Time goes fast, so sometimes I get scared it goes too fast. The summer in South Hest was just as usual, not very hot and cooler in the morning. It’s kind of weird in the town I’m living in, but it’s fine. It’s rather cool. I find it unique. During the summer, I stayed in my backyard all day. Just sitting there, identifying the scents and sounds of everything around me. Every now and then during break, I would think with no reason that if I had to tell anyone one goal I had for this year, it would be to just, you know, become a better human being, nicer, helping others, never mean, that person who knows everyone in the neighborhood. But I do know no one really acts like this in their actual minds. I know this will definitely take a while to achieve, that’s guaranteed. I can never consider being that kind of lovey-dovey perfect person. It’s probably my first and most hardest ever goal I’m gonna achieve in my lifetime. 

“Himari, wake up!” my mom called to my room. I stir for a little, then slowly get up. I’m really not excited. I walk to the bathroom and wash my face quickly, then meet her at the table. “So, any special commentaries on your first morning of another year of school?” Mom asks me, her eyebrows a little raised, making her sound like she’s bragging or something. 

“I’m not excited,” I admit. 

“Oh? And why is that?” she asks as she puts some butter on a toast. 

“Because…well…It feels the same every single year.” she chuckled as I said that.

“Agreed,” she added.

I’m always grateful for my mom. 

“Your dad’s at church, so he can’t give you a ride, unfortunately. Better walk to school.” she said to me as I left the dining room. 

Nice.

Ten minutes early, I say in my head as I walk. I had put out my uniform yesterday and packed everything I needed for school. I took some time to draw in the summer breeze. It smelled just as usual, with the fresh scent of heliotrope and a little bit of sea water(South Hest has a sea nearby). I could identify it. So fresh. 

After a few minutes of walking, I reached the front entrance. It’s really not those modern and high tech schools some people say were made recently. I guess you could say “enchanted”, with wooden doors and old hallways. There weren’t a lot of people coming to this school, so I knew everyone, since I’ve been here since I was born(though I’ve never actually been hanging out with all of them.)

“Hey, Himari!” Someone calls from behind. Then she grabs onto me, almost jumping on me and tripping me over. It was Mika, my classmate. We’ve both been here since we were born.

I don’t reply. I examined her for a second. Her long pigtails and uniform didn’t change since the last time I saw her. Her smell didn’t change either, that delightful scent of jasmine. Mika gave a grin. “You haven’t changed at all, except for your hair,” she pointed at my simple black hair, what used to be a medium length now long. “Your hair looks so lustrous,” she continues. “But it could use some more brushing.” I let out an expression, but not that harsh(because of a certain goal I haven’t forgotten about). Mika is all about looks and fashion. You could most likely consider her the popular girl, since she’s adored by literally everyone. But she is adored for a reason. Her unique hair with that hint of blue is known all throughout the school. That’s it. She always asks me to tutor her in math. I don’t think she’s really good at anything else, except for signing. “Oh! Did you see the two new students?” Mika asked, suddenly changing the subject.

“No,” I replied.

“Well, you should’ve seen them!!! They’re both guys!!!” she screamed with a squeal. Mika’s looking for her one true soulmate, one whom she says is “hot and cool at the same time.” I have no idea what she’s talking about.

“Well, good luck,” I said, trying to sound at least a little enthusiastic. Mika then grabs me by my shoulders.

“Good luck to both of us!! The other boy could be yours!!” 

I couldn’t speak because I was concentrating on hiding my disgust. I really was.

Then the bell rings.

Mr. Timothy, the principal of our school, was already waiting in the auditorium. We both sat at a chair in the back row. 

“Welcome, students! Please have a seat,” Mr. Timothy announced.

We do this at the start of every year, where we go to the auditorium and listen to Mr. Timothy. He’s an “okay” principal. And no, I haven’t forgotten about that goal. I really am trying my hardest, not lying at all. After everyone’s calmed down, he tells all of us sitting on the smooth, probably-fixed wood, “Now I know no school will do this, but since there’s newcomers in already dead school, we better introduce them to you few students here,” Seriously? “You boys can come on up now,” Mr. Timothy says as he gestures toward a boy with dark red hair and another one with smoky gray. While they walked up, one of them had a face with no expression or amusement. Is he depressed? I ask myself. I took a small glance at Mika, regretting doing so after half a second. And she was in love, alright. 

“These two are Akuneme and Kay. Make sure to greet them if you see them and…would one person like to volunteer to introduce them around the school?”

Mika’s hand rose up. “I will do it!!!” Then she grabs me and adds, “No, me and Himari will do it!!”

Mr. Timothy made a wide grin. “Alright then, you girls introduce them around and then come back here to find your groups and classes.”

In our school, we have two groups, A and B, since there’s really not a lot of people here. The groups are the ones who you will be with with really every class. So that means you won’t likely be able to see the people from the other group too often, since you won’t have any classes with them.

Mika grabbed onto my hand and we were running across the auditorium to meet them. This really isn’t necessary… I said to myself.

“Hi!!! My name is Mika, this is Himari!!” Mika started. She looked way too desperate. 

One of them smiled. “Hi, Mika and Himari, I’m Kay. This is Akuneme.” he said, gesturing towards the other boy. 

The boy named Akuneme made a face at Kay and said, “What?? Well, anyways, you already know my name, so yeah.” So yeah?

I tried to identify their scent, but when I did, I discovered a whole new scent. I couldn’t name it. There was a weird feeling about them too, and they also looked kind of weird. Without knowing I did, I went closer to both of them. The feeling still lingered and lingered. 

“What–are you doing??” Akuneme blurted out. 

Why was he suddenly acting like that? I made an unamused face.

“Trying to identify what you are,” I replied. 

I was just about to ask why they smelled like that but grabbed it last second, remembering the goal.

“I don’t know what you mean, Himari.” Kay said, laughing. 

Yeah, there’s definitely something weird about this kid.

“Sorry, Himari’s like that sometimes,” Mika tells them, pulling me away. 

Then she gives me this glare, I don’t know if it’s supposed to be serious or not. Kay just smiles. Also suspicious. It really seemed weird because he gave out a feeling like he didn’t want to smile at all. But that was only for Kay, Akuneme, regarding the scent, seemed normal.

“So, let’s start with the gathering room. If you have any questions, just tell me any time!” Mika says, obviously not hiding her excitement.

“What? Isn’t this the gathering room?” Akuneme asked. 

“Oh, it is, but there’s a separate room called the ‘gathering room’ where we eat lunch. Though there are some other students who come here too, to eat their lunch. We don’t have any specific rules,” Mika said.

She went on about the A and B groups and other classes while walking to different places in the small building. Kay asked some questions every now and then, but Akuneme stayed silent after. It took about 15 minutes for the whole thing, because Mika kept going off-track and talking about other things. Don’t worry, my first period was Social Studies for me, and I had the nicest teacher in the school for that class, so I was okay, even though I didn’t know for everyone else. After going through the other few classes upstairs(yes, there’s an upstairs, surprisingly,)We were just done going throughout the school, that’s how small it was. 

“What about recess?” Akuneme suddenly asked after staying silent the whole time. 

Mika blurted out, “Oh, the whole lunchtime, you can basically just do whatever you want. You can go outside in the yard, front or back, it doesn’t really matter. There’s also this small vending machine in the front yard, you can use that-”

“Okay.” Akuneme cut off. Why suddenly interrupt when you asked the question? “Why is she even here, though? She’s never said anything!” I just realized he was pointing at me.

That’s what I would want to ask. “Yeah, Mika. I really just want to go to Social Studies,”

Mika squealed, Almost making me jump to space. “Oh, m, g!!! We’re both group A, Himari. Yay!!!”

She hugged me so tight I actually would’ve lost my consciousness right then. 

“Aww, you guys are both in Group A? I’m B. I’m sure Akuneme’s A, too, so that’s good, since you guys can get to know each other more…” Kay trailed on. 

“Oh. It’s okay, we’ll meet during lunch!!” Mika replied. She made a sympathetic smile.

“We’re done now, right? I’ll go to Social Studies.” I tell them, and walk off. 

“Yeah, me too.” Akuneme suddenly muttered, and raced away.

“What? No, you guys!!!” Mika shouted.

When I came to Mrs. Pone’s classroom, I quickly apologized for being late and told her quietly I had to introduce the two new students around the school. 

“Oh, so is he one of them?” she asked with a wide grin.

I nodded. “You guys had the same class but didn’t come together?”

“Well, I think he just came a bit more early.” I replied with a nervous face, hoping she’ll understand if I looked innocent.

“Alright, you two may be seated.” Mrs. Pone smiled. Yes!

I sat at the back, since we didn’t have assigned seats, of course. “Alright everyone, so as I was saying, in my Social Studies class, we’re gonna be learning about various things, and this year, about ancient history and times when the first civilizations were created. After this year, you’d have to wait a few more years to know more about ancient history, so be excited!! In our first unit, we’ll learn about the very first civilization, Mesopotamia…” 

I couldn’t listen any further. Instead, I looked around the classroom to see the students I will be with probably everyday. Sharon from last year, Shun, the smartest guy in the whole school, Akari, who’s in art portfolio and has a bunch of sketches on her arm, and of course, that new kid, Akuneme. I’m just guessing from the outside looks of him, but he’s definitely interested in a lot of sports. He looks back at me. I instantly look away. Why is he doing that? I’m just investigating others' interests, that’s all. 

When the bell rang for second period, I was about to race out of the room, because I had somewhere else to go, but Mrs. Pone stopped me. And Akuneme, too. “No, no, you guys aren’t going anywhere,” she said. Huh?

“What?” Akuneme asked, his impatience spreading out in angry waves.

“This year, I wanted to try something different,” she started. I blinked confusingly. 

“The first person to come late to my class on the first day of school has to stay for an extra five minutes here, with me!” My face instantly turned from confused to not even okay.

“Okay, I’m not the first person, he was, so I can go, right?” I asked, pointing at him. 

“HEY! That’s not fair at all! She should be here, too! Being more late is worse, right?” 

Mrs. Pone touched her chin, probably trying to decide what to do. 

“Okay, then both of you.” I breathe in, trying to hide everything I felt.Why did my S.S class have to be first period???

“Starting tomorrow?” I pleaded.

Mrs. Pone looked into my eyes. I looked into hers. Very intensely. 

She laughed. “Alright, alright. Both of you guys, starting tomorrow, have to stay for an extra five minutes.”

“How long is this gonna last?” I blurted in, not even giving Akuneme a chance to speak when he was about to. 

“Hmm, this week only. But the next time you guys are late-”

The second bell. Oh shoot. I had no choice but to flee, because I knew where I was supposed to be. I had to go to my locker, too.

“Sorry, Mrs. Pone! I’ll listen to everything tomorrow!” I call on my way out.

I went to my locker and sprinted like lightning for the stairs.