"Logan, are you awake?" The bedroom door opened a crack. Amanda gently turned the doorknob, peering into the slightly dim room. Clearly here to wake him, her tone was cautious, as if afraid of disturbing him.
"Mn, I'm awake."
Logan had been awake for a while, just staring blankly at the ceiling. Rubbing his eyes at her words, he got up and proactively jumped out of bed to draw the curtains.
The intense summer sunlight flooded in.
"Good that you're awake. Go wash up first, I've made breakfast. Come down and eat later." Amanda seemed like she wanted to advise him about something but held back, finally closing her mouth tightly and unusually refraining from bustling about the room.
The sound of footsteps on the stairs faded away step by step, feeling quite different from usual. Logan guessed his mother was controlling her steps. He couldn't help but smile slightly.
While getting dressed, the sunlight fell on the calendar on the wall. He glanced at it: June 6th.
Outside the window, the residential complex was already lively at eight in the morning.
Further out, traffic was bustling. Although Fresno had just entered early summer, the temperature had already risen quite high. But hot as it was, blanketed in summer like everywhere else, what set it apart was the slight, special anxiety hanging in the air.
Car radios, local news stations… all added another layer of emotion, one that belonged to the students and their parents.
Today was the college entrance exam.
After washing up, he went downstairs to eat, carrying his exam-specific bag. Amanda was washing dishes, while Frank sat on the sofa, reading a newspaper. Both tried their best to move quietly, attempting to create a relaxed atmosphere.
'But it's a bit too deliberate, isn't it...' Logan ate calmly, complaining inwardly. Halfway through, Amanda checked her exam bag. Finding nothing else to do, she looked around and finally sat down in front of Logan.
"You need to eat this egg."
"If you feel full, that's enough, no need to overeat..."
"Got everything... don't be nervous."
Amanda rambled a bit here and there. Once she started, she couldn't help saying a little more. Then, Frank gave a light cough from the sofa and said with an air of authority, "What are you doing? There's no need to say anything now."
He shifted his posture, "You've been annoying him these past two days. Saying more might backfire."
Amanda glanced at him and held back, no longer reciting those precautions. In the past, she probably wouldn't have been so polite to Frank. In truth, she had memorized everything better than the examinee herself. Saying so much was also a way to calm her own nerves.
During these two consecutive days of exams, many families would probably spend their time like this.
When Logan indicated he was finished eating, Frank checked the time, waved his hand grandly, tossed aside the newspaper he hadn't turned a page of, grabbed the car keys, and they set off.
On the road, Frank glanced at his son out of the corner of his eye. Seeing he was truly in good spirits, he didn't say much.
Only after dropping him off at school and getting out of the car did Frank fall silent for a brief moment as he looked at the sea of people at the exam entrance.
He patted Logan on the shoulder, who is already a head taller than him, and said, "Do well. Good luck."
"...Mn, got it."
Half an hour before the start, Logan merged into the stream of examinees flowing into the various school buildings. He saw David and some other classmates, but after exchanging brief greetings, they each went to their own exam rooms to wait.
Some wore relaxed smiles, while others had serious expressions.
Logan sat in the stifling classroom, surrounded by a circle of fellow examinees. He sat in the first row, completely inconspicuous, truly like an ordinary student quietly waiting for the test papers to be handed out.
During the long wait, he stared blankly at the wall. Everything was covered up, even the countdown numbers in the corner of the blackboard had been erased.
A warm breeze brushed his cheek from the open window. Logan turned to look outside at the locust trees and the green shade.
The entire campus was unusually quiet, probably except for winter and summer breaks, it had never been this quiet before... It was the scene of the last summer of youth laid out before him.
At this indescribable moment, he truly felt the passage of time.
Today was Logan's college entrance exams. From now on, he would also enter the next stage in the complex, heavy, dust-laden journey of life. Having wielded kunai through bloodshed and killing, he would become a vibrant college student. Everything felt incredibly wondrousand full of anticipation.
Ding...
The bell rang. The exam began promptly at nine o'clock.
…
As the days crept forward, Logan naturally had sufficient psychological expectation and preparation for welcoming his own college entrance exams, graduating from high school, and completing one of the important turning points in an ordinary life.
Changes in teachers and classmates, daily routines with David and others, the evolving reminders from his parents as the date drew nearer, the final review sprint before the exams… he could keenly feel this process.
Logan was no ordinary person. Even though he had safely returned to modern society, he clearly recognized his own uniqueness.
Having power did have some benefits, after all.
In his heart, regarding this important exam, he held a seriousness that faced it squarely, but he wouldn't devote his entire being to it like his peers, for whom it might be the only thing in their small world. As for nervousness, there was definitely some, but not much.
What was important were the word, graduation. The meaning they carried seemed far more profound.
Transitioning from high school to university was crucial both from a social and a personal growth perspective. This was especially true for Logan. His long, tortuous experience of shuttling between two worlds made the symbolism contained infinitely weighty.
As if bidding farewell to the past, to a chapter of life.
Logan focused on answering the questions after the bell rang. The first subject was English. The question types and exercises had long been familiar to him under the teachers' relentless bombardment... Another thing worth mentioning is that Logan had studied hard before the exam, approaching every subject with great seriousness and no carelessness.
Of course, there were still questions he couldn't answer. Logan worked through them based on his own ability and reasoning, fulfilling his duty as a student without seeking perfection.
Being serious and leaving no regrets, that was Logan's requirement for himself. And leaving no regrets, this is how many things are in life. Most people may not achieve it, and those who can are already outstanding.
For Logan, exams brought neither special pressure nor particular ease. After the unusual beginning, it felt more like passing by uneventfully.
Closing the pen, handing in the paper, resting, then the next subject. Of course, amidst the multitude of candidates who had prepared for so long, all the pre-exam publicity, nervousness, and agony seemed to transform into calm acceptance once the exam began, accepting whatever the outcome might be. The summer heat was intense. June 6th, June 7th… just like that, the two days passed calmly and uneventfully.
Logan did not participate in the post-exam celebrations or the revelry of those who had been overly suppressed. He attended the graduation dinner organized by the school, took group photos, but after having a meal alone with David, he returned home, pondering whether to go to Tokyo or just dully wait for the summer vacation to end.
Yet unexpected things still found their way to him, like an unforgettable tail end of youth.
When he ate with David, they talked about the universities they would attend later and what fields they wanted to go into.
Of course, they didn't figure anything out, but they did eat several pounds of crayfish.
Olivia, who was in New York, sent a congratulatory text message, strongly recommending that he go to school there. Logan knew exactly what she was up to, nothing more than wanting close contact with the world's only supernatural being and half-'teacher' for guidance, hoping he would take her showing off and flying high. Logan righteously stated that he would for consider it.
He knew she genuinely cared for him too, but it wasn't that urgent right now, so he'll wait until the scores came out.
Sometime in mid-June, Logan returned to school to pick up his graduation photo and some documents. Normally speaking, if he didn't come back to visit teachers later, this would be his last time at his alma mater.
The midday sun was dazzling. The cicadas' chirping made people drowsy. Logan wore a casual T-shirt and mid-length shorts, his slender shadow cast on the gravel path between the teaching buildings.
He quickly got his things from his homeroom teacher. In the office, the gray-haired teacher placed his hands gravely on Logan's shoulders, wanting to say something about the past teacher-student bond and perhaps offer a couple of eternally meaningful mottos beneficial for life. But looking at Logan's not particularly memorable face, he hesitated and then gave up.
He was a virtuous, ordinary teacher. Logan remembered his face, thanked him for his kindness, and gave up his spot to other waiting classmates.
Students came and went continuously. It was still school time for the first and second years, so the entire campus seemed quiet and scarcely populated. Just as Logan reached the first floor, he heard a clear voice calling from behind.
"Logan!"
Long hair flowing, figure still youthful/immature, Diane, carrying some things, ran over, panting heavily.
Logan looked surprised, stopped walking, and waited for her to reach him.
"Oh, hello." He said, glancing over her. "Here to pick up your things too?"
It was a pointless remark. Logan lifted the bag in his hand and laughed twice.
Perhaps because she had been in a hurry, Diane pressed a hand to her chest to catch her breath for a few seconds, subconsciously smoothing her disheveled hair.
Throughout this, her eyes remained fixed on Logan, as if afraid he would run away.
"Yeah, got them," Diane exhaled, her voice always soft, "Just now... I asked a classmate, who said you had just left. When I saw someone who looked like you, I called out. Sorry."
Their teaching building had several floors still occupied by students in class, so loud noise was rather conspicuous.
Logan waved his hand and said, "It's fine."
He noticed she was wearing a beige-yellow dress today. Her face, full of collagen, also had some makeup on it, pink and tender, with fine sweat being dried by the wind.
Not a school uniform, but cool and moving casual clothes on an obedient and lovely female classmate, breaking the usual boundaries. It attracted Logan's gaze, and he unconsciously looked her over a few more times.
"Is there something you need?"
"Um..." Perhaps from being stared at or the hot weather, the temperature on Diane's face didn't cool down, it seemed to grow even redder.
She clearly had something she wanted to say. She averted her eyes, twisting a strand of her hair...
"I... I have something for you... Please read it." Diane said, as if mustering tremendous resolve. She pulled something out of her bag and handed it over with bowed head.
Logan saw the object and froze. It was a pink, cute-style letter paper, with a heart printed in the middle.
It looked very much like a love letter.
"...Okay." Logan glanced at the girl expressionlessly. After handing over the item and speaking, Diane seemed relieved of a great burden. She pressed her lips together but didn't leave, instead waiting right there.
His expression unchanged, he took it, opened it steadily, and quickly scanned the contents.
The contents... were indeed a love letter.
The scene fell quiet. The cicadas on the trees continued to chirp desperately.
The story of the last summer had finally reached its end. In the tranquil summer, the familiar desks, paths, and cafeteria of three years seemed to sit idle in the corners of the campus as if nothing had happened. The younger students studied diligently in their classrooms. If they had the chance, they might hear the sounds that once echoed incessantly on the higher floors.
"Tea… cher, good… bye…!"
"Tea… cher, see… you…!"
But in the end, everything was very calm, not at all like it was coming to an end.
The tireless chirping mixed with sunlight spilled over Fresno High School, pausing in front of a teaching building. Below, the shadows and the light covering the bricks drew a clear line. The camera pulled back, showing the two people at the edge of the first-floor corridor from afar.
The noon air was so hot it shimmered. Taking a step outside the ledge was met with unbearable heat, the kind of sun that neither the wind from the window nor the whirring of electric fans could disperse.
A lazy second-year student sneaking a peek out the window might realize, 'Was that a confession?'
Yes. The departing seniors, slipping away quietly, should leave their final mark, reluctantly. In the last youthful summer, besides graduation, there might also be pure-hearted confessions.
The boy bowed before her.
After a long pause, the girl also bowed, turned, and gradually walked away.
No one would hear what youth was saying, except for the flowers beneath the leaves, the birds in flight.