I used to hate people that lived a better life than me. Well, hate is a strong word so I probably shouldn’t use it here, but I did harbor some kind of dislike towards them. People that had richer parents than me; people that had better grades than me; people that enjoyed their life more than me. The list goes on, but the only thing that mattered was my pride.

Well, I was just a stupid child that didn’t understand how the world worked. My ego was too big to let me see the things that I had, and it made me look at my neighbor. Now that I think about it seems funny, because I don’t have feelings like those right now.

I don’t think I can even feel envy…

I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling of my room. It looked old; made from stone, it seemed like something that was taken from a castle. Well, you could say that I was living in a castle now.

“Ah… I don’t want to wake up…” I said to myself, and closed my eyes once again but the sleep wouldn’t come. I waited like this for a moment, and after that I got up and sat on my bed.

“It’s so messy.”

The room that I was staying in looked like something from a bad dream. Books were laying everywhere, accompanied by papers and documents that were covered in a nice layer of dust. To avoid looking at them I turned to the window, that was now letting the sunshine come into my room.

After that I stood up and approached the old desk that was in the corner of the room. It was just as messy as everything else in the room, but it also had something I needed. A sheet of paper folded in half, on which I wrote yesterday.

“On the flow of mana in offensive spells…” I read the title of my homework after opening it up, and then I walked towards the ancient-looking wardrobe that was on the other end of the room.  

From it I took my bag and my school uniform. Changing into it from my pajamas took me few moments, and when I was ready I checked myself out in the mirror near the door.  

“The same as always, aren’t you?” I said, playing with my black hair “I just can’t get used to it. No matter how many times I see it.”

The uniform looked neat. Under a black jacket I had a white button-down shirt and a blue tie. I was also wearing nice, black trousers and boots in the same color. I looked like a nice boy if I could say so, but there was this feeling of unease that wouldn’t leave me.

Those big, green eyes… They don’t suit me at all…

After looking at myself I opened my bag and put my homework into it. I didn’t have any classes today that required books, so at least  I didn’t have to carry them today. Some of the more important tomes can be really thick, so I was glad that today was a rather easy day.

As it seemed that I was done, I approached the door and slowly opened them. I was living in the dormitory for men, but I would rather avoid meeting people so I tried no to attract too much attention.

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Well, that was what I wanted to do, but someone decided to destroy my plans. A sixteen years old boy that was having his classes with me. He decided to come to my room earlier than normally.

“Oh, hey Matthew. I was about to knock on the door but you just opened it.” Ryan said with a little smile.

He was wearing the same clothes as me, but they were bigger because of his height. He was a lot taller than me, and he was also probably much stronger. I could imagine that girls must have really liked him because not only was he tall, but he he was also quite handsome. Under his short, brown hair was a really nice face.

If I were to describe myself then I would say that I still looked like a normal boy, but it wasn’t the case with him. Even if he still looked young; you could tell that his face was a lot sharper, and more handsome than mine.

“Yeah, what an unpleasant surprise it is.” I responded to his words, and he looked at me with his kind, brown eyes.

“You will have only one friend if you won’t change the way you speak.”

“Oh, one friend? Who are you talking about? I don’t know any person like this.”

Ryan seemed to enjoy my little joke, because he laughed loudly. I imagine that he came to wake me up. The bells that always ring in the morning are too weak to wake me so he comes to help me. Of course, today was the day that I woke up by myself, so his little help was not needed.

“Anyway, I see that you got up by yourself. It’s good… You should learn to wake up in the morning because you live alone.”

“Well, for me living alone is an advantage. I didn’t really want to share my room with anyone.” I responded to Ryan, and looked at him.

He seemed to be in a nice mood. I could understand that because today was a rather easy day, but something wasn’t right. It didn’t matter if the classes were easy, he hated them anyway. So why is he so happy?

As I thought about this I noticed his muddy shoes. If I recall correctly, his shoes were clean when we returned from classes yesterday. I didn’t think that he went out yesterday… No, he couldn’t go out.

We had too many classes, so when we returned to our rooms the gate to the dormitory was being closed. If he didn’t go yesterday, then he must have gone today. And this smell. This smell must mean…

“Hey, you have been looking at my shoes for some time. Something happened?”

“No… It’s just you have some mud on them, that’s all.” I responded, and he raised up one of his legs.

“Yeah, you are right. Probably from yesterday… Well, I will clean it later.”

From yesterday?

“It’s not from yesterday Ryan.” I said, and he smiled.

“Well, who knows from when this is? Why would you even… Wait. Is this one of your games? Is this one of those things?” he asked, and looked at me with witty eyes “What now? Are you going to tell me that I didn’t do my homework because of the wrinkles on my shirt? Or maybe I need to go the toilet because of the way I’m walking?”

“No… I just think that you are meeting a girl.” I responded, and he blushed a little.

“Wait, w-what? How did you… No, I’m not meeting with anyone. You think I’m meeting someone because of the mud on my shoes?”

“Because you smell like perfume. I’m sure you don’t use perfume Ryan… Well, not women’s perfume.” as I said those things, he started to sniff himself. Then, after a moment he looked at me.

“You are right… But how did you even smell that? It was hard even for me…”

“Who knows, maybe I was a dog in my previous life? Anyway, we can’t waste time just chatting in here. Let’s go to the class.” I said, and locked the door behind me.

“O-Oh, yeah. Let’s go… Hey, wait. Don’t tell anyone, okay Matthew? And don’t smell me again.”

“Okay.” I replied, and smiled a little.  

I wasn’t a dog in my previous life. Of this thing I was sure.