1 Tuesday November 5th, 2019

Through a small creek between the curtains, the morning sun shines into the room. When the sunbeam shines across his face, he wakes up and looks at his alarm clock.

[Three minutes before it was supposed to go off, seriously? Well, guess I'll get up then.]

He gets out of bed and dresses up. He doesn't wear pyjamas, underwear is more than enough to stay warm, even during this time of year. While walking towards the window to open the curtains, he looks at a picture of himself together with a girl, and smiles.

[Only a few more days until we celebrate.]

He proceeds to the bathroom, washes his face and brushes his teeth. In front of the mirror he combs his hair and styles it with a gel.

"Hey Andrew!" a feminine voice yells at him from the other side of the door. "You can't stay in there forever, I've got stuff to do!"

"Give me a minute sis." Andrew replies.

His sister opens the door, rushes towards him, and pulls him outside. "You're like this every single day!" she yells.

"Stop pulling on me Melissa! Fine, I get it, I'll go. Don't pull on my clothes again, and you could've just asked me to leave first."

"I could have, but this is faster." Melissa pushes him out and slams the door shut.

[Why is she always on my toes like this, she should know better.]

Andrew goes downstairs and into the living room. Behind him is a hallway that leads to the stairs, toilet and front and back doors. Left of the living room resides the kitchen and to the right the dining room. The dining room consists of a few large and small closets, a dining table with six chairs, and a fireplace. The arrangement of the chairs is balanced across the table, with two chairs on each long side and one chair on each short side, except furthest chair is not being used, it's got a few boxes on it. Andrew's mother and little brother descend down the stairs and enter the living room.

"Morning Andrew." His little brother says to him, sounding a bit sleepy.

"Good morning!" His mother sounds tens of times more energetic than his little brother.

"Good morning Mom, morning Connor." Andrew's energy level is about in between that of Connor and his mother. "Is dad not awake yet?" Andrew asks.

"He is, he woke up about an hour ago by a phone call." His mother replies. "Something was going on at the docks, but he told me not to worry about it."

[He always tells everyone not to worry, but it'll probably turn out fine. It always does.]

"Are you doing okay Andrew?" His mother asks.

"Yeah, I feel better than expected. I've decided to go to school today."

His mother gives him a smile, and she turns to the table. "Just don't be too hard on yourself, like the doctor said."

They proceed to have breakfast, with Melissa joining them later.

After breakfast, Andrew packs his stuff and goes out the front door. "Until noon!" he yells, and his mother replies "Don't forget to turn on your lights!" Leaving at 8, it is still dark outside. Andrew turns on the front and back lights of his bicycle and drives down the road. He turns a corner to the left, with a road sign for the bicycle path that reads:

Clifftell - 5.4 km

Passing this sign, he leaves the small fishing town, Perigowinkle.

The trip to the city is a calm one. It takes about twenty minutes, and you pass fields full of plants and forest full of beautiful green trees, in the summer at least. During November, the fields are like a post-war wasteland and the forest is a barren desert of dead-looking trees. The road is like a long train track. There is enough room to overtake another car, but it isn't meant as a two-way road. On both sides of the road are bicycle paths, equally as straight, long and boring as the freeway. However, upon arriving at the city, the word 'boring' is thrown out of the window.

The city's roots lie within the medieval period. It was founded in the 14th century by an unknown governor as a port town, because it is located close to a wide river which creates an accessible path for ships. Most of the walls and buildings have been renovated numerous times, and the British government has decided they won't break down the old buildings in the city because of the city's status as a historic landmark. At the end of the long road, Andrew passes under the gate and enters the city. He drives between the old houses and arrives at a square. Left of the square resides Clifftell College, the school Andrew attends.

[Let's see, Tuesday first period was... math. C15.]

Andrew ascends the stairs to the second floor. All classrooms labelled A are on the ground floor, B is on the first floor and C is on the second floor. There are also a few classrooms labelled D and Z, but those generally aren't meant for classes.

"Good morning Andrew." A young man addresses him on the hallway.

"Good morning mister Mendal." Andrew replies.

[I wonder what he wants, I don't remember any history homework or projects I haven't finished.]

"First of all, it's not about school or homework, before I worry you."

[Good.]

"But" Mendal continues "I wanted to ask if everything was okay after yesterday. When I saw the ambulance I asked around and found out something was up with your heart, do you mind briefly explaining it?"

[I didn't expect mister Mendal to ask me about it, nor did I expect some people not knowing it, in my opinion it would be something that should be known with every teacher and professor, just in case.]

"Well, to put it shortly, I was born with a heart defect which shouldn't cause, or have caused, any problems. I forgot the name and what is wrong with my heart exactly, because I never really looked into it. The doctors did tell me that during puberty my heart could act up and I could pass out, which is what happened during English class yesterday." Andrew explains.

Mister Mendal still has a slightly worried expression. "But if you just passed out why was the ambulance called?"

"Overreaction on May's side. I never expected something to happen, and she didn't either. I heard from Keil that she insisted on calling an ambulance and Mister Elmar went through with it."

[That should be enough to reduce your worries.]

Mister Mendal was grateful for the explanation and he wished for it not happening again. They both parted ways and went to their classrooms.

Andrew enters the classroom and sits down at his desk. Second row, middle column and the right seat. As more students enter the classroom, he gets asked a few times what happened yesterday. He explains it to most of them in a short sentence and they all accept it. Keil takes a seat behind him. "Hey Andrew." Andrew turns around. "They gotta give you an award for frightening the highest percentage of a class with one move." Keil's words are a weird mix of formal and informal.

"How high was it?" Andrew asks.

Keil looks up at the ceiling for about two seconds and replies: "89.2%, probably a record."

Andrew is sceptical. "Did you seriously calculate that with your head just now?"

Keil laughs. "No, I used a calculator yesterday, and wrote it on my hand."

[Of course.]

May enters the classroom and gives Andrew a hug before sitting down next to him. She has pure black, straight hair, coming down halfway down her chest. Her eyes are dark brown and her skin has a warm white colour. Her casual clothes consist of skinny jeans and white shirt with a hoodie, zipper open, most of the time. She is about the same height as Andrew, but Andrew's blond, short hair and green eyes completely contrast May's appearance.

"Weren't you told to take another day of rest?" May asks Andrew.

"Well, yes, but right before I went home, Doctor Mirad told me I could go to school if I was feeling like it. He just told me not to overdo it."

May sighs. "You should've taken the opportunity to take a day off." May pauses and a silence emerges. "Nah, who am I kidding, you're not the type to skip class." She quickly says before it gets awkward.

Andrew smiles. "Well, I just don't want something small like that to hold me back. It should go away after puberty too so I don't really bother. Or rather, I don't want to bother."

With maths, Andrew is having a hard time understanding how integrals work, but the class proceeds peacefully, and the first break arrives. They exit the classroom and descend the stairs to the ground floor.

During the first break, 'Fruit Break' as they call it at school, Andrew, May, Keil, Sarah and Lin, two friends of May and Andrew, sit together at a table in the cafeteria. Andrew and Sarah both grab a green apple from their bags, but Andrew has it sliced in pieces, while Sarah's still whole. Keil has grapes in a small container and May just has a fruit drink. Lin doesn't have any fruit on her, she just takes water.

[Wait, it doesn't seem like Lin has anything on her, she hasn't pulled anything out of her bag yet. I'll offer her a piece.]

Andrew holds a piece of his apple in front of Lin.

"Do you want one?" He asks.

"No, I'm good. I made an agreement with myself not to eat before lunch time." Lin says while making a movement as if she pushes the apple away.

"Okay." Andrew responds and eats the piece for himself. "But that's not really healthy you know. You need all your fruits and nutrients and stuff like that on time."

Keil interrupts. "It's her life and her choice, Andrew. She probably wants to lose weight."

"Keil!" May says. "Don't just say stuff like that, you don't know what she is..."

"No, no it's fine. Keil and Andrew both have reasonable points." Lin interrupts. "I promise I will eat enough."

May doesn't continue her sentence. "Sorry I got ahead of myself."

Lin chuckles cheerfully. "It's fine."

[It doesn't feel like it is, I still feel worried, and I should probably look out for her for a while. I don't want her to take any health risks.]

Next period they split up. Keil, May and Lin have Economics, while Andrew and Sarah have History. Andrew ascends the stairs again and goes to room B06, Sarah follows him. Sarah and Andrew sit down next to each other in about the same place where Andrew sits during maths, except there are four columns of tables in this classroom instead of three. After a short summary of the lesson by Mister Mendal, they start working.

[During which time period did this happen again? Shit, I don't remember, I read this only three days ago.]

Andrew looks at his practice test with his hand in his hair.

[Cold War, Cold War… it's such an important one too.]

Sarah notices his frustration and pokes him. Andrew looks at her.

Her short, grey hair covers the legs of her glasses. Sarah is a short and thin girl. Most often she wears grey, black or dark purple dresses with a dark pantyhose. She is extremely quiet, but also academically talented, being the top student of their year. The only thing she has a grudge against is her surname: Oakes.

"Look." Sarah turns a few pages and points at a picture in her textbook. It's not from this chapter, but the picture shows a sign with three Russian men next to it. The sign is sort of like a gravestone of someone, but the important part is the big '1947' written on it, where Sarah is pointing towards.

"Russians, 1947. That's how I remember the start." Sarah tells Andrew with her light voice.

Because they have been in the same class together throughout the entirety of middle- and high school, Sarah sometimes addresses Andrew in situations like this, which isn't something she'd do to anyone normally. Andrew is surprised about her discovery. "Thank you Sarah, I'll remember it like this. Do you know anything for the end date too?" Andrew asks her. Sarah turns a few more pages and points to a small piece of text. It's a poem titled '1991'.

Andrew places bookmarks on and thanks her again. Sarah nods and returns to her work.

[These hints will come in handy. Thanks again, Sarah!]

The period ends and they all meet up in the cafeteria again. Lunch break proceeds as normal and they all finish off the rest of the day and go home. It's four in the afternoon and Andrew is cycling home. The barren fields look a bit better when the sun is setting, than in the morning. Andrew has a slight smile on his face while heading home. He feels his heart racing a bit.

[Saturday, the day of celebrating our second anniversary being together, is getting even closer. I'm getting excited!]