Assistance Required

Hiding in the Library

TW cursing

Mon Nov 16

Patton and Virgil went over their history notes in the student center again after class while they waited for the others to be done with their classes. Patton ended up moving on to his French homework and Virgil worked on calculus until Roman arrived to help him with Spanish. After getting his Spanish work done he decided it was a good time to go to the library.

He had already typed up his paper from earlier, but he knew he had a research paper coming up soon. He decided to plan out his paper and look for sources. He took his time while he worked. He really didn't want to go back to the student center before dinner. He could just tell them he lost track of time while working and that was why he wasn't at dinner. Patton might bring him something back anyway. It wasn't like he wasn't just not eating. He needed to save his money.

He wished he was working today. He could grab something to eat during break and he wouldn't have to lie to his friends. After about an hour alone in the library, he received the dreaded text message from Patton.

We're going to dinner. Are you coming?

He watched the lit screen go dark as he pondered what to say. He could say he didn't see the message. He decided to ignore it for now. He flipped his phone over and turned back to the book in front of him. He heard his phone buzz a few more times as he read. He continued to ignore it until he heard someone yell his name.

"Virgil Douglas Grey!"

He fell out of his chair as he turned around. He saw Janus standing over him.

"Wh-what?" Virgil asked.

"You scared us! Why haven't you been answering your phone?!"

"S-s-sorry! I was r-reading!"

Janus sighed and reached out a hand. Virgil took it and Janus pulled him to his feet.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Janus said. "But the last time you disappeared on us like this we found you in Patton's room with a knife."

"I'm just reading! I promise! Besides, Logan took my knife. I'm working on a research paper right now. You're welcome to stay with me if you want but I have to get back to work."

"I'm going to text the others that you're fine. But you should really come to dinner," Janus said as he typed on his phone.

"Yeah, just let me finish this first," Virgil said as he sat down again.

"You can't just not eat, Virgil."

"Then bring me back some pizza or something."

Virgil could feel Janus staring at him but he didn't turn around. There was silence for a few moments.

"Be in the student center in an hour and I'll bring you back something," Janus said finally before walking away.

Virgil let out a breath and went back to work. He checked the time on his phone. 5:32. One hour. He distracted himself with his work. He didn't want them to worry about him. Would it be easier to just tell them? No. They'd try to help him. They always tried to help him, but he didn't feel right taking their money. This worked just fine. He could just eat whatever small thing they could bring back whenever they left for dinner. Sure, he'd be away from them for a bit and he'd technically be getting less food, but at least he wouldn't be wasting his money. He'd be okay. He just needed to save up his money.

After about an hour, he put away the books he borrowed and walked back to the student center. He found the others working on homework. Logan was helping Roman with his math again, Patton was typing on his laptop, Janus was scolding Remus who was busy drawing obscene images on the side of his papers, and Thomas and Joan were reading from textbooks. Virgil sat down in the only available seat next to Thomas. Janus slid a sandwich on a few napkins towards him.