Chapter 11: Facts and Rumors

It was already Saturday, the next day. Nicole May got a call from her Dad, telling her that he would come to pick her up. Even though her father wasn't familiar with the city, he had a special device installed in his car that directed him to places through coordinates. He only gave Nicole May some details to how the device worked and Nicole May instantly gave him the coordinates he needed. Nicole May also had a program in her mobile phone that had a map and also could give out her current location through coordinates. Avegaille was a bit surprised that something like that already existed and thought it was only possible in fiction. Of course, Nicole May explained that it was still under the testing phase. Her Dad’s business involved anything new and technological, ranging from small devices up to modern cars. It was another reason why her father was still in New York, since that was where the headquarters for the business was.

Avegaille and Nicole May were in the living room, waiting for Mr. Rustford to arrive and pick up Nicole May. It was just a few minutes after the two of them had breakfast. Nicole May was still trying to forget the event that happened between her and Avegaille while they were still in bed. Apparently, Avegaille took a while before she could actually sleep and moved quite a lot. When Nicole May woke up, she saw that Avegaille's arm were around her chest and Avegaille's head cuddled to her shoulder. She quickly panicked after that, which woke up Avegaille.

As Nicole May wrapped her arms around her bag, Avegaille took the remote control for the television, which was on the coffee table, along with Nicole May's books. Before Avegaille turned on the television, she looked at Nicole May, who was very quiet and flustered. Avegaille tried to think of something that could make Nicole May relax for a bit, but she couldn't think of a single one. Then, Avegaille thought that asking her random questions might help take her mind off the little incident that happened earlier.

"Nicole May, have you heard of the rumor about the perverted nerds in the science lab?" Avegaille asked and Nicole May slowly turned to her, with a rather skeptical look in her face.

"What?" Nicole May asked as she placed her bag on the table and then folded her arms across her chest. She was confused at what Avegaille was trying to do.

"Ah, so you haven't… it's a rumor that cheerleaders are paranoid about… I just heard it from Naz a few days ago…" Avegaille continued and giggled. "Apparently, if you go to the science lab outside of classes, like say, lunch time, and you're wearing a skirt, the perverted nerds will come to you."

"Huuh?" Nicole May paused for a while, and when she realized Avegaille mentioned Natalie's name, she looked exasperated. She sighed and leaned her back against the sofa.

"Eh, what's wrong now?" Avegaille asked and noticed Nicole May staring at the black screen of the television.

"Natalie likes making up stories, doesn't she?" Nicole May muttered bitterly and groaned. "Honestly, do you really believe everything she says?"

"Well, eh, I don't know… I mean, it's just a rumor, and yeah, at least sharing that with you had a good effect," Avegaille replied and smiled.

"Eh?" Nicole May kept quiet for a while and realized that she was a bit more relaxed, compared to earlier. She finally understood what Avegaille was trying to do, and somehow felt a bit better. "Yeah, I get it…"

Avegaille giggled and Nicole May sighed with relief. Their moment together was cut short when the doorbell rang. Mrs. Stewart, who was in the kitchen, quickly ran up to the door to see who it was. As she opened the door, she saw a tall, muscular man wearing a formal suit with a red necktie. The man had blonde hair and his hair was neatly combed. Behind him was a rather luxurious black two-door Mercedes-Benz. He grinned as he noticed Mrs. Stewart's expression.

"Ah, you must be Mrs. Stewart. Nicole May told me that you're also the school principal," the man said happily as he tucked one of his hands into his pocket and stretched out the other hand, gesturing a handshake. "The name's Douglas Rustford, nice to meet you… uh…"

"The name's Amelia, sir," Mrs. Stewart said while she uneasily gripped unto Mr. Rustford's hand and shook it. Then, she let go and Mr. Rustford placed his other hand into his pocket. "Why not come in for a while? I mean, we can talk inside."

"No need to be formal, Amelia," Mr. Rustford said as the two of them entered the hallway leading to the living room, where Avegaille and Nicole May were.

Mr. Rustford saw Nicole May sitting on the sofa, and as Nicole May saw her father right next to her, she quickly stood up and hugged him. Mr. Rustford laughed a little while Nicole May looked up at him. Mrs. Stewart was standing on the opposite side of the sofa, next to Avegaille, still feeling a bit anxious over someone with a very high profile.

"Thanks for letting my daughter stay here for the night… I know she can be very picky sometimes. Maybe I should buy her another car so her escorts can have another car to use to pick her up in case one breaks down," Mr. Rustford remarked and he laughed a bit.

"Dad!" Nicole May exclaimed and pouted. She looked uneasy while she quickly let go of her father and turned to Avegaille and Mrs. Stewart. "Don't mind my Dad… he's always like that…"

"Ah, it's no problem, Mr. Rustford," Mrs. Stewart said and laughed nervously after hearing what Nicole May said. "Your daughter's always welcome to stay here."

"Just call me Doug," Mr. Rustford said and grinned. Then, he looked at Avegaille, who was sitting on the sofa, looking at him with a rather confused look. "You must be Avegaille… Nicole May told me quite a lot about you over the emails she sent me."

"Ah, yes," Avegaille replied while she smiled and blushed a little.

"Anyway, Nicole and I have to leave, it's my first time here in Centralville after all," Mr. Rustford said while looking at Nicole May's books on the coffee table and picked them up. "You and Sandra will show me around, right?"

"Of course, Dad," Nicole May replied while she took her bag from the table and hung the strap into her shoulder. Then, she turned to Avegaille, who was waving at her. "Let's finish your homework later, but I think you can do most of it on your own…"

"Hmm, I suppose. Have fun with your Dad for now," Avegaille said meekly. Then, Mr. Rustford walked out of the living room and Mrs. Stewart followed her, while on the other hand, Nicole May waved back at her as she left the living room.

.-.-.-.-.-

Nicole May and her father were inside the car, with Mr. Rustford driving. Their destination was of course, their home. Mr. Rustford had a special device in his car that gave him directions to where to go. Nicole May already knew about the devices her father uses, but of course, she also knew that these devices weren't released to the public yet. Right now, something else was bothering her and she was really quiet on her seat. Her arms were wrapped around her bag as she slowly turned her head to the window and looked at the scene. Mr. Rustford noticed Nicole May's sudden change of mood and decided to lighten up the atmosphere. As he saw the traffic lights turning from green to red, he stopped the car and turned to Nicole May.

"Nicole May?"

Nicole May turned around to her father with a blank look in her face. It seemed that her mind was drifting off somewhere. Mr. Rustford looked a bit concerned and looked at the traffic lights. It turned green and he stepped on the accelerator to move the car. While he was driving, he thought of asking Nicole May things.

"Oh yeah, Nicole May, have you been making friends at school lately? I can see that you at least made a friend," Mr. Rustford remarked and laughed a little.

"Yeah, she was also my roommate during fifth grade when I was still at Midway Academy," Nicole May muttered while she turned away from her father and looked down.

"Ah, so you two have known each other even before we moved here?" Mr. Rustford pondered while he hummed, driving the car along the way. The monitor positioned in front of the shift gear began beeping, in which the screen indicated the next corner to take.

"I suppose, but I was immature back then, and we both didn't get along," Nicole May continued and hugged the bag around her arms tightly. "I am not sure if she forgot all of those things that happened while we were still in Midway Academy. I mean, she didn't even recognize me when she bumped into me on our first day in middle school."

"Maybe she just doesn't want to bring it up?" Mr. Rustford pondered. "I think it would be best if you ask her when you have another study session with her later. But speaking of which, I know you can do your homework by yourself without anyone helping you…"

"I know Dad, I just wanted to help her… she's not exactly as smart as me, but I know that if she just would put a lot of effort in her work, she'll achieve the same results that I always get," Nicole May explained and sighed. "At least, that's how she had always been when we were roommates."

"Ah, so she somehow considered you as a rival when it comes to academics?" Mr. Rustford asked and laughed.

"No, nothing like that… back then, she just wanted to prove to me that she can do her homework on her own when I offered to help her out," Nicole May replied.

"Now I understand. Of course, I wonder how you two are getting along now when, as you say, back then, you two couldn't stand each other," Mr. Rustford said while he pressed his foot through the pedals, shifted the gear and turned the wheel.

"Well, it was during sixth grade when she helped me, even though I was skeptical about it. I mean, I thought she was lying just so I would stop hanging out with them, but then, when she proved to me that I was being deceived…" Nicole May paused for a while as Mr. Rustford stopped the car and looked at her.

"It was pretty hard for you to accept, wasn't it?" Mr. Rustford asked.

"Yeah, but she was willing to help me after that, even though I've been horrible at her. I wanted to know why, but I just can't seem to find the right time to ask her," Nicole May continued. She felt the car moving again and looked through the window by her side. She realized that they were getting closer to their destination.

"I'm sure you'll be able to ask her when you can," Mr. Rustford said and smiled. "You know, if she was willing to help you even back then, maybe she really wanted to be friends with you right from the start?"

"I guess…" Nicole May muttered as she turned to her dad for a while and then stared at the road in front of her.

.-.-.-.-.-

A few hours passed after Nicole May left, and Avegaille was still at the living room, watching cartoons. Mrs. Stewart was a bit concerned as she walked inside the living room and saw that Avegaille was still there. She was even more concerned that the fact she was very quiet while she was watching the television, and finally she realized she wasn't even watching at all. She walked up to the coffee table where the remote control was sitting and took it. Then, she turned off the television to see if Avegaille would react. Usually, when she turned off the television while Avegaille was still watching, Avegaille would always whine, had it turned back on, and sometimes she would go in a tantrum if the television was still off. But this time it was different. Avegaille was just sitting on the sofa quietly, hugging one of the cushions placed in the sofa, and staring blankly at something above the television. Mrs. Stewart waved her hand in front of Avegaille's face, trying to see if she would come back to reality.

"Avegaille… hey, are you still there?" Mrs. Stewart asked while she sat down next to her and gave up on waving her hand in front of her.

"Huh?" Avegaille blinked while she turned her head around, as if she had forgotten where she was. Then, she saw her mother right beside her, with a rather worried expression. "Eh, what's wrong, Mom?"

"Is there anything troubling you?" Mrs. Stewart asked while Avegaille slowly turned away from her.

"It's nothing Mom, don't worry," Avegaille muttered and forced herself to smile while staring on the floor.

Mrs. Stewart kept quiet while she observed Avegaille's reaction. The room was silent and Mrs. Stewart couldn't think of anything to break the silence. It wasn't too long that the doorbell rang, saving her from the awkward silence of the living room. She quickly stood up and got out of the living, going towards the front door. As she opened the door, she saw two luggage bags by the ground. Then, as she looked up and opened the door wide, she saw Jane, her eldest daughter. Jane waved her hand as she smiled.

"Jane… I didn't expect you to be here, well, you know… so soon…" Mrs. Stewart said and looked around a bit frantically.

"Are you all right Mom? I told you I would stay here again starting by next week… Well technically it's Saturday, but yeah, I want to arrange my things by the weekend," Jane explained while she held on to the strap of the bag that was hanging on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just your sister's been acting strange since Nicole May and her father left earlier," Mrs. Stewart replied and sighed. She took one of the luggage bags on the ground and carried it inside while Jane took the other and entered the house.

"Huh, Nicole May was here?" Jane asked as she closed the door behind her. "You mean that rich girl at our school?"

"You could say that, but to be honest, she was really, how do I say it? Hmm, she was really strange," Mrs. Stewart said while she placed the luggage bag by the side of the hallway. "It's as if she just wants to be ordinary."

"Yeah, she did say that when we met at the library," Jane muttered and giggled a little. Then, she placed the bag that was hanging on her shoulder on top of one of the luggage bags. "I'll talk to Avegaille, maybe I can figure something out with the strange behavior she's showing…"

"I'd appreciate it," Mrs. Stewart said while she folded her arms across her chest and watched Jane enter the living room.

As Jane entered the living room and went in front of the sofa, she saw that Avegaille was staring on the floor while hugging the pillow around her arms. She quickly sat down next to Avegaille and held Avegaille's shoulder. Avegaille was a bit startled as she turned around and saw her sister right next to her.

"Huh, Jane, since when did you arrive?" Avegaille asked and looked a bit confused.

"Just a while ago, shrimp," Jane replied and giggled. Then, she leaned her back against the sofa. "I'll be staying with you guys from now on. For now, you really should know why I was pretending I wasn't your sister on your first day in school."

"Yeah, that was really mean…" Avegaille muttered and she pouted while lowering her head. "It's as if you were doing it on purpose… but I dunno… I'm confused…"

"Yeah, sorry about that. It was a stupid dare that one of my friends asked me to do… and it had to be for a week. Basically, they all knew I had a little sister, and I have to pretend that we weren't related for a week. Of course, they didn't know you were my sister," Jane explained and she groaned for a while. "But if they find out that you were my sister, ugh, I just can't imagine what they'll do to you…"

"Huh, what do you mean?" Avegaille asked while she lifted up her head and looked at Jane.

"They're quite the bunch… they'll probably gather around you and play with you like you were some toy," Jane muttered and sighed exasperatedly. "And tell you things you shouldn't know…"

"Eh… you're saying as if your friends are very childish…" Avegaille muttered as she sweat-dropped.

"Sad to say, I'm the only normal one in that group…" Jane added and groaned. "But then again, they're the ones who approached me when I first entered middle school. We were all classmates even way back then, and they would always ask me to come join them. Eventually, I came to trust them and we all became close friends. Sometimes, we do 'truth or dares' just to have some fun. It just happened that my dare involved you."

"So that's why you told me you'll explain it soon before you left me that time…" Avegaille muttered while she nodded slowly. "Well, your friends are still weird… either way, my mood swing kicked in after that…"

"Yeah, I anticipated that…" Jane said and sighed. "Anyway, moving on, Mom said you were acting strange earlier… what's up with that?"

"Oh that, I really don't know, but when I saw how close Nicole May was with her Dad, I dunno…" Avegaille muttered softly as she slowly turned away from Jane.

"I get it now…" Jane muttered and patted Avegaille's back. "Don't worry about it too much, okay?"

"I suppose I shouldn't…" Avegaille muttered and groaned a bit.

.-.-.-.-.-

"So, Amelia, how were your first few days as school principal?" Andrea asked while she took a sip at the cup of coffee she was holding.

Every Saturday, Andrea would always visit Amelia, and both of them would have a chat of the things that happened during the week or anything in particular, even though they always do that almost everyday. Phil was also with Andrea when they arrived, but Phil went to check on Avegaille. Both mothers were in the kitchen, drinking coffee together by the dining table.

"Hmm, it was kinda nerve-wracking… I guess I'm still not used to it…" Amelia replied and sighed. "And the first punishment I had to give, it had to be on my own daughter and her friend…"

"What did they do?" Andrea asked as she looked at Amelia curiously.

"Cutting classes… even though I said I wouldn't punish them, but Nicole May kept insisting. Vivian thought it would be unfair to punish Nicole May alone, so I also had to punish Avegaille. Of course, don't think of the punishment as something harsh. It was just a week's worth of school detention," Amelia explained. "I made it that the detention location at my office so they would at least feel at ease."

"I see now…" Andrea muttered while she nodded her head slowly.

"Speaking of Nicole May, her father came here to pick her up earlier…" Amelia pondered, which Andrea paused for a while and quickly jerked her head towards her. Amelia noticed the sudden reaction and sweat-dropped.

"Tell me, what did he look like?" Andrea asked frantically and Amelia felt a bit disturbed.

"Well, he was blonde… and was wearing a formal suit, and taller than me," Amelia told Andrea as she sweat-dropped. Then, she started to think for a while. "Hey, do you have any pictures of Sandra? Something bothered me when I saw Nicole May's father… I really don't know how to put it…"

"Ah, are you talking about the fact that he doesn't look like or don't have any similarities to Nicole May?" Andrea asked and Amelia nodded a bit. "Well, I'm not really some obsessed fan of Sandra, so I really don't have pictures of her with me right now. Although, if you have today's issue of the newspaper, I can show you how she looks."

"Yeah, I have one, let me get it…" Amelia said. She stood up from her seat, approached the counter where the newspaper was and took it. Then, she came back to the table and sat down again and handed the newspaper to Andrea.

"Let's see now…" Andrea said while she opened up the newspaper, browsed through the pages, until she found Sandra's image. Then, she spread the page of the newspaper on the table. She pointed to the image of a very sophisticated lady who had long brown hair. "Here we go… this is Sandra Rustford."

"It still doesn't add up…" Amelia muttered while she inspected the image carefully. She knew that the minute she saw Sandra's image and how she was able to take a good look at Douglas, there was something that made Amelia think that they weren't Nicole May's biological parents. She wanted to tell Andrea this, but she thought that Andrea wouldn't believe her.

"What's wrong Amelia?" Andrea asked upon noticing Amelia's serious face.

"Huh, oh, it's just… I can't bring myself to say it… have you met Nicole May personally or even seen how she looks?" Amelia asked which Andrea slightly raised her eyebrow.

"Of course not… I've never seen pictures of Sandra's daughter or even her family… for some reason, they were keeping that part of her life private," Andrea replied and looked at the image on the newspaper again. "Come on, there's something you know that you're not telling me…"

"I really can't confirm if it's true or not, but… I don't think Sandra and Douglas are Nicole May's biological parents…" Amelia muttered, which Andrea stared at her for a moment, and kept quiet.