Tuesday August 8th, 2056 - I

Andrew glances at the alarm clock. 4:00, 4:30, 5:00, 5:30, 5:40, 5:55. He slaps himself on his own cheek.

[Well, body, guess you don't want do sleep, do you?]

After getting up, he opens his closet to grab clothes for the day, but notices something.

[There's only one set of clothes. A relatively formal one even, where did all my sweatpants go? Did Melissa take them? Does she want me to dress more formally, in the household of her majesty the Mayor of Periwinkle?]

He puts on the clothes that were in the closet, and closes the door. While looking around the room, he notices more things are gone. Even his desk looks as if it were cleaned.

[Did she do this over night? I didn't notice her at all. Or, maybe she did it yesterday, as I wasn't really paying attention to my room now that I think about it, there was no reason to. The geode is gone too. It's now around half past six, too early to get breakfast.]

Andrew starts to page through Ben's old notebook. Nothing of interest comes up, but he isn't actually reading the pages anyway. He walks in circles in his room, looks at the news on his phone, sits behind his desk trying to come up with something to write, but gives up. After using everything that was left in his room, he goes to the small round window and gazes at the ocean. The landscape is slowly lighting up by the rising of the sun, however, the morning haze covering the town prohibits the sun from warming up the ground. The town looks like a graveyard, with the light resembling that of an explorer's flashlight, shining upon a weathered grave.

[It's almost half past eight. That's a reasonable time to have breakfast, I think.]

Andrew exits his room and heads to the hallway, where he meets Melissa, just as she exited her own room. Andrew looks her straight in the eyes. Melissa returns the stare.

"Tell me." He says to her, firmly.

Melissa throws him a backpack, and Andrew catches it.

"Pack your stuff, what's left of it anyway." She says. "Everything that you want not to be thrown out."

Andrew's determined gaze has changed to a confused, bewildered one. "So, you're kicking me out?" Andrew asks, still holding the backpack. Melissa doesn't respond. She keeps her right hand in her pants, next to her thigh. "After taking me in, you just force me to leave and throw me out on the street?"

"Pack your stuff." Melissa repeats. "I'll answer your questions afterwards."

[She's not denying it. This isn't a trip. She's actually kicking me out. My own sister is kicking me out of her house. I don't have anywhere to go. I don't have anywhere to go, for real. Why is she kicking me out? Why is she…]

Andrew heads to his room, while the thoughts fill up his used-to-be empty mind. Melissa follows him and stands in the doorway, guarding Andrew's only exit.

[No… no… stop thinking for a second, Andrew. You can find a way to change her mind. By force if needed. Defeating force with an even greater force. Yeah, that could work.]

Andrew slows down the packing of the bag, and gradually approaches Melissa, facing his back to her. Andrew grabs hold of the final object in the room, a thick book, and feigns putting it inside the bag. He haphazardly turns around and jerks the book towards Melissa. She knocks it away with her right hand, which she had removed from her pants. A large, shining knife is in her hand.

After knocking away the book, she points it straight at Andrew. His eyes shrink with fear, and his heart starts slamming itself to all the possible parts of his chest. The shock makes him tremble, and he drops the backpack.

[Melissa? Is she… serious?]

Her eyes are glaring into Andrew's, with a look as sharp as the knife in her hand. "So, I assume you are done?" She asks resolutely. "Go downstairs, and put on your shoes and jacket. I'll be right behind you." Melissa moves to the side, but purposely keeps the point of the knife visible from Andrew's room. He picks up the bag and goes down the stairs. Melissa follows him, keeping the knife a mere armlength away from his back. He forgot the book, the book with no title he got from Mike, which is settled next to the closet.

"You know, I think this is all your fault." Melissa suddenly starts. Her voice is cold. There is no emotion in her voice. She is vocalising her pure, unfiltered opinion. Andrew halts tying his shoelaces. Melissa is pointing the knife at his neck.

"If you were there, you could have prevented Connor's suicide." She says. "You could have even prevented the entire accident. You were always so perceptive, you would have seen it coming." Melissa blames him. Andrew does not respond, and carefully continues tying his shoelaces.

"I have always despised you ever since." Melissa continues. "I thought, just maybe, that you would realise it yourself. I thought that there was a chance for reform, but I was wrong. That skill of yours is gone, just as your empathy." Andrew's emotions fluctuate between anger and remorse. Being done tying his shoes, he stands up and grabs his jacket from the coat rack. He pulls his right arm through first.

"That's why I picked you up." She says. "Because I was dumb enough to think there was a chance for reform. And, when I realised there was no chance, I decided to kick you out. Which is where we are at right now."

[That doesn't explain anything. She's delusional. Thinking that it's my fault? Shifting the blame like that, so she can feel better herself? Is that truly her best move?]

Andrew pulls his left arm through and turns around. The knife is still pointed at him. It's sharp point points exactly towards his wind pipe. He is not scared anymore, and faces Melissa with a hazy gaze.

"I never liked you, you should be aware of that." Melissa tells him bluntly. "Take this."

Andrew catches the wallet she throws at him.

"All your cards are in there. Now, get out." She says.

Andrew crouches down to pick up the backpack, and doesn't take his eyes off Melissa until the last moment. He opens the door and walks outside, keeping the keys in the door.

[This is it, I guess. I've got nowhere to go. Got no food, no money. Maybe she telling me... to follow them. I guess she is, what else could it be?]

Andrew leaves the porch and closes the fence behind him. Melissa is standing in the doorway, with the knife still in her hand.

"Andrew." She says. Andrew turns his eyes her way. "I'm not completely heartless, I am only kicking you out. If you think you have nowhere to go, you're wrong."

Andrew turns around.

"I paid for your stay at a dorm room, at least for the next year. I also paid for your next year of high school." Melissa states. Her expression is still as serious as before, and her voice just as cold. Andrew's face clears up a little, and he stands a little straighter.

[Then why would you kick me out of the house? If your going to do all that for me…]

"I'm kicking you out… because I don't want a living dead person in my town."

Andrew stands up completely straight, and looks Melissa right into her eyes.

[Did she… really say that? She thinks I'm a 'living dead person'? So she really means it… that I should have died.]

"Now go." Melissa says. "I have banished you from Perigowinkle, and you will have left in the next twenty minutes." Andrew gives a determined nod. Melissa rests her hand and the knife on the side of her thigh. "This is nothing to be proud of, Andrew. Just… go already." Melissa says. The words do not feel as serious as before. A hint of her emotions can be heard in them. She closes the door behind her, and Andrew starts his walk towards the station.

[Goodbye, Melissa.]