Zach was a weird fellow. After he greeted us, he buried himself under the sheet. And we realized that his idiotic grin wasn't because of us but because of the RomCom pocketbook he was reading at that time. Well, to help you guys with imagining, just imagine a fourteen-year-old boy who got caught by his mother texting his crush all giggly. But shouldn't that be an embarrassed grin instead? Anyway, he looked quite idiotic to me so there's that.
I took the middle while Kristina took the lowest part. Truth was, the fact that we will be staying in that soulless room for three months, or more, with a peculiar roommate was kind of a bummer.
Our first night was peaceful. Then three a.m. came and I woke up. Like I already said for the nth time, I always wake up at three. I couldn't sleep back so I decided to take a shower, quickly and using as little water as possible.
When I was done, Kristina was still asleep. I wanted to take a run outside but I didn't wanna leave her alone with a stranger, and with a man no less. I would be a jerk if I did that. So instead, I peeked outside the window. Obviously, it was still dark. The mess hall was eerily empty. Then came a gentle knock on the door.
Through the peephole, I could see a young boy wearing orange jumper pants, off-white shirt, and a brown hat. I opened the door for him. Seeing him up close made me realize something. That he kinda looked familiar. With the nut brown hair and nut brown eyes and all.
"Who's that, Dandan?" Asked Kristina. The knocks must have woken her up.
"Nah! Just some kid." Then I crouched to be eye level with the boy. "What's your name?"
He shot me an innocent smile and then he said, "Andy!"
"Oh! Andy. What a nice name. It almost sounded like Dandie. Anyway, how old are you?"
He raised seven fingers.
"Seven years old?"
He nodded.
"Okay, Andy. Why are you here? Why did you knock?"
He appeared to be thinking for a while. "Tour. Andy will tour you and your girlfriend."
Kristina and I looked at each other then I sighed. "I wish but she ain't my girlfriend, Andy. And you… are giving us a tour?"
He nodded excitedly.
"You're giving us a tour yourself?" I asked again, surprised. To which he nodded the third time.
"I see. Did… someone tell you to do this?"
"Klein!" He beamed.
"Klein?" Kristina and I looked at each other again. And then she giggled.
"Well, isn't it fine? He prolly wanted us to loosen up so he sent a kid. Yesterday was stressful after all. Though it might be a bit too early."
"If you say so." Then I turned to the boy. "Okay, Andy. Take care of us."
"There are three floors in this building. Three rooms in each and you are in the middle room of the first floor." Andy explained as we gently closed the door behind us. Zach was still asleep when we left.
"Oh? You speak quite well for your age!" I praised him.
He giggled. "Hehe. I had awesome parents."
"The mess hall is where people eat. I don't like the food here. My mom cooks better."
"Really? What's your favorite food, Andy?" It was Kristina.
"Afritada with pineapple chunks." It made both of our eyes widened.
"It's the same as yours./We like the same food?" Kristina and I said simultaneously.
Andy just giggled.
"This will be your classroom. You will learn everything about the bad guys here."
"This is the training ground. You will learn to fight here."
The tour took almost an hour. It was four flat when we returned to our room.
"Bye! Bye! See you soon!" Said Andy as he waved his hand to us then he ran away.
"He's adorable," murmured Kristina.
"And very smart too." I added.
"If I ever had a son, I would love him to be like Andy."
"Oh? You want a son that slightly resembles me and likes my favorite food? Why? I'm capable of giving you that."
"Shut up, Dandan."
We bickered some more until we woke Zack up. We expected him to get angry but to our surprise, as much as he wanted us to ignore him, he ignored us too.
6:00 a.m. when somebody knocked on the door again. It was Franko. Wearing a tawny trench coat and a hat.
"Get ready. Have a shower if you want. Join the others at the mess hall for breakfast and meet me at seven at Old Klein's office." He told us. "I'll show you around the place. I'll be briefing you as well, assigning you duties and stuff. See you at seven." Then he turned his back and started walking away but I stopped him midway.
"There is no need, sir. Old Klein already sent a kid to us. He gave us a tour just now."
"You sure? Old Klein did?" Confusion was visible on Franco's face. "But he didn't tell me though? Wait, I'll ask. Don't be late." And with that, he finally left.
Let's talk about the mess hall. As the name suggests, it was a hall where everyone eats. And it was anything but messy.
There were six long tables with chairs surrounding them. The walls were made of glass making it see through. To the left from the entrance was the beverage area with three large vending machines and just a little further away was the self-serving station. We had rice, veggie lumpia, sunny side up, and pork adobo.
Quite a number of people were there that morning but they mostly stayed in their own circle or alone. They didn't really interact much either.
"I didn't send a kid." Said Old Klein.
Then all of a sudden. The oh-so-peaceful-and-wholesome morning shattered like glass.
"I didn't send a kid at all." He repeated. "And I would never send a kid to do the job for me. Never."