To Keep Your Memory (HIATUS)

Prologue - Bay, The Air, The Wind

The young woman's name was Bay.

Today, at seven-thirty in the morning, an unfamiliar person opens the classroom door and sits next to her.

He just sits there for an hour, not making eye contact. He's a new student, but it wasn't any of her business. She couldn't care less. So Bay does what she kept doing. But Bay kept an eye on him, watching his every move.

And for the past few months, he had a schedule.

Everyday, at seven-thirty, he enters the classroom and sit down next to her. Then at lunch, he walks downstairs and gets an apple with grape juice. After eating, he visits the library and reads a book. But what was unusual was that he reads only one book every time. 

There were times she would catch him writing something in that book. Was he vandalizing it? But Bay doesn't tell anyone about it. She could not comprehend either how he would read that book every day. It was even weirder that he sits on the floor instead of using a table like a normal being. 

When class was over, he would go home and she would stalk him. I mean, follow him. Or not actually follow him. They just happen to live near each other. That's when Bay found out that he was a cat person. Why? He goes to the convenience store and gets some cat food. Then, he feeds the stray cats he would find on the streets. More so, she would watch him get in a small and cramped apartment. Did he live alone? Bay wants to ask him, but she doesn't.

Then, once Bay starts to pay close attention, she learns more about him.
Bay finds out that he only had one pair of shoes. How? Even in P.E class, he would still wear the same pair of shoes that he uses for school. She finds out that he was a B blood type. She looked at his school form once. But every time she'd try to talk and have a conversation with him, it would end in stuttering, nibbling of hands, sweating, and awkwardness. That's when she realizes that maybe it was better to never try to talk than to try to. Possibly because they were different people with unlike interests and goals. Never mind, Bay doesn't have any.

That man has always seemed weird to Bay. Mostly because he does all these things on schedule in a heartbeat. Yet, she has so many questions for him. 'Don't you feel bored sometimes?  How do you manage to live alone? Do you have any friends? Can I recommend a better lunch option?' But she doesn't do or say anything. All she does is sit and watch. The only conversations they had were when Bay would ask him what the teacher was talking about in math. Or it was when he would ask her if she had an eraser or a pen. No one took the initiative to get to know the other by conversation. And thus, they have led different lives, but Bay would still observe him from a distance.

So both of them continue their lives while sitting next to each other, but Bay would still observe him from a distance.

But miraculously, he broke the silence.

"I might not be your seatmate soon." He says as he starts to put his things in his bag. Bay was taken aback by the sudden start of the conversation.

"What do you mean?"

"..We might change seating arrangements. That what happens after exams, right?" 

She doesn't understand the situation, but she answers all the same. "Oh yeah, maybe. Since it's a new semester."

But Bay silently wished she wouldn't change seats. Why? She doesn't know either.

So the next day, Bay waits for him again.

But on that day, he doesn't appear.