Take this chapter as kind of like an all-star since it ties all characters to one spot. This is Angst-Free so you can put your tissues away.
=~~~=
"Hey, how was school today, son?" Uncle papa asks.
"Oh yeah! It was so much fun! Do you remember Jerry?"
"Oh yes. Of course, I remember him."
"Well, Jerry was being like himself, as usual, making other people laugh and such, then suddenly the Teacher came in and instead of sending him to detention, she also laughed along with the class! It was fun!" I laugh.
"That's nice, it seems you're fitting into school quite well. Is nobody bothered by your eyes?"
"Nnnope! They all love it! I have a lot of friends because of them so I should be thankful!"
"Oh...that's good. That's really good. Having many friends at your age is great. So does that mean...you have a crush?"
"No."
"Hahaha! Come on? Not even a tiny attraction to anybody?"
"Nope. I see them all as my brothers and sisters, so that would be weird!"
"Okay, then. Eat quick then start preparing for bed. You have another busy day ahead of you, Mister popular!"
"Okay!"
~
I wake up to the sound of my alarm beeping like crazy.
Sighing heavily, I sit up and pressed the button of my alarm clock for it to stop beeping and let out a yawn.
The sun wasn't there to greet me today as it was really cloudy so I assumed it was going to rain.
I begin to head downstairs for breakfast.
"Morning, mister popular ." Uncle papa greets me. It looks like he just woke up too. "Uncle pops forgot to buy groceries...so you and I will have to stick to ramen noodles again. I'm sorry, son." He says, taking two packs of ramen noodles from the fridge.
I groan quietly. For the past few weeks, ramen noodles are all that we've been eating and I'm not trying to sound ungrateful—but I'm getting sick of it.
"Uh...uncle papa, why don't I buy the groceries after school?" I ask.
"You? No, no. You're way too young for that, son. Do you even know how money works?"
"Y-yeah. I do. Just give me a list. I can do it."
"Alright. You're acting way too much of an adult that you're making me look bad! Don't forget the beer, son." Uncle papa reminds as he writes up something in paper then hands it to me.
He drinks too much but I guess that just how he grew up in that other country.
Slurping up my last noodle from the cup, I head for the shower and get changed.
After that, I grabbed my bag and began to head for school. It's only a 10-minute walk from my home to school so I don't ride vehicles that much.
Then it started raining.
I sigh, putting on the hood of my raincoat as other people began running ahead of me.
I mostly like to take my time.
In the distance, I see the school and the other students too.
The students walk in partners or groups under the umbrella while I just stayed out of their way.
I walked into the building and went straight to the bathroom and look in the mirror.
It's another day, which means I'm going to have to stick with these again.
I look at the sunglasses.
I don't know why I even bother wearing these, the other children know how I really look like anyway.
Oh yeah...the teacher said so.
~
"Hideous! Oh dear lord, just hideous!" The teacher said, pointing straight at me as the other students watched in amusement. "Ugh! Start wearing sunglasses, child! Do you have no sense of shame with those eyes?!"
She grabs a pair of sunglasses and shoves it unto my eyes, almost pushing me.
Silence takes over the classroom. I hear some of my classmates snicker as they try not to let out their laughter.
I couldn't move.
I felt so...embarrassed...so humiliated just standing there at the door. Uncle papa told me that they'll be fine with my eyes. That everyone will treat me like a normal person. I guess people just are not as nice as they seem.
"So? Are you not going to go to your seat, Ridgewell?" The harsh spiking of the teachers voice made me flinch. I slowly put my head up only to be met with what felt like hundreds of eyes sharply poking me. The only seat left was in the 3rd row at the 7th seat.
I shakily made my way to the chair, putting down my bag and sat.
I hear the teacher let out a deep sigh then continued onto the orientation.
~
My vision starts to go blurry as tears starting flooding as I recall the memory of my first day.
"Pull yourself together, Tom," I tell myself off. "The other kids will think you're a fetus in that body."
I don't know why I tell myself off like this. I want to be comforted when I cry. I don't want to be told off for being weak. But somehow, I do this to myself.
It's like a second voice that I just can't get rid off, that I can't control or stop. Like a demon.
"Stop it, stop it. Stop crying before someone walks in on you, moron!" I keep muttering curse words like a mantra for my tears to stop coming.
I looked at the clock. It was only 15 minutes before the class starts.
I wipe away the remaining tears, grabbed my bag and began to head for the classroom, along the way, I was still looking down.
"Oooh! It's the pineapple and bowling ball's son coming in everyone! Look!" The president of the class, Jerry pointed at me as soon as I walked into the classroom.
My breath hitched as my classmates began giggling and snickering at my being.
I look down, not wanting to meet with anyone's eyes and head to my seat. Right in the middle of the classroom. The spot where I can feel everyone's eyes and hear their tauntings. It's the worst seat.
"Hey, Tom! Did you do the assignment in science from yesterday?" I hear Stacey's voice from my right. Stacey is a pretty girl. My crush on her was obvious to everyone and even her. I can tell she uses my feelings to her advantage but she's the only person who was actually nice to me, I can't just cut off my connection with her.
"Y-yeah...yes I d—"
"Oooh! Goodie! Can I please maybe...copy it?" Stacey goes to my level so that I could see her pretty puppy eyes. I could never resist those.
"O-of course." I rummage through my bag and get my notebook.
I wanted to hand it to her gently but some other hand snatched it away from me. Instinctively, I looked up and see Will. Will was a very rich child. Because of him, I began to hate rich children. They were always so spoiled and think they're the highest of everyone. But I could never say that to Will. He's the assistant principal's son so I would get in trouble if I did.
"Here, Stacey. I just saved you from touching hands with this eyeless freak." Will says, getting a hanky from his pocket and began to wipe my notebook to rid of..."the freak's filth" as he says it.
"Oh! Thank you very much, Willie!" Stacey says and takes the notebook from him.
The two walk away.
I felt mad.
Suddenly, my sunglasses had reflected some sort of hot pink glow from my eyes for only like a second. I don't know what that was about, but I didn't think much about it.
Seeing as I seemingly have a second voice inside my head, most things just not surprise me anymore. But that doesn't mean I still can't feel emotions from them.
The thing...that just happened in front of me.
Will just snatched my notebook away from me and Stacey didn't even thank me. She only thanked Will. It's...it's unfair.
I could still feel the disgusted stares of my other classmates from all sides.
"So all the things he touches has this thing called 'freak filth'? That sounds gross!"
"I know right! Is that kinda like cooties but it's for that thing?"
"Yeah, yeah! Probably! We should all wear surgical masks and gloves tomorrow so that we won't get infected! We'll probably go eyeless too like him!"
"What are surgical masks and gloves?"
"Ugh, I realized your parents aren't doctors."
...they don't even refer to me as a person anymore. Just some humanoid germ. I put the hood of my raincoat on so that the other kids won't see the river coming from my eyes.
I hate these eyes so much.
~
"Okay, everyone. It's time for recess. Form a line outside, one line for the boys and one line for the girls, okay? In the same order as we did on the first day. I'm sure you remember who your partner is, correct?" Teacher Maria asked as the class began to grab their lunch bags.
"Yes, Teacher Maria!" The class says in unison, gathering outside.
I...stand all the way at the back, with no partner.
Teacher Maria noticed this and furrows her eyebrows. "Oh right...our class is one girl short. No matter. Tom! Why don't you come here to the front? We can be partners instead." My heart jumps at the offer that Teacher Maria suddenly gave me.
Teacher Maria paid no mind to me on the day we first met.
She looked at me funny, but that was it. Maybe it was because I was wearing sunglasses in school. But today, she finally noticed me.
But...she doesn't know. She doesn't know that I have black voids for eyes.
I open my mouth to try and tell her that maybe she made a mistake, but some other voices got mixed in with the little squeak that I made.
"Are you sure you want to be partners with him, Teacher Maria?"
"He doesn't have a partner for a reason!"
"Why don't we be partners instead? I'll hold your hand tighter than most boys!"
Teacher Maria smiled at the protests as if they were only white noise to her.
"Class, remember what we said about silence."
One sentence was all it took before my classmates quiet down.
Teacher Maria looked at me with a glint in her eyes, as if expecting me to say something.
"U-uh...um..." My classmate's eyes were locked onto me like glue.
"Err...I ah..." All I could hear was my rapidly beating heart.
"Goddamnit, Tom, use your words!" I accidentally mutter out. I look up once again, my classmate's eyes were in shock to the fact that I said a "bad" word in front of them.
However, Teacher Maria's expression didn't change. She was still waiting for my answer.
I look at my watch.
We were already 10 minutes late to recess.
"O-...okay..." I say quietly.
"Okay, then. Come here and hold my hand." Her voice was sweet as honey to me.
I could feel my classmate's eyes look at me with jealousy and annoyance as I walk towards her.
"Hm? Tom, where's your lunch bag?" My teacher looks down at me and notices the absence of my bag.
"I...I don't...use a lunch bag. I...um...erm...pay my lu-lunch." I breathe in and out as if I just ran a marathon.
I've never talked to someone so long before unless it was Tomee or Uncle papa. I should be able to talk properly if I can do that to both of them.
"Oh? Is that so?"
I nod my head.
We soon arrived at the canteen.
Some teachers were asking Teacher Maria as to why she was late.
I was expecting her to tell the truth and maybe embarrass me, but that wasn't the case.
"I was just too consumed in the lesson and didn't hear the bell, that's all."
Was what she said.
I felt butterflies in my stomach.
She...lied.
But she lied so that...I wouldn't get embarrassed.
...wow.
We soon arrived at our normal table and Teacher Maria saved me a seat while I went to go and buy my lunch. After I was done, I made my way back to the table but Teacher Maria was nowhere to be seen. In fact, no teacher was seen in the canteen.
It seems that they left for a meeting.
Instead, there was a paper on the chair that she saved for me.
"Everyone, this seat belongs to Tom! Please don't sit or take it! - Teacher Maria"
I take the note off the seat and carefully fold it then placed it in my pocket.
Shyly, I look up at the table. The girls and boys were separated into tables, so I was facing with the boys.
They glared down at me in disgust and envy.
I hesitated in sitting down at this table and maybe just go to my normal spot in the playground sandbox to eat, but Teacher Maria made an effort to save a seat, so I just can't waste it.
After a short pause, I sat down.
I began to eat. Careful in not accidentally making eye contact with one of the boys.
On my second scoop, I suddenly felt a wet substance on my head. I had recognized it as milk. Someone threw their box of milk at me.
All heads turned to the boy who caused it.
Jerry.
"Feel content yet, moron?"
Suddenly, another splash hits my sunglasses. Tomato.
"I think he isn't content at all, Jerry!"
That was Will's voice.
Soon enough, children from all places were throwing different types of food at me as if I was some mere target.
And I was.
And I hated it.
I...I hated it so much.
Will they just stop?
When will they stop?
Please stop.
Why can't you hear me?
I'm telling you to stop!
Please, it hurts!
Stop!!
My vision went black.
The static-like noise disappeared.
I felt nothing.
It felt like I wasn't sitting in a chair anymore.
Just...somewhere.
Like...I'm floating in an abyss.
It's...somewhat peaceful.
"STOP!!!"
The loud cry woke me up from some type of slumber.
My vision started coming back and what I saw in front of me horrified me.
The chairs and tables of the canteen were all somehow scratched and destroyed. Children were cowering in fear as I stumble backward a bit, briefly touching a boy who was injured on the ground. Me touching him rose some life in him and he practically screamed while running away.
Everything was a mess.
What...happened?
"Tom...?" The voice belonged to a woman, it was shaky, full of fear and concern.
I look to my side to see the terrified eyes of Teacher Maria, holding 2 girls in her arms protectively as I try to approach her.
I took only one step forward before she screamed once more.
"DON'T! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER, PLEASE!"
I was confused.
Children all around me were injured in some way but I was fine. My uniform was all splashed in different kinds of food and drinks but there were no signs of any wounds or cuts.
What the hell happened?
Suddenly, I hear the sound of police and ambulance sirens coming.
Somehow, my heart began to beat fast again.
The same beat as if I was caught breaking a vase and having to admit fault for it.
Why am I feeling that here?
There's no way I had caused this right?
...right?
"T-Teacher Maria..." I try to approach her again but she quickly backs away with the 2 girls.
"I SAID DON'T COME ANY CLOSER! YOU MONSTER! LOOK AT W-WHAT Y-YOU'VE DONE!"
Her words shocked me.
"M-monster?"
I...did this?
Oh, no...no no no no no no no no.
There's no way I did this!
I...did not lose control.
I'm not a monster!
"Don't worry, son. You'll like it here." Uncle papa pats my back as we stand in front of the huge establishment. "This is where you'll be spending most of your time now."
"Am...I going to see you again?"
"...Of course! I'll visit time after time. Anyways, your dad's best friend runs this place, he'll take good care of you. Better than I can ever will. Oh, see. He's coming now!"
I look straight at the establishment and see a tall man get out.
"Hey! Philip! Nice to see you again, old friend!" Uncle papa greets the man with a huge smile.
The man, now known as "Philip", returns the smile with a grin. "Hey! It felt like only yesterday when we found your first wrinkle in high school, Bill! Look at you now!"
The two friends exchanged a few words before I was brought up.
Philip's eyes land on me.
"Hey, Tom! My name's Philip. I own this orphanage and was your dad's best friend when we were in high school. You can just call me Philip. Seems you like wearing sunglasses, eh?" Philip knees down so that he could be at my height.
"I'm forced to."
"Ah, right. Your uncle papa told me about your condition. Don't worry, you kind of have more advantage than the other children here cause...well, you're my best man's child. You'll enjoy it here, I guarantee." Philip pats my back and gets my bags from Uncle Papa.
"...More advantage?" I repeat.
"Yeah. Guess what? You'll be sleeping at one of my guest rooms rather than sharing a room and sleeping on bunk beds with the other children. But don't tell them that or else they'll get jealous and start asking me for their own rooms and we wouldn't want that, do we?"
Him and uncle papa do a small handshake first before my uncle gives me a pat on the head and says his farewells.
"Be good there, okay? Phil, I swear to God if he sends me a letter saying that he doesn't enjoy it here, I'll beat you to a pulp."
"Gotcha," Philip replies.
After that, uncle papa drives off.
Philip gives me a gentle push, signaling me that it was time to head inside the orphanage. I quickly follow after him as we walked towards the gigantic establishment.
"Here, you'll be having a bit more control and special treatment. For you, you can eat whatever is available at the cafeteria at any time. You can always go to me or to my co-founder, Kelly if you have any problems or anything that you want. I want you to have the best time here or else your dad's ghost might come back and haunt me if I don't treat you right, haha." Philip chuckles, waving at some children as he goes upstairs.
More control...
"Your room is all the way down the hall. You have an attached bathroom in there too." Philip says as he takes out a key and unlocks the last door of the corridor.
We walk in and immediately, I was taken aback by the scent of rice fields. It was calming and immediately made me relax.
The room was medium-sized and not very grand, but that wasn't what I was focusing on. My eyes immediately landed on the comfy bed and stuff toys it had. There was also a toy box at the end of the bed and not to mention the huge window filling the room with sunshine.
"Well, this is where you'll be staying. What do you think, Tom?"
"It's great," I reply.
"That's a relief. I'll get some of my employees to move and fix your stuff for you. For the time being, you can explore the place. You can always find me or Kelly in the office downstairs. I recommend you start with the playground! It's huge! You can play on it whenever you like!"
"Okay."
Philip lets out a light sigh and left my room.
I walk up to my bed and place down Tommee gently.
I felt the fluff of the bed and tightly squeeze it, biting my lip as it was so soft.
I moved onto the toy box. It was full of different kinds of my favorite toys. As if they were expecting me to arrive here.
Smiling contently, I begin to head downstairs to check out the playground.
There so many people in the lobby so I just had no choice but to push some other people to get to the playground. Of course, some got angry and yelled at me as I walked away, but I didn't care.
I finally made it to the playground. It was big like Philip said.
A lot of children were having fun on the swings, the slides, the monkey bars, and the sandboxes. There wasn't enough space for one more.
"You have more advantage..."
"You'll be having a bit more control..."
Philip's words echo through my mind as I walk towards one of the children on the swings.
"Hey. I wanna play on the swings. Could you get off, please?" I ask.
The boy looks at me and gives me a scowl, "Wait for your turn, weirdo! Trying to look cool with those sunglasses on..." He mutters off.
I sigh heavily, "Get off while I'm still asking nicely."
"Nuh-uh! I was here first so learn to be patient!"
Anger was slowly building up inside of me.
"Get. Off!" My voice became more demanding.
"I told you! No means no! Wait. For. Your. Turn!"
Out of anger and frustration, I harshly push the boy off the swing, the movement so strong that my sunglasses fell from my face, revealing my glowing pink eyes.
"...U-ugh! That...that hurt! Fine, fine! You can go!" The boy's voice began to fill with fear and worry as I grab him by the collar.
His cries and pleas were a total blur. At least...that's what I saw anyway. I couldn't hear anything except for a never lasting beep taking over my senses.
After that, everything went black once again.
"Tom? Tom, wake up."
"Haa..."
"Good. You're awake."
A feminine voice wakes me up from some type of sleep. I open my eyes to see yellow. The warm color shone directly at me and blinded me so I closed my eyes again.
"You're in the clinic." I hear the woman say.
I open my eyes, sat straight up and turned to her direction.
"Do I know you?" I ask, rather rudely but I didn't mean it.
As if unbothered, the woman smiles gently and takes out her hand. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Kelly. Co-founder of this orphanage and the wife of Philip. He must've mentioned me, right?" She says.
I gaze up at her, up and down and completely ignored my opportunity for her handshake as I looked away from her.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I'm afraid I can't answer that since I, too, wasn't informed of what really happened." She says.
I sigh heavily, putting my head in my hands.
Suddenly, Philip bursts through the door. "Tom? Oh, you're awake." He lets out a deep breath. "Causing trouble already when you just arrived? Some rebel you are." He chuckles as he walks over to me.
"Do you know what happened to me?" I ask.
"Huh...so you really don't remember. Yes, I do know."
"Can you tell m—"
"Nope."
I growl lowly, gripping the sheet of the bed.
"I got in contact with your uncle papa and he said to me that what happened back there is what got you expelled from your last school, right?"
"Yeah, that's true! But I don't even know what I freaking did and he won't tell me! Even you won't tell me! This is so annoying and frustrating! I just want to know what's wrong with me, goddamnit!"
I swear I could feel steam escaping my ears until Philip put his hand on my head.
"You'll know soon enough, Tom. Now, get well-rested. You'll be seeing a priest tomorrow morning."
~
"From what I've heard, you have no other living relative to take you in. Please stop being so stubborn, Tord."
"I managed to live like how many months on my own, I don't need to go to some dumb orphanage!'
"Tord, you're a minor with no guardian. No matter how mature you get, you're still a child on the outside. This is what your father wants—"
"Do not mention him! He has nothing to do with me having to go to an orphanage!"
"Actually...he...he does. It's in...his will."
Tord refuses to respond and continues to hide under his blanket.
"Please. If not for your dad, then for yourself. Face it, Tord. You can't take care of yourself with the state you're in."
The whole blanket began to quiver.
"D-don't..." The man rubs his forehead, "Please don't cry on me now..."
"Fineeee~~~" Tord drags on the word as he began to sob uncontrollably under the blanket. "I'll gooooooooo~~~"
"I'll pack your bags for you, then." The man finds a small smile creep upon his face. "It's good to see you still have child-like tendencies."
The next day, they arrived first thing in the morning, Tord still had red puffy eyes from all the crying last week and he didn't even bother to hide it.
Walking into the establishment, they were immediately greeted with the face of a woman.
"Good Morning Sir. Nell. The child must be Tord, right?" The woman says, examining the little boy who gave her immediate glares.
"Correct. Please excuse his behavior, he's been through some really tough times. Thus the puffy eyes and grumpy posture."
"Oh. That's fine. We promise that we will take good care of him."
"Thank you."
The man then turns to the Norwegian boy, "Now, Tor—"
"Nell? What a lame name. That must be why you never told me your name." Tord crosses his arms.
The man sighs, "Tord, be good now. You do know that we'll never see each other again. You're putting on that tired persona when inside you really wanna celebrate our separation, huh? Anyways, be grateful to things that Miss Kelly and Mister Philip will give you. You'll have many children in this orphanage to pl—"
"I'm still tired. Can I please go to my new bed now?" Tord yawns.
Nell gives up and pats Tord on the head. "Take care, buddy."
The man smiles at the woman before exiting the building.
"Okay, Tord. Follow me to your bed."
"Woah Woah, miss, that sounds so wrong if taken out of context."
~
"Edd and Ell Gould, am I correct?" The woman asks.
"Yes, Miss Kelly. Their parents were nowhere to be found in the remains of the house. Could you please take them in?"
"We could. I'll discuss more with my husband. After that, we can arrange a specific date where they could move."
"Your help is very appreciated, Miss Kelly!" The woman smiles and excuses herself out of the office.
The man then looks at the twins, "Alright, Edd and Ell. When we found an official date for you to move here, you could finally live on a normal life as children. Maybe you could find yourselves a new forever family to spend all your time with, too! This orphanage will take good care of you."
Ell smiles brightly, "Yes! We appreciate every ounce of time you put into helping us, mister."
The man looks at Edd, who was still very shy around him.
"C' mon, Edd! Mister did a lot for us! The least you could do is talk to him! Please??" After some time, Ell finally convinces her twin to speak up.
"Thank...Thank you very much for your help." Edd avoids all eye contact with the man.
The adult smiles and pats his head, "No problem, young man. Just doing what I know is right."
Edd unconsciously leaned onto the male's comforting touch.
Without warning, the man swoops Edd from his feet and carries his tiny figure on his arms.
"Ooh! Ooh! Mister! Could I be on your back?!" Ell jumps up and down as she says this.
"Of course! Hop on!" The man kneels down to give Ell a chance to climb
Ell giggles uncontrollably as she excitedly jumped on the man's back.
Ell's legs were wrapped around his neck as she gripped on his hair for support.
"Ey! Careful on the hair! I got them newly cut today!"
"Okay, okay!"
~
"Young man, please come with us." The policeman strictly looks at the small boy, his gaze so sharp the little boy thought he was threatening him and with no other choice, walked shyly beside the muscular man.
They get into a car and the policeman commands the boy to get in.
Hesitantly, he gets in, cold and wet from the rain that poured down in the night.
"Fernandez, do you possibly have an extra handkerchief for the boy?"
"Uh...hold on...yeah. Yes, I do, officer." The man in the driver seat hands over the piece of cloth.
"Here. Dry yourself with this for now. You can get properly dried off at the station." The officer hands over the cloth. Staring intently at the quivering boy.
"I don't mean to be rude, officer. But I think it would be more effective if you do it for him. The poor child is still in shock after the event tonight." The driver suggests.
"...I see. You do have a point." The blue-uniformed man acknowledges the suggestion.
He takes back the handkerchief and proceeds to dry off his hair, the cloth immediately getting soaked with the water.
Then, he goes and wipes off his face, careful in not being too rough.
In a moment, the small boy inhaled sharply through his teeth as he continues to shiver.
The badged man sighs deeply, taking off his hat and putting it on the child's head.
Afterward, taking off his denim blue jacket and put it on the boy's back.
"You'll be okay, young man. You're safe in our hands, okay?"
After moments of silence, they finally arrive at the station.
The man brings the boy and makes him sit on a chair.
"Before you get to safety, may I please know your name? It's very crucial that you cooperate with me on this one, young man."
The ginger-haired boy bites on his lip then mumble something out.
"Pardon? Could you repeat that again, please?"
"Ma—ACHOO!" He suddenly sneezes.
The man was taken aback from the sudden action. "B-Bless you, child."
"M-Ma...Mat-Matthew..."
"And your last name?"
"H-Harg...Hargreaves..."
"And how old are you?"
He stays quiet and pulls up 4 fingers.
"So young..." The man whispers to himself then nods. "Okay. I just have to meet someone who will help you live this out. You're gonna live a normal life, you're gonna be happy and you will find a real family who will take care of you and love you. Stay here." The man pats the little boy's back and leaves and enters a room.
Hours pass and he comes back.
"Matthew, starting tomorrow you will be living to a very big house that will be taking care of children who don't have mommies or daddies or just like you. Come, follow me."
The badged man leads the boy to a parking lot that had a white van.
A woman gets out of the said vehicle and makes her way towards the two figures.
"Ah, is he the child that had unstable parents, officer Ruiz?" The woman asks.
The man nods, holding the child by the shoulders as he slowly took back his hat and jacket.
"Yes, ma'am. He doesn't talk much and by such little rain, he already has a cold. It looks to me as if didn't get the correct treatments from his supposed parents."
"Very well then. Matthew, please come with me." The woman looks at the boy tenderly. "My name is Miss Kelly. You will be safe in our hands. Get inside the van, please."
The boy slowly looks up at the man with confused eyes.
"Go on, young man. Madam Kelly will be an excellent mother figure for you at your time there," the officer says, giving a slight push to his back and, as if scared, Matthew immediately rushes into the van.
The woman frowns but then gives the man a look of determination. "We'll fix him, Officer Ruiz. Thank you for everything."
"That was no problem, Madam Kelly."
Matthew takes one quick look back at the man and does a small wave.
Fortunately, the man was able to see his small effort and waves back.
~
"Mister Philip...There was nothing wrong with the child. It seemed as if this "demon" you're talking about only really comes out when he gets enraged. He definitely is possessed by something but it's faint. What I'm getting from this is that...this entity is neutral. He won't do anything unless provoked."
"That...That's good to know. But is there any way we can expel this entity from the boy's body? He's so young but can cause such wreckage."
"Unfortunately, we've tried everything. But it seems that this monster has been with him ever since birth. Adding to the fact that the child is eyeless however, isn't blind and still breathing. The closest thing we can get now is to make him able to control his emotions so that the monster within him won't escape."
"...That will be tough..."
"I'm sorry, Mister Philip. But like I said, we've tried everything. We could have a monthly check with him to see how he's doing but that's the furthest we can get."
"...Alright. Thank you so much for the help and information, Father."
"It is my pleasure. I assure you, the child will be safe. The entity wouldn't harm its host. It's a part of Thomas, so I suggest you don't try to force the monster out."
"Yes, will do. Thank you once again."
"Anytime."
I sigh as I overhear their conversation about me.
Monster? I'm not surprised.
At least I was able to hear it from the mouth of a priest.
But was it really necessary that they had to cut through my skin and apply lemon and salt on it?
Damn, it hurt like hell. I can't still remember and feel the stinging pain from my arm.
They even got all over my personal space and inspecting my eyes and all that jazz like I was some object. Like, yes, please. Invade my space and pretend I don't have feelings. Joseph, freaking brush your teeth, goddamn.
"Tom? How long have you've waiting there?" Philip's voice snaps me back to reality.
"Ever since I was released from that room," I respond.
"Okay. Well, let's get back. I'll tell you what happened."
"I figured already," I said bluntly.
"Figured what?"
"That I'm possessed by a rage demon who only comes out when I get mad. What happened in the playground and at my old school is me losing my temper and somehow wrecked the entire place. What you want me to do is learn to control my emotions and then we'd be good, right?"
"Were you eavesdropping?" Philip snickers.
"Not my fault you didn't bother to keep your voice down. And either way, I was gonna find out."
"Hm. Let's go."
We start to walk out of the church and into the parking lot where our van waited.
We get in and Philip starts the engine.
"...Aren't you at least surprised?" Philip asks me as we start to head into the road.
"Kinda. I lived my life having this secondary voice who just points out every single negative thing in my life. I didn't expect it would actually come out and do the deed for me."
"Do...the deed?"
"The kids at my old school were jealous that I was given special treatment from this sweet and pretty teacher and started to throw food and drinks at me from all areas and...it felt like my head was splitting in two. One side just wanted them to stop and the other wanted to demolish them and teach them a lesson...you can tell which side won."
"I see." Philip hums as he keeps his eyes on the road.
"Can I stop wearing sunglasses?"
"You could, but aren't you worried about how the other kids would think?"
"Couldn't you just tell them?"
Philip thinks for a minute. "I could conduct a little announcement at lunch when we arrive."
"Great."
We arrived later on. The whole "exorcism" thing took up all morning so when we arrived, it was already afternoon. All the kids were having lunch.
Immediately, Philip takes a little microphone with the speaker beside him and gets the children's attention.
"Good afternoon, children." He greets.
The children all greet him at the same time...well...kind of. Some were delayed. But they're kids, who cares.
Philip then goes on with introducing me to the whole orphanage and making me take off my glasses. Most of the audience gasped and had a look of shock.
The helpers and cooks were even watching too. Philip then continued to explain my condition but the children just look completely terrified.
If I had pupils, I would be rolling them really aggressively right now.
Have they seriously never heard of the "Black-eyed children"? What kind of education is this orphanage managing?
Philip turns to me and asks me if I have anything to say.
I take the mic from him and with a mono tone, I say, "Just because I have voids for eyes doesn't immediately mean I'm the monster that you read in those story books. I'm completely human and I also have feelings and a heart. If you have a problem with me, say it."
Philip speedily takes the mic from me before I could say anymore and dismisses the whole audience. After a moment of silence, everyone went back to what they were doing.
Philip pulls me aside, "Watch your words, Tom! You could trigger another violent child and then we have to pay for the repair of the wreckage you're gonna cause again." He chuckles playfully.
"Yeah, okay. I'll be careful." I said, annoyed.
"Good. Now I'll be leaving you alone for now. Go grab lunch. There's a new child arriving and I'm gonna welcome him."
"I'm not hungry. Can I come with you?"
"Are you sure? I'm not gonna be eating until 2 p.m. Can you hold your hunger for that long?"
"Yeah, I ate a lot this morning."
"Well then. Alright. Come with me,"
We start to walk through the corridors and into a room. There stood the woman from before sitting in a chair and was talking with a ginger-haired child who was completely quiet.
"Kelly," Philip says. "When did he arrive?"
The woman turns to Philip with a smile. "Around 20 minutes ago."
Philip smiles back and turns to the child. "He's adorable! Can I have his files?"
"Yeah, sure." The woman hands over a yellow folder with papers in it.
"Hello, Tom. How was your morning?" Kelly turns to look at me.
"Chaotic and tiring." I bluntly said then turned to the kid who was so interested in his pants. What's interesting about his pants? Or is he interested in the chair? Kelly was talking to him way before we came in and he still hasn't lifted up his head.
"His name is Matthew, huh? Wow, he's so young." I hear Philip say as he flips through his files. "...Oh. His parents are...interesting. Good thing they were able to let go of him. Poor boy must be traumatized." After skimming and scanning through stuff, he gives it back to Kelly.
"Alright, Hey, Matthew! Do you mind if I call you Matt?" Philip leans down at the kid's height.
"He's a bit quiet. He went through a lot last night. I'll tell you the details later."
"Okay. Come here, Matthew. I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." Philip takes hold of the kid's tiny hands. He visibly flinches then proceeds to stand up.
I let out a deep sigh and walked up to him.
"Hey, are you mute or something? At least say hi." I snap my fingers at his face.
"Hello? Jeez, you're starting to annoy me and you're not even doing anything." I say, flicking his hair.
"Tom, that's enough. Give him his space." Philip gently grabs my head and lifted me at least 2 inches away from the kid.
I huff, groggily following behind Philip and the kid.
We were walking through the cafeteria where some kids were still eating lunch when suddenly, the children started to look at Matthew.
"Uh!! M-Mister Philip!!!" One of the girls say.
Philip turns to the direction of the voice. "W-who...who is that?" They ask and point to the kid.
All Philip did was smile mischievously and waved away then continued walking.
The girls were dumbfounded and went to chatting among themselves of who the mysterious cute boy could be.
It honestly made me gag and kind of felt a pang in my heart.
They never talked about me like that! Hell, they didn't even look at me!
We continue walking to the part of this huge orphanage that I've never been to before. Actually, I've never been anywhere before since what happened yesterday.
"Okay, Matt. So this will be your room. Many other children will be sleeping in the same room so it's best if you get along with them, okay?" Philip says.
Surprisingly, the kid finally nods. So he isn't some robot after all.
Philip seemed satisfied that he was able to make Matthew move and opened the door. I decided not to follow. And just looked inside to see what typical rooms looked like in this orphanage.
It wasn't dirty and rugged like I saw in movies, it was actually clean and well-taken care off. That's a first.
"Guys! I would like to introduce to you your new roommate. His name is Matthew and he's 4 years old. Have fun and take care of him, alright?" Philip pats the kid's head then begins to walk away.
Matthew lets out a light squeak and when all the kids began surrounding him asking questions and such.
That was the last thing I saw before Philip closed the door.
"I don't like him." I murmur.
"Well, you don't have to associate yourself with him. There are plenty of other children your age to play with. Besides, I don't understand why you don't like him. He's adorable!"
I let out a deep sigh as we continue to walk back to where we came from.
"Well, this is your last chance to have lunch before you begin to starve for 2 hours."
"Ugh, fine. The work you do seems so boring than I thought anyway."
Philip smiles then began to walk away.
~
Weeks have passed.
I've made a few friends.
They liked my eyes, so we started talking.
That lie I used to tell uncle papa became a reality...ironically.
It was actually really hard to talk to anyone when you have eyes like this, but soon enough, some kids were warming up to me. Some were just outright afraid of me and avoided all contact possible, but there were kids that just accepted who I am and was fascinated by my condition.
There was Ethan. He was one of the first people who started warming up to me. He seemed pretty cool and liked music a lot. He showed me how to play the guitar. I have so much more to learn but I'm getting the hang of it.
Then there was Jack. He was basically the comedian of our little group. We met when Ethan introduced me to him. He was a cool dude. He likes watching funny videos and throws puns at every chance he gets which started to kinda rub off on me.
Today was the weekend. The co-founders were off the orphanage for today and left Don in charge. The uncle of this orphanage. Most kids call him uncle, but I like going by first name basis. He doesn't seem to mind.
Anyway, Ethan, Jack and I were bored out of our minds just sitting on a table in our hidden spot on the outside of the establishment where basically no one went goes to.
I've been hiding a growing feeling in my heart from my two friends ever since I heard about his rising popularity. It was honestly unfair. How could someone get popular by their looks? I admit I was pretty jealous at that particular person.
I haven't shared it with the boys yet since I was afraid they might judge me...but it's come to the point where we can tell each other about anything and I trust them...so...
"Hey guys," I suddenly start to speak up. Both boys turn to look at me.
"What?" Jack and Ethan say in unison.
"It's nice not being treated as an outcast in this orphanage since I have you guys, but do you know what's keeping me from being content?" I question them.
"What is it?" Ethan asks.
"That kid from the other side of this place. Matthew."
"Dude, there are so many Matthews in this orphanage, which Matthew are you talking about?" Jack chuckles.
"Unless you're talking about that pretty-boy-that's-captured-every-kid's-heart-Matthew?" Ethan says with a questioning look.
I nod, confirming his assumption. "I don't like him."
"...Yeah me neither. He seems wayyy to overrated." Ethan says as he rolls his eyes.
"Eh, he's alright. Not as cool as you guys, though." Jack shrugs. "What do you wanna do about him, Tom?" He adds.
"His existence makes me so annoyed. You already know I'm possessed by a rage demon, right? That kid is just...so undeserving of that popularity. He's so dumb he doesn't know what to do with it. He has so many people under his fingers and he's doing nothing about it. One time, he tried to talk to me which was pretty surprising. I just told him off because I didn't wanna talk to him and everyone literally protected him. The baby even started to cry just by that. Some told me off too." I groan in frustration as I recall the memory.
"Well...what exactly did you say?" Jack asks, snickering as if he knew what I was gonna say.
"'Leave me alone. I don't wanna talk to you, you moron.'" I repeat the exact same words.
"Dude, any 4-year-old would cry at that insult." Ethan chuckles.
"You have a point. Oh! And there was this one time, I...was having a little moment with myself after thinking wayy too much about my memories before this orphanage and I kinda started crying at lunch...and everyone was telling me to man up and get over it like...hello?! Put yourself in my shoes! Is it bad to miss my family? And then when that Matthew starts crying, everyone rushes over and comforts him and stuff and not one of them tells him off and man up! Like...It's so unfair!"
"Tom, your eyes are turning pink again," Ethan says, giving me some water to cool down.
"Oh...thanks for pointing it out."
"I kinda understand you. My younger cousin gets all the attention while I'm at the back, a band-aid on my knee and the words 'grow up'! It was really annoying!" Jack crossed his arm as he recalls the memory.
"Right? You get me, Jack!" Jacka and I go for a high five.
"Let's rat him out." Ethan suddenly speaks up.
"Rat him out?" I ask.
"Yeah...tell the whole orphanage something embarrassing about him so that no one would want to hang out with him...but it would be impossible to find anything embarrassing about him since he's basically perfect," Ethan mutters.
We sit in silence for a while, thinking for a way to ruin Matthew's pride.
Then...something clicked.
The flashes of my first meeting with him had clicked back into my mind.
Philip's words echoed through my ears.
"...Oh. His parents are...interesting. Good thing they were able to let go of him. Poor boy must be traumatized..."
My eyes went wide with realization.
"Guys! That crybaby does have a flaw!" I exclaim, surprising the other two. "His parents! There must be something wrong with his parents!" I say.
"All I need to know is what his parents did..." I rub my chin.
"Search through the files," Ethan says.
"Oh yeah! The files! That way, I could have evidence!"
Jack began to laugh, amused with my idea, "Tom, you are freaking crazy. I love it!"
Groggily, I began to go in line for my breakfast.
I took my tray and chose my wanted foods and put them on my tray then continued walking to find a free table.
Doing that, I accidentally bumped with a kid, making the juice box fall from his tray.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, idiot!" He yells at me with a foreign accent which I almost laughed at. By the way he said this sentence, he probably doesn't know who I am.
I didn't bother with him and continued to walk away. He seemed to not like being ignored and harshly pushed my shoulder, making me stumble forward but not enough to make me fall down. My breath hitches as I try to control the growing anger inside me.
"Did your non-existent parents not teach you any manners?! You bumped into me! At least apologize!" The kid goes in front of me, blocking my way.
He had a red hoodie on with a robot face on the front of it. He had dirty blonde hair that stuck out two horns at the front. I don't know who styled him, but whoever it was was obviously someone who worshipped demons. He had gray orbs which held nothing but annoyance.
Despite being new, he had no care in the world that he was staring at nothing, I guess he was just really annoyed.
Sighing, I step a bit closer to him.
"Move. You're blocking the way."
"I'm not gonna move until you apologize for bumping into me!" He says.
"This is stupid." I groan, going the other way.
"Fine! Be like that, you drittsekk!"
I have no idea what the heck is a "drittsekk" but I'm guessing it's an insult in his native language.
Surprisingly, the things he said as I walked away didn't quite anger me that much like the other kids I had to deal with. I guess that boy was pretty tolerable.
I hope to never see him again.
~
"Pfft. What a coward." Tord murmurs under his breath as he watches the eyeless kid walk away from his sight. "Where in the world is that boy gonna eat? The toilet?"
He sighs, checking the clock on the wall.
He only had 10 minutes left to eat his food before he had to go to Art Class.
Eating quickly, he then grabbed his little bag before heading to the room he was assigned to be in before 8:30.
He opened the door, revealing a bunch of kids having fun. There was no teacher to be found. He shrugged it off and went to an empty seat that was beside a brunette.
A few minutes past where they didn't talk to each other at all.
Tord kept on noticing that the boy was quickly glancing at him from time to time while doodling.
He didn't think much about it for a while until he looked over to the paper he was drawing on.
It was the drawing of a robot head that looked a lot like the one he has on his hoodie.
"Woah!" He suddenly exclaims, startling the boy next to him. "Is that my robot head?!" He asks.
The boy nods silently.
"Ah! No wonder you kept glancing at me! You were copying the picture on my hoodie!"
With this, the brunette instantly looked embarrassed. "Y-you n-noticed?" He asks.
"Yeah! That drawing is really good! Do you think you could draw me another one?"
"You...you could keep it." He says, handing over the paper.
"Tusen Takk!" The brunette boy tilts his head in confusion at the random word.
"My name is Tord, by the way." He says extending out his hand.
"E-Edd..." The brunette says, taking the hand shake.
"Nice to meet you. Wanna be friends?"
"O-Okay!"
~
Months have passed and over those days, Edd has been getting really comfortable in the orphanage. He introduced Ell to the new friend he made named Tord and the 3 hung out a lot more frequently.
Their favorite place was to obviously hand out in the playground at the farthest corner where the other kids.
However, for the past few days, Edd would look over to a little hill that had a tree on it and see a small boy. Amazingly, no child would ever get close to that hill because rumors say that it was haunted or whatever and that boy was frequently on the hill all the time, alone.
One afternoon, Ell had to help the teacher with something and Tord was caught up in his robot building in home economics so Edd was just waiting for nothing.
However, due to boredom, he finally decided to investigate the boy on the hill.
Slowly, he climbed the tiny hill to see the boy with a baby purple hoodie doodling on his journal.
"H-Hi. My name is Edd. What's yours?" Edd asks the ginger-haired boy.
"Matthew...but you can call me Matt." Matt doesn't bother facing him for some reason which made Edd frown a bit.
"Oh...Nice to meet you, Matt..." Edd continues to stand as he realizes the boy he was talking to was the Matt that had strange parents and everyone was avoiding. Even Ell warned him about this boy.
The brunette didn't know what to do. The boy he just talked to didn't seem strange or deranged like he was hearing from the other children.
"Th-that's a nice drawing. Uh! Well—I have to go now..." Edd speedily makes his way down the hill when he saw Ell enter the playground.
"O-oh! U-um!" Edd hears some stammering from the boy as he was running away, but he didn't bother going back.
~
Matt sighs, picking the pencil up.
"You forgot your pencil..." He says quietly, putting the pencil in his pocket.
Clearly, Edd was uncomfortable with his presence.
He can understand why. He also can't live with himself either.
He doesn't know what to do. Everyone somehow found out about his parents when he didn't do anything.
Did he do something bad?
Something so bad that it came back to bite him?
He just doesn't know.
He spends most of his time just crying away the day.
He's just waiting...
He doesn't know what he's waiting for...he just knows that he's waiting.
~
Everything just went back to how they were after Katy left.
Honestly, there's nothing good to live for anymore.
He spent two of his birthdays alone and scared and terrified.
He just doesn't know what to do.
~
Miss Hannah just called him for something. He doesn't know what for.
Later on, 4 other children went in. 2 of them he was familiar with. Within those 2, one of them hated him with a fiery passion.
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Tom stared daggers into him.
"Okay, children. Do you know why you're called here today?" Miss Hannah asks all of them with a huge grin on her face.
"No," Tom answers bluntly.
"Well...? Anyone else?"
Every child in the room thought of the same thing but no one dared to say it.
"You're all going to be brother and sister! Why? Because you're all getting adopted by two caring and loving parents! You're finally going to have a real family! Isn't that great?" Miss Hannah says.
The children don't know how to react.
They're all going to be living under the same roof.
They're all going to be siblings.
They're all going to be a family.
Matthew doesn't know whether to be happy, to cry, or to feel scared. He's going to be brothers with the boy who hated his guts and he didn't know why.
He doesn't know a lot of things.
"Hm...speechless, are we? That's fine. I know it's very shocking news. But you should quickly get over it! They're going to come by tomorrow morning so you better start packing your bags! Hopefully, you're all up by the time the Morning Bell starts ringing!" Miss Hannah smiles one more time before dismissing the children.
As they were getting out of the room, the children all observed each other, familiarizing with one another.
"Hey! You're that annoying kid that bumped into me years ago!" The red hooded one says, pointing to Tom.
"I'm surprised you didn't comment on my eyes," Tom replies, cross-armed.
"Th-Those are real?" Edd asks.
"100%. Get used to it."
"Ughhhh...I can't believe I'm the only girl!" Edd's sister complains.
Matt stays quiet, scared to say anything.
"M-Matt...right?" Edd looks over to Matt, making the whole group look at him.
"U-Uh! Yeah..." Matt replies, looking away.
"Oh yeah...you're the one with messed up parents. I heard. But I guess we'll have to deal with your strangeness whether we like it or not." The red hooded one says casually.
"I'm gonna go pack my bags now," Tom says, immediately leaving the group and purposely bumping into Matt, stopping himself.
"I guess I'm gonna be your older brother now. You better get used to it." Tom pats Matt's back and leaves.
~
"Tommm!!! I can't believe you're leaving us!" Jack whines as he sits on my bed.
I sigh, drying out my hair for the last time then shoving the towel into my bag.
"Jeez, I'm gonna miss you guys too but there's nothing I can do. I'm getting adopted so deal with it." I say.
"Yeah, Jack. We're all gonna leave this orphanage sooner or later, together or not." Ethan says.
"What a way to calm me down, Eth!" Jack wipes away fake tears. I chuckle.
Suddenly, the morning bell began ringing.
"Alright, we gotta go. C'mon, off my bed." I command Jack. He groans and me and Ethan had to drag him out of the room.
I close my room and held Tomee tightly as I began to make my way down to the lobby.
"Guess this is goodbye," I say, fist-bumping both of them.
"Yeah. Bye, Tom." Jack says, giving me a hug.
"Woah, Woah, careful on the jumper, Jack!"
"Bye, dude." Ethan and I do our signature handshake before I finally walk out the door.
"Tom! I thought you weren't gonna show up!" Miss Hannah lets out a sigh of relief.
I hum in response, not really caring.
I look up at my new parents.
"Ah! Tom! Alright, come in! Let's go to your new home!" The man says, taking my bags for me and put them in the trunk.
I got in the car. Both the man and woman were still outside, talking things out with Miss Hannah so we kinda had to wait inside.
I sat beside the girl...I have no idea what her name is.
Actually, I don't know anyone here except for Matthew.
"Hey, I'm Tom. And you are?" I decided to introduce myself if I'm gonna be living with these people for most of my life now.
"Oh! My name's Ell. This is my twin brother, Edd."
Edd awkwardly waves at me and looks at Tomee weirdly.
I ignore it and look over and see the red hooded boy who really wanted me to apologize for that one interaction.
"Hey, the boy with the funny accent. What's your name?" I ask.
"Tord. I'm forever gonna be waiting for that apology, Tom." He says.
"Ha. In your dreams." I snicker.
The last person, Matthew, just continued to stare outside the window.
I didn't even bother talking to him.
But seeing him like that...suddenly made me think of the old me.
I used to be bullied.
Now...I'm the bully.
B-but...that isn't my fault. It's the people around me who made me this way...right?
'You're going to be living with him for most of your life now. Don't you owe him an apology?'
'No.'
'You used to be bullied before. You know how that feels, Tom. You know that feeling better than anyone.'
'I...No. I don't owe him anything.'
'Sure, carry this guilt with you for the entirety of your life. But you know full well that it's better to fix things with him now rather than later when your new parents find out.'
'...sh-shut up.'
'You're being really irrational.'
'...'
'I won. Get over it.'
I let out a deep breath, taking one final glance at Matt before turning away, hearing the engine start.
"I just...I just wanted to apologize." My hands curl up into fists as I avoid to look at him. The calming breeze of the backyard made me relax just a little.
"I want to apologize for all the things I did. I made everyone hate you because I was jealous. I had no right to do that. I'm really sorry. I regret what I did, Matthew. If you don't want to forgive me, I...I completely understand."
Matthew stays silent.
After a while, he finally spoke up. "M-Matt."
"Huh?"
I look at his face, tears were welling up in his eyes but he was smiling.
"You can just call me Matt, big brother."
~
I sat alone, in bed till the morning
I'm crying, "They're coming for me"
And I tried to hold these secrets inside me
My mind's like a deadly disease
I'm bigger than my body
I'm colder than this home
I'm meaner than my demons
I'm bigger than these bone
And all the kids cried out, "Please stop, you're scaring me"
I can't help this awful energy
God damn right, you should be scared of me
"Who is in control?"
~
Don't know when it's all gonna be over
At least I stayed a couple hours sober
Now I'm falling down the rabbit hole
It's too late now cuz I sold my soul
Let it all go gave up all control
Caught up in the cycle
Forgive me father for my sins
I never should've let him in now
The devil's got a hold on me
Making me do bad things
Just so I can find relief
Got me praying on my knees
Looking up to God
To cure me of this one disease
I'll do anything to take the pain away
Can somebody just tell me that it's gonna be okay
The devil's got a hold on me
And every night I ask him
When he's gonna set me free
I ain't gonna lie it was nice at first
Felt so good not to feel me hurt
But time passed by and it just got worse
Stuck inside a prison
Maybe if I would've just opened up
To the few around me I knew and loved
I wouldn't be so damn fucked up
Now nobody listens
I burned every bridge and said whatever
The only thing that makes it any better
Is a drink or a pill or a chemical
To put me back up on a pedestal
That doesn't exist when I'm sensible
This is my religion
Breaking through to freedom as I fade away
The light is getting brighter as I make my escape
Now it's getting hard to breathe
"Guess the devil won but at least he finally set me free"
~
Tom sighs, looking over at the clock above the bed.
It read 10:43 PM.
He couldn't sleep at all. Groaning, he gets out of bed and goes downstairs.
Slowly walking into the kitchen, he grabs 2 bottles of Smirnoff and a shot glass.
He slides open the door to the backyard, turns on the light and sits on the porch.
Suddenly hearing small footsteps, he becomes alert.
Grabbing his phone and turning on the flashlight, he began to wander through the kitchen. The flashlight then revealed your figure.
"H-Hey!" You let out a sound, startled by the sudden brightness that filled your vision.
"(Y/N)...?" Tom says.
"Let me guess," You say, getting a bar of chocolate from the fridge.
"You couldn't sleep either?"
=~~~=
Hey! An Angst-Free Birthday Chapter!
Finally! The chapter's done! I can confirm that this chapter is the longest chapter here in this entire book and the longest one I've ever written! This chapter's almost 2 months delayed because I wasn't really that prepared and Tom's birthday just slipped my mind so I had to go and make this chapter from scratch but every second, I suddenly come up with a new idea and I have to rewrite some parts in the chapter to match what I was going for. In the end, I'm okay with what turned out. My fingers are tired but who cares! I'm just happy I'm finally done! Happy super, duper, belated birthday, Tom!
Control = Halsey
Set Me Free = Nico Collins
To TomSka, thank you so much for carrying out Edd's legacy. Although you had officially left the crew, the work and effort you put into keeping Edd's dream alive will forever be appreciated and cherished by the fandom. We understand your reason for leaving and we wish you luck for your future projects!
Happy Belated Birthday!
(p.s new word milestone! 10,588!)