Mid-March, after a heavy rain, the rare sunny skies unfolded over Sea City.
As soon as the warning bell rang, Albert Taylor rushed back to Class two with the freshly gathered news in an excited flurry, "Breaking news, breaking news, we've got a new transfer student in our class, a girl, and she's the super pretty type."
The moment he spoke, the already clamorous classroom buzzed with even more excitement.
Students began talking all at once, trying to outdo each other.
"Really? That's not another one of your pranks, is it, Joe?"
Albert Taylor, the class's sports representative, was famously nosy and gossipy; there wasn't a piece of small talk or rumor in the whole grade that he wasn't aware of.
At his most exaggerated, he even knew which toilet the grade supervisor used after suffering a stomach upset that day.
Because of his sturdy build and wiry muscles, the classmates had given him the nickname "Joe."
