S.T ANTHONY SCHOOL.
Paul dressed in white crisp shirt covered with dark red blazer, gray trouser and matching red tie, black shoes and gray colored plastic belt with two white lines circling around it, and in the center emblem of open book and a quill the symbol of S.T ANTHONY SCHOOL , his hair is little fuzzy, the black backpack swang in his back, he had just arrived in front this jail's gate , that's what Paul calls this place.
He stood there blankly for a second, and observed the school building, students passing by wearing the same uniform as him, or chatting with their friends as always. Paul always had this in his mind, that student's lives are always like this, carefree chating, listening to teachers nonsense that doesn't even make sense for him most of the time, doing homeworks, going clubs, and more and more, he don't why he hate this kind of life- style, when one day after he started going to school, Simon asked him a simple question.
"Why don't you like going to school?"
At the time, he had many answers he could give to Simon, but none of them had any good reasoning behind it, so he just brushed it off - "I just don't like it, that's all there is, nothing more nothing less and cut conversation."
And now, a whole week has passed since he started his school life, but still he doesn't know why, he hates this place and doesn't like coming here. As he was wondering about this and that, he started walking towards his classroom 11th "B", when a girl passed by him, and he caught sight of her, and everything came back.
Why is he coming to this place?
Almost two weeks earlier -
In the office room, Paul was sitting on the sofa, opposite him sitting alone in the sofa is an old man, his boss "Philip Grayson", to Paul's right side in center is Sara, and to her right is Julian.
Simon sitting alone in single seater sofa to Paul's left side , they are all wearing same white and black dress with black blazer, all of them have a calm expression, also there's a silence but Paul soon broke it by saying -
"Why call us here all of sudden ?"
His question is not directed towards his boss, but Simon, who called him here, to ask the reason behind calling, not only him, but also Sara and Julian too.
Hearing Paul's question, the boss coughed lightly and said- "I've noticed that lately, there haven't been any major issues in the city, or anywhere else, so I've been thinking that I should assign all the high-table tasks to Simon, Sara, and Julian."
Paul, Sara and Julian simultaneously nodded slightly, agreeing, but Simon stayed still because he already knew the reason behind calling all of them here, and of- course this the first reason, but there's also one left, he moved his eyes towards three of them.
Paul also thought this was the right decision, there was nothing major that happened in the city, also Paul hasn't seen any other members of the high- table aside his boss, he also comes under them, if the tasks are assigned to them directly, maybe he can learn a few things more about them.
He only knows that they exist, and they are the actual rulers of this island and nothing else, he had done what always Simon told him, he doesn't know if it's actually from higher-ups, or just normal clean-up , but something felt missing for him, wait.. The boss didn't say his name.
He wanted to say, that boss, you forgot my name, but seeing Simon's calm expression, he thought that wasn't the case. The boss probably had some different task to assign him, Paul didn't have any problem with that either, unless… It's about leaving this island.
As Paul waited , boss continued - "I have another task for Paul" And he passed the tablet, which was placed in glass table towards paul, and others direction "You'll attend the S.T Anthony school from next week, and monitor this girl's safety, or any other issues she'll have on future."
And before they could say anything Boss stood up from his seat, and walked past them and went outside the room.
Paul is still trying hard to comprehend what the boss just said "School? Me? To monitor some girl? Her safety?"
He stood up thinking, as he heard the faint laugh coming beside him, it is Sara, maybe she knew the girl before, but Paul ignored her walked hurriedly towards the door to caught up with boss, Julian grabbed the tablet and look at the picture, a 18 years old girl he thought, but he doesn't recognized her, still he can feel it internally that this girl's face seems familiar to him, he asked slightly "Who's she?"
Simon, looking at the back of Paul, replied with the slight sigh "She is...
Paul tried to talk with the boss, but the boss didn't agree to his request. Later that evening Paul got the necessary information from Simon, he learned that she is the boss's daughter, and also she didn't have any good relationship with the boss and she lives alone in the apartment. Since Alex isn't here , you're the only one who can keep a close eye on her, because she doesn't know you.
And he also shifted to a new place which was not far away from the school , got new uniform and clothes, basically his life took a turn he didn't expect, and a few days later, even though he didn't want to go school, he started attending.
...
Soon ring of bell chimes in as Paul steps inside the lively classroom, he walked up to his seat, which is in the corner of right side, just besides the window, avoiding any unnecessary talk, though he hasn't talked to anyone else in this school aside from his class teacher and some individuals, even calling the conversation isn't the right way to put it, in his first day teacher asked him introduced himself, and he just nodded and told his name "Paul . That was it he didn't say anything more than that, and walked towards the farthest seat in the corner, that was first and also the last .
He took his seat, put away the backpack from his back, and looked outside the window first, then shifted eyes to the classroom , there were still few students coming and going outside the classroom, and baseless conversations between students.
"Yo, did you catch the new season that dropped last night? "
"Nah man , I was grinding yesterday, ya feel? I took an L last time but ain't gonna ghost her this time."
"Hey, mofos , am I trippin' or did Rika's assets get a glow-up lately?
"Wait, for real?"
"Wait, y'all didn't hear? She's got a dude from the upper class , I heard ."
"Oooo Jenna!!!, your hair is looking super shiny and smooth today! What conditioner are you using?"
"Ohh really.. "
As he was looking at students, and listening to their conversations, a faint light showed in the dark abyss. What makes you someone else's friend, or what does the word "friend" stand for? Even Paul wasn't an exception to this type of thoughts, is it just for talking this type of baseless stuff, or protecting someone else's secrets or giving advice maybe,
"Are we also friends? .... No...we aren't."
If this is what it means to be friends then he too has some people like Sara, Julian, Simon, and yeah Alex who is overseas right now.
Although he himself doesn't share about his daily life because he don't have anything to share, but they talk about about works, and even yesterday he and Sara were talking about Sara's personal life, and he also gave advice to her, although he sometimes felt annoyed whenever Sara make fun of him, he doesn't hate her.
Going more deeper into darkness, he thought what happens if… if Sara were to die today, does he gonna feel sad for her? , would he be willing to cry for her? They are only just colleagues, and in this line of work not only Sara, but almost everyone is always playing with their lives. Is the bond between the two really this strong? He doesn't remember the last time he felt sad, or cried for someone else. If she was killed by someone else, would he get revenge for her? "Of course I'll..... " As he was wandering around the endless abyss his eyes locked in on one girl.
She was sitting on the last left corner of the bench, she had long sleek and soft black hair that's reaching her back, her eyes black and shiny filled with wonder, and quiet curiosity are accentuated by subtly curved brows giving her the look of understated sincerity. A small pert nose and a light dusting of natural blush over her cheeks, all in all at first glance she gives an expression of gentleness and innocence. She is drawing out the books from her backpack.
But she is soon overshadowed by another girl, a girl with light brown eyes set beneath well curved brows, which are clear and perspective , gives her an little intense, and thoughtful gaze , her smooth blonde hair are tied up in ponytail manner, her soft cheekbones are well defined with slightly upturned nose. She is sitting in a second row on the last bench. Paul knows this girl, the sole reason why he is attending this jail without committing any crimes.
Yep she is Paul's boss "Philip Grayson" daughter "Varsha Grayson."
As he was shifting eyes to the front, his eyes met with Varsha, for a second he stopped but his eyes were already fixed in front of the blackboard.
Varsha too without paying much thought, focused her mind on the upcoming class.