Monday, August 14th
I woke early at 5:30 a.m. for my daily eight kilometer run. The streets were quiet, the air cool against my skin. It felt good, familiar. Running was the one part of my iife I could control, the only thing that kept me grounded when everything else felt uncertain.
I live with my uncle and aunt on Buena Vista Street, about a half-hour walk from school on Olive Avenue.
By the time I returned an hour later, sweat clinging to my shirt, I slipped into my usual routine: twenty push-ups, twenty sit-ups, and twenty squats.
At 6:50, just as I was finishing breakfast, the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, Emilia stood there, her voice bright and cheerful.
"Morning, Maddie! Ready to go?" she called, insisting we walk to school together.
I frowned. "I told you- don't call me that." Still, with a reluctant sigh, I grabbed my bag and followed her outside.
"Fine, Madison. But one day, you'll let me call you Maddie," she teased, grinning as we stepped onto the street.
On the walk, Emilia chattered endlessly about her class placement, chosen World Language, and Elective.
"I got Class A!" she announced proudly, brushing her blonde hair back.
"Seventh overall on the entrance exam. Not bad, right?"
"And I picked Spanish and Accounting as my World Language and Elective."
"What about you?" she asked eagerly.
"Class B. Spanish. Marketing." I answered in a flat, uninterested tone.
"That's great!" she exclaimed, as if my reply were the most exciting thing she'd heard all day.
We reached campus by 7:30. Once inside the freshman corridor, we split off to our respective classrooms.
The school schedule was exactly as outlined in the brochure handed out after leaving the academic building on the entrance ceremony day:
Five periods a day, fifty minutes each, with ten minutes of passing time in between.
Homeroom at 7:40, lasting twenty minutes.
First period beginning at 8:00, followed by two more classes until lunch at 11;50.
Lunch ending at 12:50, then fourth and fifth periods.
Mandatory P.E. at 3:00 for thirty minutes.
Club activities from 3:30 until school closed at 6:30.
I made my way to Class B and settled into my assigned desk by the window. The room was quickly filling with students, only minutes left before homeroom began.
As I scanned the room, the boy beside me, with dark brown hair and green eyes, smiled and introduced himself.
"Hi, I'm Noah Jackson. Looks like we're desk neighbors."
I have a nod without meeting his gaze, ignoring him entirely.
Before he could say anything else, the homeroom bell rang.
"Good morning, everyone. My name is Grace William. I'll be your English teacher and homeroom advisor for the next four years."
A woman with chestnut-brown hair and hazel eyes stepped inside. She introduced herself and began explaining how the student ID system worked.
"Your ID acts as a barcode card. You'll swipe it at the teacher's desk within the first two minutes of each class for attendance. If you're caught using a proxy or forgery, the consequences will be severe. It's also required to borrow books from the library, enter club rooms, and as you've already seen at the gates- verify your identity when entering campus."
After her explanation, she demonstrated the system for taking attendance, since it was everyone's first time.
Once homeroom concluded, she transitioned into her English class. The entire period was spent having each student introduce themselves.
The same routine continued in the next two classes- World History and Mathematics, where- introductions and getting to know each other filled most of the time.
And before long, lunchtime arrived.