Andy yawned, placing his frayed school bag down on the classroom floor, taking a seat in the farthest corner of the room. Back there in the darkness was where he wasn't noticed, and he liked to keep it that way.
"Good-morning class, I'm sorry I'm late! The snow was...well... unfriendly this morning, I had to defrost my tires and -" the tutor paused staring at the class abnormally, they just stared back, eyes half closed. "Thankyou for the enthusiasm"
What had happened last night was a blur, he remembered what had occurred, but... after the ice cold hand grasping his and the raspy voice telling him to sleep, everything became black and the next thing he new, it was morning.
He'd woken in cold sweat, his chest rising quicker than it normally would, and his legs quivering everytime he attempted standing, which was about ten times before he managed to calm down.
Katherine had insisted he had the flu, but his father thought otherwise, and ordered him to go to school, since they couldn't afford petrol, he had to walk through the snow to get to the college.
When waking, the first thing he noticed was the bandage carefully bound around his shoulder, covering the wound fully, he had smiled, thinking it'd been his parents. But when Andy had consulted them about it, they'd shaken their heads explaining that they didn't even have any emergency equipment, his father only snorted saying that even if they did have the supplies they wouldn't have wasted it on him.
Once returning to his bedroom he'd realized he'd missed a note sitting quietly on his folded school uniform, held down with the exact pin he'd been desperately searching for the night before, he had hesitated, curious to know if the ink the strangers had used was actually a red marker or... ... he picked it up reading how they'd addressed his name.
"To 'Stitcher', you may want to sew that wound up of yours, just an idea" Andy read for the third time that day once pulling it from his uniform pocket, he placed it back smiling slightly.
He'd kept the card in his pocket all morning, it made him feel lighthearted, even if they were complete strangers, they seemed more kinder than his parents, if that were possible.
Sewing class was a subject Andy had favored, it was his expertise, he'd sewn since he could handle a needle, but that hadn't ever made him less of an outcast in the study group, for he was the only male attending. The teacher continued with her rambling, clarifying how they were going to continue the stitch patterns they'd started the week before, but since he'd finished the pattern on the first day he was planning to try out the strangers idea.
"If you have finished you're sewing design, I have another activity for you to begin" the tutor finished, much to Andy's disappointment.
He was hoping to be able to sew at free-will, not having to create a particular thing. The boy lifted his arm up, indicating he was finished with his previous project, although the teacher already had her eyes settled on him expectantly.
"Right then, Andrew Collins, partner up with Sayuri Fuyu, I want you both to create any stitch pattern you want" she commanded, pointing to the girl sitting confidently at the front of the class. "Impress me and I may be able to lift your grades even more"
It wasn't surprising that he had been paired up with the girl, they were both at the top of their rank, except he was quiet and disliked attention and she was stubborn and liked to think of herself as more superior than others. Sayuri nodded politely, adjusting her glasses onto the brim of her stubby nose, then strutted over to the dark corner in which he was hiding.
She had black short hair which she wore dead straight, and her uniform skirt commonly designed for knee hight was far from it, much shorter than how the others wore theirs, her black pulp shoes seemed to forever keep their shine which Andy thought would be due to how often she polished them.
