Alice wakes up from her sleep to check her phone's calendar and realizes that she has to go to school again after December's month's break.
"Ugh, school is the worst!" She mumbled to herself as she reluctantly got up and got ready.
She took a shower, dried her hair, and wore her school uniform. She heads down the stairs and greets her grandfather at the table as he listens to the morning radio.
"Morning Grandpa." She said while yawning.
"Good morning darling, I made breakfast for you." Her grandpa told her.
She went to sit down with her grandpa and began eating whilst drowsy.
"You seem tired Alice, did you get enough sleep last night?" He asked her about her wellbeing.
"I thought I did, I guess I need to get used to sleeping a bit earlier since school is starting again." She said while rubbing her eyes.
"I see, so you're finally going into 11th grade this year right?" He asked.
Alice nodded as she chewed on her strawberry jam sandwich.
"I see, I remember back then when you used to be so small when you first started middle school. You haven't grown since" He said while wiping his tears.
Her grandpa's comment struck a nerve in Alice and she gave her grandpa a death glare.
"S-scary..." Her grandpa muttered.
After she finished breakfast, Alice waved goodbye to her grandpa and left the house. She began walking to school and encountered a stray cat along the way. Her school isn't far from her home so she walked there every day since she entered high school. Alice soon arrived at her school and went to her new classroom where she met up with her friends.
"Allie, Allie over here!" A girl calls Alice by her nickname.
Alice began walking over towards her friend. Two other girls crept up on her and hugged her as she got there.
"Alice it's been so long!" One of the girls said while hugging her tightly.
"Raani it's only been a month, you're so clingy at times." Alice said while enduring her hug.
"You don't miss us?" The other girl said, beginning to feel a bit down.
"Of course I do Airi, it's just that I've been busy with stuff that's all." She told them trying to get out of their hug.
Her friend from earlier felt a bit left out and went over to join in the fun.
"AINI NOT YOU TOO!" Alice screams while being drowned by her friends.
Alice scolded them after the hug and sat down at her desk which was reserved for her by her friends. During recess, the gang brought their tables together and ate lunch together.
"So how did your vacation go guys? I recently climbed Mount Akinabalu!" Raani said and showed them a picture of her climbing the mountain.
"Must be tough right? But you are quite the athlete so I guess it was good for you." Airi said to Raani.
"Yup, it was a hard hike, but the hikers there were pretty helpful, how about you three?" Raani asked them.
"I went to the Peninsular with my parents to visit my grandfather. The village air felt so fresh there!" Aini told them.
"Your hometown is in Setar, right? must be great to live there" Airi said while she envisioned herself running in the soft breeze in the paddy fields of Keldah.
"How about you Airi?" Aini asked curiously.
"I went to Port Island and visited many heritage sites there. I also saw some crabs and I messed around with them." Airi told them with a mischievous grin.
