Sei sat at his desk, scribbling in his English notebook. He wrote down everything he had thought about in Physical Education. He wrote it because, even though it had caused him so much stress, it was the best idea he had, and he didn't think he'd come up with anything better.
Then he got to the part where he had to write the name of the island. He faltered, unable to bring himself to write what he had thought.
It was just a memory from when I was little. He told himself. He forced himself to remember when he was three and Ludwig had been teaching him to say his name. He had had trouble remembering what it was, so Ludwig had taught him to string the two names together, and to remember them as one name.
"Sei Gea. Sei-Gea. Sei Gea. Sei-Gea." He repeated the exercise to himself over and over, just like he had when he was younger. "Sei Gea. Sei-Gea. Sei Gea. Sei-Gea. Sagea."
"No!" He shouted to himself. He shook his head hard and tried to rid his mind of the name. He tried to think of something else.
'Why are you in distress?' He suddenly remembered Sophia's words. He remembered how strange her response had been. It had been different from what he had associated a response to the word to be.
'I…' He hadn't been able to tell her, and he had regretted saying the word.
'You can talk to me. I'm here for you.' She had put her good arm around his shoulders. 'Talk to me, Sei.'
And he had. He was ashamed to admit it, but he had talked to her. He had told her about how he regularly had thought about being in a different world. He had told her about how the English assignment was to make up another world. He had even started to tell her about 'Distress'.
But he hadn't been able to. He had clamed up and looked away.
She hadn't pressed, though. She had just nodded. 'You've been keeping all this bottled inside, haven't you?' She had guessed, and he hadn't corrected her. 'You need someone to talk to.'
Sei blinked as he remembered their conversation after that. He got up from his desk and walked over to where he had dumped his backpack. He dug through the papers that were in it until his hand brushed against what she had given him.
'Take this.'
He held the small electronic device. She had called it a cell phone. She had taught him how to power it on and off, so that the battery power wouldn't die. Then she had given him directions on how to use it.
'Tap this little icon.' He pressed the image that looked like a curved moon almost. 'Then press the 2.' He pressed the little two. Instantly, the world 'Home' appeared above the number pad. 'Then the icon again.' He pressed the same icon again and held the device to his ear.
He heard a ringing sound and his heart jumped. He knew that if Ludwig came in and saw what he was doing, he would be in a lot of trouble. He got to his feet and went to sit in the corner.
"Hello?" The ringing stopped and someone's voice came through the device. It sounded like a girl.
"Sophia?" Sei whispered.
"Sei!" She gasped. "How are you? Is everything okay?"
Sei gulped a little before he could answer. "Um… I really need to talk to someone." He started. "Someone who isn't here."
"What?" Sophia sounded confused. "Do you mean a spirit? I can't help with that, but Arthur might know-"
Sei quickly spoke so that she wouldn't go on. "No. I mean, someone who isn't… at my house." He bit his lip. He wanted to tell her everything, about how he lived at the compound, about how he had been raised, about how he had never really thought about why they wanted to know everything he thought about.
"Oh!" Sophia laughed slightly. "Okay, do you think you could come to the park? If not, we can just talk like this, but I think it would be better if we spoke face to face."
Sei looked around the room, feeling uncomfortable. Then he looked up and saw the map on the ceiling. "Yeah." He said. "I'll head out right now."
"Good." Sophia sounded relieved. "I'll meet you there. And Sei? Bring your English assignment."
Sei heard a click and then a strange beeping sound. He sighed and turned off the cell phone. Then he put it back in his bag and went to his desk. He picked up his English notebook and tucked it under is arm.
Then he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a pen with a light on the end of it. Climbing onto his bed, he shone the light on the map. It was a black light, and a line he had drawn in invisible ink lit up.
It was an escape route. Before, when he was younger, he had used it to have adventures. He would follow the route out of the compound silently, just to see if he could. Then he would follow it back in. Nobody had ever noticed that he did this.
Now he was going to use it to get out of the compound for a different reason. He was going to escape to a world where he could tell a friend about his life.