Chapter 34: The Day After…

"Nicole May West Rustford!"

'Geh… why does she have to call my whole name like that? It sounds like a city now…' Nicole May thought to herself while she pressed her hand on her face. She was on her bed, reading a book like she always does on a Sunday night, until her mother went crazy.

Then, the door to her room slammed opened and Mrs. Rustford entered with a very irritated look on her face. Nicole May just stared at her mother apathetically for a while and then looked down, now noticing the kitten rubbing his face against Mrs. Rustford's legs.

"You better have a good explanation about this cat here, young lady…" Mrs. Rustford muttered while she folded her arms across her chest.

"What did it do to you?" Nicole May asked and slightly raised an eyebrow. However, she was still clueless as to why her mother was in such a bad mood. "You said I could have a pet if I wanted to, right?"

"Nice try, young lady… but that's not the issue here. Explain to me how your cat got into my room and messed up the script I was memorizing for the day," Mrs. Rustford told her and sighed exasperatedly. "Now I can't even read it… and I don't have a digital copy with me right now."

"Kuroko!" Nicole May exclaimed, and the kitten quickly turned to her. Then, the kitten hid under the bed. Afterwards, she turned back to her mother. "I'm sorry… I didn't realize Kuroko was that much of a curious and playful cat. I should probably close my room so he wouldn't leave without me realizing…"

"Well, it's fine now… as long as you know what you need to do," Mrs. Rustford said. Then, she looked irritated again. "But I'm going to have to call my annoying manager now about sending me a digital copy of the script… and I hate talking to him. He's creepy and annoying as is!"

"Why not just get a new one? I mean, you're already famous enough, right?" Nicole May suggested and shrugged. While Nicole May was looking at her mother, Kuroko slowly got out from under the bed. Then, he jumped on the bed and lied down next to Nicole May.

"Not an easy task, believe me," Mrs. Rustford muttered and sighed. "Besides, he was the one who got me into this famous status anyway, so I suppose… I'll just bear with it for the meantime."

"Whatever you say, Mom," Nicole May remarked and returned to reading the book she was holding with her hands.

Mrs. Rustford just sighed and left the room, closing the door along the way. Then, Kuroko went closer to Nicole May's arm and started rubbing his face on her arm.

"Oh, you were a naughty cat… but I suppose you just need some attention…" Nicole May said softly and giggled a bit. She started stroking the cat's fur with her hand. "Don't mind my Mom, she's just like that when things don't go her way…"

Kuroko just meowed and then lied on the bed again. After that, Nicole May started reading the book she was holding on.

.-.-.-.-.-

"So… Rustford, what did you name the kitten?"

It was already Monday, and Nicole May was sitting on the couch in the school newspaper room, editing some articles that she just got from Elizabeth on her laptop. The other area of the room was crowded with students, in which Elizabeth and Naz were currently accommodating them. She had no choice but to do her work on the couch. She also had to bear with the fact that Emily was sitting next to her and constantly annoying her with questions. Avegaille was also with them, but she was sitting on the carpeted floor while working on her drawings.

"I named him Kuroko, got a problem with that?" Nicole May replied and stared at Emily exasperatedly.

"Nope, it's a cute name though," Emily remarked giddily.

"Eh, isn't 'Kuroko' a girl's name?" Avegaille asked, interrupting the two of them. She stared at Nicole May blankly.

"Geez, and I thought you watch too much anime," Nicole May muttered as she turned to Avegaille and sighed. "It's a unisex name, okay?"

"When I hear 'Kuroko', I always think of that girl that is clingy to her ‘senpai'…" Avegaille muttered and laughed nervously. "But if you say so. Anyway, how is he doing?"

"Well… he's well-behaved when I left him earlier, but I don't know what he'll do after that," Nicole May replied. "I asked some of the people there to keep an eye on him… just in case he gets out of hand."

"Cats are curious little things when starting out small, but they become more behaved and less playful the more they get older," Emily added and grinned. "You'll get used to it…"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Nicole May muttered and sighed. Then, she went back to her editing while Emily stood up from her seat. "Why don't you help out Elizabeth and Naz on the other side if you're so bored, Hayward?"

"I was just about to do that," Emily retorted and quickly left the two of them.

Then, Nicole May turned to Avegaille, who was still drawing on her sketchpad. It was a couple of hours left before their first class started when they all got inside the school newspaper room. Nicole May was even more surprised that Avegaille arrived early for once.

"Avegaille, explain to me why you're so early today…" Nicole May muttered while she looked at Avegaille curiously.

"Eh… is it that strange for me to get to school this early?" Avegaille asked while she sweat-dropped. "I was in bed for most of the weekend due to my allergy, and I guess I got too much sleep that I woke up early…"

"I suppose that's good enough of a reason…" Nicole May remarked. "Were you able to do some of your homework while in bed?"

"Yeah, I did… Jane also helped me with some of the stuff I couldn't understand," Avegaille replied. "I also think my sister misses the times when she always helps me with homework. She looked really happy helping me out even if she didn't want to admit it…"

"Your sister is really strange, isn't she?"

"She was always like that, that much I know," Avegaille muttered and sighed. "I always wondered how her friends could cope with my sister. I mean, Jane always had a hard time telling the people around her how she really felt or what she was thinking…"

"Well, they're her friends for a reason, you know…" Nicole May told her. She closed her laptop and placed it on the table. "Besides, I noticed that your sister is always with that girl… Madeline. Maybe you should ask Madeline some things that you don't know yet about your sister. At least, the time the two of you were separated."

"Hey, that's a good idea. I just hope she's not doing too much that I could become a bother to her…" Avegaille muttered and stood up from the floor. Then, she handed the sketchpad to Nicole May. "I'm done with most of the drawings, so you can scan these for the meantime…"

Nicole May flipped through the pages and looked pleased while going through each drawing. Then, she placed the sketchpad next to her laptop on the table. "Those look impressive. Anyway, just do the other set of drawings after school… we still have some time before the deadline."

"Haha, thanks," Avegaille said and laughed nervously. "Anyway, I'm going to look for Madeline… although, I have no idea where she could be at this time."

"She's the vice-president of the student council, so you could head over to the student council's office right now," Nicole May suggested. "Of course, you're gonna have to wait for them to finish if they're having a meeting of some sort."

"I'll keep that in mind," Avegaille said while she took her bag and ran off.

"Geez, she really gets around, doesn't she?" Nicole May remarked and sighed. Then, she picked up her laptop from the table and opened it up again.

.-.-.-.-.-

Avegaille was walking through the corridors, while trying her best not to collide with anyone she passed by. Although now, she had a new problem… in which she had no clue where the student council office was. She looked around each area she passed by, but still no luck. Finally, she was about to give up when she noticed a familiar face coming closer to her. It was none other than Madeline. The two of them were now standing near the stairs, which was another set of stairs opposite to the one where the school newspaper room was near at. Not many students use it as it was far from the entrance of the building.

"Huh, are you looking for your sister?" Madeline asked curiously and grinned at her.

"Uh… no, I was actually looking for you…" Avegaille replied and laughed nervously.

"Me? What for?" Madeline asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Well… I was curious about something… it is about my sister though," Avegaille replied and smiled sheepishly.

"Sure… but I would assume you know more about her than I do, since… after all, you are her sister," Madeline said and laughed. Then, she sat down on one of the steps of the stairs. "Anyway, what do you wanna know?"

"Let's see… I was always curious about how you became good friends with my sister… I mean, from what I remember, she never talked about her friends in school nor do I see her with anyone else before she lived with Dad for a couple of years…" Avegaille muttered.

"Pfft, really? No wonder why she is always so stubborn when I ask her to hang out with me and the girls after school when we first met," Madeline said and laughed hysterically. Then, she folded her arms across her chest and sighed. "Then again, she was always so secretive when it comes to almost everything, until I met you and your mother…"

"Yeah… my sister's always like that when it comes to other people, I guess," Avegaille added. Then, she sat down next to Madeline. "Was there something that you did that eventually made her trust you?"

"Not that I could think of," Madeline muttered and laughed nervously. "Although the first time we walked around town together… or at least, I was just trying to walk with Jane until she could get to the bus stop. Something happened that day though…"

"Really? What happened?" Avegaille asked and became curious.

"I noticed that there were a group of kids ganging up on a small girl… while it was a bit late, I tried to drive them away by kicking back that soccer ball that was about to hit the girl. At least, that worked, but I wish I could have done more…" Madeline replied and sighed heavily. "I wonder how that kid is doing now…"

"Eh… that was you?" Avegaille asked surprisingly and stared at her with her eyes wide open. While she forgot most of the things that happened to her, she could still recall some things if she was given some hints.

"'That was you?'… What do you mean by that?" Madeline asked hesitantly and furrowed her eyebrows.

Avegaille took off her eyeglasses and stared at Madeline. Then, Madeline finally recognized the kid she saved four years ago from that incident at the vacant lot. It was none other than Avegaille herself.

"Wait… if you were that kid, why didn't Jane tell me that you were her sister?"

"That's because she didn't trust you yet… knowing how secretive she is. At least, that's just my guess…" Avegaille replied while she put back her glasses on her face. "You didn't recognize me either since they already broke my glasses when you guys came… and I didn't know that my sister was with you since I could barely see a thing without my glasses."

"But still… I mean, your sister could have helped you there, that time…" Madeline muttered wearily. "There must be something more to this that I don't get…"

"Those bullies… they were picking on me since my sister left the soccer team and I was just trying to stop them from saying bad things about my sister. Of course, with my injured leg, I couldn't even kick that ball back to them every time they gang up on me. Then, I snapped… I threw this really heavy chair back at that kid when they were about to drag me to that vacant lot again," Avegaille explained and lowered her head. "Eventually, I was suspended… at least, that's what everyone thought to avoid any more questions. Later on, Elizabeth told me that I was just transferred to another school."

"It's still not making any sense though… it really doesn't answer my other question," Madeline muttered while she sweat-dropped.

"Huh? Oh, yeah… you were around that time and I don't know, really. I guess my sister didn't want to face her old teammates after she quit the club because of my injury. Not that I could blame her if she didn't want to help me even if she was just by herself. I know she has her own reasons," Avegaille muttered and sighed. Then, she lifted up her head and smiled at Madeline. "But I suppose it was a good thing you were there that time even if you didn't know everything. Otherwise, my sister would just still continue being by herself…"

"Haha, I could never imagine that incident would eventually bring us to this," Madeline remarked and laughed. "Although, I'm not really sure if this reminiscing actually answered your question."

"Actually, it did…" Avegaille said and stood up from the steps she was sitting on. "Well, I know you're a good person and a friend to my sister. It's not going to be easy, but maybe someday, you might actually be more than a friend to her…"

"You think so? Don't get my hopes up though…" Madeline teased and laughed. "Well, let's just leave it as it is. I need to get to my class anyway, although Jane's gonna kill me later for not showing up at the meeting that was supposed to happen earlier."

"Eh? Why didn't you tell me?" Avegaille asked wearily.

"It's not important to me. Besides, Jane would still fill in me on the details, even if I don't want to hear it," Madeline explained and grinned. Then, she stood up. "Plus, we don't get a chance to talk like this, even for a short time. Well, not until now. You know what I mean anyway."

"I suppose… and also, thanks," Avegaille said and smiled. After that, she waved her hand and quickly ran off to get to her class.

"Jane really does have an interesting little sister…" Madeline muttered to herself and smiled, while watching Avegaille run off until she was out of sight.

.-.-.-.-.-

"Man, I never realize we could get this busy…" Naz exclaimed and sighed exasperatedly. "Earlier, it was the student council, now it's the cooking club… what's next?"

"The soccer club!" a voice shouted as the door slammed opened, which surprised Naz, Elizabeth and Emily. The three of them were sitting on each side of the table, with the last side of the table, which was facing the door, left unoccupied.

"Whoa, hey there! You can't just slam the door like that!" Emily protested as she stood up and went closer to the girl.

"Sorry girls, I got too excited and I could hear you guys from the other side," the girl admitted and laughed nervously. She had long black hair tied to a ponytail and was wearing the soccer team's uniform. "Anyway, it's not surprising that you guys are getting other clubs flocking your little office here after you posted this thing here…"

The girl took out a piece of paper from her pocket showing an advertisement from the newspaper club looking for ideas and what other clubs wanted to see in the school newspaper.

"That was your idea, Emily…" Elizabeth retorted and sighed. Then, she turned to the girl. "Anyway, since you're here, why don't we do the usual introductions first?"

"Sure, the name's Megan Hutchinson, currently in eight-grade, and a forward of the school's soccer team," Megan replied and grinned.

"Whoa, you're older than us?" Emily exclaimed surprisingly and stepped back from Megan. "Sorry about earlier…"

"Aaah, it's no big deal, so you can talk to me like how you talk with your classmates. I don't really care about formalities and such," Megan told Emily and chuckled.

"Emily here can get a bit out of control once in a while," Naz said as she stood up and went next to Emily. She placed her hand on Emily's shoulder "Anyway, I'm Natalie, just call me Naz though… I handle all the photography and such. The one behind us is Elizabeth, our chief editor. And of course, you know Emily here… she's our literature writer and also the one who handles the PR of the club…"

"Haha, nice to meet you all then," Megan said and placed her hands on her hips. Then, she looked around and noticed that there wasn't anyone else inside. "Are you the only ones who staff the school newspaper?"

"Oh, no, we still have three more members… two of them are not here at the moment," Elizabeth said as she stood up from her seat. "Wait right there, I'll ask her to join us…"

While Elizabeth went to the other side of the divider, Naz led Megan inside and offered her to sit down. Emily closed the door of the room and stood next to Megan. Then, Elizabeth came back with Nicole May following her.

"Oh, hey, I didn't know you're also part of the school newspaper until now," Megan remarked as soon as she noticed Nicole May standing next to Elizabeth.

"Huh? Oh, it's you again…" Nicole May muttered and sighed. Then, she turned to Elizabeth. "Can I go back now to what I was doing? I should be finished before our first class starts…"

"Ah, sure, go ahead…" Elizabeth said and laughed nervously while she watched Nicole May return to her spot at the other side of the divider. Then, she turned back to Megan. "Now that's done with… what idea are you proposing for the school newspaper?"

"I noticed that your sports section needs some more… well, action," Megan started and folded her arms across her chest. "Well, not just the soccer club, but also the other sports club. Don't you guys have a sports writer of some sort?"

"Yeah, I was trying to convince Phil for that… but he suddenly got involved with the soccer club," Elizabeth muttered. Megan looked surprised after Elizabeth mentioned Phil's name. "You should know him since he's in your club and all… but he's one of our friends…"

"There's always Arthur or even Naz here, right?" Emily suggested, in which Naz stared at her.

"I'm not much of a sports writer, you know," Naz protested and sighed. "I am not sure about Arthur, but we should try asking him when he drops by…"

"If it's okay with you guys, I do know someone who writes articles but is a bit hesitant to join the newspaper club. Are you accepting articles submitted by other students not part of the newspaper club?" Megan asked.

"Yeah, it's no problem with us," Elizabeth replied. "Although, we should probably put an ad where the students can submit their stuff…"

"Does this club even have its own email?" Emily asked while she picked up a piece of paper from the table.

"We could ask Nikki for that kind of thing…" Naz said and went closer to Elizabeth. Then, she went to the other side of the divider, to where Nicole May was. She noticed that Nicole May looked really pale and quickly rushed to her. She held into Nicole May's shoulder while sitting down next to her. "Whoa! Are you okay, Nikki?"

"I shouldn't have read it…" Nicole May muttered and turned away from Naz while she closed her eyes. She started shivering, which worried Naz even more. "Get that thing out of my laptop…"

"Huh?" Naz looked at the screen of the laptop that was on the table and frowned after reading the title. "What… that topic again?"