Stranger - 2. Epilogue

** 

George finished tying his shoelaces, leaned back on the bed, and stared at the ceiling, fingers clasped behind his head. Down the hall, he heard the shower being turned on.

In his mind he replayed the conversation he’d had with the supervisor just a few hours ago, when he’d cornered him after the football game. It took some persuasion, but the supervisor finally revealed to him, under oath of secrecy, why Magnus was feeling so down. It was a relief when George found out it was only about money, but still, he wished he could do something.

He lifted himself with his elbows so that he was sitting up, and looked across towards Magnus’s bed. The clothes Magnus had just extracted from his wardrobe were folded neatly on top of his blanket. Something clicked in George’s head, and he got up, opened the top drawer of his desk, extracted his wallet, and pulled out two notes of five hundred. He held them out in front of him for a few seconds, heart racing, then dropped the wallet back into the drawer, turned around, and made his way towards Magnus’s bed.