quarenta e dois amigos

"Anyways, I have something I want to tell you, I've joined the army" he said shifting his tone. I stopped. As much as I hated him for that, I couldn't pass this up. "You know my answer so what do you want in return?" I asked turning around. "If it's money then never mind, we don't have any". He shook his head, "No, I want you to help me when the Terata appear". I looked at him confused at his request, "The monsters?". He nodded. "Calm" I said walking away. They had no relations to me so I could kill them. The next day came and we had an offer again by a middleclass family to pass the border. We finished the job and went back at seven. "Han, we have enough money to pay for a years worth of school, wanna go?" I asked. By the time I'd reunite with mom, I'd probably be fourteen or fifteen so I had to start now. "Yea, I do" he said tucking himself into his thin blanket.

I couldn't sleep the whole night because I'd remembered that you needed a guardian meaning that we needed to go to an orphanage or something like that. After we brushed our teeth, we left for the orphanage. As we walked through the streets, we thought of a story. "What's your name" asked the lady at the reception. "Taragmenos, and he's Han, we're brothers" I answered making my voice slightly higher pitched. "Last name?" she asked our data into her giant laptop.

"Pearl" answered Han. He said that it seemed familiar. She typed it in and lowered her glasses. "How did you get here?"

"We ran away from home because of abusive parents and stumbled into this city where we heard that there was an orphanage" I answered quickly. She finished typing.

"Done, we'll search up your name on the documents to check if you're a runaway or not" she said pointing at a door, "Now go meet the other kids, tomorrow we'll enrol you into a school". Me and Han walked through the door and into a crowded room. There were kids running around and playing, even the ones around my age. Suddenly I felt something touch my stained t-shirt. I looked down and saw two small kids, probably about four or five and probably twins.

"Hi, who are you" said the girl pulling harder.

"I'm Taragmenos" I said awkwardly smiling. She looked behind me to Han who stared at her blankly. "Who's he" she asked now pulling even harder.

"Han" I answered trying to think of a way to get away from them. Thankfully she stopped and pushed her brother forward. "Hi, I'm Artemi and this is my brother Appo". The boy looked down and quietly said, "Hi". Suddenly a small bird burst through the open window and landed on his arm. He smiled and ran off. His sister looked confused but still asked the thing I was afraid of, "Do you want to play?".

Before I could submit myself to this torture, Everyone was called to eat. As I prepared to eat, I realised they were staring at me and Han. I looked away and ate nervously but Han managed to stay calm. I quickly ate and left to wash my plate. As I turned on the water I heard someone say, "Don't worry, you don't need to wash them, the grown ups do that". I turned around and saw the daughter of the old farmer. I was about to ask her why she was here but remembered. She looked at me confused before leaving the room and saying, "don't worry, you'll get used to it fast".

Night fell and I was told by Han, who'd asked the receptionist, that the orphanage was divided by two, under twelve or thirteen plus. If you were twelve or under then you'd have to go to sleep at ten but the latter, you slept at eleven thirty. "Also, I found our dorm" said Han. I slept at tthe top because Han was clumsy, which was a lie. I just wanted a good view at the park behind the orphanage. I took out my guitar and played a song I'd heard from an old man who reminded me of the farmer. It was called, "Call of the moon". It was originally a bedtime song but was changed slightly over generations said the old man. After a few minutes, I could hear Han snoring. I finished and went to sleep before the others came.

Morning came and I was the first to get up, or so I thought. I checked the clock and realised that they'd went to school. I cooked breakfast for me and Han but was called to the reception. "Wake your brother up, we're going to sign you and him into a school. We walked far until we reached a big building. I'd seen it before but thought it was a weirdly shaped mansion. "Are you their guardian miss?" asked the receptionist.

"Yes, Taragmenos and Han" she said putting our I.Ds in front of them, "That's their details". The man nodded and turned his chair to us. "What are your favourite subjects?" he asked smiling creepily. I smiled back awkwardly, "I like music". He gave me a card which said, "music favourite".

"And you what's your favourite?" he asked Han.

"Art" he said. I was a bit surprised because I thought he'd choose martial arts or something. He then pulled up a small painting which showed someone I'd seen before, in the green sea. "Oh, wonderful!" said the man as he passed his I.D. He then turned back to the receptionist, whose name was Lila and said, "We'll get back to you in a day to three to see if there's enough spots" he said. Lila got up and we left. I was confused. Who was the lady in the green sea and how did Han know about her. Or was I in Han's mind.