1 Prologue (1)

Fidel opened his eyes slowly and saw the flat, gray surface of his ceiling. He usually woke up at 6 o'clock in the morning, and this time was no different. Getting out of the warm bedsheets, Fidel sat upright on his bed and planted his feet on the floor.

He didn't have a lot of things placed inside his bedroom other than the necessary furniture, so it was spacious enough for a full-grown adult to run around in. Standing up from his bed, he went to the center of his room to begin his routine morning exercises.

...

After thirty minutes of working out, his body was sweating all over. He grabbed the face towel that he prepared beforehand and wiped the sweat off his skin. Thanks to the exercises, he now felt energetic and fully awake early in the morning.

Placing the wet towel on his window sill, Fidel then went to the bathroom so he could finally start his day off. Another organized and routine morning unfolded; nothing out of the ordinary happened. After eating breakfast together with his family and saying his goodbyes to them, Fidel left his house with his bicycle in hand.

He thought today was as peaceful as always: the bright sun was hanging high above the sky while the white, floating clouds looked especially clean and puffy. He felt a gentle breeze blow across his face and rustle the leaves of a few nearby trees in its wake. All of this put him in a great mood, making him think that today was going to be like any other relaxing day for him.

Clunk!

"Hmm?"

Fidel made a sound when he suddenly heard a metallic noise beside him. He turned his head to look and saw the slim frame of a girl as she was closing the gate door to her house. When the girl was done with what she was doing, she turned around and finally noticed Fidel staring at her.

She gave him a cheery smile and greeted, "Oh, good morning Fidel! Were you waiting for me?"

"Yo, morning Ellaine," he nodded his head and greeted back. "And no, I wasn't waiting for you. I just came out of my house, same as you."

"Hehehe~ Is that so?" Ellaine couldn't help but giggle hearing his standard matter of fact reply.

This cute girl that gave off a soft and warm impression was his childhood friend, Ellaine Sara Leopardas. She went to the same kindergarten, elementary, and now high school as him. His parents and Ellaine's were very close friends as well as good neighbors, so they often had the chance to visit each other's homes. Although most of the time, it was because he was forcibly dragged over by his parents to the Leopardas residence.

Appearance-wise, Ellaine was a very sweet-looking girl with silver ash hair that only reached above her shoulders, big round eyes of the color green that made her seem pure and innocent; and other lovely facial features such as a pretty nose, v-shaped lips, and fine eyebrows. Her porcelain skin was also a thing of beauty that most women would be jealous of; a stark contrast to his own tanned, brown complexion.

Fidel didn't want to needlessly waste any more time here so he got on his bicycle. Looking straight ahead of him, he said to Ellaine, "Hop on already. I don't wanna be late for school because of you."

Ellaine smiled warmly at his words and naturally took her seat on the bike rack.

"You good back there Ellaine?"

Glancing behind him, Fidel asked her this, to which she responded with a cute 'Un!'. Hearing that she was ready to go, he started pedaling away and finally departed to school.

The morning scenery of their small town flashed past them: the people who just woke up and were drinking coffee while reading the newspapers, other students walking and happily chatting with each other, and some vehicles in the street speeding away toward their respective destinations.

It really was a scene of just an ordinary day for him.

Soon enough, they arrived at their local high school. Fidel went straight to the school's parking lot and locked his bicycle there before going to the school building together with Ellaine. When they reached their classroom, which was located all the way up on the third floor, Fidel decided to separate from there and passed through the door first.

"Fidel, let's go home together again today, okay?"

He paused in his steps for a moment upon hearing those words. Turning around, he saw Ellaine showing him a sweet smile on her lovely face, which could instantly charm the heart of an adolescent boy if they were in his place.

"I'm fine with that, but remember that I don't wait for anybody."

After giving his reply, Fidel parted with Ellaine and went straight for his seat. His desk was placed all the way to the back of the classroom on the farthest left corner right next to the windows. Over there, he easily had the best view of the outside world and, even better than that, he could doze off whenever he wanted with little to no chance of getting caught by his teachers.

"Phew..."

Fidel let out a breath as he sat on his seat. Taking a quick look around his surroundings, he found that Ellaine was already chatting with her friend group that was evenly composed of girls and boys in their class. Ellaine Sara Leopardas was a very popular student known throughout high school due to her cute appearance, as well as the gentle and sweet personality that she often showed to everyone.

He heard that a countless number of boys in this school were brave enough to confess their feelings of infatuation to her, but also had their hearts broken when she rejected all of them while saying that she already has someone she liked. However, that didn't stop every suitor from trying to win her over, one way or another. Even though some people were jealous of her appeal, no one could truly say that they hated her; she was loved by all males and females alike.

"Alright everyone, get back to your seats. Classes will now commence."

The teacher finally arrived in the classroom. All of the students hurriedly took their seats as the school bell rang, signaling the start of another usual day in school.