CHAPTER I
6:00 am. and as always, I got up before the blissful alarm clock made that irritating sound.
Fucking alarm clock, I didn't even know why I had it if at the end of the day I didn't even use it.
I stripped off the little tank top I was wearing as pyjamas next to my underwear and put on my sports clothes.
A pair of joggers at the height of the twin, one of my dark grey windbreaks and my nike, my companions of each morning.
6:05 and I left the house, running at a low pace for someone like me.
Running, in whatever form it took, was therapeutic for me. The slight splash of the sole of my sneakers against the wet asphalt from the morning dew, the calm of the streets, the peace of the forest and the slight murmur of the song of the day through my headphones.
The asphalt gave way to the wet ground as I got closer to the beach. That beach that had been my most faithful teardrop throughout these last six years.
I got rid of my slippers and let my feet become one with the wet sand bathed by the cold sea water.
My feet sank, melted with the wet sand giving me a peace that only this beach was able to give me.
It was automatic. The slippers were accompanied by the other pieces of clothing while my feet moved alone to the rough water as in the apparent calm of the ocean that was bathing the coasts.
I was cold, perhaps icy, but my high temperature was a good shelter from the icy rush of the waters against my body.
A whistle was enough to break the calm that the water gave me.
About fifteen metres from the water he was waiting for me, with a towel.
I got out of the water, trying to get the maximum amount of water out of my body before reaching his height and receiving the towel that he so willingly offered me.
"How was the water?" he asked, still smiling.
"Relaxing" I answered as I wrapped myself in the towel he had provided.
"How long have you been awake Matt?" he asked me once, I had my feet back in my slippers.
"Half past five, maybe earlier."
"Matt, you must rest; you know that" he scolded me as he ran beside me.
"I can handle this, you know" I answered while looking ahead.
"I know you can, Matt, but I'm worried about my best friend" he replied, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"I know Tony, I know."
The rest of the way we went through in silence plagued by the clatter of our shoes against the asphalt.
"At 8:10 at your door" he reminded me of when he went ahead and entered his house, which was next door to mine.
Dad was already awake when I entered the house, leaning over the kitchen island with his coffee cup; he raised his head in a stoic greeting when he saw me pass in front of him.
That's the way it always was, this was our routine for 6 years now.
My room was still as spotless as ever, presided over by the bed, the desk full of books and the odd poster that I didn't dare take down.
The shower welcomed me like every morning.
Ten minutes and I was ready, wrapped in those thick black trousers next to my white sweatshirt and black boots.
7:30 in the morning and Dad had already left to do his work, leaving an infamous amount of food on the kitchen table that I knew would not be left over.From the first change my appetite multiplied exponentially and eating was an essential part of my day.
Bacon, eggs, cereals, pancakes, fruit and juice; I eat them every day.
It was our routine, a stoic greeting, a shower and a silent goodbye in the form of breakfast.
We were my father and I, we were what was left of us.
I quietly collected each and every one of my breakfast dishes and put them in the dishwasher, turning it on after putting everything back in its place.
It was 8:10am and the unmistakable horn of Anthony's second-hand Ford Ranger was there.
I grabbed my backpack and left the house, having secured the door even though I lived in the safest neighbourhood in the whole city.
No one steals on the Whitecreek Reservation.
I got into my friend's tall truck and we set off for college.
The town of Camden, Maine; growing up next to West Penobscot Bay, a small coastal town that if you don't say it right goes unnoticed.
The van drove along the road parallel to the bay on its way to the UMA Rockland Center, the closest university to Camden.
It was private but when the rector is your father the entrance is assured.
Tony parked in the same place as always, two hundred meters from the main halls of the university; medicine and engineering.
He said goodbye to me a few minutes before the first bell rang, heading for the Engineering Hall where he was already in his third year of Mechanical Engineering.
My feet moved by themselves as I entered the first class of the day, Anatomy.
At my desk was my classmate, Michael, whose short gold hair was a modern hairstyle.
"Hi Matt" he greeted me when I got to his side, dropping my backpack at the foot of the bench.
"Bright" I replied in a dry nod.
"Is that any way to greet your friend?"he asked as he tapped my shoulder, not moving an inch.
"Forgive me Mike, today is not an easy day for me" I said in a whisper that his fine ear was able to hear.
"I'm so sorry," he added, caressing my shoulder gently in a show of support. -"You know you can count on me for anything you need, Matty,"- he whispered when he saw the teacher enter the classroom.
Silence took over the classroom as soon as the teacher made his entrance.
The class that day focused on cell reproduction and I kept quiet as usual.
The classes went by one after another until lunchtime when I, Mike and Ricky, another of our classmates only from a higher grade, headed for the central university cafeteria, where Tony was already presiding over a table next to the four trays of food.
I sat down next to my best friend, who offered me a calm smile as soon as I positioned myself next to him.
"Have you heard?" asked the older man at the table.
"Did we hear what, Ricky?" asked Tony.
"Three new students have just enrolled." he said in passing.
"In the middle of the year?" asked Mike.
"It's strange, who would start at a new university in the middle of the year?" asked Anthony for everyone.
"I don't know that, all I could find out was that it was two boys and a girl, all brothers." said Ricky.
"You're such a nosy." I said, looking at my mashed potatoes.
"We can't all live in our inner world, Matthew." he said.
My head rose automatically, staring into his greyish blue eyes.
"Don't call me Matthew, Ricky" I managed to mumble before pulling myself out of the chair and picking up my things after throwing a 50 on the table without knowing where it landed.