Chapter 50.

Chapter 50. Guiding a lost little lamb. (1/3)

One week later it was Sunday again. Since my cover was already blown with Alicia, I attended school for the week since there wasn’t much harm. 

This week was final exam week. Alicia was busy studying for her own exams and wouldn’t have time to waste looking for me. 

Rosa was in a similar position spending her time studying. Since I’d resolved the root of Rosa’s problems with studying she didn’t need me to offer her rewards anymore. But when she told me the method she’d adopted to pay attention in class, I didn’t know how to feel about it.

She said she just visualized me in Mr. Oz’s place at the front teaching the lesson and replaced his voice with mine in her head. Like that, she was able to focus with full attention. In a way, she was staring at me without actually staring at me.

Anyway, putting those two aside, there would be no classes to attend for some time. This week we only needed to go to school for the exam. After that, we’d have two weeks off for winter break.

For me, it would be a week of relaxation. I didn’t need to study for anything. I just had to show up, stay there for an hour and I could return home. It was that simple. I still had to work, but I was overjoyed that I had so much free time.

However, there was one thing I had to take care of as promised which was Alicia’s little brother. I had to handle his problems.

One problem, the easiest for me to resolve, was his grades. They were pretty good, at about the low 80s for every subject, but he wasn’t anywhere near satisfied with them. He put in the effort he needed to, but he didn’t see any results.

Simply put, he needed someone to properly guide him. A tutor would have been great, but they are expensive and he knows his family’s situation. He’s also too prideful to ask his sister to help him. He wants to show he can do things himself. He also doesn’t want to trouble his sister. He knows she herself is working hard every day to achieve the results she gets.

This problem was one his sister was helpless with, one she could provide no assistance.

The next thing you might wonder, why not ask someone in his school to help him. Well… that was where the second problem stemmed from.

Unlike his sister, he was isolated. Bullied. People would often say things like, ‘his sister is so amazing, too bad her brother is so average.’ He couldn’t bring himself to always hear things like that being said, and as such, he closed himself off from everyone around him and locked himself up in his room working as hard as he could all on his own where nobody could see all the effort he put in.

He was by no means a stupid child. He just had a heavy burden in his heart that was greatly holding him back. With someone so great beside him, always eclipsing and overshadowing all his achievements, he felt powerless and weak.

‘Oh, Alicia’s little brother got this result? Well, it’s not bad I guess... but compared to what his sister got… it’s underwhelming.’

That was the fate of the boy known as Alicia’s little brother. The story of his life.

A sad one, to which he had no power over.

But, I already had l an angle of attack, a decisive plan born through lies and deceit to lift the shadow cast over his heart. The mental block that was holding him back. I’d completely destroy it in a single day.

That was my objective on this peaceful Sunday morning.

I advised him to wait outside on Sunday at a bus stop a block away from his place through text message earlier in the week.

I’d arrived at the bus stop at the designated time and I found a boy seated on the bench.

“Hello, child. We meet again.”

“You’re the one that told me to meet you here today. This better be good, I have a lot of tests this week that I need to study for.”

“Yes, I did tell you to come here. By the end of the day, you will have the ability to achieve perfect scores on all your tests.”

His eyes opened wide at my bold claim. “There’s no way that’s possible. I’ve been putting in so much time studying but I can’t even come close to a single perfect score on a test. Yet you’re trying to tell me I can do it on all of them?”

“Yes, I’m certain you can do it. You have more than enough potential to do it. It’s simply that your talents are being squandered. All you need is a bit of guidance to reach the level you so wish.”

“You… really think I can do it?” I asked doubtfully, clearly lacking confidence in himself.

“Yes. And my confidence is not because you’re anyone’s little brother. But because you work hard all on your own. Your own efforts are the only thing I believe in. Not some nonsense like it being because of talent or it’s in your genes and what other fools may say.”

“You believe in the effort I put in?”

“Yes. Your eyes are good, but they’re a bit hazy. Once you see your own abilities for what they’re worth, you’ll be able to accomplish your objective.”

“...” He had a complicated look on his face when he heard my words. He wasn’t able to say anything back.

“Anyway, we should get going, our ride is here.”

The bus had just pulled in. I stepped on it and he followed close behind. I took a seat on one of the window seats on the right. He didn’t sit beside me, rather, he kept his distance and took a window seat on the left. Aside from us two, the bus was completely empty with it being Sunday morning.

We continued our journey on the bus for some time until my destination came into sight. I pulled the cable on the side to indicate we’d be getting off here. When I stood up I told the boy, “We’re here, this is our destination.”

“H-Here? But isn’t this-”

“Enough dawdling let’s go. I’m a busy man, we can talk while we walk.” I cut him off.

When we stepped outside, I was greeted by a familiar scenery. It was the university I attended.

“Uh… isn’t this a university? What are we doing here? Where are we going exactly?”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

“Are we even allowed to be here? We’re obviously not old enough, right? Won’t we get kicked out or something?”

“It’s a university open to the public, not a private university. There are no rules that state you have to be a student to step foot on the campus, nor are there any age restrictions. Knowledge is for everyone. If you so seek it, you may come and go as you please. If you are lost and in search of knowledge, where better a place to search than a university which is rich in such knowledge.”

“I see.” Somehow he looked convinced. Like the university was some mystical place filled with all sorts of answers. Children were really just so... easy to bamboozle.

“In this place, you are no longer ‘just Alicia’s little brother.’ You are free of such incessant nonsense. Nobody knows you here, nobody knows your sister here either. You are simply you. You can relax, forget about everything else, and just focus on yourself and what it is you yourself want to achieve.”

“I’m not her little brother here?”

“No, unless you tell someone on campus that yourself. This is a sanctuary. Nobody will see you and think ‘oh, it’s Alicia’s little brother’ because nobody here knows either of you. This place isn’t small like middle school or high school. It is large and vast, you will not find people you recognize.”

While I buttered him up, we continued to walk. After ten minutes, we arrived in front of a building where I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face him.

“Now, child, the place I’m about to show you is one you cannot and must not tell anyone about ever. It is a very special place that you are not permitted to speak about, ever. You are not, to so much as mention this place, not even to your own mother or elder sister. You must also promise to never come here again in the future unless you have me accompanying you or my permission to do so. If you cannot agree to these terms, then we will need to immediately turn back. Do you agree to these conditions, or not, child?”

“I- I agree.” He’d been caught off guard when my tone abruptly changed from carefree to solemn and authoritative.

“Alright, then follow behind me. Do not touch anything unnecessarily.”

“Right.” His face turned more serious.

When we walked inside the right side entrance of the building, at first glance, it was just like any other building. There were a series of black opaque doors to our left and right which led to lecture rooms. But once we arrived at the center entrance of the building on our left, I turned to the right, where two transparent glass doors were wide open.

When the boy behind me directed his gaze inside, his eyes were immediately drawn to something. A Tyrannosaurus skeleton with its tail facing us. His eyes opened wide and sparkled. I guess for a kid seeing it for the first time it was something quite cool.

I led the way inside the room to the other side where the Tyrannosaurus’s head was facing. It was looking at the woods and river outside as it had every time I came here before.

The boy looked up at the ancient monster of the past while trying to hold back his excitement. Big monster-like creatures were cool to impressionable young boys and it seemed he was no exception.

“It’s so cool!” As expected he couldn’t keep his true thoughts down and gave voice to them.

I took a seat on the couch directly in front of the Tyrannosaurus with my back to it while looking out the window to my front at the woods and flowing river outside.

Seeing the way I casually sat down in a composed fashion, the boy snapped back to reality and asked, “Is this the special place you were talking about?”

“Yes. There is a little-known secret about this place.”