"Carson?"

Lance Hunsterton walked inside the cafeteria. But he didn't find Carson, all he found was orphans laughing hysterically and a messy, stained table. The stained table was way different than the other tables. The other tables were neat, clean, and beautiful. Meanwhile the stained table had food stains all over it, milk spilled, and it was left extremely messy.

"What in the world!?" Mr. Hunsterton yelled, feeling like he got shot out of a canon. "What is this...democracy!?" As soon as the orphans heard their headmaster, they quickly grew silent and still. No one making a noise. "Who did that!?" Mr. Hunsterton yelled. Furious, he pointed at the table. "WHO!?"

Suddenly, the entire cafeteria raised their hand. Everybody (minus the lunch ladies and Lance) was raising their hand, scared and silent.

Mr. Hunsterton faced palm, dissapointed and displeased at the orphans' actions. "Ms. Darling! Escort them, all of them to the auditorium! I'll meet you guys later."

A woman wearing a white apron came running in. She opened the door and guided orphans outside.

~

Bedroom.

Carson looked at himself, in the mirror, at his private bathroom inside his bedroom. There was different colored food stains all over his clothes. Even his face was covered in spaghetti sauce and mustard. It was a whole 'nother person in the mirror. He felt like a food monster, covered up in all that sauce and ham.

He carefully and slowly wiped away the sauce and tomato from his face. Wiping it away, he exposed his tears. He continued to weep and cry while wiping the sauce from his clothes.

Never once did he feel like they took things too far. For the past three years, the other orphans (besides Andre, Jack, and Jaceson) haven't done anything to him besides glare, death stare, quietly make comments, and laugh when the three insult him. They haven't actually hit him or done any physical things, but even if they didn't hit him, he felt like they took it too far.

The best hope he could think of was Mr. Hunsterton finding out they made a big mess in the cafeteria and make them clean it infront of him.

But he knew if Lance found out, the other orphans would hate him. 

Again with Carson thinking of what other people would think of him instead of thinking what was right. That was a worst habit Carson had, he wished would go away. It was one thing holding him back from being fearless and confident.

Many wishes flew through Carson's mind and one of them was to protect a loved one one day.

"Carson! Carson!" A familiar male voice called. He heard it from behind his bedroom door. Carson immediately knew who it was.

Without hesitation, he opened the bathroom door and exited. Walking towards the door, he sure hoped Mr. Hunsterton didn't come with anyone but him. Carson opened the door and as expected, he saw Lance Hunsterton standing infront of him.

"Carson!" Mr. Hunsterton smiled widely when he saw the 10 year old. Lance didn't care that Carson was covered up in sauce and dressing, he quickly pulled him over for a hug. "Are you okay!? They threw food at you, didn't they!" The headmaster pulled away.

"It's okay, sir." Carson assured.

"No, it is not okay." Lance said. He placed his hands on Carson's shoulders. "You can't let things like this slide and not tell anyone!"

"It's fine..." Carson mumbled.

"It is not fine." Mr. Hunsterton argued. "Have they been bullying you?"

...

"No."

Wow. Even if the headmaster had Carson's side, he still wouldn't speak the truth. He was too scared, too frightened, too doubtful.

"Are you sure?" Lance asked.

"T-they...I started the food fight." Carson muttered, tears flowing down his cheeks. 'Pathetic.' Carson said inside his mind, outside he was sniffing. 'He's right here, helping you, yet you didn't say anything.'

"Why...?" Mr. Hunsterton asked.

"I-I...wanted to have fun." Carson softly said. He was now shaking and sniffing.

"But why was there only a mess on one table? Was that your's?" Mr. Hunsterton asked in a concerning father tone. "Carson, I'm here. Tell me the truth."

"I...I am..." Carson stopped himself at shaking. He continued to wipe off food dressing from his sleeves.

"So why are you crying?" Lance asked. He let go of Carson.

"I-I'm gonna g-get in...trouble." Carson couldn't help when he stuttered.

Little did Carson know, Lance knew he was lying. But Lance didn't say anything. The look on Lance's face was obvious he knew that Carson was lying. Carson, however, was too sorrow at what happened and his current situtation of lying about bad things that he couldn't see the obvious signs.

"Let me tell you this." Lance said. "Tonight, you sneak out of your window and meet me by the shores." Carson sort of lit up when he said that.

"But...that's against the rules." Carson mumbled.

"You did it once." Mr. Hunsterton pointed out.

Just then, Lance pulled a fencing sword, laying down on the wall next to him. He carefully held it and showed it to Carson.

Carson lit up even more when he saw the sword! It was his sword, Carson's sword.

"How...when-" Carson smiled brightly. He took the fencing sword out of Lance's hands.

Mr. Hunsterton smiled and shrugged. "You never leave without it. Recently, I haven't been seeing you with it. So, I sneaked into Mrs. Witherspoon's classroom and took it." Lance chuckled. "Your attached to that fencing sword, aren't you?"

Carson's sorrowful tears turned into tears of joy. This was one of the brightest smiles he ever made. He laid the sword on the wall before hugging the headmaster.

"I am, I really am."

~

Night.

Carson was now fresh and clean from the sauce and dressing. He looked really cheerful and radiant that he was meeting the moon and the ocean again. A visitor was coming too, his headmaster.

Carson was cleaning his fencing sword with a wipe. As soon as he was done, he threw the wipe away. Carson was filled of ecstasy, knowing that he'll feel free and alive again. After a terrible day, a moment of freedom is all he needed.

Carson heard footsteps from outside. He turned around to face the window, slowly creeping up on it. When he peeped through the window, his face lit up even more.

Lance Hunsterton.

"Headmaster!" Carson beamed.

He got his fencing sword and opened up the window. He threw the sword through the window. Slowly and carefully, he climbed out of the window. Picking up his fencing sword, he quickly looked at Lance.

"Sir!" Carson shouted happily.

Lance turned around with a smile. "Shhh...we might get caught." He chuckled at Carson's excitement.

"My apologies!" Carson ran up towards Lance. "Did you bring a fencing sword?" He asked, slightly sounding calm.

"I know you well." Mr. Hunsterton revealed a spare fencing sword from behind his back. "Of course I did." He grinned.

~

Swing.

Swing.

Swish.

Went the swords. The two were fencing. Ever since the rumors spread out, Carson never felt more enthusiastic and comfortable on his opponent. All because the opponents he would face would talk badly about him behind his back.

He never thought about fencing with his headmaster. His whole life, Carson was orphaned and never had a chance to meet his parents. He never had a father figure in his life until he got comfortable around his headmaster. Fencing with him felt like Lance was his actual dad. But he wasn't.

Touché.

Carson stepped back, still smiling. "Gotchu!" He said.

"Yeah, you did." Lance H. admitted. "How's fencing with your coach?" He asked.

"Pretty good." Carson responded. "She's not mean, she just yells at people to be focused and stay on track. Something about taking determination and focusing on what you want to achieve."

"Interesting." Lance H. reacted.

"If you think about it, she's like the captain of an army. Us fencers being her soilders." Carson chuckled, getting a sudden flashback of his coach.

Amelia face-palmed with one hand while her other hand was on her waist. She looked dissapointed at a member of her team. "Diego." She said in a strict and stern tone. "Come here."

A boy, who went by the name of Diego walked over to her. "Y-yes, ma'm...?"

"I smell fear." The coach said. "I don't like that smell." She said. "ARE YOU SCARED!?" She yelled. "SCARED OF WHAT!? ME!? NO." Diego gulped. "WHEN YOUR OUT THERE, FACING YOUR OPPONENTS, YOU DON'T GOOF AROUND AND SHOW THEM THOSE WEAK HITS, YOU GOT THAT!? YOU SHOW THEM THE MEANING OF CONFIDENCE AND DETERMINATION." Nobody can last a lesson with Amelia without gulping. "ARE YOU SCARED!? ARE YOU GONNA ACT LIKE THAT INFRONT OF AN OPPONENT THE NEXT TIME WE HAVE COMPETITIONS!?"

"N-no, ma'm!" Diego was sweating.

"DROP AND GIVE ME 20!" She yelled. "YOU SHOW THEM WHAT YOUR WORTH. YOU DON'T SHOW UP TO A COMPETITION LOOKING SCARED. YOU SHOW UP LOOKING FEARLESS! GET THEM SCARED! YOU DON'T BE FEAR, YOU ARE FEAR!"

~

Carson wished he was as fearless as his coach. That's what he admired about her: fearless, confident, and doubtless.

~

"I like the ocean..." Lance H. said. "It's beautiful."

"Especially when it's night." Carson agreed. They were sitting down on the sandy floor as they stared at the view.

"We better get going now." Lance H. said. He stood up and helped Carson get up. "It's getting really late and someone might catch us."

"But your the headmaster." Carson said, sounding like he didn't want to leave.

"I know but, a good headmaster makes sure the children gets sleep." Lance booped Carson's nose.

"Fine...tomorrow?" Carson asked.

"Of course." Lance smiled.

~

Carson loved the view so much he felt like he remembered every single detail about it. But the major things...

The ocean,

The stars,

The light,

and of course,

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏