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Chapter 2

Aiden and Maya headed down the street and to the restaurant so that they could meet up with the others. When they made it to the restaurant, Reginald was already there. The head guard has the weekend off as well, and he was the one who suggested that the group go out to eat to celebrate Aiden's new job.

Reginald wasn't the only one there. Gill and T.T. were there to, and judging by how they were holding hands, Aiden and Maya guessed that Gill and T.T. were a couple now.

But despite how he would've asked them, Aiden couldn't. He didn't want to anger T.T. or embarrass Gill, but that wasn't the only reason why he didn't ask. He was still bothered by the whole rumor about Entity 303 that he heard from work.

Shortly after Aiden and Maya arrived, the rest of their group arrived. Clint and Bianca arrived just minutes after Aiden and Maya came, and they were followed by Milo, Isa, and Benedict. To the group's surprise, Reuben was with them to.

"Hi Aiden," said Reuben.

Aiden smiled at the kid and said, "Hey buddy. How are you doing?"

"I'm good. Jesse let me stay for the weekend, so I'm sleeping over at Benedict's," said Reuben.

Aiden and Maya couldn't help but grin. They knew that Reuben had a crush on Benedict. Ever since Reuben returned to the group as a human and Benedict was turned into a human girl, the two children became best friends. Reuben had a crush on Benedict, but no one knew if Benedict returned these feelings just yet.

"I'm glad that you get to stay for the weekend, Reuben. You're my best friend," Benedict told him with a smile.

Reuben didn't reply. He smiled nervously and blushed.

The group only smiled at the children. Now that they were all together, it was time to sit in the restaurant at their table and enjoy dinner.

It was nice for Aiden. Just getting together with his friends and hanging out. Ever since he heard about how he was going to start working, he felt a little anxious about it, but he was glad that his job was not only helping him sharpen his writing skills, but also help him work on his social skills.

It was great to hang out and chat with friends. Aiden hadn't felt this happy since before the Sky City incident.

But even so, the feeling didn't last long. He couldn't stop thinking about the whole Entity 303 and missing tourists thing that bothered him. And since his friends were asking him about his job, he knew he was going to have to talk about this at some point.

"You enjoying your new job Aiden?" asked Reginald.

"Yeah. I love it. It enables me to write stuff, and I've been working on coping with my anxiety and coming out of my shell. Though, some of the stories we write about at work, they do get a little scary," said Aiden.

"Really? Anything in particular bothering you?" asked Milo.

Aiden was a little silent for a moment. Was it okay to talk about this at the dinner table, especially with two children like Reuben and Benedict with them?

"Uh... I don't know if I should talk about some stuff like that at the table, especially since Reuben and Benedict are here..." he said.

"Eh, we're fine, Aiden. Better to get it off your shoulders," said Reuben.

Aiden took a deep breath and exhaled. Feeling relaxed, he told the group about what he heard about at work regarding the missing tourists and Entity 303.

"Oh dear... I hope those tourists will be found soon..." said Isa.

"Entity 303? Never heard about that kind of stuff back on my grandfather's farm before I left and set up my farm in town. Then again... we never heard strange stuff like this back at the valley..." said Bianca.