All Chapters of This Life, I Sever All Ties With You: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

My homeroom teacher, Zachary Allen, startled me out of my daze when he shouted, "Alfred Grant! Have you filled in your university application form yet? You're the only one who hasn't applied yet!"I looked down at the blank application form on my table, my fingers trembling against my will.Instead of the cold, mechanical hum of a cardiac monitor, cicadas were chirping outside the window. Sunlight streamed through the window pane onto the form, making my eyes burn from the glare.I'd been reborn.I was back in the year 1977, on the last day for submitting our university application forms.In my past life, it was in this very classroom that I decided to apply to Northall University's physics department instead of the National University of Defensive Technology as I originally intended.I did it to pursue my crush, Susan Lane, simply because she once mentioned wanting to see the snow at Null Lake.So, like an idiot, I treated her dreams as my own and her wishes as royal decrees.

After the day Susan confronted me, we weirdly yet tacitly started giving each other the cold shoulder.However, she showed up before me far more frequently than before.I would see her while eating in the cafeteria or on the way home from school.I would even see her subtly peering around a corner on my way to pick up an exercise book from the teacher's office.Whenever she caught my gaze, she would pull back immediately.Yet, I couldn't be bothered to speculate on her motives.With the exams right around the corner, every second counted.Three days before the entrance exams, it was a bitingly cold winter night accompanied by a howling northern wind.I was bent over my desk, reviewing the last few questions I'd gotten wrong, when I suddenly heard a knock at my window.When I looked up, I saw Susan standing outside the window, her fingers tapping lightly on the glass.Her nose had turned red from the cold, and her shoulders were trembling faintly. She wasn't wearing a coat, on

Day after day passed, and my life became a monotonous routine. Each day was practically a carbon copy of the last. Even the letter that arrived like clockwork every month had become part of it.During my junior year, my academic advisor, Brad Lester, extended an invitation to join a classified national defense project that would last five years.It was a rare opportunity, but five years was a long time. I didn't want my family to worry, so I didn't give him a concrete answer.With the deadline fast approaching, I finally worked up the courage to knock on his office door, which had been left slightly ajar.When he saw me, his face lit up. "Have you made your decision, Alfred?"I took a deep breath and was just about to answer when…"Alfred!" A familiar voice rang out from the end of the hallway. It was so sharp that it nearly pierced my eardrums.I whipped around.Susan stood there, panting. Her cheeks were flushed from running."I came to find you, Alfred! I got accepted as

The truck wound its way through the mountains before finally reaching a research facility so deeply hidden that it was practically invisible from the outside.From then on, my life became even more monotonous. Every day revolved around analyzing data and working with endless streams of information.However, during the winter of the project's third year, an urgent telegram arrived at the base.I was adjusting equipment in the laboratory when Brad walked in with a grave expression. "Alfred, you have news from home."The telegram contained just one line. "Your parents died in a car crash. Return immediately."My fingers began trembling uncontrollably. I nearly crushed the thin slip of paper until it tore in my hand.By the time I returned to my hometown, my parents' bodies had already been taken to the funeral home. I knelt before their black-and-white portraits in the memorial hall. It felt as though a lump was lodged in my throat. I couldn't even bring myself to cry.My parents h