I WANT THAT NOTEBOOK WHERE TO BUYYYYYY
=~~~=
Shuffling through all the dust bunnies in the attic, you finally come across all their childhood belongings.
They were neatly placed in a row, provided with a faded and dusty sign of each of their names, indicating in who's things are who's.
You dust off some debris off your hoodie and make yourself comfortable in the dusty environment.
You scan the things on where to start with, "Hm...let's see..."
You start digging into the things, in Tom's stuff first, seeing what could still be in good condition after all these years.
You found an old toy pineapple...it was plastic.
Then, you found a bowling ball. Probably a part of a collection.
"Hm...I just need to find the whole set...maybe then it could be good to give." You mutter to yourself.
You start to look for the whole bowling set, stumbling upon a broken ukulele, a small hoodie with holes in it, and some old story books.
You take in the story books and place it beside you.
"Hm, I bet children would want those."
Soon, you found the rest of the set of the bowling collection, and so you moved on to the next boxes.
~
"...And Matt's the only one left."
You stretch a bit. Your legs have fallen asleep due to how long you've been sitting. Fortunately, Matt's box of things were the only ones left to uncover.
You shuffle through the things containing old clothes, a bunch of grooming toys, and mirrors. You see a photo of a young Matt in one of the frames.
You cooed a bit at the picture, how cute he looked in a jumper.
You start digging for more and ended up with a novel-sized book.
You blow off some dust from the book, revealing the front page as "Journal".
"Matt had a journal?" You raised an eyebrow.
You open the book, having its normal questions like, "This book belongs to..." And stuff. The age was filled in as "6". Which left you confused. If you had left at age 10, does that mean Matt and the others were only with their non-biological parents for 4 years?
Shaking the thought off, you turn to the next page.
"First Day at Youth Orphanage"
Was the title. You found yourself unconsciously reading the whole page.
"Miss Hannah gave me this journal because she says that we can write things about this orphanage and our thoughts because...it's therapeutic? I don't know what that word means. All the other kids also have journals like this. So I guess It's normal.
Today, I walked into the orphanage and everyone stared at me. I felt really shy. Suddenly, the children came over to me and asked me tons of questions like what was my name and my age and my favorite food. They really welcomed me immediately.
The nice grown-up people there were also really welcoming and nice. They gave me macaroni! Everyone was really nice! Then I met this boy named Tom...he looked like he didn't like me. That made me sad. I tried to talk to him a little more but he just said mean things...and that hurt me so I cried. People around me were noticing it and came to comfort me and they gave me cookies too...some told off Tom because he was being rude...he didn't like me even more."
You skip a few pages, you knew this part. Tom told you about it...briefly, but he did mention it.
As you turn to the other pages, the titles gradually getting more and more closer to the things Tom and Matt told you. Things like;
"They found out about my real mommy and daddy."
"Children are pretending that I don't exist anymore."
"Why were the children giving me mean stares today?"
"A boy came up to me and started calling me names..."
"Everyone thinks I wasn't suppose to be here."
"Maybe there is something wrong with me."
...A dark part of your consciousness was looking for that one particular page. The one Matt had brought up 2 times already.
You knew that it was wrong, you knew that it was probably invading his privacy...You knew, but you continued anyway.
"My birthday..."
'Found it.'
"August 15...today's my birthday. Every child looks forward to their birthday, right? Every child gets cake and presents on their birthday. But I don't want to have birthdays if it means getting presents like these..."
You were about read the second paragraph but you were interrupted by Matt's voice coming from downstairs, "(Y/N)!! Dinner's ready!" He says.
You jumped a bit.
"Yeah, yeah! I'm coming!" You reply.
You gather the collected toys and things and put it in the bag you had brought with you.
You then look at Matt's journal.
'(Y/N), don't you dare.'
'It's a chance to get to know about his past more!'
'(Y/N), don't!'
'What's a peek gonna do?'
'(Y/N)! Things are best left unknown-'
You slipped the journal inside the bag.
You go downstairs, getting greeted with Matt.
"So, what stuff did you discover up there?" He asks.
"Lots of stuff..." You reply and walked past him, going to you and Ell's room.
You open the door to be greeted with no one. Ell probably went downstairs already.
You place the bag underneath your bed, went to the bathroom to wash your hands and finally made your way to the dining table.
It looked as if Ell and Grandmother Susan were still preparing the table, so Matt must've called you a bit early. Feeling kind of tired, you made your way to the living room.
"Hey! You're cheating!"
"Nope. Maybe you're just bad at this."
"Oh, I'll show you!"
"No need. You already showed me how bad you are anyways."
"...I will fucking demolish you."
"I'd like to see you try."
You found Tord and Tom on the couch, playing a game.
It kind of made you feel weird.
How in the heck are they going on with their lives, as if Edd was never gone?
Suddenly you remember the experience bit by bit.
You would have never found Edd if it wasn't for "Unknown".
But...it threatened you about doing something to Matt but then suddenly, it helped you in finding Edd.
Is "Unknown" a friend or foe?
You sat on one of the sofas, Tom and Tord somehow didn't notice, and you pull out your phone, getting ready to text this "Unknown" fella.
(Y/N) : Hey.
Unknown : So, you've decided to text me, huh?
(Y/N) : Mind answering questions?
Unknown : Seeing as I have the time, go ahead and shoot.
(Y/N) : First, who in the heck are you? Are you someone I know?
Unknown : First, it's classified. And second, we're acquaintances.
(Y/N) : How did you get my number?
Unknown : I have my ways.
(Y/N) : ...Are you pulling prank on me? Or do you actually mean the things you wrote on my table? Why did you do that in the first place?!
Unknown : Oh, sweet, innocent (Y/N).
(Y/N) : What?
Unknown : Sorry, that question is something I can't answer.
(Y/N) : So then...how did you know about...Edd's...you know.
Unknown : Simple. I was told.
(Y/N) : Told?!
Unknown : Oops. My time's up. Hope you asked the questions you wanted.
(Y/N) : Hey! Don't back on me now!
(Y/N) : HEY!
(Y/N) : ANSWER ME!
(Y/N) : WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY YOU WERE TOLD?!
You sigh frustratingly at how it left you on the cliff.
Looks like it's answers only brought more questions.
You can't stay mad at it, though. "Unknown" was the one who told you about Edd anyway. What could've happened if it was someone else? Would they have just left him there or would they have done something? What if they didn't tell anybody? Would you have gone home without him? Would all of you think he was missing, but was in the boy's restroom all along? What would've happened then?
Thoughts raced through your mind. So many questions had been popping up since you had arrived. You just wanted to have a normal year at university and it seemed that wouldn't have come true.
Not just university, but the people around you as well.
Matt and Tom had opened up to you about their problems.
What if Edd, Ell and Tord are hiding something as well?
What if...all of them had different problems?
Why though?
They had each other. What could have been stopping them from opening up to one another? On the topic, what were Mr. And Mrs. Gold doing then? Would they be considered bad parents if they had just let children have their problems?
What was so...strange about this family?
Why would they be secretive around each other?
Though, you couldn't assume things too quickly. Maybe Tom and Matt were the only ones with things needed to be resolved...maybe you're over-thinking this.
"(Y/N)..." Matt's voice makes you jump again, losing your train of thought in the process. "Hm? Yes, Matt?" You reply.
"I want a hug." He shyly asks. "I...I'm still a bit...shaken up through this whole thing."
And so, you experience back to the time where he was sitting on his bed, early in the morning, crying because you made chicken soup for him.
"I feel the same way...of course!" You agree. It was a good thing that you weren't alone and that someone felt the same. You pulled him into a tight embrace.
Once you let go, your thoughts immediately went back to Matt's journal.
That sentence about him not wanting birthdays because of a "present".
"Hm...Matt." You say,
"Yeah?"
"What present do you want on your birthday this year?"
"P-present...?"
=~~~=
Ayyyyy. August 15 Tomorrow! Or...at 12 AM....I'm writing this at like 11:30 PM lololol. Anyways, I fookin missed Tom's birthday. So I'm making it up for "maybe" a special chapter since its Matt's birthday at 12 AM? Probably. Don't expect it to be long though...Then there's Tord's birthday on September and Edd's birthday on October....holee yezus.