[Music Recommendation: "Sunny Mornings" by Peter B. Helland (instrumental only)-available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

I lost the urge to record my memories. I didn’t realize that rekindling my past life would be this hard. I ended up crying while trying to plan out how to avoid the worst scenarios from happening again. Tears fell down my face and my nose was clogged from sniffing. I’m such a crybaby and I hated it. Any outburst of emotions made me cry—be it happiness, or loneliness, or anger, or anything at all.

Wiping my face, I got up and went to the bathroom to bathe myself. I didn’t go to the shower but slumped myself onto the bathtub instead. Somehow I wanted to soak myself in warm water. Maybe that would wash away these feelings I’m having.

Luckily, the water helped. Once I was done bathing, I put on my uniform which was a cute sailor uniform with a thin ribbon around my neck, paired with a pleated navy blue skirt extending to my knees. Then, I picked up my blue backpack which was a bit heavy due to the textbooks, and changed my soft slippers to low-heeled black leather shoes.

I went downstairs after that, even before the time my mother usually called us for breakfast. When I went down, the maids were busy cleaning the house. I almost forgot how it felt like being served and having nothing to do at home. The reason I woke up so early was that I got used to taking care of everything myself—including cleaning the house. Now, it just felt weird having a bunch of maids doing those instead. I should really adjust myself in this timeline. I’m no longer that 30 years old woman, who spent her whole life working herself to death. I’m back to being 15, when my family’s business was still sailing smoothly.

It was almost six o’clock but it seems that my mother slept in because there was no sign of her waking up. Same with my dad and brother. So, I decided to eat breakfast and walk to school earlier than usual. I took my cell phone from my backpack to shoot a text message to Hora. It was a flip phone with keypads in it. It’s funny how ancient it was for me. There was even a cute keychain dangling on its side.

“Hora, I’m going to school early. You might still be preparing for now, so no need to go to our house to pick me up,” I texted. “Take care on your way!” And send…

“Oh shoot! I forgot to put an emoji. She’s gonna think I’m not okay.” I reprimanded myself.

It had always been kind of our “signal” to each other if we’re not feeling okay. Well, technically, I’m not but I don’t want her worrying over me. I couldn’t possibly explain to her how I time travelled and knew that my dad was gonna leave us and that I hated him for that.

“I should send another message—No, she’s gonna think I’m being defensive.” Damn it. When I got older, I got used to not using emojis anymore. “Hmmm… this sucks. Well, there’s no other way around it. I’ll just talk to her later.”

And so, I went on my way towards school. I walked the same streets I travelled with Hora yesterday. It was such a nice morning. The sun just began to rise up in the sky. There were little clouds here and there but apart from that, the sky was tinted a gradient blue and yellow—so pretty. I had always appreciated the beauty of nature. The sky and the sea were my favorites. Just the view of it and it helped me relax. Like a sudden escape from the cruel world.

Just a few minutes passed and I already reached the school gate. There were barely any students around, just the janitors and some early bird teachers—Sir Greg was one of them. Nonetheless, I walked straight towards the classroom. Maybe from there, I could enjoy watching the morning sun and sky from my windows. It was so nice of my classmates to always let me have the window seat. Perks of being intelligent I guess. Smart people were usually respected here.

When I opened the door to our classroom, I expected that I’d be alone… but instead, I saw ‘him’.

“Kenneth Davis.” Ken for short. A pretty boy with hazelnut brown hair and beautiful amber eyes. He was the son of the appliance store we passed through yesterday. Their family owned a couple of them around town, and in some other regions. They’re pretty lucky since technology would be a booming business in the future. He was also the campus crush since he was the most handsome of all… and lastly, my childhood friend, along with Hora. All three of us grew up together since our mothers were bestfriends themselves. But the most important thing was that… he was my first and probably only “love”—unrequited love to be exact.

“This is awkward,” was the very first thought that came to mind. Mentally, I’m 30 years old, but why am I still getting goosebumps just because he was standing there on my seat, leaning on the window like some handsome prince? He didn’t even belong to this class! Ugh. Bad thoughts, please go away. And my heart, please calm down.

“Sena,” he handsomely called out to me. Wait, that was just his normal greeting. How could there be a ‘handsome’ and ‘unhandsome’ way of greeting? Come on, Sena. Get yourself together!

“Ha-ha,” I grinned. Oh my goodness, that's the ugliest laugh ever. “Hi Ken!” I tried to greet him normally though my sudden high-pitch probably gave me away. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” he smiled. Ahhh… I think I could die peacefully now. “You’re early.”

“And so are you.” Seriously, I didn’t know what exactly I was saying. It was like words just somehow came out of my mouth without thinking. “Why are you here? You’re classroom’s next door, right?”

His eyes widened from my question. OMG! Did I sound like I’m pushing him away? That was not what I meant. Definitely NOT! I was really just curious what brought him to our classroom, and on MY seat. Maybe it was to get a better view of the sunrise?

“Actually, I’m waiting for you.”

And there was silence. My brain took a couple of seconds to process. I think I left my mouth open in surprise.

“Huh?”