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It had been exactly 3 years and one college semester since the death of Mari.
And while Hero expected himself to be keeping track of it, he didn’t expect his first semester to be as…quiet, as it was.
College was supposed to be something entirely new and different, according to his parents. He’d have a lot of new experiences, they said. He’d make a lot of new friends, they said. He’d be dealing with a ton more work, they said.
They were only right about that last thing.
His semester was, as said before, quiet, save for a bit of work piling on him here and there. And a group project that he had to do all the work on. It was worth all the all-nighters he pulled, he told himself. It was worth all the sleep he lost, he told himself. It was fine.
…Well. From an objective standpoint, it was fine. He managed to pull off all A’s like he always does without a problem.
And now here Hero sat on New Year’s Eve, all alone in his dorm room.
Normally, he’d be with his family to celebrate both New Year’s and his own birthday, which usually got to be the priority instead of the new year. The minute the clock struck midnight would be when he got to blow out all the candles on his cake. Which would mean…about 19 of them, in a couple of hours.
But he already visited his family for winter break. He should’ve stayed longer, he thought. But it was too late for that. The next semester starts in a couple of weeks.
He sighed, stretching himself out on his room’s bed before flopping onto it, staring at the ceiling.
Why am I even awake right now? he thought to himself. There’s nothing to stay up for.
Well. There was New Year’s. There was his birthday. If you were to ask him if they were any important a few years ago, he’d happily say yes. At least, he’d agree that New Year’s was something important to be up for.
But if you were to ask him now, he wouldn’t know what to think. Neither felt any important, or exciting as they used to be. Hell, he didn’t really feel much of anything on Christmas, of all days.
It’s just the winter season, he told himself. He’d figured out that he was always feeling more depressed during the months in between November and March. December especially. Maybe it had to do with the shorter days. He wasn’t sure.
He checked the time on the clock. 11:35. He could go to sleep then and there and get up at a reasonable hour. If he got lucky. Waking up at around 9 wasn’t abnormal for him…but he’d rather be up at an earlier time. Gets things done more quickly. And it was supposed to help his mood…That’s what his mother told him, at least.
He didn’t have anything to wait for, anyways…
Unless he counted his roommate going out shopping as something to wait on. What was his name again…? Mo…Montgomery?
Montgomery. That’s right.
Oh, wait. He liked being called Monty.
Monty. That’s his roommate’s name.
Hero had barely ever spoken to him throughout the semester. There were a few exchanges here and there, but not much. He was just being nice, is all. They didn’t share any classes, and they were only sharing the dorm because they couldn’t just live alone.
They weren’t friends or anything.
Not even acquaintances.
It wasn’t because Hero found Monty annoying or anything. Far from it. He hadn’t interacted with him enough to even come up with that kind of conclusion. He just…couldn’t find it in himself to try talking to people. Not even his own roommate. He just didn’t have the energy.
But, you know what they say. Speak of the devil, and he’ll arrive.
Just as Hero was thinking about him, the room’s door swung open to reveal the glasses-wearing red-headed klutz of a man he was stuck with for the school year. Said man was holding a small grocery store bag.
“Hey, Henry!” Monty greeted him with a smile.
What was he shopping for, so late at night, Hero asked himself as Monty set the bag onto the room’s desk, wiping sweat from his forehead.
“So, I saw the date on your calendar…and I saw what you wrote on it…” Hero sat up, seeing his roommate practically have to unwrap the plastic bag to reveal…
…a cake.
“And I saw that your birthday’s on New Year’s.”
He bought a cake.
“So I thought it’d be nice to get you something!”
Hero blinked.
“You’ve been kinda down in the dumps ever since you got back from visiting family, so…I thought I could try to cheer you up a little,” Monty said, taking the cake out of the plastic bag. It was just a generic chocolate cake from a grocery store’s bakery. Nothing special. There wasn’t even any writing on it.
Nothing like the extravagant cakes his mother made for him every year. Just…something ordinary. Ordinary like what his family said he wasn’t.
“Oh! I was gonna get those candles that were just numbers, so you’d just have to blow out a huge 1 and 9.” Monty pulled out a packet of candles from the bag, along with a lighter. “Buuut the store didn’t have any 1s. So we’re gonna have to settle with 19 whole candles! Uh, you are turning 19, right? Or am I getting it wrong…”
Hero looked back at the clock. 11:50. He blinked, lips twitching the slightest bit upwards.
“Oh! I was also thinking that you could blow out your birthday candles when the clock hits midnight, so it’d be exactly when your birthday arrives! Sounds pretty cool, right?”
Hero looked back at his roommate, staring.
He closed his eyes, about to sigh…
…and bursted into laughter, much to Monty’s surprise.
“Yeah,” he said in between his bouts of laughter, “It sounds really cool.”
Monty beamed in response.
“Awesome! I know it’s kinda weird that I’m doing this for you, since…y'know, we’re not really friends or anything,” he said, placing the candles on Hero’s cake. “But…You needed some cheering up…Actually, if you want, you could take this as an offer for us to be friends.”
He paused upon holding up the lighter.
“Actually…That sounds too much. Take this as an offer for us to be acquaintances.”
“I'll…take you up on that offer,” Hero said to him, with his own smile.
“Sweet!”
And with that, the candles were lit. One last look at the clock said it was 11:59. It’d hit 12 at any second. And one last look at Monty said that he was a good person, though Hero didn’t have to look any deep to see that.
He’d be a good friend—
“Alright! Three, two, one…Make sure to make a wish, okay?”
—er, acquaintance.
“Happy Birthday, Henry!”
…Maybe the next year will be a lot better than the last, with him around.