Living When Dying

Chapter 1

The wind had begun to pick up outside as I finally managed to finish unpacking most of my stuff, my back aching from having heaved boxes around all morning and setting up my room. I thought it would be alright to move in late into the flat since I barely had much stuff to unpack but I didn't take into consideration that most of the stuff I had took quite a bit of effort to put up.

Soft music blasted from the speakers plugged into the power outlet near the window, a stack of books propped on the desk for the day. The textbooks I had borrowed from the library at the end of the previous academic year sat next to them as well, waiting to be put away in my bag for class. I slowly turned to look at the clock I had on the wall, the time reading 12:00pm as my stomach growled.

I was feeling way too lazy to make lunch before going to class so I guess I have to grab a snack from the canteen on the way down to the lecture theatre. Moving to stuff my things into the backpack, I stopped to glance at the road where my flat was situated at, cars whizzing past by it and people walking to the nearby cafes and shops for lunch.

I should have known that this would be a noisy area for people to hang out at. I loathed sound and purposely chose to live on my own to avoid having to share and socialize with other human beings. When I had picked the place, I thought it would be a reasonable place to live in; I totally forgot that there were so many pubs in the area and one thing British students loved; pubs on a Friday and Saturday night.

This was going to be a pain.

It was only afternoon and already the narrow, two-way street that had apartments holding various numbers of students lined up on both sides was filled with people walking to class, home or just chatting with friends. The cars vrooming past was loud enough to make me want to clap my hands over my ears to block out the sound, the windows not doing much good in blocking out the sound. The room was freezing as well, my body shivering and clad in a jacket despite it being only September and around 15 degrees outside.

On the bright side, as small and freezing as the room could be, this was a good deal for a student trying to live on a budget and wanting personal space. My flat consisted of a bathroom and kitchen that was in the same vicinity as the bed and study area, giving me the chance to be lazy and not having to go out and cook with other people. I even had my own dryer and washing machine, which was heaven as I hated having to spend money on washing when I had to spend so much on accommodation as well. University did try to kill you by squeezing every penny out of a student's already dry pocket.

From the main door, the room opened up to the bathroom on the left before entering the bed area, which consisted of a queen-sized bed pushed against the wall with a rock solid bed, which I liked since it helped work out the nicks out of my back. On the right hand side was the kitchen, with two tiny hobs that should serve me well with what cooking I did along with the desk running beneath the high rise windows in front that gave me a view of the street below. Most of the furniture in the room was a dark blue in colour, giving the room a contemporary and slightly classy feel to it, although I doubt most of the furniture are actually of that high of a quality to begin with. If I actually took a deep breath, I could make out the smell of what I called 'modern smell', the smell reminding me of fresh paint and new furniture whenever I went into a furniture shop.

Aside from how the room originally looked, I had added my own touches to the space, a little smile and a tinge of satisfaction creeping up my mind as I looked at my handiwork. Posters were lined up along the empty white wall lining the side of the bed, giving me a good view of the many characters from the movies and anime I loved when I go to bed. Tiny figurines of characters were lined on my desk, my study books shoved into one corner of the very long desk a bit closer to the microwave than I would have deemed safe but it didn't matter since they were study books. My personal collection of manga and novels were arranged neatly by letter and title in a shelve running below the desk, allowing easy access should I need to reach for one when I'm bored and in need of a break.