A4 : Present life

The door suddenly opened.

My sister entered my room and slammed the door open as hard as she could. She grabbed my blanket and pulled it away from me as if she had just stolen my most valuable possession.

“WAKE UP, CLINT!”

“Five more minutes.”

“FIVE MORE MINUTES?!”

“Yeah,” I replied softly.

“YOU LAZY, USELESS BROTHER! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED AND TAKE A SHOWER!”

She grabbed me and started punching me in the back.

I didn't want to get up.

Unfortunately, my sister had other plans for my survival.

“Fine! Just release me from your hell!”

She finally let go of me.

“Quickly, get your ass to the shower. After that, eat your breakfast.”

“Fine. Hey, sis, are you going to school today?” I asked.

“Yes, I'm going. Hey, isn't today your first day of high school?”

“Uh, yeah. But isn't it also your first day as a second-year high school student?”

“So what? We're going to the same school, aren't we?”

She smiled.

“I hope the boys at this school are more handsome than the ones at my old school.”

She was always thinking about boys.

At this point, I was convinced she had a sixth sense for handsome people.

I walked into the bathroom and took a bath. I was exhausted from everything that had happened last night.

But something was bothering me.

The moment I started falling asleep in the bathtub, I heard a girl's voice.

“I’m waiting, Clint.”

I opened my eyes.

“Huh?”

I looked around the bathroom.

Nobody was there.

“Maybe it was just a dream.”

I decided not to think about it.

Because apparently my brain had decided that sleeping in a bathtub wasn't dangerous enough, so it needed to add a mysterious girl too.

After my bath, I went straight to the kitchen and ate breakfast.

It was a sandwich with an egg and some meat inside.

It was delicious.

For a few minutes, I forgot about the war, the mysterious voice, and my sister's morning assault.

“You kids ready to go to your new school today?” Dad asked.

“Yeah, we're ready.”

“Then go to school by running. Right now.”

I stopped eating.

“Why are we running?”

“I forgot to tell you that school starts at 9:25 DH.”

I looked at my watch.

9:20 DH.

...

“WHAT?!”

We quickly grabbed our bags and sprinted toward the school.

My peaceful morning had officially become a marathon.

We arrived at the school at 9:23 DH.

“Phew.”

We almost missed the opening ceremony.

I entered the school building and went straight to the ceremony hall. I found a seat and sat down.

The student council president stood up and gave a speech to all the new students.

She talked about attitude, skills, rules, talent, responsibility, and a bunch of other things.

I listened carefully.

For approximately thirty seconds.

Then my eyes became heavier.

I almost fell asleep during the entire ceremony.

After the speech ended, I walked toward the announcement board.

I found my name.

Clint Vuulius — First Year, Class 4V.

I looked at the other names.

Then I froze.

Fern Eris.

No way.

My childhood friend was going to study here too?

“Oh God.”

I walked to Class 4V and picked a seat in the middle-back row.

I didn't like sitting in the corner, and I definitely didn't want to sit in the front.

The back was perfect.

Far enough from the teacher.

Close enough to escape.

As I sat down, everyone started choosing their seats.

A few minutes later, our homeroom teacher entered the classroom and introduced himself.

He told us that everyone had to introduce themselves in front of the class.

One by one, my classmates introduced themselves.

Eventually, it was my turn.

I stood up.

“Hello, my name is Clint Vuulius. I'm 15 years old. My hobby is playing chess. I'm 185 centimeters tall, and I'm new to this town. From today, I'll be your classmate. Nice to meet you guys.”

I returned to my seat.

The desk beside me was empty.

I quietly prayed that whoever sat there wouldn't be Fern.

Please.

Anyone but Fern.

The homeroom teacher explained that tomorrow we would start regular classes. Today was only an orientation day, and we would be going home at 10:00 DH.

I was completely fine with that.

School ending early?

Finally, something good had happened.

I put my head on the desk and started sleeping.

Suddenly, someone crashed into me.

“Sorry for crashing into you.”

“Yeah, it's no problem.”

I looked at him.

“Wait. Your name is Clint Vuulius, right?”

“Yeah, that's right. And your name is Isfahan Rain, right?”

“Yep. I was wondering, where are you from?”

“Oh, I forgot to mention my hometown.”

“Everyone mentioned theirs except you.”

“My hometown is called Sanpria Province.”

“Sanpria Province?”

His expression suddenly became serious.

“Have you heard the news about Sanpria?”

“No, I haven't. What happened?”

“The thing is...”

The classroom door suddenly opened.

The president of the student council entered.

Her name was Millia Convan.

I frowned.

Seriously?

I had just gotten interested in the conversation.

But someone was standing beside her.

Wait.

No.

No, no, no, no.

It couldn't be.

Fern Eris.

“Sit in the empty desk beside him, and make sure you don't get lost again,” Millia told her.

Fern stood in front of the class.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Fern Eris. I come from the Eris family. I'm 15 years old, and I'm 172 centimeters tall. Nice to meet you.”

She walked toward the empty desk beside me.

The moment she entered the classroom, people started whispering.

“She’s gorgeous.”

“She’s so pretty.”

“She looks like a dream girl.”

But to me?

Fern was annoying.

She reached the empty desk beside mine.

Then she suddenly shouted,

“Oh, darling! You entered this school too?!”

The entire class went silent.

Everyone looked at me.

I froze.

What was this girl trying to do?!

I could practically feel everyone's eyes stabbing into me.

How did a normal guy like him get a girl like her?

I wanted to disappear.

Maybe I could transfer schools.

Maybe I could move to another country.

Maybe I could fake my own death.

Unfortunately, before I could escape my social execution, the bell rang.

School was over.

I immediately grabbed my bag and sprinted toward the gate.

Behind me, several boys started running after me.

“HEY! WAIT!”

“HOW DO YOU KNOW HER?!”

“WHAT'S YOUR RELATIONSHIP?!”

“I DON'T KNOW!”

That was technically a lie.

I knew her.

I just didn't know why she had to announce our relationship to the entire school like she was making a presidential speech.

I dodged the boys, sprinted through the crowd, and jumped over the gate.

Freedom.

I finally arrived home safely.

And you know what I always do after a long day?

I jumped straight onto my bed.

I locked the door and changed out of my school uniform.

After all that running, I was exhausted.

Finally, I was in heaven.

My bed.

I closed my eyes.

No school.

No annoying boys.

No Fern.

No problems.

Perfect.

As I slowly fell asleep, I saw a girl lying beside me.

I couldn't see her face clearly.

Then I heard her voice.

“I will stay with you forever, Clint.”

I froze.

Then everything went dark.

I fell asleep.