Will and his good friend Doug had just finished what felt like the longest Chemistry class ever. Doug's eyes were already red from the little sleep he'd managed to get. Will on the other hand couldn't sleep as his seat was at the front of the classroom. He was already so tired, but he knew his day was far from over. He still had to go to the Cafe where he would spend the next six hours serving coffee and making sure the needs of all the customers were met. He disliked working after school, but how else was he supposed to make money? Ever since he left the care of his father he'd been having money troubles. He had managed to live off the little he had with him for like a week or so before realizing that he'd have to find an after school job. Luckily for him, there was an opening for a waiter in the Cafe at the time. He wouldn't have been hired if not that the owner of the Cafe knew his father. And even with that he had promised if he'd missed a day without permission he'd be fired.
He and Doug walked tiredly along the hallway till they found themselves at the exit. Once they were outside they bid each other farewell and went their separate ways. Will headed towards the school bus stop a few steps west from the school entrance. He sat down on the park bench directly under the large mango tree while he waited for the bus to arrive. Before he started working at the Cafe he used to sit down there after school to write short stories, but now he just doesn't have that time anymore.
The bus arrived and he boarded it to the Cafe.
He woke up to the complaints of a cracked voice.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you have come down many stops ago. Why are you still here sleeping."
He looked around to find out the bus was empty.
"oh no where am I?"
"Where are you? you're in Bosco town."
Will pulled out his phone from his pocket. He was astonished as to how he'd slept for six hours on the bus and no one thought to wake him. It was 9pm, he was in a town he'd never heard of, he'd missed his shift without permission, he had school tomorrow, he hadn't done his assignments,his head was spinning, he didn't know what to do. He just broke down in tears.
"Why are you crying young man? I get you may be lost, but don't worry I'll help you, and make sure you get home tomorrow safe and sound. Now I'll need to call your parents and tell them you're okay."
Will's tears began to fall even more. After about a minute of silence he wiped his tears with his hands
"That's the problem, my mum is no more, and my father couldn't care less. He's probably out drinking."
The man sighed. He'd wanted to know more, but he knew the boy was In no condition to tell him anything.
"At times I wonder if all I'm going through will be worth it in the end." Will continued.
The man sat beside him
"Look at me kid" he said
For the first time Will looked up to see the face of who he'd been speaking to. He was an elderly man, probably in his early 70's or late 60's, the middle of his head was bald but you could still see some hair follicles at the edges. He had a very rough Grey mustache.
"When you look at me, it's quite clear that I didn't make the best choices in my youth. I had the chance to go to school and I dropped out, I believed it was too stressful. And instead of doing something beneficial to my life I went out partying, doing drugs, drinking and all that. At the time it was fun, but what I didn't know was that I was wasting time. Eventually I realized I was an adult and I had nothing. I started looking for things to do, but I didn't have any financial support. One thing led to the other and here I am, driving people around for my daily meal.
"Now that's my story. Now there's yours. For all I know you're a student right?"
"yes sir" Will managed to say still wiping his tears
"Do you pay attention in class?"
"Yes sir"
"You study?"
"Yes sir"
"You don't do drugs?"
"Yes sir"
"You hang out with friends at the right time?"
"Yes sir"
"All of these things I mentioned are very important, but there's one thing more important than all of them, and that is self belief. You need to believe that you can be successful, do you hear me? Just believe you'll succeed and you will. Trust me all of this will be worth it. Here, take this."
This old man stretched his hand and in It lay a strange material, it resembled a lens of some sort. He looked at it and wasn't sure whether he should collect it.
" Look, I know this is probably weird, but this is an old family trinket that was given to me and anytime I look at it it makes me feel better, I want you to have it."
He looked at it a while longer before finally accepting it.
The rest of the night went by like a blur, but the next day when Will got to school with his new make-shift wrist band he felt a whole lot better.