I woke up earlier than expected, with my body feeling sore. I guess it already knew that this day would be more complicated than others. But either way, I had to force myself to get up and go on, there is no way I could miss the first day. Finishing up my routine, I now had to go in an unfamiliar way, but one that will become the norm very fast. I felt relatively… ‘melancholic’ would not be the right term as nothing bad had happened yet, maybe just already exhausted by all the possibilities that this new beginning could entail?

I stumbled my way out of home and into the bus. It was not necessarily crowded, I probably got there a bit too early. Then, the day went and passed, nothing particularly groundbreaking had happened, I do not know why I keep expecting big things when a new school semester finally starts again, no matter the place, it is always pretty much the same experience. The different but similar long halls, the big maps you cannot find yourself on, the multitude of rooms you will never step in. It really hits you with how small you are in this big of a world. I wondered if this school had any sort of Clubs, I doubt it since it is not high-school anymore, but who am I to guess. Something that I have learned from my years of studying is that anything can happen in these buildings, school is such a generic yet mysterious place…

On this first day, I made my way to class. I hoped that it would be as easy as it was before. I never had much of a problem with school, even without studying much I always somehow did enough to barely be above the average, which was more than enough for me. I just had figured out that it was better to work less, but more thoroughly, than spending way too much time and energy on things not that important in the grand scheme of things. But maybe classifying school as something not important is not a great idea in itself, only time will tell.

… … …

Days came and went, and nothing changed. This mellow, empty and unoriginal description I made kept persevering throughout the next days. It was just like before. This monotonous rhythm of life I could not stand. Spending hours without talking, alone yet telling yourself that it is better than being around wrong influences. I probably was lying to myself once again, but either way, things had to change as we were asked to form pairs for a group project.

At times like these, I would always just ask Ribbon-chan, or tell the teacher I would do it myself. But this teacher insisted that we had to learn to work with someone else, and to be honest, I could not really disagree with him as I had thought the same. Because of this, I had to face a student’s hardest challenge, harder than any tests you could ever throw at them: finding a good partner.

Our class had instilled a group chat, and I decided that I would ask there as to make sure my partner would at least be someone that will answer me when I send them something. I thought doing this was already a waste of time, but thankfully someone had asked the exact same question as me right after mine. We decided that we would try to form a group together.

OnRyo
Hey there, hope that we’ll manage to turn in something great!

AoiSora
For sure. I’m kind of relieved that I ended up with someone who seems relatively serious doing work!

Their profile picture was of a pink haired-girl with a frilly outfit. I recognized her from something Ribbon-chan watched a while ago. Maybe this is the reason why I felt comfortable talking to this complete stranger. We continued to exchange messages for a bit, but I did not want to seem like an awfully clingy person, so I tried to cut the conversation short as I knew that I would keep going for hours on end if I was not the one ending it. I really become like a different person online…

OnRyo
Well then, We have our first period together tomorrow, so I’ll see you tomorrow in school!

AoiSora
Alright, take care!

I was reassured by the fact that they seemed friendly, maybe enough time had passed where I could now comfortably make friends in this new environment? Weirdly for the first time in a while, I was looking forward to tomorrow.

… … …

Morning came again. The light breeze of the beginning of Autumn was really refreshing, I really had enough of Summer. The changing of seasons made me hopeful for what was to come, nature can truly connect you back with reality. The first bus was as empty as ever, and I made my way to class. I somehow was not the first to arrive, but I was far from being the last. Time passed and there was no sight of my partner. So many thoughts ran into my mind: “What if they ditched me already?” “What if they're here but just ignored me?”, but these irrational thoughts were stopped by a ‘bzzzt!’ from my phone.

AoiSora
I'm sorry I'll barely get here on time, I'm not very far away but I'll have to run super fast to get here!

I let out a sigh of relief, but I had to cut it short so as to quickly reply to them.

OnRyo
Don't worry, the teacher's not there yet, you can make it!

Time continued to pass, and my heart began beating faster and faster. Why was I stressing out so much? Because I knew I was about to meet someone new? Someone that I know nothing about? Wait, that's right, I don't even know their name and neither do they! Not even what they look like! I quickly coupled together a message in hope that they can distinguish me from others thanks to it.

OnRyo
By the way I'm the one next to the window with the bag on the desk, with the black shirt.

That's the broadest description ever?? I guess I've never really described myself before… Wait, the teacher’s here now? Since when?! My heart was now beating faster than ever before.

Although, right as the teacher was going to start speaking, came stumbling in a beautiful girl. She was panting and could barely hold herself straight, but despite that, I could not help but notice her stunning blonde hair. It was almost sparkling, its waviness was that of a golden sea, the ones you see at the most precious of sunsets. Plus, she was so tall… Though, I had no time to recover from that shock. The girl started to frantically look around, then quickly approached me.

“You're… Um… Ryo? Right?”

A moment of silence followed, it felt as if the world had stopped.

“I guess you could call me that, yeah.”

Wait, wait, THIS is who I was talking to this entire time!? I tried my best to get the conversation to continue with some small talk.

“I am surprised you found me with how badly I described myself”

“I guess we should have prepared ourselves a little better, but it’s fine since I still found you.”, she said.

She did not seem unfriendly, but the look in her eyes was vacant. She told me her name was Sara, and I could feel all the sense of calm and normality I once thought this year would have fly out the window. This was probably the day I started leaving my lonely life behind.

When all came to an end and seemed like all was in vain
I thought time would just repeat once more
Though with you now, I cannot think that nevermore