A Month...

#####

Vesper

#####

"And that's about it for today's lesson. Make sure you do your homework, and we'll catch up from there. See you tomorrow. Bye."

"Thank you. Bye."

Vesper opened his mouth as big as it could go and had a satisfying yawn as soon as the video call ended. He was sleepy. Really sleepy.

It had only been a month but he already wanted to quit studying this way.

Because of the time zone difference, he had to wake up at midnight to study. By the time the day's lesson is over, the sun is up and bright, making it hard for him to sleep. Nonetheless, he slept of course, but it was a tiring routine.

Not only did it mess up his sleeping cycle but also his parents'. Sometimes, he heard them waking up in the middle of the night because either the teacher was loud or he was loud and he felt bad.

His original plan was to attend the same school as Helia so that they won't be separated but because of some dudes, his plan and dream, crumbled to dust, like a sand castle.

Vesper yawned again and at the exact time, his mother knocked on the door.

"Vesper, we are going to work. Breakfast is on the table and make sure the doors and windows are locked, okay?"

He stood up from the chair and opened the door to see Aura standing with her hand still in the knocking position. She was wearing a tight long-sleeved purple top with a purple-coloured flower-printed white skirt. Her wavy collarbone-length red hair was set perfectly.

"Morning." Vesper lightly hugged his mother to not mess up the makeup and everything.

Ever since the separation from Helia, he began to grow, and now, he was a head taller than Aura.

"Morning. How was today's lesson?" She asked after she got separated from her son.

Vesper suppressed the urge to yawn again and answered, "It was okay."

"Is there a problem with the language? Do you understand everything?" Aura asked worriedly.

"Teachers use easy words so I can understand."

She nodded and looked down at the floor. She didn't appear like she was going anywhere.

"Mum, won't you be late?" Vesper reminded.

Aura snapped out of her mind and shook her head to clear it, "You're right. I have to go." She let her son hug her once more before she rushed to Cillian, waiting at the door.

Vesper slowly exited his room and went to greet his father before he went to work.

Cillian raised his face from checking the time on the watch and saw his son coming towards him as fast as a turtle.

He chuckled before greeting the boy, "Good morning. I swear it took a minute for you to reach here from there."

Vesper let out a laughing sigh, "Morning."

"How many did you say that the school has?"

"Ten for each grade and we have four grades, so forty classes in total." The son couldn't hold in the yawn and did it again.

"And you are in 1-E, right?"

"No, F. 1-F."

The father nodded in understanding, "Not, in the same class-"

"As Helia." Vesper continued, "Well, I kind of guessed it. They don't know that we know each other and they have many classes for me to put in."

Cillian studied his son's face and then asked, "How are you doing?"

His son looked down with an unreadable expression and looked back up with deep emotion in his eyes, "Honestly, I don't know."

The father just tilted his head slightly and stayed quiet. He knew that he shouldn't interrupt when someone was finally opening up.

"Sometimes, I forget that she's gone and I ask questions to her then remember that she's not next to me." When Cillian's eyes met Vesper's, he saw sadness, confusion, anger and loneliness.

"I, I..." The boy tried to go on with the sentence, but the words weren't coming out. "I, I thought... You know it was so natural for me to stay by her side. We had each other's backs, and I always had her presence in my life. It, it, it feels weird. I feel like I lost the sense of direction, no one to guide me."

Vesper couldn't continue after that and he was thankful that his father didn't ask anything further.

"I'm ready. Let's go." Aura showed up five minutes after that at the entrance and looked at her son weirdly, "I thought you were going to sleep."

Her son turned to her and spoke with a faint smile, "I am. Just wanted to say bye to dad before you guys go. Anyway, have a nice day."

Aura passed by her son with a smile, "You too." She smelt of fresh oranges, "Remember to eat and sleep well."

"Understood." Vesper leaned onto the wall and answered his mother.

"Good." She stood up from wearing her flats and kissed her son on the cheek lightly, "Okay, bye."

He kissed her back on the opposite cheek and said, "Bye. Take care."

Cillian patted Vesper's shoulder, "Bye."

"Bye. Careful on the way."

"I know." With that, the couple walked out of the house and the boy was engulfed by silence. Not even the sound of the clock ticking in the living room could be heard from the entrance.

He sighed heavily and dragged his sleepy and tired body to the dining room. Good thing the door was auto-lock and he didn't have to take a step down and lock it. It was a lot of work for him.

Vesper saw his breakfast, also known as dinner, laid out at his seat neatly. Blueberry scones, mango smoothie bowl with fruits and peach juice on the side his father prepared were all wrapped nicely and there was even a small note on them.

'Don't overwork yourself. Take care of your body. -Mom&Dad'

The boy removed the note from the plate and kept it on the side before settling down.

It was always like this. He ate his breakfast alone in a dark room quietly while staring into the air. Sometimes, he'd remember how everything was perfect just a month ago.

He was sure that his past self couldn't have imagined a life like this.

Vesper took a bite of the scones and chewed it like a sloth. It wasn't because he was savoring the taste but because he was trying so hard not to fall asleep right there.

In the past, if he was really sleepy, someone was there to keep him awake by talking and showing him something and that someone was Helia. She was really good at that job that sometimes, it became too much.

Before he took another bite, he sighed.

It was boring.

Why did this happen to him again? Because he chose to do this. He didn't regret it but he couldn't help but ask why he did this.

He then remembered that time in primary school. The corner of his lips twitched at that memory. He wanted to smile but his body wasn't following the action.

There was a time when they were eleven, going to different schools and had to go on sleeping-over school trips on different days which caused them to ball their eyes out and cling to each other until the last minute.

At that time, they were inseparable. There was not a single day when they wouldn't meet. One of them always visited the other and sometimes slept over together.

They couldn't bare the thought of staying away, even for a day. It was torture for the eleven-year-olds who grew up as siblings, other halves.

Looking at him now, he was proud that he was able to handle things alone and so was Helia. She texted him daily and told him everything that happened at school, about her new friend she was dying to introduce him to and stuff like that.

She sounded like she was cooping up with things not as bad as he imagined and he was proud and happy for that.

Vesper collected the used utensils when he was done and washed them like he always did and put them on the rug to dry.

He then brushed his teeth, showered lightly and slept like the dead. He didn't even have a dream to make things interesting.

The next thing he knew was that the sun was still up but not as high and bright as it was when his parents left.

Vesper went to the dining room to find his father after twenty good minutes of staring into nothingness in his room.

"What are you doing here? Isn't it early for you to get off work?"

Cillian looked up from cutting the potatoes and said, "I was working out and was allowed to go straight home after meeting my client," He then served his son a glass of water before he resumed what he was doing.

"Thanks." Vesper sat at the counter and watched his father quietly.

"There are only five months before you go, huh? Are you excited?" His father asked as he sliced the cucumbers.

The son replied, "Kind of. What are you making?"

"Tuscan chicken."

"Why cucumber?"

"Salad, passerotto." Cillian spoke with a duh tone.

The boy laughed playfully and ate a slice of it casually.

"Hey-"

"Its tastier than it looks." He commented without care and continued to sip on water.

Cillian shook his head and carried on with the cooking until he had time to sit down and face his son with an empty cup.

"Vesper,"

"Yeah?"

"Let's continue with the talk from the morning."