Chapter 4: Old Memories and New People

After school, Avegaille decided to head out to the park by herself to clear off some stuff that had been bothering her ever since the start of the day. As she got to the park, she went to an area where there weren’t many people around. She sat down on the grass and leaned her back against the tree behind her. Then she closed her eyes as she sighed. As she was starting to calm down, she remembered something that happened not too long ago…

.-.-.-.

"Looks like I have no choice but to enroll you in a private school…" Mrs. Stewart muttered as she looked at Avegaille, who was lying on her bed with her head covered with pillows. "I know it's not your fault that you got suspended from school… at least it gives you a chance to continue your studies in other schools."

"But I don't want to go to school anymore!" Avegaille exclaimed as she quickly sat up and looked furiously at her mother. "It's not like those people can help me with my problems!"

"Just give it a try honey… I should also blame myself for neglecting you too much…" Mrs. Stewart said softly and sighed while she turned away from her daughter.

Avegaille kept quiet as she folded her arms across her chest and looked down. After a while, she looked at her mother once again, and saw how downhearted her mother was. Then, Avegaille got off her bed and went in front of her mother.

"Fine, I'll go to school again, but… I can't promise that I'll be a top student there…" Avegaille muttered and sighed.

"Thank you…" Mrs. Stewart said happily as she hugged her daughter and started crying.

.-.-.-.

As Avegaille opened her eyes, she noticed that there was someone standing right in front of her. She quickly stood up and looked at the person more carefully. Only then, she realized that it was none other than Nicole May.

"What… brings you here?" Avegaille asked as she looked at Nicole May curiously.

"It's not like there's something wrong with following you, is there?" Nicole May asked back, raising an eyebrow.

"No, but still, it makes me wonder…" Avegaille muttered as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Hmm okay then, I'll tell you. I want to know something from you," Nicole May said as she stared at Avegaille, waiting for an answer.

"…"

"You won't talk, that's fine with me, it's not like I'm forcing you…" Nicole May said as she shrugged and turned away from Avegaille. Then, she started to walk away from her.

"Hey wait!" Avegaille exclaimed as she tried to reach Nicole May's arm.

"Hmm?" Nicole May stopped walking and turned back to Avegaille.

"What exactly do you want to know from me anyways?"

"Well… what are you going to take for your extra curricular activities?"

Avegaille stared at Nicole May blankly as she sweat-dropped. She could not help but slap her forehead with her hand while she tried to laugh. Nicole May knew to herself it wasn't the right time to ask Avegaille a personal question so she decided to change the topic and predicted that Avegaille would react that way. Then, Nicole May sighed while Avegaille twitched.

"Well? I know following you here is rather absurd just to ask such a question…" Nicole May muttered as she placed her hands on her hips and stared at Avegaille.

"You know, you're so weird… but tell you what, I'll see if there's an activity that would interest me at that fair tomorrow… until then, I can't answer you," Avegaille replied. After that, she took her bag on the ground and quickly ran off.

"Makes me wonder if Avegaille would actually answer the question I had in mind if I did tell her what it really was…" Nicole May muttered to herself and walked off to another direction.

.-.-.-.-.-

"Mmm, I just found out something about Nicole May…" Andrea told Amelia as the two of them were preparing dinner together in the kitchen. She took out a bowl from the kitchen cabinet and placed it on the counter.

"What are you, some kind of stalker who is obsessed at knowing everything about Sandra and her family?" Amelia asked while she stared at Andrea exasperatedly.

"Oh come on, you know Sandra's just too awesome… anyways, about Nicole May, she is actually only eleven years old as of this time…" Andrea continued as she took the spatula Amelia was holding. "So, if she's studying in middle school at that age, it means she's very smart…"

"Tell that to someone who cares, please?" Amelia whined and sighed while she went near the refrigerator and took out the frozen goods to be cooked.

"Hmph, you're never fun when it comes to my fangirling," Andrea muttered and pouted. She looked down at the counter where all the ingredients were gathered.

Then, the kitchen backdoor opened, in which Avegaille entered and closed the door. She stared at her mother and her mother's friend, who were both preparing dinner together. Both mothers stopped moving and stared at Avegaille. Then, Avegaille went out of the kitchen without saying a word, leaving the two mothers alone.

"You think something happened to your daughter again?" Andrea asked as she turned to Amelia.

"I don't think I even want to know what it is… either way, she won't tell me anything about whatever happened to her anyways," Amelia said and sighed. Then, she looked down at all the ingredients on the counter. "So, what are we making anyways?"

"Well… let's do one of my favorite recipes!" Andrea exclaimed happily and started giggling.

Amelia looked at Andrea exasperatedly while Andrea started chopping the vegetables. She couldn't do anything else but to help her friend with the meal they both had to prepare for dinner.

.-.-.-.-.-

As Avegaille entered her room, she quickly sat on her bed and dropped her school bag on the floor. Then, she laid down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She was still thinking about what Nicole May really wanted to ask her. She knew from the tone of her voice that it was something very personal, something that she could never tell to anyone. Avegaille felt so frustrated at herself, she tried to ease the anger by covering her face with a pillow. Then, without her realizing, she fell asleep…

.-.-.-

"This will be your room. Of course, you'll also have someone with you for the rest of the school year… don't worry, it won't be that bad…" the instructor told Avegaille. Avegaille opened the door and entered the room while carrying her luggage. "Well, hopefully the both of you can be friends. There's a rumor going on that not many girls could last for a week with her."

Avegaille gulped after hearing the instructor's statement but decided to move on. As Avegaille saw the room, she saw a girl with long brown hair, wearing the same school uniform she was wearing, sitting on one of the beds while typing on the laptop. Then, Avegaille placed down her luggage and she approached the girl. The girl looked up at her and gave a rather skeptical look.

"So, you're my roommate?" the girl asked as she closed her laptop and stood up while carrying the laptop in her arms.

"Yeah, my name is Avegaille Stewart…" Avegaille replied while she laughed nervously and tried to smile. "What about yours?"

"Nicole May…" the girl replied as she turned away from Avegaille and paused for a while. Then she looked at Avegaille again, this time, in a rather annoyed manner. "Just don't expect us to be friends just because we're roommates…"

"Huh? Why not?" Avegaille asked in dismay.

"Just because I say so…" Nicole May muttered as she started to walk towards the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other things to do…"

Avegaille kept quiet after Nicole May got out of the room. Afterwards, she decided to unpack her things. Even if she knew her house was just a few miles away from Midway Academy, her mother insisted that she should stay in the school dormitory. Avegaille felt that either her mother was trying to recover from all the things that happened to her or her mother just wanted her to be closer to the students in the academy. She just shook her head and continued unpacking and arranging her things.

.-.-.-

It took some time before Nicole May could get back to her place, only because she was not familiar with Centralville's streets and places. She was thankful enough that she could still remember how to get back to the school's front gate from the park where she followed Avegaille at. Then, she had to walk to her place at that point since she told her driver not to pick her up after school. After a few more hours, Nicole May finally reached her destination and the security guard watching over the front gate quickly let her through. As Nicole May entered the rather huge mansion, her home, she saw her mother standing right in front of her. She already knew her mother was annoyed at her for coming home this late.

"Okay, I'll make this short… I demand an explanation for coming home this late right now, young lady!" Mrs. Rustford exclaimed furiously as she folded her arms across her chest and looked at Nicole May irritably.

"Gee, someone's concerned," Nicole May remarked sarcastically as she turned her head away from her mother.

"I do not have time for your sarcasm, Nicole!" Mrs. Rustford exclaimed irritably while she quickly held on Nicole May's shoulders and forcibly turned Nicole May to face her. She noticed the annoyed look in her daughter's face and tried to control herself from saying anything else.

"…I went to the park and decided to talk to an old friend, but after that, I didn't know how to get home and had to go back to the school just to trace my paths. As I tried to get back home, I realized that our house is miles away from my school… there, happy?" Nicole May looked at her mother exasperatedly as she tried to struggle from her mother's grip.

Mrs. Rustford quickly released Nicole May's shoulders and Nicole May walked away from her. After Nicole May left, Mrs. Rustford couldn't move from her spot until her PDA started to ring, like a telephone. She quickly took it out of her pocket and used the stylus to press on the touch screen. It seemed that the PDA had a video conferencing function and the person on the line was none other than her manager. Her manager was in a rather preppy mode and he started telling her about the new planned projects. Sandra couldn't say a word while her manager continued to tell her about the plans. In fact, she couldn't do anything to decline any proposed projects she didn't like.

.-.-.-.-.-

As Nicole May entered her room, she placed her bag on the floor, besides her bed and quickly took off her coat, putting it on top of her bag. Her room had a lot of bookshelves with various books in it and there was a door leading to the bathroom. There was also a desk piled with sheets of paper and besides the desk was another desk, this time, with a personal computer on it. Nicole May was very exhausted from walking and immediately flopped down on her bed. As she rested her head on the pillow, she looked up at the ceiling and she started remembering things that happened to her while she was in Midway Academy…

.-.-.-

"Gee, I can't believe you got stuck with a freak as your roommate," one of the girls said and started giggling. "But either way, it won't change the fact that you're still our friend. And not only that, at least we'll have someone to make fun of, isn't that right girls?"

The other girls started laughing in agreement while Nicole May kept quiet and continued listening to the conversation. She felt that if she did say something, they wouldn't bother listening to her or that they might not be interested at all.

"Melissa, I heard that Nicole's roommate had some major issues while she was studying in Centralville Elementary School," another girl chirped in.

"Well, whatever those major issues are, I'm pretty sure it'll be a good use to us for our amusement," Melissa proclaimed while everyone else other than Nicole May clapped in agreement. She noticed that Nicole May wasn't reacting at all. She quickly approached Nicole May and held on her right shoulder. "Hey, you with us, girl?"

"Yes, of course, I think I should figure out what those major issues are…" Nicole May replied nervously while she tried to grin.

"You can do that, since we know you're the smartest, and of course, the computer expert," Melissa added as she turned to the rest of the girls. "Hear that girls, Nicole's going to dig out some dirt about our new student!"

Everyone else cheered while Nicole May looked away from Melissa and tried to hide the guilt she was feeling for even agreeing to do something like that. Then, the discussion of the girls moved on to another topic, such as their teachers or even the latest hairstyle dominating the campus. Nicole May always had to take notes on what the girls were talking about, since it was the task given to her…

.-.-.-.-.-

The next day, Avegaille got up earlier than usual and this gave her enough time to prepare before leaving for school. She took the bag lying on the floor and quickly went out of her room to get downstairs, which she went to the kitchen afterwards. She saw her mother sitting by the dining table, reading a newspaper. Her mother quickly noticed her and placed down the newspaper on the table.

"Avegaille, do you think I should work as a teacher again?" Mrs. Stewart asked while Avegaille went closer to her. She sighed as she folded her arms across her chest. "I'm getting bored of my job as a sales lady, to be honest… Sure, the salary is decent, but a person constantly whining at you if you don't attend to their needs really annoys me."

"Well, if that's what you want, I don't see what's wrong…" Avegaille muttered and shrugged.

"But being a teacher was one the reason why your Dad couldn't stand me anymore…" Mrs. Stewart muttered as she looked away from Avegaille. Then, she started laughing to herself. "It's amusing how my family is a family of professional teachers who are scattered all over town. And your Dad didn't like the idea since he thinks it's a lot of work and I also have to manage things here in the house. But then again, I shouldn't be bothered to what other people think in the first place when it comes to what I want…"

"Gee, that explains Mr. Collins, my uncle…" Avegaille muttered exasperatedly while her mother looked at her curiously.

"Oh, so you met my little brother, Johnny?" Mrs. Stewart asked and giggled. "Although his real name is Jonathan… Like your sister's name is Jennifer but people would call her Jane. Anyways, he's a good teacher, trust me, but don't expect any special treatment from him just because he's your uncle…"

"I won't," Avegaille said and sighed. She saw the paper bag on the table, which was her lunch, and took it. "Anyways, I have to go. Good luck with the new job you're wanting…"

"Thanks honey," Mrs. Stewart said in return while she watched Avegaille leave the kitchen. Then, she picked up the newspaper on the table and continued reading it.

.-.-.-.-.-

As Avegaille walked through the hallways of the school, she saw that there weren't students in the classroom she passed through. Then, she remembered that today was the day, in which the extra-curricular fair was going to be held. The only problem was that Avegaille didn't hear about where it was going to be held since she didn't bother listening to her sister's announcement yesterday. She decided to look at the various places where it would be possible to hold such activity. First, she decided to look around the gymnasium, since it had the widest space enough to hold all the booths of various clubs. As soon as she opened the door of the gym, she saw that there were only a few classes with teachers lecturing them. Avegaille quickly ran off and immediately headed towards the cafeteria, to see if everyone was there. But before she could reach the cafeteria, someone grabbed her arm and tried to stop her.

"Nicole May!" Avegaille exclaimed surprisingly after she saw who pulled her arm.

"Hey…" Nicole May muttered and immediately released Avegaille's arm. She folded her arms across her chest and sighed. "Looking for the fair, aren't you?"

"Um, yeah…" Avegaille replied and laughed nervously. "Uh, do you know where it is?"

"Have you checked the function room?" Nicole May asked apathetically as she pointed to the direction where the function room was located. "Anyways, I'll see you later."

After that, Nicole May walked off and left Avegaille standing alone, pondering about just what happened. After Nicole May disappeared out of sight, Avegaille quickly rush to the direction where the function room was located. Eventually, she found the location, which was just next to the gym. The function room could be used for very large school events such as school dances, fairs, and seminars. Some say only the seniors could use the function room for school dances because of their special connection with the principal.

.-.-.-.-.-

"If we don't get any other new members for the school publication, we might as well say goodbye to the school paper funds and the school paper in general…" a student groaned in despair as she banged her head against the desk in front of her. Then, she lifted up her head as she turned to the person sitting on the desk. "With the seniors from last year graduating, there's no one else left to handle the publication… and I really wanted to be part of a publication so badly."

"I'm pretty sure some people might be interested enough to join us if we keep advertising," the student insisted. She got off the desk and stood up properly. "After all, we don't even know each other yet, but we're already working on something we both love."

"You make it so easy, Naz…" the other student groaned as she stared at her co-worker with exasperation.

"Hey, Lizzie, or should I call you, Elizabeth?" Naz retorted as she stared back at Elizabeth with exasperation. "We're both new at this, so, it would be at least nice if we knew someone else in this campus so we wouldn't be complaining like this."

Both of them were currently managing the school publication's booth for the extra-curricular fair, which was in the function room. Elizabeth Ann Jones and Natalie Howard, or commonly called as Naz, were both seventh-graders who wanted to continue the school's paper after the seniors who managed the school paper graduated from last year. Due to the fact that the seniors did not have any other junior members that were part of the school paper, the publication could almost be close to being abandoned if no one was willing to re-establish it. Neither one of them knew each other personally, but only agreed to work together because both of them wanted to be part of the school paper. Elizabeth had short hair, which seemed similar to Avegaille’s, but had her bangs mostly to the left. She was sporting a sleeveless blue hooded jacket and underneath was a sky blue shirt and a pinkish skirt. Naz on the other hand, had short blonde hair, in which she also wore a headband to keep the rest of her hair behind, and at the same time, also had some hair on the sides. She was wearing a purple shirt with a long sleeved striped shirt underneath and gray pants plus striped stocks.

While Elizabeth and Naz kept waiting for people to approach their booth, they noticed a student who was in a hurry but at the same time, who also looked very confused. Naz quickly approached the student while Elizabeth watched what Naz was doing with exasperation. The student, who was none other than Avegaille, was very confused at what Naz was saying.

"Hey, you must be new here, and it's your first time in a fair right, so why don't you join the school publication!" Naz declared with excitement and Avegaille stared at her blankly. "Come on, you know you want to… besides, I think you have a hidden ability for writing!"

"Uum, uuh… what? I'm not really fond of…" Avegaille muttered nervously while Naz started dragging her to their booth.

As soon as the two of them were now in front of the booth, Elizabeth quickly got up from her seat, immediately recognizing the person Naz just dragged in.

"Avegaille… is that you?" Elizabeth asked surprisingly, stunned at what she was seeing.

"What, you… you know this person?" Naz asked perplexedly as she turned to Avegaille.

"Who… are you people?" Avegaille asked nervously, staring at them blankly.