We all have our masks [Twenty One Pilots]

Chapter Ten: John Smith

From the outside, Columbus City Hall looked like a century old building, surrounded by green foliage. Lena felt so tiny, walking through the park framing the architecture, but a smile was slowly creeping on her face. Even though she had her fair share of not-so-good moments already, the United States had treated her quite well so far and she had never felt more alive. She knew that the road was still long and probably tough, but somehow, she found a little bit more hope. Maybe it was the people she met, or the music she discovered, but she now was ready to take everything that would come her way, good or bad, and make it a useful experience. 

When she reached the high wooden doors, Lena stopped in her tracks. That was it. Behind these doors were her last chance to try and find her uncle Rick and her cousin Hannah. She sigh, gathering up the courage to enter, before being shoved to the side by a young man in a suit.

"Sorry..." she whispered. The man didn't even turned to her, like he didn't even see her, like she was invisible. In another life, Lena would have yelled at him, demanding he apologized for pushing her so rudely. She would have seeked conflict just for the sake of hearing that she was right. But she wasn't that girl anymore. She just didn't care. With that in mind, she pushed the door open. 

The hall was wide and so high Lena had to stretch out her neck to finally see the ceiling. The marble floor was so shiny Lena could almost see her reflection through it. She took a few steps, and even the sound of her sneakers on the ground was echoing through the alcoves. 

"Good morning and welcome to Columbus City Hall. I'm Zack. How can I..." the man behind the reception desk slowly recited before lifting up his gaze towards Lena. "... help you?" He gulped and tightened his tie. 

Lena smiled. Zack was the guy that pushed her over earlier, and he was probably running late, since he had just gotten there. Lena was thankful that she didn't got mad at him in the first place, especially if he was the person that would have to help her. 

"Hello Zack. I'm Lena. Nice to meet you." She held out her hand, and with a bright smile, Zack shook it lightly. He looked young, even a bit younger than herself. He certainly wasn't older than 20. His beard wasn't quite well shaved though, which probably added a year or two to his appearance. Overall, he seemed to be the nice type of guy. And that could be useful to Lena. 

"Listen, I'm searching for some family members and I was wondering if you, or someone here, could help me find them?" Lena's hopeful tone was met with a fading smile. Zack looked down, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry... You have no idea how many similar requests I get, and it crushes me every single time, but we're not allowed to give such informations unless there's a good reason - meaning that the person is sought after by the police or the government. I'm really sorry."

Lena's smile faded. The strength and hope she felt when waking up this morning had vanished all of a sudden, and she nearly felt like crying. If it weren't for Zack's eyes staring at her, she would probably have broken down in tears, but she wasn't one to share feelings so easily. She tightened her fists, holding back the tears, before taking a deep breath. But before she could speak again, Zack had looked right and left before leaning in towards her. 

"You can still use the internet. There are lots of resources and websites to find people. Maybe you can search on there or... hire a private investigator. I'm so sorry..." Zack was barely breathing through his words, probably afraid that Lena would fall apart right before his eyes. He held out a friendly hand to his shoulder. "Is there anything else I could help you with?"

Lena looked deeply into his eyes. She still felt like crying, but something in his dark brown eyes warmed her from the inside. It was funny how she thought she had seen Zack before, while she perfectly knew this wasn't true. Maybe it was just someone else.

"I don't know... I don't think so.  But thank you... Zack." Lena turned around to walk away after taking in Zack's sympathetic smile, but she was stopped in her tracks by his voice again.

"Wait..." Zack turned his head left and right, as if to make sure that no one was going to hear him. But the hall was completely empty, and Zack looked relieved. He bended over his counter to whisper. "My shifts ends at 5pm. My friend works at the civil registry upstairs... Maybe I could try to get you in after hours?"

Lena gasped, surprised, her mouth half-opened. She didn't know if it was the American land, or just the people from Columbus, but the amount of people willing to help her just for the sake of it was extraordinary. 

"Is that legal? I don't want you to get into trouble just because of me..."

"Well... Not really, but..." Zack shrugged. "I don't know. If you're discreet, it should be fine." 

Lena stayed silent for a while. She didn't know what to say, less what to do. Why were people so nice to her here? Back in France, people were constantly staring at her, mocking her, bullying her for who she was and what she had done, without even knowing the slightest part of her life and what she had gone through. But here... everything felt so different. 

"So... Meet me at 5?" Zack's voice brought her back from her thoughts. Realizing she was still speaking to someone, Lena snapped and forced a smile. She thanked him again, and in a deep haze, walked back to the entrance. Without thinking, she hopelessly walked through the park surrounding the City Hall, then away through Columbus. 

The weather was nice, at this time of the year, and Lena had no jacket on, but she suddenly remembered hearing Tyler talking to Mark about the harsh Ohioan winters, and she wondered if she would still be here, in Columbus, around that time of the year. Then, her thoughts jumped to something else completely different. The city seemed so beautiful to her that she could clearly see herself living there, and she kind of wished everything would turn out great here, just to have this opportunity. But she had learned way to soon that you should never expect the best, in any situations. 

She still had a little bit of hope, though. And she could be starting over here. This was her chance at a new life. A better one. And she was willing to do anything to keep that chance alive - with or without Uncle Rick. With that in mind, she set out to visit Columbus. Before she knew it, it was already time to go back to the City Hall. 

"So, Lena. Who are we searching for? What's the name?"

Zack had closed the door of the civil registry office, and was now sitting behind a messy desk. The room looked tiny, but contained what seemed to be thousands of dusty files lined up in alphabetical order. Excited and scared at the same time, Lena couldn't help but think that there was a tiny, tiny chance that her family was still there. 

"Smith." 

At her words, Zack snorted a little, whispering a small "Yeah, right" before looking up to Lena. Her serious face made him drop his smile and he got up, suddenly a bit more nervous. 

"Are you serious there? You're searching for someone whose name is the most common in the United States?" Zack exclaimed, his eyebrows arched towards the ceiling. Lena shrugged, an apologetic smile on her face. She could see that it bothered him a bit, because finding uncle Rick would probably take hours, and she was about to drop the whole thing when he spoke again.

"Please, just tell me his first name isn't James or John." He pleaded, making Lena smile sincerely. 

"No, it's Rick. Richard, probably. Not sure though." She replied, and Zack sat down again, pushing another chair towards Lena, inviting her to do the same. 

"Better. But still not great." Zack sighed. "This is going to take quite some time. You ready?" He added. And as Lena nodded impatiently, he opened one of the metal drawers next to him, searched a bit through the document to the letter S, then got out a bunch of folders, setting them on the table. 

"Let's do this!"