The boy shuffled along towards the top of the emergency stairs, his eyes never once moving away from the floor. The song currently playing through his earbuds came to a close just as he reached the landing. Humming along to what he could recall from the beat, he grabbed his phone and selected another song. This one gave him a surge of adrenaline. He rode that wave as he pushed through the metal door with his shoulder.

The sounds of people chattering and laughing welcomed him into the folds as he stepped out onto the concrete. The students on this side of the roof turned to size him up. His necktie was loose, concealing the school's insignia within a mass of crimson fabric and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to just above his elbows.

Jackson peered up towards the sky but tilted his head to the side when his eyes threatened to spoil from the sun's bright rays. He noticed a familiar figure hiding within the ventilation system's shade. Keeping his eyes trained on the smaller boy, Jackson ambled over to him.

BamBam was his name. Or so he thought. Jackson couldn't be sure when no one within his classes had talked to him outside of assignments and group projects. But Jackson was absolutely certain of one thing. BamBam wasn't from China.

Yezi looked up from her manga. Carefully setting her bowl of rice onto the ground, she stood and sauntered over towards Jackson—who, from a distance, could easily be suspected of harassing the other boy.

Jackson squatted down in front of BamBam. His elbows rested comfortably on his knees. BamBam scooted back a tad bit, his throat closing in around the ball of saliva he refused to swallow. He kept his eyes focused on the phone in his hands.

"Wanna hang with us?" Jackson asked as he pointed in the direction where Yezi might still be eating her lunch.

The boy masked his distaste for swallowing too quick with a string of coughs. His lips parted to speak but he willed them closed into a thin line. Shaking his head, he reopened his mouth and said, "I'm waiting for someone."

Jackson had never met anyone with a voice as quiet as his—not even Yezi who admitted she was intimidated by him that first time she had to introduce herself to him as his guide.

Jackson pursed his lips. After eyeing BamBam for a while longer, he made like he was getting up to leave. Overcome with relief, BamBam closed his eyes. Jackson took that moment to pull the phone away.

BamBam looked up. The frightened, wild look about his eyes sent Jackson's curiosity speeding over the rail. He turned the phone around... and was greeted with his own reflection.

A black screen.

Jackson cocked the phone to the side with a smirk. "What's the timer on this thing?"

Silence on BamBam's end. He kept his eyes trained on Jackson's pair of clean, seemingly brand-new Nike's. A brand he could have if he only bought a pair of knock-offs.

Jackson stood and started to laugh. Heads turned to see what the commotion was about but when they saw it was only Jackson again, those not enamored with him turned back to their respective meals and conversations.

"Come on, champ," Jackson said. He grabbed BamBam's bag and took his tray of food in hand before BamBam could object. "You wouldn't want to leave me all by myself, would you?"

Yezi appeared behind Jackson with a scowl etched onto her face. Without making her presence known to Jackson, she raised her foot to tap the back of his heel but stopped short when she heard the boy speak up.

"P-please, m-my phone." A deep, dark red spread around the entirety of his neck and ears. Jackson looked down at the boy—who was a full two heads shorter—and smiled. It was a soft, barely-visible kind of smile; the kind BamBam had thought was only meant to be shared intimately.

Jackson agreed to hand the phone over if BamBam would follow them over to the area he and Yezi had shared since his arrival.

#

Jackson leaned back in his seat, the soles of his shoes squeaking against the metal railing lining the opposite end of his desk.

He was looking out through the window, wondering if the snow here will remind him of home, when Yezi's phone vibrated. He looked around and to his sudden realization, the classroom was empty. His eyes darted to the windows. True enough to what he assumed, the bell must have rung because the students were piling out onto the soccer field and beyond.

Jackson sighed. He didn't like losing himself to his thoughts in public. It added a touch of vulnerability to his exterior and the last thing he needed was for anyone here to wonder if he had something to hide.

Plunging into his curiosity, Jackson reached over and picked the phone up off of Yezi's desk.

Caller ID: Turpedo

Jackson's eyebrows drew in over his face, forehead crinkling with confusement. He was just about to set the phone down when Yezi strolled in.

She stopped short of taking another step towards her chair when she noticed her phone wasn't where she had last left it. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Jackson, where's my phone?"

Jackson shrugged. "You sure you left it here?"

Yezi raised her pursed lips until the top lip just about touched her nose. "You hid it. Where?"

"Look for it in the hallway, near one of the three windowsills closest to the door."

Yezi threw her body forward as if she intended to fight him before speeding out into the hallway.

Jackson scrabbled to slide the phone into her backpack. He returned his gaze to the window with some seconds before Yezi reappeared at the door. She wrinkled her nose.

A synthesized voice blasted through the room. It repeated the words "candy candy" for some time before moving on to a stream of Japanese. Jackson tilted his head to the side as he scrutinized the screen on his phone. When he felt Yezi near enough, he turned the phone around and cocked it slightly to the side. "Cute ringtone."

Yezi rolled her eyes as she fished her phone out of her bag. "I should have known you would hide it somewhere in plain sight."

When they reached the front of the school, she pulled a cardboard box from within her shoe locker. Jackson didn't need to see to know what was inside. The smell of baked pies and buttery bread embraced his sense of smell. It tugged at his stomach, making the bearable lump of hunger excruciatingly more painful. Jackson would much rather use the money to save up for the camping trip Yezi had said would take place in the break between semesters and he hated to ask his parents for any more money. His family was extremely well-off but he had promised himself he would only live off of his monthly stipend. No more than that.

They parted ways at the second intersection from school. Normally, Jackson would pedal away on his bike to the family that had signed up to care for him but today was no normal day. Jackson wanted an answer that had left his curiosity parched from the unknown. Who was Turpedo and why was Yezi's nickname for him Turpedo?

The latter was of significantly less importance than the fact that Yezi might be seeing an older man. Jackson knew what a sugar daddy was and that a lot of them were known to go after teenage girls but to think that someone like Yezi would be in on the idea left Jackson baffled beyond belief. He needed to know.

He contemplated what kind of a man Turpedo was as he waited for the  traffic lights to change. After two intervals, he sped after Yezi who had since turned the corner around the other end of the park.

As Jackson cruised through a particularly crowded street, he wondered if he had made a mistake in following after Yezi. She had mentioned her parents owned a bakery on one of the busiest streets in town. A trickle of doubt coiled around his determination, threatening to overcome his resolve from earlier. How could he be certain that she was headed for Turpedo's home? How could he be certain Turpedo was an older man? Just as he began to cave into the idea of following Yezi around, she to a cobblestone alleyway. He rushed after her and found himself face-to-face with a quiet street full of houses overshadowed by towering trees and bundles of bushes.

Jackson was onto something. He was sure of it now. He mentally gave himself a high-five before continuing after Yezi who had since to check over her shoulder even once. Figures. It's not everyday you're followed around by someone who wonders if you have a sugar dadd