Soon, they finished arranging Clara's room. She left her suitcases of clothes untouched, clearly not comfortable unpacking those in front of him.
"Thank you so much for your help. It means a lot to me." Clara said.
"Hey, no problem. It's my pleasure." Arthur replied.
"Okay, now it's your turn. Let's go to your room. I'll help you unpack." she said, turning to him.
"Oh, that's not necessary. I can do it myself."
"No, I insist. I have to help you. It's the least I can do."
"Seriously, it'll take me like five minutes. You don't have to bother."
"Too bad, I'm helping." She said, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of her room.
Arthur sighed but let her. They went to his door, and he tapped his ID card. The light flashed green, and the door clicked open. They stepped inside, and the door locked automatically behind them.
"So where are all your boxes?" Clara asked, looking around the empty room.
"Sigh, don't have any." Arthur sighed.
"What? So where is all your stuff?" Clara asked confusedly.
"In this suitcase and that backpack." Arthur pointed.
"And…?" Clara was confused.
"No and. That's it. It's mostly just clothes. I just need to throw them in the closet." He said in a low voice.
"Hey. Don't look so awkward. You're living in the best dorm on campus. You should be proud of that." Clara said softly, noticing his tone.
"Yeah, I guess." Arthur replied.
Clara was quiet for a moment.
"My father… He… He killed my mom. Right after I took my SATs.
Arthur's head snapped up
"He's... he's serving a life sentence now. My mom was so supportive. She was everything. And now she's gone, and I'm just… alone." She continued, her voice trembling. Tears started to come down her face.
Arthur was stunned hearing that, completely blindsided. He didn't know what to do. He awkwardly put his hands on her shoulders and guided her to sit on the edge of his bed, sitting beside her.
"Clara, I… I'm so sorry for your loss." Arthur felt sad for Clara.
She leaned her head against his chest and cried. Arthur just sat there, softly patting her back. After a few minutes, she pulled away.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to dump all that on you." Clara sniffed and said.
"Hey, it's okay. You can share anything with me. After all… we are neighbors." Arthur said and winked, trying to lighten the mood.
"I thought we are best friends." A small, watery smile broke through her tears.
"We are." Arthur said, smiling back. He reached up to wipe a tear from her cheek. He pulled his hand back and looked at the black smudge on his thumb.
Seeing the eyeliner, Clara let out a real, watery laugh.
"Go freshen up in the bathroom," Arthur said with a smile.
Clara nodded, stood up, and went to the bathroom. Arthur went to his kitchenette sink, washed the eyeliner off his hands, and grabbed a fresh towel from his suitcase.
A few moments later, Clara came out from the bathroom, and Arthur handed her the towel.
Arthur took his cheap Android phone from his pocket and saw a screen full of missed calls and texts from his parents.
"Fuck, I forgot to call my parents. Can you give me a minute? I need to let my mom know I'm safe." Arthur said to Clara.
"Yeah, of course. I'm exhausted anyway, so I'm heading back to my room. Give me your number. We can go to orientation together tomorrow."
They exchanged numbers.
"Are you free after orientation? I need to go buy a laptop." Arthur asked.
"For you? I'm always free." Clara winked and headed out the door.
It was 8:30 P.M. He took a deep breath and called his mother.
"Hello? Art? How are you? Did you get to campus? Why didn't you call me back? I was so worried!" Linda's voice came through, fast and worried.
"I'm fine, Mom, I'm fine. I'm in my dorm room. Sorry, my phone was on vibrate, and I got busy unpacking." Arthur replied with a smile on his face.
"Oh, good. Did you eat anything?" She asked as she worried for his son.
"Yes, Mom. The food here is great." He said, reassuring her.
They talked for about ten minutes, and he promised to call more often.
"Okay, Mom, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight." He hung up and immediately called Allison.
"Hello, babe…
"Goodnight, love." They talked for almost half an hour before he finally hung up.
He plugged his phone in to charge, then grabbed his laptop from his bag and sat on the bed.
Wow, this bed is way more comfortable than mine back home. Eh! This place is already spoiling me.
Arthur turned on his laptop and connected to the building's dedicated fiber-optic internet. He opened his special browser and logged in to the dark web forum. His inbox had several new messages. All of them were from BlackHoodedGuy.
BlackHoodedGuy: Sir, my client confirmed that he paid you. Can you please confirm it? And as you ordered, here is my crypto address: … … … …
BlackHoodedGuy: Sir? Did you get the payment?
BlackHoodedGuy: Sir, I'm sorry to bother you. I just want this to be over. Please respond.
Damn! This girl is so terrified of me.
Arthur copied her crypto address, opened his wallet, and transferred 1 ₿ to her. Then he sent her a message.
Ghost: Yeah. I got paid. And I just sent your 1 ₿ as promised. I told you, don't worry. I'm not going to do anything. I only threatened you to make sure you wouldn't play games with me. I need people I can trust.
Ghost: In fact, I want to offer you a job. I want you to be my Finder.
A few minutes later, her reply came.
BlackHoodedGuy: Thank you, Sir! I got the payment. Sir, I didn't understand the last part. Finder?
Ghost: It's simple. You find me high-paying hacking jobs. I do the work, and I give you a commission for every job you find.
BlackHoodedGuy: Sir, if I do this for you, do you promise you won't hurt me?
Ghost: I'm not going to hurt you, whether you take the job or not. This is just an offer. Take your time and let me know what you decide.