False Paradise.

Chapter 9 - In which I found a monkey.

After tucking Antoinette into her bed after she fell asleep on me, I felt somehow even more restless than before, and figured a night time walk would do good for me. This time taking a coat with me, I walked out of 1-A to come face to face with a familiar...face. He was standing across the hall, having just left 1-B, and at once I knew who it was.

"You're that creep that was staring at me in the race!", I hissed. "What was up with that? You got a problem with me, huh? Trying to pick a fight through... your weird staring or something?" I was, notably, angry, and until I got an explanation, this guy would stay on my shit list for being a complete creep.

The stranger raised his hands defensively, a sign of peace I wasn't sure if I would take. "No, no, ya got it all wrong, buddy," he said, with an incredibly thick accent that intimidated me more than it should have. "I'm the last person to pick fights, but we ain't even been formally introduced yet, have we?" There was a sense of formality in his words, but I could see the squint in his eyes and hear the jaggedness of how he spoke. I didn't trust this guy at all, and his voice was raspy, as if he had a dry throat.

"We haven't," I said. "So unless you have something to say, get lost. I'm going for a walk."

"I do! have something I've gots ta tell you, as a matter a fact." The boy seemed to be doing his best to not raise his voice, and I definitely wasn't making it any easier for him. But I turned to face him, to at least hear what he had to say before I could tell him to go away, and I saw him taking out a necklace. No, it looked like an ID card, which he showed to me. "You can call me Monkey. I'm the supervisor o' this here building."

I glanced at the ID, and he was effectively telling the truth.

"Great. That still doesn't tell me what you were doing staring at me like a creep. Also, your name's an insult, get a better one."

"I was just watching the newest member of 1-A, I was. It's my job" he said, tucking the ID back into his shirt. "Also, Monkey is a ballin' nickname. for your information."

"I've been here for weeks. If you're checking me out now then you're doing a pretty crappy job at supervising."

"Hey, I'm doing my best, okay? Some urgent stuff came up regarding ya so I hads ta go take care of that before actually getting to see it with my own eyes."

I narrowed my eyes. "...What? What do you mean stuff regarding me?"

"Rumour's have it you've been in some trouble, Sebastian. You were punished in your first month, and that just ain't gonna fly," he said, keeping a trained eye on me. "For your own sake and that of those around ya, I suggest you keep your head down. The System ain't gonna allow no open defiance; it takes care of us and makes sure we can rest in peace, but it's hard ta do that with you rubbing up the grate the wrong way, understand?"

I felt myself freeze up for a moment, but begrudgingly nodded.

"More importantly-" he added before I could say anything- "I say this 'cause a Antoinette. You two are roommates, and I don't want her gettin' mixed up in your screw ups. She's my sweetheart, if you didn't know, so don't put her in danger, capiche?"

I had to take a moment to fully understand the ridiculous statement he made me hear. Antoinette? The Antoinette I just talked with? In a relationship?

I snorted.

"Yeah, sure."

"I'm bein' serious! And I don't want to see you go putting her in danger."

"What I see is that you have got issues. That's not my problem, it's yours. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back inside because you have ruined my mood to go for a walk."