Atdonus High

Episode 14: The Day That It Ended

Middle of Who-Knows-Where

Who-Knows -When

In Atdonus Highschool

8:50pm, Azel stared at the flaming building.

The red flames burnt into his head, reflecting off his eyes. He just stared at it, thinking about what was going to happen. From what he could see, classes could no longer continue with the state of affairs, he might be sent home. Azel went back into his room, many things in his mind.

The fire would be settled by the school administration, it was not much of a problem. However, there was also what Pandora had told him, about her past and condition. He had listened carefully, not wanting to be rude towards her. He sat on his bed, staring blankly at the bookshelf he had.

He thought about it, what was Pandora to him? He scratched his head, from day one, Pandora was the only one in the school that approached him, the only one that did not seem afraid. He had answered her kindness with kindness of his own, but what was he really doing? He thought about it, Pandora was something like family to him, she gave off that kind of feeling. He nodded, he treated Pandora like a little sister, it made more sense.

He laid down, wondering what he was going to have for breakfast the next day, after all, classes were most likely cancelled. It was only his first day back, and he was back to being confined to his room despite doing nothing.

8:00pm, Pandora was sound asleep and therefore did not know about the commotion.

5:00am, Pandora woke up.

She looked at the ceiling and got out of bed. She changed into her uniform and put her beret on before leaving her room. She paced the hallway with a slight hop, wondering what she could do by herself. The silence of the night, the air was still as she stepped onto the courtyard, seeing the building. She blinked a few times, even rubbing her eyes, wondering what was going on. The building was burnt black, some parts even collapsed on itself, leaving it in an unrecoverable state.

“What...?” She muttered to herself. “Who did this...”

She stepped closer, reaching out for the building. “Who did this without inviting me? It looks fun.”

She smiled and was about to run in when she paused. Half a step forward, she paused there, staring into space. The teachers nearby saw her and rushed to stop her. Pandora snapped out of it and pouted, “You guys never let me do anything.”

Pandora saw the teachers and blinked, wondering what they were doing. She looked around her, then back at the teachers. She smiled as they got closer. One of the teachers told her, “It’s dangerous near here, you should stay away.”

“Hm...?” She tilted her head, a cheeky smile on her face. “Will you play with me?”

The teachers were obviously confused as they looked at her. There were three of them there, Pandora approached the closest one and poked him in the face. She giggled and told him, “You’re it!”

She ran off, the three of them chasing after her. The teacher she poked shouted, “You little brat!”

Pandora laughed as she ran, feeling the wind through her hair. She ran to the dorms and turned around, wondering whether she had left them in the dust. She turned, but no one was there, all three teachers had gone back to their original duties. Pandora’s smile disappeared as her hands dropped. She wore a frown as she put her hands into her pockets, kicking a few pebbles on the ground. It was always like that, no one would play with her, no one wanted to have fun. Adults were people who think so much about other things that they ignore the simple idea of fun. She looked back once more, but none of them had pursued her for long.

“That’s no fun...” She muttered, her eyes tearing up. “Why won’t anyone want to play with me...”

She continued walking, the sky starting to light up. She looked around her and saw the dorms, her brain starting to think. Pandora smiled and ran to the boy’s dorms, running past the rooms and to the one room she recognised. She arrived, breathing slightly hard. She took a deep breath and knocked the door, taking a step back and bouncing on her heels.

There was no reply, which made her smile waved slightly. She thought about it, there was no way he would have been awake at such a time. Pandora knocked again just in case, just in case he was awake. There was still no reply, Pandora simply crouched into a sit before hugging her knees. She put her head against her knees, shivering, trying to keep her tears in. She did not want to be alone any longer, she wanted someone to play with, she wanted to have fun.

6:02am, she heard the door open.

Pandora looked up, seeing him. Azel had a look of surprise when he saw Pandora. He had thought to wake up early to try and find Pandora to hang out with, but Pandora had obviously beat him to it. Pandora looked up at him, her cheeks wet, her eyes weak as she saw him. He reached out instinctively and rubbed some tears off her cheeks before Pandora jumped into him. She hugged him, her small frame not really heavy to Azel.

Pandora told him, “Let’s play.”

Azel opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again regrettably. He tapped Pandora on the shoulder, making her look at him. He nodded with a gentle smile, Pandora jumping with joy. From what Pandora told him, he could understand what was going on and why she was crying.

Pandora entered his room, not laughing as much as he tougher she would have.

Not long after, every student was informed that school was suspended, students could leave the school compound to visit their families. The school even sent messages to each family, informing them of the sudden events. Azel received a letter informing that his stuff would only be sent over back to his home the day after. His parents were not free, so he could only return home the next day as well.

Pandora did not receive a letter, instead, she seemed to already know what was going to happen, choosing not to tell him directly.

9:03am, Pandora was in his room, sitting on the chair, having breakfast with him.

Azel went over to his bookshelf and picked a book. Pandora watched him with silence as he showed the title of the book. It was ‘Let’s Hang Out’. Pandora nodded, Azel reaching to grab a pen and paper.

He wrote down his question, ‘Is there anywhere you would like to go?’.

“No, not really.” Pandora replied.

‘Anywhere at all?’

Pandora thought about it, not knowing what she should do. She scratched her chin and said, “How about... we go and just have fun?”

He stared at the paper, not sure what he should write. Where would they go to have fun? They barely knew about each other, they have only been acquainted for slightly more than a week. He nodded, nothing else to do in the meantime. Pandora returned to her room to take a quick shower before they left, Azel did the same, changing into a long-sleeved white shirt and a pair of jeans. He brought along his wallet and waited for Pandora to return.

9:58am, they stepped out of the school.

The school gate was not as crowded as Azel thought it would be. With the sudden information, most families were unable to make it, some would arrive later. Most people at the gate were students that, like them, had nothing better to do. Pandora still wore her grey uniform and beret, acting quite nervous.

Azel just walked forward, looking around to see if there was anything fun they could do.

10:32am, they entered a bowling alley.

Azel looked around, the sound of the ball hitting the pins were louder than he thought. The bowling alley was Pandora’s idea, she had never seen such a thing and wanted to try it out at least once. She walked up to the counter and started saying a few things. They got a their bowling shoes and got balls each.

They were horrible at it. The screen that displayed how many pins they hit with each throw was mostly zero. Azel threw too hard, most of the time going into the gutter. Pandora was not used to it, her throws too weak. Despite all that, Pandora was able to smile, though her eyes had a hint of sadness. Azel disliked conversations and socialising, so he was quick to pick up on things.

When two rounds passed, they paid and left the bowling alley. Pandora complained, “I thought it was easier.”

Azel shook his head and looked around the city, people walking by them. What did they look like to strangers? It was obvious, they looked like siblings, the older brother accompanying his younger sister. He listened and nodded as Pandora talked about a few things. Something was not right, he could feel it in the way Pandora spoke. When he met her all the way until now, he had picked up that she was more reserved. She barely did anything extra on her own accord unless necessary. He tried to figure out why she was talking more than usual, but could only come up with one.

It could be their last time seeing each other. Azel would return home and Pandora would have to go somewhere else. She was trying to have a good time with him as a way of saying goodbye. He did not dislike that idea, in fact, it fit him perfectly.

Next, they went over to a nearby fast food place. Pandora looked around inside, in awe of how it looked like. Azel was also slightly shocked, not used to such a place. They awkwardly ordered burgers and sat down across one another.

“What do you plan to do once school closes?” Pandora asked him.

Azel tilted his head and rubbed his chin before shrugging. Pandora nodded and continued, “I’m not sure what I’m going to do either...”

She froze up, her expression changing, though not as obvious as before. She started to tear up when she spoke. “What are we supposed to do...?”

Azel wanted to do something to comfort her, but was unsure of what he was supposed to do. He just sat there as Pandora continued talking, “School was fun... I don’t want to go back to that place. It stinks, the other kids stay away, the adults all lie, it’s scary.”

She paused in place, staring into space for a moment before rubbing her eyes. Pandora looked at her hand and clenched it before saying, “Where should we go next?”

She had regained some composure, as much as it was forced, she wanted to go through with her plan. To Azel, her plan was acting as a goodbye to him, to Pandora, the plan was to have as much fun as possible before leaving. They finished eating and left quickly, neither of them wanting to get involved with strangers.

Azel strolled beside Pandora as she looked around, not sure what to do. Azel tapped her shoulder and pointed at a tall building, a skyscraper for tourist viewing. Pandora looked at it and stared into space.

“Um... I’m afraid of heights...” Pandora told him, fidgeting.

Azel nodded and continued walking, not really knowing where they should go. Both of them walked in silence, but the silence did not feel awkward to Azel in the slightest. It was normal for him, Pandora was used to it too.

Pandora saw something and tugged Azel’s shirt, pointing at it. He looked over and followed after Pandora into the building. Pandora went in, looking at everything with curiosity. Azel looked at her, her eyes filled with such chilling innocence, she almost reminded him of himself when he first saw such things. Pandora exchanged some money for tokens and started to play a few arcade games. As expected, she was terrible at them, especially at rhythm games.

She ignored the losses and pull Azel over to a photo booth. She looked around in the small box, the screen confusion to her. She faced Azel, wanting some help. He shrugged, not knowing what to do either.

As a result, they pushed a bunch of random buttons and ended up with a picture. Pandora laughed lightly when she got the two copies, giving one to Azel. He looked at the picture. It was normal without any filters.

Pandora, a big smile on her face, her beret on her head. Her black hair covered her eyes slightly. Azel himself still had messy black hair, and he was facing more to the side, his expression bored. He held the picture and slid it into his wallet before following after Pandora. They played around in the arcade before they had to be kicked out because Azel broke one of the machines. They left, Pandora laughing hard.

4:00pm, Pandora froze.

They were heading back towards the school, not sure what else they could do. Pandora’s eyes became sharp, she looked tougher, but she tried softening her looks. Azel looked at her when she poked his back. She pointed to the side, looking away. She told him. “We can still... catch a movie.”

Azel nodded and went with Pandora to the movies. They bought tickets and some refreshments before entering the theatre. It was chilly in there, but it did not bother either of them. They were laughs filling the theatre at times, but the only one that did not laugh was Azel. He enjoyed it, he truly did, but he did not laugh.

Pandora laughed, she looked happy. Looking at her being happy was enough for Azel. At least, he knew they would be separated with happy memories.

When the movie was over, Azel quietly listened to Pandora talk about it, nodding occasionally. When walking back, it was dark, there was silence between them, this time more because of exhaustion. Pandora, not looking where she was going, accidentally bumped into a lady. She held her at arm’s length, asking, “Are you alright?”

Pandora’s eyes widened and she forced herself out of the woman’s hold. She shouted, “Don’t touch me!”

Azel stood between them and bowed apologetically towards the woman. She walked off slightly confused. Pandora was breathing hard, staring into space for a moment before she regained composure. She walked in front of Azel and whispered, “Let’s just go back.”

Azel did as she suggested, returning to his room. Pandora had returned to her own room, Azel returning to his own. However, he saw where Pandora had walked off to and could guess where her room was. He cooked up a quick meal and packed it, wanting to bring it over to Pandora’s room to eat together.

When he arrived, Pandora opened the door, still in her school uniform. Luckily, he was allowed in, the two of them sitting on the floor to have their meal. Pandora told him, “Could you leave before 8?”

Azel nodded, understanding the reason why.

7:58pm, Azel was about to leave.

He had not kept track of time and was too busy helping Pandora clean her room up while Pandora finished eating. She tried forcing the big guy out of her room before she ran to her bed.

8:00pm, she did not reach her bed.

Azel, who was not locked out of the room, did not leave since the door was unlocked. He perked into the room, wondering why Pandora had yet to lock the door.

“Today was really fun!” Pandora laughed.

She was sitting against the door, directly behind Azel. She brought her knees up to her chin and talked while her head throbbed. Azel respectfully listened as she spoke.

“It was so scary to be out. Stop being so weak! It was fun! What’s... going on...? What do we do now? Azel’s so nice... What are you saying? Shut up! Go to sleep! I don’t wanna. Why you... be nice. Don’t yo- hey, be nice. No point trying. Mitsu... sleepy... He’s still outside, right? Who? That guy. Yeah, who? We spent an entire day with him. Oh... okay, him. What are we supposed to do? I don’t know, why you asking me? Hey, hey...”

Azel listened before he saw the door open. Pandora was kneeling on the ground, tears flowing down her eyes. She said, “You haven’t left?”

Her expression changed, her eyes becoming sharp. “Told you to leave earlier.”

She had a neutral expression when she whispered, “Don’t leave us...”

Her eyes turned playful. “Let’s have so much more fun together!”

Her expression turned sleepy, her eyes looking at something far away. “Why... are you... so far from... Mitsu?”

“I don’t want to be alone.”

The last line hit Azel hard, Pandora collapsing on the ground, sound asleep. He helped carry her onto her bed, locking her door for her. He looked at her sleeping face for a moment before continuing with cleaning her room. At some point, he felt quite sleepy, lying on the ground, he fell asleep.

00:00am, he was shaken awake.

Pandora looked at him a smile on her face. Her expression was soft, her eyes were blurry, occasionally focusing just to become blurry again. She giggled and said, “Bye... Bye...”

He was unsure of how to respond before Pandora got back onto her bed and continued sleeping. He stared at the ceiling, wondering what he was going to do. He wanted to bring Pandora home, but could not do such a thing. He could only wish Pandora the best, and hope she stays healthy.

For the rest of the night, he did not sleep, instead, stared at the ceiling.

9:00am, they were both at the school entrance.

Azel saw a familiar red car and turned to Pandora, pointing at it. She nodded quietly, forcing a smile, “Well, I guess this is goodbye...”

He nodded.

Pandora started to tear up, unable to control herself. “It was so short... I wanted to hang out with you longer...”

Azel, holding his bag with his left arm, hugged Pandora with his right. He patted her head before letting go. He gave her a piece of paper and walked off towards the car where his parents waved at him. Pandora shouted, “Let’s meet again one day!”

Azel turned around, shocked to hear her shout. He smiled and nodded, waving. Pandora had the paper crumpled in her hands as she waved back at him.

He left with a single note.

‘Let’s hang out sometime soon.’