The clattering of the hail wakes Andrew up. Mei is laying on top of him, sleeping right through all the noise. Andrew sighs and rubs the palm of his hand against his face.
[Where shall I start? What can I even do?]
He places his arms on Mei's back, and looks at her soft, smooth face.
[This is rather calming… she's smiling too. Is she being truthful about not losing me?]
Andrew turns his head back up and gazes at the bland ceiling.
[Ah… what does it matter? I need to know… need to find where to go now. Where to start. It isn't over yet, May. I need you. I need an explanation, cause this just can't be all of it.]
The bright screen of his phone turns on as he picks it up from the bedside table.
[It's only four in the morning… there's no reason to hurry, but… I want to get this done, before school starts dumping work on me. Yeah… that will be my deadline.]
Mei opens her eyes slowly, with the gushing winds and destructive hail as the first thing she wakes to. Gradually, she turns herself around in the bed, facing herself towards the kitchen. There, she notices Andrew taking out the box of cereal from the left most cabinet. Mei drowsily gets up and puts on her unicorn shirt, and heads to the kitchen for breakfast herself.
"What time is it?" She asks sluggishly.
"Around eight." Andrew replies.
"Eight?" Mei responds, now fully awake. "Why would you get up this early?" Andrew doesn't respond, and takes out the milk from the refrigerator. "Ah, whatever… I'm up now anyway."
Mei fills her own bowl with cereal and takes the milk carton from Andrew, emptying it herself. "We should get groceries today." Andrew says. "We've run out of milk and almost out of cereal and salads."
"Fine by me." Mei responds, as she turns on the television and hops on the bed. Even from her slight jump, the bed shakes up and down.
[Might be a good idea to take a break from it all, so…]
"We won't buy salads anymore, though." Andrew says. Mei turns her head his way with a mouth full of crumbs and milk. She can not reply because of it. "I'll be teaching you some recipes today, or tomorrow, but I want to get the ingredients today at the least." Andrew explains. Mei hastily chews her cereal and swallows before answering Andrew.
"But the salads…" She answers. "I… they… are easy to make… or handle…"
"So what?" Andrew rudely replies. "You need to learn how to cook at least two different meals to be able to, you know, live."
"I'll…" She starts but pauses and contemplates. A few seconds pass, before she continues. "Okay, fine. If you insist." She finalizes her decision. Andrew briefly smiles, and he places down his empty bowl in the sink, rinsing it with lukewarm water. Mei gets up from the bed and proceeds to stand beside him in the kitchen. "You're right, though. I do need to learn… to live properly." Mei quietly adds. Andrew puts his arm around her and briefly presses her up against him.
[You'll be okay. I'll put all that I have in teaching you… to make sure you'll be.]
Andrew and Mei arrive at one of the smaller, local supermarkets of Clifftell. They enter and both collect a shopping basket from the tall stack.
[Yellow shopping baskets… they were green from what I can remember, or maybe that was a different supermarket.]
Andrew looks over the aisles, to the other side of the large rectangular space. The supermarket is overflowing with people, and their heads can be seen sticking out above the metal bars.
[It's busy… what day is it? Monday?]
Andrew scans the walls for a date, but decides to check his phone after he can't find any.
[Indeed, it's Monday. I completely lost track of the date.]
"Okay, let's split up." Andrew states.
"What why? I'd rather walk around with you." Mei replies.
"Because…"
[Well, it's faster, isn't it? But it's not like we have little time or anything… so… there is no reason, actually.]
"Never mind, we've got enough time." Andrew takes his statement back. Mei glances a smile at him, and they proceed to go around the supermarket.
Andrew pays for the groceries and they leave the supermarket with three thick plastic bags.
"Phew." Mei sighs. "That took some time. I'm starving."
[It didn't even take that long…]
"Well, our place is…" Andrew stops mid sentence. A woman with long, straight, black hair passes him, walking at an incredible pace, barely not running. He almost drops the shopping bags out of shock, but Mei's voice snaps him out of it. She starts walking, away from him, and he follows.
[Was that? No… no that wasn't her.]
Andrew looks behind him. The woman is gone.
[Yeah… right. Meeting her here like this, that would be way too coincidental. She wouldn't live in a big city like Clifftell. She wasn't like that…]
Andrew stares vaguely at the street.
[Wasn't… is the past tense… May has changed. So she might…]
"Hey! Don't fall behind!" Mei yells, and Andrew's snaps out of his thoughts.
"Sorry!" He responds, as he catches up to her.
[That's something to check… I'll do that later today, the school should have opened.]
Andrew and Mei enter their dorm room and stock the groceries in the cabinets and refrigerator. After Mei empties the final bag, she looks at the receipt.
"It's less than I usually pay." She comments. "But are you sure you want to pay all of it?"
"Yeah." Andrew replies.
[It wasn't that much anyway, but she's right. It was a lot less than last weeks groceries.]
Andrew stuffs the empty bags into the plastic trash, and heads to the refrigerator, where he picks out a sandwich. He opens it and takes a large bite immediately, while filling up a small glass with water.
"Why all the haste?" Mei asks.
"Got something to do." Andrew replies. "Going to the school to ask them about her."
"Want me to go with you?"
"I don't mind, whatever you prefer." Andrew answers, after which Mei goes to put on her shoes again. Andrew grabs his coat from the rack and puts it on again, and Mei does the same. They exit the dorm room and Mei locks the door, before proceeding down the stairs.
An hour past noon, they arrive at the main hall of the school. Andrew immediately heads to the administrator office to the right, and Mei follows him.
"Oh, it's Andrew! And Mei too. How can I help you?" The man asks.
[It's the same man that gave me my key the other day.]
"Uh, I was wondering if you keep records of past students." Andrew answers.
[That sounds a little sketchy when I say it aloud.]
"We do. What do you need them for?"
"Well, a friend used to go to school here, and I want to find out where she lives." The man frowns, but Mei quickly steps forward.
"It's for her birthday!" She adds. "She never told us her address, and we want to surprise her. Never before had she asked for birthday presents, but we just wanted to do something this time." Mei glares and smiles at Andrew, and he returns it with a slight smirk.
"Oh I see." The man replies. "That makes sense. What is her name?"
"May Kerone." Andrew says, without hesitation.
"Let's see… Kerone…" The man talks to himself, while searching for May on his computer. Andrew and Mei await an answer anxiously. Mei's eyes suddenly shrink for a short moment, and Andrew is quick to pick this up.
[She has noticed something… there's something that's wrong, something that…]
"This is… odd." The man says. "I was able to find one May Kerone. She final year here was that of 2020 and 2021. Is that her? The system could be wrong."
[That was what Mei realised, probably…]
"Yeah… that must be her." Andrew responds, awkwardly. The man frowns and rips a paper from the green notebook. After writing on it, he hands it to Andrew.
"This is the address in the system, though, if she's really from 2021 I doubt she still lives there." The man says.
"Thank you." Andrew and Mei both say in unison. They make an attempt to walk away, but the man addresses them once more.
"I doubt this is for a birthday, too." He adds. Andrew and Mei both turn their heads towards him at the exact same time. "But I digress." The man adds. "I hope you'll be able to do what you need to do." He waves. Andrew and Mei wave back and leave the school building and terrain, onto the main plaza.
"Luckily he didn't feel like questioning us." Mei laughs, but Andrew doesn't give a response. He enters the address on Google Maps, and it is quick to give a distinct location.
"Let's go." Andrew states. Mei nods, and they head towards the Forb station. On their short journey, they pass the grandiose buildings of Clifftell, the futuristic technology within the Forb station, and the tall and sturdy pine trees of Nivla Forest, a forest east of Clifftell. The capsule arrives at the station in Bluewich.
"So this is where she lives… Not the most developed town." Mei states.
"At least, she used to, and it looks better than before, to be honest." Andrew adds. "Her house shouldn't be too far from here. I recognise this place, the bus station used to be here." Andrew increases his pace towards the designated location, and Mei follows him. They go from town, to neighbourhood, to street, to house, and arrive at the address.
[It's still here. It got renovated, but… this is what her house looked like. I remember it clearly.]
"Is this it?" Mei asks.
"Yeah…" Andrew responds. He looks up at the window on the second floor.
[That was her room.]
A gust of wind lifts Andrew's blond hair, which was resting on his shoulders. Mei looks at Andrew, and then at the same window on the second floor.
"So this is it… this is what you've been searching for this entire time." Mei says poetically.
"Yeah…" He gives the same response, before walking up to the front door. He presses the button of the doorbell, and can hear it ring from the inside. Finally, footsteps can be heard descending the stairs, and someone unlocks and opens the front door.