Alex smiled, amused at the look on the man's face. Like he'd appeared from nowhere, like a ghost. "I'm real enough," he said, giving the hand a squeeze, then slipping his fingers free. "You look a bit off. D'you need to sit or something? I could get you some water..."
He pushed his hair behind his ear. "Not crowded, there's not even half the students here yet. I just needed to be alone for a while. I can't stand how people look at me right now." He shrugged, vaguely surprised that he'd said that, but it was true.