"Really!?" Uriel said in disbelief, an opportunity like that was too good to let it pass.
"Well, you wouldn't be working for the college exactly. I would be hiring you myself and paying you a part of my own salary. It won't be much, but it should be enough to get you through this conundrum." Noticing the young student's excitement mister Scofield felt the need to clarify.
Fearing that mister Scofield could withdraw his offer if he took too long to reply, Uriel quickly extended his hand sealing the deal. He didn't know what would he need to do, but he could see himself sitting for long hours behind the counter reading anything he wanted, just like the librarian did.
All of his hopes where short lived when the librarian showed him to a small room filled with cleaning supplies and janitor's clothing. His face twitched for a few seconds, hesitating for a brief moment before wearing the janitor's overall and picking up the broom.
Mister Scofield nodded in approval as he watched the young student start cleaning the place without the need for him to even say anything. The library wasn't crowded by all means, but there were some students reading with their heads down, some were using the computer terminals to search for the books they needed.
The first time Uriel set foot inside the library it didn't seem so big at all, he felt that no matter how big it was it would never be enough for him. Thousands over thousands of books filled the air with the leathery smell he loved and it gave the place a cozy feeling. Now, instead, it felt like an endless maze covered in dust and trash.
He danced through the floor with the broom as he cleaned the place thoroughly. He knew how important it was for the place to be well kept, after all no one likes to read in a messy place. And everything would have been fine, if not for the fact that he was so engrossed in his task that he didn't notice how Kenny, one of his classmates who was acquainted with Mark, took a video of Uriel in an overall and shared it on his social media tagging everyone he knew.
└ Check this out! Urinal is a janitor now!
└Lmao, Fits him right!
└Hang on, I have to see it with my own eyes.
Mark, the one responsible for the last message grinned widely.
Despite his best efforts, Uriel was far from finishing his task. About one third of the library's floor was spotless, but the rest had been untouched. He cleaned as fast as he could so he could make the most of his time after, but he also did the best job he could to prove to Scofield that he made the right choice by hiring him.
And the librarian's thoughts were precisely those. He was deeply impressed by Uriel's good attitude and by how much effort he put into his job. He had wrongfully assumed the young student would lack in motivation just like anyone his age, but Uriel instead took it upon himself to clean the whole library. "Young bookworm, there's no need to push yourself so hard, you don't need to clean everything right now, if you keep that up you'll leave the other janitors without a job." Mister Scofield said awkwardly after faking a cough.
Uriel didn't back down and, instead, headed to the bathrooms with a smile on his face. Brushing and scrubbing toilets was less tiring than brooming, it was a bit uncomfortable and the stench was bothersome, but he was accustomed to doing chores. Of course cleaning your own toilet wasn't nearly as disgusting as cleaning a public toilet, especially since some repulsive people made a mess of them without even the slightest consideration towards the ones in charge of cleaning them.
Thanks to the repetitive task, though, Uriel soon found himself immersed in his own thoughts.
'Cleaning toilets has been considered one of the worst chores in human history and I can see why. Still, people from the medieval age truly had it worse, I have cleaning supplies and disinfectant, those poor bastards tasked with cleaning the latrines used to get sick and die without even making enough money to pay for a doctor.' Although it wasn't in the same way he wanted, he did experience at least some proximity to history and time flew by inside of his mind. when every single toilet was spotless and he was ready to go back to his dorm and bury his head in some book like he always did, but he quickly forgot about it when he stepped out of the bathroom.
"Don't you look handsome in that uniform, Urinal?" Mark, smirked as he glanced at Uriel's messy appearance. He was standing right outside the bathroom along with Tina Celes, Uriel's now ex girlfriend.
"Uri!? what are you doing?" She covered her gaping mouth with a hand. Uriel wasn't sure why, but he felt embarrassed by her reaction. He couldn't understand why did he feel so humiliated when all he did was perform an honest job.
"Why are you standing like an idiot? you missed a spot!" Mark said, kicking the bucket to the ground causing a wet mess to cover the floor Uriel worked so hard to clean before.
"Uri, how could you do something like this to me!? Now everyone will know me as the janitor's ex girlfriend!" She cried in shame and turned on her heels.
Mark didn't miss the chance to snap a picture of his heartbroken 'friend' and ran towards Tina to console her, leaving Uriel to clean up the mess he made.
"Tina, I'm sorry I didn't know he would be here. I bet he did it only to embarrass you." Mark said as he placed his hand on her back, giving the impression that he was embracing her as they walked out.
Mister Scofield watched the interaction in front of him, but he didn't intervene in any way. He limited himself to watch. "A man needs to face their own issues to grow as a person, but still, I think that guy took it too far." The librarian whispered, his own life experience allowed him to notice that this was a chance for Uriel to grow into a better version of himself. In the end, all mister Scofield did was clean up his glasses and take a mental note of that Mark guy.
The following days passed by and he felt as if he was submerged into a mist, his thoughts were completely lost. He did everything he was supposed to do, the only difference was that he didn't put his heart into any of it.
He went to class enduring the scorn of his classmates, he participated in the physical training neither being the best or the worst, then he went to work. It was all the same, his usual routine.
The only one who could perceive the change was, of course, Mister Scofield. Watching a young bookworm like Uriel hitting rock bottom was painful to see for Xavier Scofield, he saw much of himself on him and really wanted to help Uriel.
"I'm done for today mister Scofield." Uriel said as he headed to the exit.
"Aren't you forgetting something young bookworm?" The librarian's voice resounded in the now empty library. Uriel thought back on the list of tasks he was supposed to perform today and he was certain that he had completed each and every one of them.
"I finished everything. Oh! is it because I'm not taking any books with me today? I don't really feel like reading so..."
"That's not it," Mister Scofield shook his head. "Tomorrow is the incursion, you can't go if you don't receive your pay can you?" he said as he pushed a closed envelope on the counter. "Don't forget I paid you in advance so you can go to the incursion, you'll still need to come back and work here at least until you earn your worth."
"Yes Mister Scofield!" Uriel ran to his dorm to pack up his clothes and prepare for the big day tomorrow.