Aiden carried a series of thick books forced on his person and an expression of disappointment on his face, even being accompanied by Mary, who was in her forties but looked too good; no, too superb. Easily, she could pass for someone in their twenties. Needless to say, with such a fresh true-to-life appearance, Mary has had no surgery.

It makes one wonder what kind of ointments, pills, and other products she takes to keep herself looking so remarkably young. In another place, she would be called a vampire, but in this city, she is not the only one nor of the few.

Perhaps the real vampire is the market, Aiden thought some time ago, but not anymore. Things like this were seen every day, and no one raised an eyebrow in contemplation. Nothing of that level would astonish the inhabitants of this city.

That particular atmosphere that bled into the corners during his first year; a sort of calling for secrets to those who knew how to look, as well as the unsettling sensation that used to accompany him everywhere, is no longer present in Aiden.

On one occasion, a few days after moving, he had a nightmare: In the centre of the city, the faint light of dusk that managed to penetrate the skyscrapers painted the streets with melancholy. He was looking for something that he couldn't neither back then nor today put into words. Among the rushing masses of people going from one place to another, a not insignificant handful of plastic people stared at him fixedly with the same serious and stiff expression, a surreal homogeneity among the perpetrators of the prejudiced glances.

The strange dreams continued for the first couple of months, but even that soon stopped past that point. As if his own unconscious told him that he had no time to feel out of place with the academic demands of this city always nipping at his heels.

Once you are part of it, and you assume your role in the machine, you certainly become one with the site and stop finding the most particular things strange.

And just as that day when the unusual became everyday occurrence's, Aiden had other priorities present in his mind. Back in the day it was his academics; now, more than curiosity about the girl, what was hanging from his person was outrage rather than any other thought.

It hadn't been five minutes, and he had already completely blocked out her existence, he had entered his mind palace. It was easier to deal with the emotions this way.

—Haa… —Accompanied by the sigh, deep disappointment was the cause of the long face, it was barely the first day, and he had already been scolded.

Just a few moments ago he and the girl, following a little behind, received a small reprimand about responsibility and punctuality, courtesy of Mary.

Being scolded on the first day wasn't part of his idea of a new life, he felt his ideal future beginning to slip through his fingers.

«What's different from years past?» Aiden thought, reproaching himself.

Before or now, he has always been a magnet for problems, or rather, just like now, he let them strike chords inside of him. But never satisfied with the tunes of others caused him to be the creator of many more, trapped in a cycle of uneventful eventfulness, as hardly anything ever came forth by his own making.

From the moment anything intervened, it became intertwined as part of routine. «Just another fucking grace filled day» the dishevel-haired boy thought, and sigh yet again. This time quieter to the side.

He wanted to take a who-cares attitude, but his body betrayed him, and to make matters worse, Mary began to realize that something had caused Aiden to be immersed in thought. So, she opted to use the classic tactic of poking wounds by “accident”.

—Did you run out of words, and now you're using your dirty imagination after seeing such a cute girl? —Said Mary, close to Aiden's ear, as she found the foolish face funny.

This time's strategy was based on hurting Aiden's pride. She had been his teacher for a whole year, just by looking at him, she could know that he was an inexperienced pubescent virgin.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Why did she do it? Rumors say that Mary was entering menopause, that or maybe her punk and delinquent past devilishly whispered in her ear when she saw the young man. In other words, she just wanted to bother Aiden a little.

The classroom became convinced during their first year that she is one of those teachers who, once they started their profession with the best intentions, had an awful experience that turned her into someone who enjoyed harassing students. But they couldn't be more wrong. On her very first day as a teacher, some boys ended up in the infirmary and the next day they started calling her “Boss” and the girls “older sister” from then on. Of course, that was before she started working at this institution of the future.

—N-it's nothing, AND IT'S NOT THAT EITHER, THANKS —said Aiden.

Afterward, he took care not to make the same silly expression when thinking, at least in front of an annoyed Mary. A better alternative was to return to reality, he picked up where he had left off before taking refuge in fantasy.

«Certainly, it's strange, at this point all the students have already received the basic information about the facilities… And the tutor in charge of 2C; it's true that he has a reputation, but I didn't see him as an irresponsible person» Aiden thought. «It's not that I'm complaining either, of course not, on the contrary, I should thank him for being so incompetent and allowing me to meet such a cute girl. That's it, later I'll go to his office to personally thank him!»

Discreetly, he turned his head to see the brown-haired girl walking a few steps behind him.

«Well, actually no one could blame me if I ever have “that” type of thought about her, but how to describe it…?»

Certainly, there was something about her that he couldn't see at first glance, and that something made her even more attractive. It's not her thin but defined body, nor her beautiful lips and sharp jawline, that “something” was probably something that had nothing to do with her physical appearance, Aiden deduced.

A taste of mystery mixed with a little aura of tenderness surrounding the girl, that has to be whatever conjured, out of him, things such as: “I will protect you!” Or, “If we are together, it's enough, you don't have to suffer anymore!”

Even something like, “no matter how ridiculous and unrealistic the world you live in is, I will never accept continuing my life as if nothing happened while you continue to put yourself in danger. I promise to be strong to protect your smile!” You know, things like that. Certainly, it was a strange feeling that he couldn't explain nor fully understand.

But these were only Aiden's naive and honest thoughts, no one could blame him, after all he is at that age where deviating from the scheme of a normal person and fantasizing a little is almost a necessity.

—Ah… —And just like it arrived, his thoughts were sharply interrupted as he muttered to himself—. Really, now of all times?

That something that broke his thoughts also made him stop abruptly. He was still looking in the direction of the girl, and she didn't notice him until after a few steps, when the distance between them had significantly shortened.

—Huh? Do you have any business with me? —Said Maika, when she noticed Aiden looking at her fixedly, reacting as expected, with a little surprise and aggression at the sudden and disturbing act of being observed in such a blatant way.

—No, it's nothing, sorry.

In fact, nothing had happened, at least for anyone who saw the scene. The only strange thing was that Aiden had suddenly stopped. That would be the reality for anyone except Aiden. Through his eyes, a strange substance like smoke floated around the girl. He had no sense of where it came from, it bubbled up from the ground, walls, ceiling, even appearing at her side out of thin air.

Like a black, dense, dark wind, but, and strangely, at the same time transparent. It didn't form anything or take any particular course, it just floated until it disappeared and reappeared around the girl.

Aiden put the books under his arm and pulled up a blueish pill from a small container inside his pocket, put one in his mouth, closed his eyes and did some short breathing exercises.

The brunette girl watched him fixedly do the whole process, ignorant, or maybe she simply didn't care, of the fact that she had done exactly what elicited a complaint on her part seconds ago.

When he finally opened his eyes, that strange black smoke was no longer there, only a few tiny spots and remnants of it floated that, surely, would soon dissipate.

—Are you okay now? —Asked Mary, interrupting the strange scene. Aiden nodded in response to his teacher, and she continued— That's good, now let's go, the first period is about to begin.

The three of them began to walk faster than before and when they arrived at classrooms 2C and 2D, which were in a different building than the teachers' lounge.

As they approached the classroom, he noticed that there was a paper stuck to the door with a drawing of a cat and the words “Welcome to the 2C class” written in bold letters.

—What the… —Aiden couldn't help but feel a little confused—. This has to be the work of the delegate or one of the dear hooligans of the classroom.

Mary took the pile of textbooks from Aiden's arms and entered 2D first, telling them to wait in the hallway for a moment.