevent that from happening to any other kids, he opened this place. This NGO takes legal responsibility of the kids that they pick out of juvenile detention facilities—that would be me, and give them an alternative with community service the foundation provides to the homeless and the patients of the psychiatric clinic."
As Ricky explained, a thought crossed Connor's mind, which prompted him to ask a question.
-"Wait-does that mean that every kid here has been taken out from juvie?"
-"Yeah, more or less."—Ricky answered—"They spend some time here, until their social worker was managed to find another foster family that's willing to take them in. There's several organizations like this across the States now, this is one of the smallest. But you know how it is up here in the cold north; we work with what we get."
Grace had mentioned that Mikey used to live in this organization before she and her ex-husband had decided to foster him. Did that mean that Mikey used to be a high risk foster kid? One that had spent years of his life in juvie? A delinquent? That's something he had never even suspected out of his younger foster brother, who seemed so naïve and harmless. Connor realized then that there was so much he didn't knew about him, and that perhaps there was a lot more that might surprise him.
Ricky entered the empty office, and returned after a brief moment with two ID cards, one with his name, and another one in blank with a number written on it, and handed it to Connor.
-"That's your visitor card."—Ricky explained, as Connor took it and pinned it to his jacket—"Since you won't be staying here permanently, you'll need this to mark your times of entrance and departure. However many hours you spend here, your guidance counselor will be notified."
-"Huh... so it's like a job of sorts?"—Connor asked sarcastically—"Well, I expected as much..."
-"She was very interested in making you work with other foster kids! Something about 'needing to learn how to interact with other people his age'... I wonder what you did to end up being sent here?"
Connor scoffed at the memory of the first day of school.
-"If I told you we'd lose the entire day..."
-"Ok!"—Ricky said with a loud clap—"Now, let's see what we can start you off with... Oh! Jc! Hey, Jc, over here!"
Ricky was calling out some guy in the back that was trying to walk a group of five kids somewhere, and having a lot of trouble with it apparently. The person named Jc walked towards him and Connor, seemingly exasperated with the task he had been given. He was way shorter than Ricky, and shorter even than Connor, which was an odd thing. He was also kind of chubby, which was pretty noticeable since he was wearing a short-sleeved white t-shirt, along with a snap-back cap which reminded Connor of Lilly. Once he had reached them, Connor noticed the uncountable amount of tattoos in his arms; there was a balloon, a plane, and ever what seemed to be a dream catcher.
-"What is it, Ricks?"—Jc said, panting—"Please don't give me the other group of middle-schoolers! It's enough with this bunch you've given me already! Those were Kian's problem!"
Ricky shook his head slightly with both hands on his hips. Connor raised an eyebrow.
-"No, no, Jc, it's not that. Jc, this is Connor; Connor, Jc."
-"Hey."—Connor greeted, nodding once in Jc's direction.
-"Oh, that's your ex roomie, isn't he?"—Jc asked—"Fresh meat! That's great, someone else to torture!"
-"I was thinking that since it's his first day, I should pair him up with one of my trusted helpers..."—Ricky said—"And here you are, so that settles it! Connor goes with you!"
Ricky gave Connor a slight push towards Jc, both of them shocked at Ricky's sudden decision, and openly questioning it in front of him. However, their elder help up both his hands in signal of silence, and then placed them on his hips and smiled at them.
-"My word is final!"—he announced—"Now I have to go meet Shanna in the psych building, so my hands are a little tied. I'll be back in a couple of hours for lunch break with you two. Go have fun!"
That was his final saying, before he turned around and left the two of them alone. Connor just looked at him awkwardly as the latter walked away, realizing that now he was Jc's responsibility. He turned towards the shorter kid, who was scratching the back of his head.
-"Well, seems I'm stuck with you... well, what gives."
-"... So..."—Connor asked tentatively—"What exactly are we supposed to do with the middle schoolers...?"
-"Oh, we got the good one! With all the holidays and stuff Shanna has instructed Ricky to start the art initiative to ease the kids. So today we're carving pumpkins for Halloween."
Connor cursed under his breath as he realized that it was bound to be a long, long day.
---
It's funny how one person can spend most of his life oblivious to the many others who have been through the same as he has. That was Connor's case with the kids in the care center, who had all lost contact with their families, if they had any families at all. In fact, Connor was one of the few really lucky ones that had been granted a stable foster home, and that's what he realized when talking with the teenagers that carved pumpkins with him and Jc (or at least attempted to).
There were all sorts of kids; those who had lost their parents to accidents like he had, and those who had never known them, like Alexis. The only difference was that these kids had all spent time in juvie, which neither he or Alexis had. But even with that in consideration, Connor didn't feel like he was at all different from this kids. In fact, he felt he had a whole lot deal more in common with them than with any of the pretentious teens he had to face day after day in Yule High School. Although to be fair, that usually meant Cameron Dallas and his jerk platoon, and they were obviously below the usual standard.
But even when thinking about it, Connor realized just how little he had in common to his friends. To Lilly, Joe, Caspar and Oli, whom he hadn't ever heard complain about their families, not even once. For all he knew they all had stable homes, attended a proper school. They had faced hardships in their lives, he was sure of it. But how could that compare to losing the people you hold dearest to you? How can you compare living behind bars with other kids who have committed crimes, in fear that you might get hurt day after day?
Even Troye, the one kid whom Connor had felt a little secure with, was so unlike any of these other kids. His life was completely alien to these children. Children who were like Connor, Alexis and even Mikey.
Connor found himself helping this kids that looked bruised, some of them malnourished, with the craving of their pumpkins. He could tell they weren't the best ones in the market, most of them were quite tiny. And the kids were enjoying themselves anyhow. Even with all the mess it caused, Connor eventually realized he was even enjoying himself.
Around two the kids were called in to the dining hall for lunch, and Connor was left alone with Jc to try and clean up the mess. They were both working the finishing touches on their own pumpkins. Connor wasn't particularly proud of his; he had attempted to do a human face, but it ended up looking more like a doodle or something. Jc, who Connor heard some of the kids call Justin, was fixed on his very own.
-"You know what? For a newbie, you aren't half bad."—Jc said, working on his pumpkin—"This little fellas here are usually annoying as fuck, but they seem to like you. Or fear you, at least."
-"Huh."—Connor scoffed—"Fear me? That seems unlikely."
-"I don't find it weird, dude."—Jc continued—"I mean have you seen your face? You've been brooding all the time! Geez, even Kian is more lively than you... Besides it's so strange to get more people to help us around here; a new face always takes a while to settle in around here."
Connor felt a bit bad from what he heard. He could imagine how many people this facility could use, and how many actually worked there. Probably not even half of what they needed in staff. People in Yule and in that other next town over lived their lives completely on the margin of these kids, of these people, and none of them lost any sleep thinking about it.
It made his chest tighten, the single thought of returning that very same night to his own bed knowing that there were kids like him in a place like this, who didn't have that luxury.
It could've been him. It could've been Alexis.
For a while, it was Mikey.
Connor stopped carving on his pumpkin. It was already made into a blurry faceless thing, so he decided to leave it be. He instead switched his attention to Jc, who was finishing his own. A picture of a Chihuahua dog with a couple of Maracas on each hand was skillfully cut out on it. Connor saw how Jc swiftly and skillfully used the knife, like it was an extension of his own arm.
And then he remembered Jc had been in juvie, too.
And his face must have shown so, because Jc stopped and looked at Connor with a sly smirk, then maneuvering the blade within his fingers.
-"Scary, huh?"—Jc asked—"That's the sort of thing you learn in street gangs."
-"... You were in a gang?"—Connor asked, feeling intimidated.
-"Yup! And got sent to juvie for it."—Jc said, popping the 'p' in his speech, and then stood up from his seat, dusting off the back of his shorts—"We called ourselves 'The Cartel'. Pretty badass, we thought. Bunch of homeless Mexican kids in the streets, we were bound to get caught. My parents were illegal immigrants and got deported, but since I was born here they couldn't do the same with me. I was taken in by the streets. It's not a pretty thing."
Jc extended out his arm to help Connor get up. However, Connor didn't take it, and stood up himself. Jc didn't seem to mind, though.
-"... Mr. Graham found me in juvie when I was sixteen."—Jc explained—"That was two years ago. Been here ever since. I know it sounds like I'm some crook or somethin', but you could say the same out of everybody here."
Connor nodded, but stayed silent, and placed his hands in his back pockets. He took a minute to look around him, at the green areas of the garden. A few yards away stood the care center, and next to it was the psychiatric clinic. He saw several people walking in and out from it. It was amazing how a single person could have done so many things for people in need.
Then, something at the clinic caught his eye. Something, or rather someone. But that couldn't be. It made no sense.
Connor gulped down some saliva before addressing Jc.
-"Justin is your name, right?"
-"Eh, well that's my real name, but everyone just calls me Jc..."
-"Right, so... the clinic? What type of work do they do there?"
-"Oh?"—Jc turned in the direction of the clinic, which was the smallest building out of the bunch—"Well there's a bunch of doctors over there. Mostly shrinks. They don't work for free, but it's a lot less expensive than the hospital. A lot of people come here for rehab, and they all go there to get the diagnosis for their pills and stuff."
Connor turned to Jc in curiosity.
-"Pills?"—he asked—"What type of pills...?"
-"Well, you know..."—Jc said, doubtingly—"Antidepressants, and stuff of the sort... people from Yule and Tubula come here to get examined when they need a psychologist or something like that. Some of the best doctors around work here."
Connor's attention went back to the clinic's building, as his mind gears turned. The second Jc brought up the pills, he had thought about Red. She took antidepressants, as he had learnt the night they spent together.
Could it be...?
-"Hey, Jc"—Connor spoke up—"Would you mind telling Ricky I'll join you two in a bit...? There's something... I'd like to check out."
Jc didn't seem to follow what Connor was saying, which was completely understandable since he was being so vague, but Jc didn't like to babysit, and would take whatever chance he saw to ditch any work he was given. So instead of complying against it, he just shrugged.
-"Whatevs, man."—he said—"We'll be at the administration's dining hall, it's in the main building. Meet us there when you're ready."
Once Jc had already turned on his heels and left with the bags of pumpkin fillings, leaving Connor alone with the carved fruit, he turned around and made his way to the clinic.
The reception was different from the main building's. For starters, it was a lot bigger. There were several people waiting in line to be attended, apparently all of them with reservations to see some doctor. Connor walked around, trying to see if what he had suspected was correct.
There were some corridors that led deeper into the building, with several rooms to the left and windows with view to the outside on the right. If Connor had been correct, then they had headed this way.
Eventually, the corridor tilted to the left, and Connor walked alongside it until he came across an opening that led to an inner court.
There was a large oak tree in the middle of it, and several benches all around on the grass. It was like a little private park. There were people of all ages walking around, some in groups, some alone. Connor saw nurses taking care of the older ones, all of them wearing their white uniforms and their hats. Unlike the view of the foster kids in the care center, this was a heart-breaking sight. These people were all suffering from some sort of mental illness, probably, or were here for therapy of some kind. He knew he didn't have all the details, but he could come up with things such as untreatable phobias or social anxiety. He came up with those when seeing a young woman who refused to be touched by the nurse, who was trying to get her to her bedroom.
And then, amongst the nurses and happily helping out with some of the patients, Connor saw him, smiling brighter than what Connor had ever seen him do before. But instead of walking towards him and saying hi, he just stood there frozen, because from all the people in the world, Troye was the last he expected to find in such a place.
But then, Troye turned around and met Connor's eyes, and his smile was immediately erased from his face, going extremely pale instead.
-"C-Connor!?"—Troye asked, in shock—"What are you doing here!?"
Connor would've answered, but he was too in shock himself to utter any words. One of the nurses that was with Troye noticed the awkward exchange, and directed herself to the Australian.
-"Is that a friend of yours, Troye?"—she asked in a kind tone.
-"No! I-I mean, yes, kinda, from school..."—Troye stammered.
-"Really? That's so nice! Why don't you leave it here for today and go say hi?"
-"B-But..."—Troye stammered nervously—"I still have like an hour left—"
-"I don't wanna hear it, Troye; you've helped plenty today. Come on, go ahead! I'll let Shanna know that you're coming back next week like always, ok?"
Troye didn't seem to find any further excuses, so he nodded at the nurse, who left with the rest after sending Connor a smile on his way. The two kids stood there awkwardly, neither clearly knowing what to say. Eventually Connor coughed, and spoke awkwardly.
-"... So... eh... small world?"
---
In the back of the clinic, there was a special building that, as Troye explained to Connor, Andrew had built solely for therapeutic purposes. Aromatherapy was a type of patient treatment that proved itself effective on many, and it is quite rentable in comparison to other methods, as long as you grow your own herbs. On top of that, many of the patients enjoyed being given tasks and chores, at least those that they find appealing. So gardening became a prime example of an activity that the clinic could offer as means for rehabilitation.
The clinic's greenhouse was quite large, and all made of glass. Inside it was a lot warmer than the outside atmosphere, with some steam even covering up its roof and walls. There were plants of all kinds; bushes, small trees, and flowers of all shapes and colors. Their names were written on tags at the bottom of their respective pots, with some coming from places as extravagant to Connor as Asia to those that were fairly local from Minnesota or Wisconsin. The entire room seemed like it had been taken out of a movie or something, and Connor thought about how much Alexis would have like it there. It seemed like it was her sort of thing. Hell, even he seemed to like it there. And being there with Troye reminded him of the sunflower meadow they came across on the camping trip to Yule Lake. The memory gave him an uneasy feeling on his chest.
Troye walked Connor around for a bit in silence, clearly trying to come up with the right words for his question. But he eventually gave up, because there was no right way of asking it.
-"Ok, are you following me or something?"
Connor stopped on his tracks with his eyebrows raised, as Troye turned around and faced him, showing he was serious with his question.
-"... Wait are you being serious?"—Connor asked—"No, of course not."
-"Then how did you know you'd find me here?"—Troye asked a bit aggressively—"Nobody-and I mean nobody, from school knows I come here on Sundays."
-"Why is it such a big deal?"—Connor asked, walking closer to his friend—"And I'm not following you, ok? I was sent here by Lisbug."
-"Mrs. Schwartz? Why?"
-"For my community service. We were on a fist fight? In front of the entire school? I'm a problem kid or something? I had to prove the educational board that I'm improving...?"
-"Oh..."—Troye said, trailing off a bit, and looking sorry of implying Connor had been following him—"I'm sorry... for that..."
-"We've been through that. Don't say you're sorry."—Connor said, putting an end to the argument.
Now it was Connor's turn to make the questions. Clearly this was some sort of secret life of Troye's, even if it shouldn't be something he should be hiding. Or maybe it was. It was all too confusing to Connor.
-"... I was put to work with the foster kids at the care center."—Connor explained to his friend—"There's many kids my age who work there, giving them a place to stay while their social workers are searching for new foster families..."
-"... Yeah, Shanna has told me about what they do there."—Troye said—"Everyone thinks very highly of it."
-"Is Shanna your supervisor or something?"—Connor asked, remembering how Ricky and Jc had both mentioned that name themselves.
-"Yeah, she works under Mr. Graham. She is also a psychiatrist here."—Troye said, walking around with his arms crossed.
The two of them went on walking through the greenhouse, and Connor saw through the glass a group of people that were walking in and out of the largest building, the dining hall. He realized that was the place where they provided food for the homeless.
-"... So why are you here?"—Connor asked—"Do you need voluntary work to apply to that fancy school you want to go to...?"
-"What!? No!"—Troye answered, taken aback—"Do you really think that I'm that shallow?"
-"No, of course not."—Connor said—"That just seemed like the most logical explanation."
-"Well, for your information, I come here voluntarily."—Troye said, clearly feeling a bit of pride from his declaration—"I don't gain anything from it. Not at all."
Connor was about to ask something else, but Troye beat him to it.
-"And no, my parents don't come here or make me come here. It's just me. My dad works at the hospital in Yule, not this clinic. My brothers don't come here either. I convinced them to let me come here to help, because I wanted to. They lend me the car on Sundays just to drive here and back. I've been doing so ever since they've let me, about three years ago, just a bit after moving here from Australia. And no, I haven't told anybody because... well because it's nobody's business."
Troye was very adamant about this. More than any other thing Connor had seen him do before. Still, he suspected that there was more to Troye helping out in such a place. Something Troye wasn't telling Connor. But whatever that something was, Connor knew Troye had his reasons, and he respected that.
In fact, he respected Troye a lot. And now even more, knowing that he did this.
He had just spent most of his day helping out the foster children, thinking about how none of his friends had the slightest clue that there were people with such different lives just across from Lake Yule. And now, just when he had started to think lowly of them because of it, Troye turned out to be one of the few people who came here and saw this reality just like Connor had. And Troye had done it on his free will, and for so long as well. How weird, how odd, that out of all the people in that cold town, Troye had to be the one person Connor ran into in such a place.
How odd the feeling that Connor got in his chest when thinking about this. How much the whole ordeal started to seem like a universal joke to him.
-"... I think it's great."—Connor said.
Troye looked at him slightly confused.
-"You're a great person for doing this, Tro."—Connor stated, matter-of-factly—"This place is lucky to have you."
Connor could swear that Troye's pale cheeks were starting to redden a bit, and his eyes were wide as plates.
-"Hehe... it really isn't a big deal..."
-"But it is!"—Connor said, placing his hands over Troye's shoulders and looking at his friend in the eyes firmly—"How many people in our school even care to think about this place? I bet you that none. Yet here you are! Not taking any credit for it, out of free will. You're a better person than all of Yule, and a better person than me. I'm... I'm glad that you're my friend."
Connor could barely believe the words that left his mouth. He was not used to expressing his thoughts or feelings, even less when it came to a person other than Alexis. This was a huge milestone. And since it was Troye, Connor was worried that he might be saying all those things because of all the doubts that the blue eyed boy made him go through. However, standing there in the greenhouse only the two of them, Connor felt that he genuinely admired Troye. More than anyone else in the world at the moment.
Troye, on the other hand, seemed to hate taking Connor's compliments, even with Connor being as stern and brooding as always, if not more. And for some reason, Connor felt that what he was telling Troye made him feel slightly frustrated.
-"... Thanks, Connor."—Troye said, giving Connor a pat in the back—"But I just want to help, that's all... and you're here for the same reason. So give yourself some credit, too."
Connor sighed.
-"It's hardly the same; but yeah, have it your way."
Connor let go of Troye's shoulders, and the latter checked his phone for the time.
-"It's almost three."—he said, then turning to Connor—"At what time are you supposed to head back?"
-"I think Grace is coming to get me at three thirty."—Connor explained—"Do you need a right home?"
-"No, no, don't worry, I have my mum's car... besides I have to wait for—"
Troye stopped mid-sentence, as he was turning towards the clinic. Connor waited, but Troye never finished what he was about to say.
-"For whom...?"—Connor asked.
-"... For... For Shanna."—Troye said—"I have to wait for her... she... she has to give me some forms..."
Connor didn't buy that tall tale.
Whoever Troye was waiting, it seemed to be some sort of secret. And if Troye wanted it to be that way, then so be it.
As Connor eventually returned home after meeting once again with Ricky and officially ending his first day of community service, he realized just how much of a coincidence was that Troye was there at that same NGO as he was sent by Lisbug.
A little too much of a coincidence.
Connor now had a firm hunch on who had been the one to tell Lisbug that he was having trouble sleeping at night. The only person who could have known that Troye went there to send Connor on purpose.
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A/N
First off, I was doubting whether I should post or not today. What is happening right now at France and Syria is a very serious matter, and though I am lucky not to have any relatives there, I have friends who have lost family to the attacks. I am beyond devastated by it, and my prayers and best wishes go to those affected.
If you have any family or friends that have faced a loss, my deepest condolences.
I hope that this chapter however provides a little cheering-up for you. I know writing it helped me a bit. I always use writing as a mean of self-therapy, it helps me feel better when I'm down. I hope that this following week I don't find the need to, though, and that the situation has improved from what it currently is.
But I did promise a Q&A for our 50K, so here it is. I have given general answers instead of individual ones, in attempt to make it shorter; I hope you guys enjoy it :)
1) About inspiration for my writing and the story:
Well, my close friends know this already, but I originally get ideas for my stories not from other books, but from songs. I know, it sounds weird. But that's how I work; I listen to a particular song that I like, and pay close attention to the lyrics. Sometimes, I create scenarios out of this. So for The Last Strands, the song that gave me the idea for the story was "Love Love Love" by Of Monsters and Men, and for "To be Frantastic" it was Bastille's Oblivion and also Happy Little Pill. So, for this story, it was "Cool Kids" by Echosmith, and eventually "Ease" from Wild. Once I have a song or songs, I start working on the plot. I don't plan it all right away, but I do choose one or two key events and then I ask myself: How do I get there? And what do I avoid in order to make the journey interesting?
So, around January I started watching "The Fosters", which as most of you could tell is a big inspiration for Algid. I really love that show and it has become one of my top favorites, so when I came up with Algid I wanted to somehow make my own version of it. What I tried to take out of the most was the relationship that Callie and her younger half-brother Jude have, and somehow trascend that into Connor and Alexis, and I'm very happy with what I've gotten out of it so far. And you all seem to like it, too! So that's great :)
2) About my writing process:
So, my chapters are around 5000-6000 words long. Do I write them all in one sitting? Sometimes. Is it often? Hell no. Most of the times it takes me about two sittings to finish one chapter, one per day which makes it two days of writing. However sometimes I take a couple of days off between these two days, becuase I brainstorm about how to continue or how to change something that I may not really like about what I've written. So no, I haven't planned out how many chapters there will be left of the story, because I can't! I had done a preliminary plan-out in which it was supposed to be over around chapter 30, but that was scratched out AGES ago. I no longer restrain myself to a final number of chapters, because I know that if I do I won't be able to go as far as I want to with this story. So don't worry, we have plenty of time left with this book hehe
And when it comes to motivation; I absolutely LOVE your commetns! They are what keeps me going, honestly. I love writing this so much, but when I write I always tell myself to write what I would enjoy reading. And seeing that you guys enjoy reading it means that it pays off, which is more than enough for me.
3) About me:
Well, my real name is [CAR HONK IS HEARD IN THE DISTANCE], and I'm 20 years old. I'm from Peru! (HA! I bet you never thought of THAT!) And no, I'm not a published author nor do I own a pet llama. But I do hope to be a write some day. I'm a guy, by the way.
... And I'm straight.
I know, I know! Please don't start fretting. I know it's pretty weird for me to be writing gay fanfiction. But what can I say? Connor is my favorite youtuber in history, and the minute the idea of him and Troye being together crossed my mind, I shipped it instantly. Troye was the first openly gay youtuber I ever watched. I was never much of a fan of Tyler. And I don't know, the idea of the two of them being together and making each other happy made me happy, and I had a lot of free time in my hands, so I started reading fanfiction. And then I asked myself 'heh. why not give it a shot?', and I've made amazing friends here so I don't regret a single thing. (you know who you are hahaha)
Yes this also means that my first language is Spanish, but I've grown learning English my whole life. So please goe easy on me if I screw up from time to time hahaha
4) About the plot:
... No of course I'm not telling you ANYTHING about Sage or Dustin! That's the point of the story, you have to find out eventually!*LAUGHS MALLEFICENTLY* ... But yeah, I feel bad for torturing you... not. But I will make it up to you, I promise ;)
In fact, I'll tell you this; one of those two characters is going to be appearing very very soon, and you will not be expecting it.
Well I gues this is all for today. I'm waaaay past my word count so I have to do magic so that Wattpad lets me publish this and not leave it in private. Did you know it does that when you write too much? It's kind of annoying.
Anyway; see you soon, you crazy lot!
--Coffee