Chapter 1

March 12.

The alarm rang breaking the silence in the early morning. In the small room, on a thin papers box that is piled up, there is a small figure lying on it with a hoodie as a blanket. Hearing the alarm from her shady phone, the small girl rubbing her eyes lazily before shutting the alarm. With her vision getting clear, the small girl's name Anna sits up on the bed made by boxes and folding her hoodie. Taking a deep breath, Anna pats both sides of her hands wanting to feel warms.

The tiny space which Anna called room can barely describe as a good room because of the tiny space with a diameter of 12 feet wide and 14 feet long which clearly a storeroom only can accommodate limited things. However, that's the only space that can help in sheltering Anna from a world full of dirty schemes which only will harm her rather than make her feel safe.

Gathering her outfits, Anna pack all her things inside her bag. The dim room with only one window makes everything blur, but thanks to her cleanness habit, no trash or leftover could be seen on the uneven floor. Looking at her phone, she quickly walks to the door, she can't be late for the first class which is a chemistry class. Locking the door, Anna walks out with her head hang low, the bangs that almost cover her eyes making her look even mysterious.

"Anna! Wait a moment!"

A voice from a middle-aged woman stops Anna in the middle of the lobby. Turning around, the two pairs of eyes meet forming a small smile on Anna face.

"Here, take this. Today I try the new recipe that I told you before, make sure to finish it okay."

"I will, thank you!"

Anna thanks the middle-aged woman as usual. Although this kind's woman always gives her plenty of food that can make her save more money, Anna still can't help from creating a gap between her and the middle-aged woman. Knowing that she makes the girl awkward, the middle-aged woman just stands there with a smile as a reply.

With a grey steel lunch box changing the owner, the middle-aged woman smiles beautifully watching Anna walk out with her food. In the apartment, she as a single mother can only pour her love to Anna after her daughter died with her husband in an accident. For the past years she had lived with a tear, but everything changes after Anna came and live in the storeroom last year.

No one knows where she came from or whether she has a family. But one thing the middle-aged woman knows is Anna can be her place to pour out her love that is being stocked up for her late daughter. Watching Anna walk out from the apartment, the middle-aged woman who everyone calls Sister Jane finally leaves the corridor.

Since it is in spring, Anna decides to wash at the public restroom. Although it is currently 7.30 in the morning, the cold weather almost makes her clothes froze. Realizing that she only has two more sets of clothes, Anna speeds up her steps to the nearest public restroom which is only a hundred meters away from the apartment that she lived in.

Since the start of spring, Anna manages to shorten the usage of her daily clothes, with her tiny storeroom with only a window help her even more in surviving this year's spring. But still, Anna feels even better compared to when she lived with her father back in the mansion.

Arrived at the public restroom, Anna entered the outer toilet room. This is her daily routine after living in the apartment. After waking up, she will tidy her bed, putting all her clothes into the bag, and bringing all her books to the class. After brushing her teeth and making herself presentable, Anna steps out ready to go to the University, but without her right-left foot manages to step on the ground Anna's body staggering backward.

"Hey, watch out!"

Stabling herself while holding onto her things, Anna quickly apologizes while keeping her head down didn't dare to look at the girl who she runs to after knowing that she made a mistake. Feeling scared, Anna tries to smooth the tension air by continue apologizing and bow her head down. The girl who she runs to only looks at Anna with strange eyes. It is only a slight bump but not only does the girl stagger backward, she even apologizes seriously like begging to let her pass. Feeling complicated, the girl with short red hair accepts the apology.

Even after Anna walks out the girl with short red hair is still watching with a weird gaze. Anna with a quick step leaving the public restroom behind without looking back. Afraid that she will bump others, Anna only walks inside of the walking road. While reflecting on herself, Anna also feels relieved that the girl she bumped into was not like the mean students at her university who love bullying the weak.

Walking at the entrance of the university, Anna finally feels more relieved, with a careful and steady step, she walks straight to the hall located on the east side. While from a couple of meters away stood a woman with a dark brown coat watching every Anna's movement. The woman only stood there for a couple of minutes before jotted something down on her notebook and walk away after finished it.

Inside the hall, Anna put her bag aside after taking a spot at the first left line. Making a preparation before the class started, as usual, Anna will make some revisions and a sneak peek at the new topic so she can understand more. This is the only way she can do in order to maintain her grade and keep on being sponsor by the university. Three minutes later the hall's door opens receiving the first student and later more students coming in until a minute before the bell rang.

The hall is full of voices since this is the second year in the university, everyone seems to be closed towards each other and begins to share their holidays. The excited voice can be heard from all over the place inside the hall, by the time an old man who's going to be the one giving a lecture step into the hall, all of them quiet down and sit at their respective places.

To say that Anna didn't feel alienated every time she attends a class will sound so fake. But the worst nightmare that she had back in the first year make she learned a lesson to not speaking to others because you never know who will step on you. She only can trust herself in order to keep survive from all humiliating things that only will drag her down to the lowest state which she can never be able to treat herself. The class going smoothly till the end, with everyone paying attention to the screen, Anna was finally able to release a relieved breath. It seems like she can make the second year into a better year compared to the last year.