Chapter 37: A Disturbing Discovery

"Urgh… a dream…?"

Avegaille slowly lifted up her head and opened her eyes. She looked around the area, but without her glasses on, everything around her was blurry. She could feel that there was a blanket spread around her lower part of the body.

"Where… where am I?" Avegaille tried searching for her glasses by touching whatever was next to her. She tried first the right side and eventually felt what she thought was her glasses and wore it.

Finally, she could see everything around her clearly now and realized she was in her own room. Looking at the alarm clock that was on top of the small drawer where her glasses were also placed, the time displayed on it was currently five in the morning.

"Huh? I woke up too early but I can't remember anything from yesterday. My mind is still all a blank…" Avegaille muttered to herself. She looked down and noticed she was still wearing her clothes from yesterday, except for the orange vest. She quickly got off her bed and looked around her room. Her bag was placed on her study table and the orange vest that she wore was hung on the knob of her cabinet. She couldn't recall placing those things there and shrugged it off. She turned to her alarm clock again and took note of the date. It was Tuesday… she still had three more days after that before it was the weekend again.

.-.-.-.-.-

"Oh, what brings you here?" Madeline slightly raised her eyebrow upon noticing the freshman standing at the entrance of their office. She stood up from her seat and approached the freshman. She closed her eyes and somehow looked weary while trying to remember her name. "Um… Nicole May… was it?"

"Yeah, that's me…" Nicole May muttered and turned her attention to the insides of the student council room. She noticed three more girls, one who was younger than the rest, and a guy. She also saw that Jane wasn't inside the office at all and turned back to Madeline. "Where's the president?"

"Oh, Jane? She hasn't arrived yet… or at least I think she hasn't. She could be at the library, the hallways, the principal's office… I dunno where she is! You guys always think I know where she is like I am some sort of stalker!" Madeline groaned and held on her head, in which Nicole May cringed at her. Then, she stared at her mischievously. "Anyway, I'm the vice-president. If you have business with the student council, you can give me the details and I'll pass it to her."

"Is Jane going to be fine with that?" Nicole May asked wearily.

"Well, yeah. She always lets me do all the work anyway, so it doesn't matter if she's around or not…" Madeline replied and shrugged. "Anyway, does this have something to do with the papers you're holding?"

"Erm… here…" Nicole May handed over the sheets of paper to Madeline.

Madeline picked her glasses, which were resting atop her head, with her other hand, and positioned them on her face. Then, she started reading through the sheets of paper one by one. One of the other members of the student council, Vicky, approached Madeline and also took a peek at what she was reading. After Madeline was done reading through all the papers, she looked at Nicole May skeptically.

"So… basically, you want to move the newspaper club to a bigger room and the only way to do that is to use the old room, which is located at the fifth floor of the secondary building, correct?" Madeline asked and Nicole May nodded slowly. Then, Madeline handed over the papers to Vicky and held on her head wearily. "Why did you have to make a long essay and even a blueprint just for this?! Not only that, you are also stating in that essay that you will be paying for all the renovations yourself."

Nicole May was speechless after hearing that from the vice-president. Perhaps she went too far for such a simple request. Yet, she is also confused as to why Madeline reacted like that. Vicky, on the other hand, started chuckling and slapped Madeline's back, which surprised both Madeline and Nicole May.

"I think you got the wrong department for this," Vicky said as she handed back the papers to Nicole May. "You should hand that over to the principal herself. The student council really has no control when it comes to changing club rooms or renovation processes. Is this your first time to do this?"

"Um… yeah. Since last time when we were securing a room for the newspaper club, Elizabeth was the one who did it for all of us…" Nicole May muttered and slowly turned away from the seniors. "I'll go to the principal's office then."

"Okay then, good luck!" Madeline exclaimed and grinned. She waved her hand while Nicole May hurriedly left the room. Then, she turned to Vicky and looked very weary again. "Man, I wish she joined the student council instead. At least, we won't have any problems with the funds if that's the case…"

"Don't even think about it…" Vicky muttered exasperatedly and placed her hands on her hips.

.-.-.-.-.-

"Maybe I should have talked with Elizabeth first about this…" Nicole May muttered to herself while holding on the papers firmly and walking slowly through the hallway, blending in with the other students walking along as well. Then, she stopped for a while and looked down on the floor, sighing heavily. "I really should just tell them about this… but I hate it when they overreact so much just for a simple thing… what should I do?"

Nicole May raised her head and realized she was in an intersection of a hallway already. Then, she looked to the east side and saw Avegaille walking groggily on her own. Avegaille was looking down on the floor and continued walking without even noticing Nicole May and eventually passed by her.

"Huh? That's odd…" Nicole May muttered to herself and quickly ran after Avegaille. She grabbed Avegaille's arm, which stopped Avegaille from walking.

"Whaa?" Avegaille quickly turned around and saw that Nicole May was holding her arm and looked surprised. "Ah, Nicole May! I didn't notice you until now… sorry about that…"

"Are you all right?" Nicole May asked and immediately released Avegaille's arm from her grip.

"Ah, yeah. I was just thinking about something… waking up at five in the morning made things worse. Is there something that you need from me?" Avegaille muttered and smiled weakly. She didn't want Nicole May worrying about her all the time.

"Uh, nothing really… forget it. I'll do this on my own." Nicole May frantically shook her head and quickly walked away to the opposite direction from where Avegaille was originally headed to.

"Eeh…" Avegaille stood on her spot, speechless and confused. She turned around and continued walking to her destination. She looked down on the floor again while walking. "I wish I could recall what happened yesterday…"

.-.-.-.-.-

Nicole May finally arrived at her destination, which was the principal's office. Before she could knock on the door, an argument going on between what she could recognize as Jane's voice and Mrs. Stewart's as well, could be heard from where she was standing.

'Jane, I swear if that happens again, I think it would be better if you just continued staying with your father!'

'Mom, I already said it over and over again. Avegaille was the one who wanted to come… I couldn't stop her even if I tried!'

'You're just lucky the meds you gave her yesterday made her forget of what happened that night…'

Nicole May froze upon hearing the argument between the two, although she could not get the full gist of what really happened.

‘Meds… Avegaille did mention she takes medication but in this instance, it looks like it was forced on her… why?’ Nicole May thought to herself and slowly stepped back from the door. ‘What's going on here?’

Then, the door opened and Jane was now standing in front of Nicole May. Jane looked really exasperated and stared down at her, which made Nicole May nervous that she didn't know where to start. She looked around and then, she remembered the sheets of paper she was holding.

"Ah, it's not what you think… I-I just came here to ask the principal for permission regarding an empty room!" Nicole May blurted and quickly held the papers in front of Jane's face.

"Whatever… I'm going to my class now…" Jane muttered apathetically and walked off.

After Jane left, Nicole May sighed with relief and peeked inside the office. The principal was nowhere to be found, and the door further in was closed. She slowly stepped in and saw that there was no one else in the lobby.

"I wonder where the secretary is…" Nicole May muttered to herself. She sat down on one of the seats in the office. "I would imagine she would get caught up in the argument but it looks like she's not here to witness it…"

Nicole May looked up at the clock that was on the wall and there was an hour left before their first class. She didn't realize that it was still that early, until now. Then, she could hear footsteps, which Nicole May turned her head to the direction of the sound and finally saw Miss Chandler, the secretary.

"Oh? Odd, usually I open the door but seeing as you are here, Mrs. Stewart must have arrived before me then…" Vivian said and laughed. She looked at Nicole May and noticed her weary expression. "Did something happen here?"

"No, nothing. I was just… kinda nervous, that's all…" Nicole May muttered and lowered her head. ‘Well, at least no one else knows…'

"All right then… what brings you here then?" Vivian asked and slowly went closer to Nicole May. "Don't tell me your teachers sent you here for detention. It's still too early…"

Nicole May handed over to Miss Chandler the papers, in which the secretary started to read through one by one. While Vivian was skimming through the papers, the door leading to the actual principal's office slowly opened, which made Nicole May even more nervous. Then, Mrs. Stewart got out of the room and looked around the area. She spotted Nicole May and Vivian talking to each other.

"Nicole May… what brings you here?" Mrs. Stewart asked casually while she approached her and smiled.

"Eh… um… the student council told me to come here to get permission in regards to using an old room that no one uses," Nicole May explained as she stood up from her seat. "You don't have to worry about the school budgets as I'll be the one paying for renovations."

"Here, Mrs. Stewart…" Vivian handed over the papers and Mrs. Stewart started reading each page. Then, she turned to Nicole May. "That room you guys are planning to move into… it does have a lot of work that needs to be done. But… if the room you guys already have is too small, I suppose it’s time to move to a bigger room, as long as Mrs. Stewart is fine with it."

"Oh, you can go ahead use that room," Mrs. Stewart interrupted, in which both Nicole May and Vivian quickly turned their heads to her. "That floor is somehow quiet although there are instances where you would have to bear the noise from a certain club by the next room over."

"Huh? The student council never mentioned another club being next to that room…" Nicole May muttered. "Do you know what club it is, Mrs. Stewart?"

"Oh, I can't pronounce it properly… they just started last year, as what I've been reading lately. They're called… um… ‘Anime and Manga' club… was it?" Mrs. Stewart scratched her head. "Lately, Avegaille's getting into those kinds of things as well. They put in their description for the club as 'the study of Japanese cartoons and comics. Anime for the cartoons and manga for the comics'. What an interesting description. I wonder why Avegaille didn't join them instead…"

‘We have a club like that?’ Nicole May thought to herself and sweat-dropped. ‘Maybe we were just so focused on watching over the newspaper club's booth during the fair we never saw this club…'

"Well, as long as you're okay with the other club next to you, Nicole May… that room is as good as yours to do whatever you please with it," Mrs. Stewart said happily and patted Nicole May's head.

"Thanks… I'll tell everyone about this then," Nicole May muttered and quickly got out of the office.

"Um, Mrs. Stewart, are you sure you're fine with the newspaper club being next… to that room?" Vivian asked wearily and sweat-dropped.

"I'm pretty sure they'll be all right… anyway, Avegaille would just probably use that thing on them if anything happens," Mrs. Stewart replied nonchalantly and shrugged.

.-.-.-.-.-

"Eh?! A bigger room?! Are you serious about that, Nikki?" Naz quickly grabbed Nicole May's shoulders and started shaking her. Nicole May was starting to get dizzy and groaned loudly. Elizabeth took the initiative before anything else could happen, quickly grabbing Naz's arms and pulling her away from Nicole May.

"That's enough, Naz!" Elizabeth exclaimed and sighed exasperatedly.

"Ugh… I don't feel so good…" Nicole May covered her mouth with her hand and crouched down on the floor. She closed her eyes, hoping that she wouldn't vomit in front of everyone.

"Whoops, my bad. Sorry Nikki, I just got too excited…" Naz laughed nervously and placed her hand behind her head. Then, she crouched down in front of Nicole May and tilted her head.

"Urgh…" Nicole May slowly opened her eyes, and saw Naz staring at her up close. She lost her balance and ended up sitting on the floor. "W-What are you doing?!"

"We should take this inside the newspaper club room instead…" Elizabeth muttered and folded her arms across her chest.

The three of them were currently in the area where their lockers were placed. Naz and Elizabeth already finished getting their things and the two of them were about to go to the newspaper club room when Nicole May came.

"Oh come on Lizzie! Can't we at least savor the moment on just how good and resourceful Nikki is?" Naz stood up and extended her hand to Nicole May. Nicole May grabbed on Naz's hand and Naz pulled her up.

"Fine, I'll admit our current room is getting too small for our needs…" Elizabeth muttered. She turned away from Naz and from a distance, she saw Emily walking along with a girl with blonde hair… or so she thought. As they got closer, she could not help but stare at them, speechless.

"Hey guys!" Emily exclaimed, in which Naz and Nicole May turned their heads to her. Then, Naz started laughing hysterically while Nicole May was cringing at what she was seeing. "Oh, guys… meet 'Angela'! She'll be part of the club until Arthur's issue with that girl gets settled."

"What the hell?" Nicole May went closer to the 'girl' next to Emily and then turned her head to Emily again. "…You seriously made Arthur dress like a girl? Along with fake breasts as well…"

"Just play along, Nikki," Arthur whispered to Nicole May in a high pitched voice, attempting to sound feminine.

"Hey you! No one calls me that except that crazy girl there and my parents…" Nicole May looked annoyed and pointed towards Naz.

"Oh, come on Nikki, you know how 'Nicole May' is such a mouthful. Just let everyone else call you that, consider it as your nickname," Naz said and patted Nicole May's head gently.

"Peh, whatever…" Nicole May turned away from everyone and sighed.

Elizabeth cleared her throat, in which everyone turned their attention to her. Elizabeth was now used at this point with at least one person missing whenever a gathering between the members happened anywhere.

"Hey, only Avegaille's missing and we can have this meeting outside the club room started," Naz remarked and chuckled.

"She probably overslept again…" Elizabeth muttered exasperatedly. "Frankly, I'm already used to it."

"You guys didn't see Avegaille at all? She's already here… somewhere in the campus. We just met a while ago," Nicole May said, which surprised everyone. "Although, there was something different about her today when I saw her…"

"Oh? Too concerned for her?" Emily teased, in which Nicole May stared at her exasperatedly while Naz chuckled.

"Shut up, Hayward…” Nicole May turned away from her and suddenly, she lowered down her head. “Not only that, before I went inside to the principal's office…"

Everyone else suddenly paused and anticipated what Nicole May was about to say next. Nicole May looked so worried and nervous but at the same time, she didn't want anyone else to know what happened in the office earlier.

"Never mind. Let's just forget about that and move on to the fact that I've found a bigger room for the newspaper club to move to," Nicole May said, which immediately threw off everyone around her. Some of them were staring at her blankly, others looked very excited at the news.

"Really now? Well, now that's a first from you, Rustford!" Emily exclaimed happily. "At least, we'll have more room to put our things in and we can leave most of our stuff in there."

"As long as it's related to the club," Elizabeth interrupted. Then, she turned her attention to Nicole May, who still looked really worried despite successfully changing the topic. She had a feeling that something else was going on, which involved Avegaille. "Hey, Nicole May… if you really want to know what is going on inside Avegaille's head or why she is like as what you say, not herself, the best person to talk to is her own sister, Jane."

‘Jane?! Why her?’ Nicole May turned her attention to Elizabeth, who already knew what she was thinking even if she never mentioned anything about the situation. "I really don't want to talk to her. She may think I'm meddling with something that I shouldn't…"

"You really aren't that well acquainted with her older sister. Jane is really nice once you get to know her. She's just that hard to crack though, especially now that she is the president of the student council…" Elizabeth said and went closer to Nicole May. Then, she stared at Nicole May seriously. "At this point, only you can help Avegaille get over with what she's going through. She may not say it in front of everyone, but she's experiencing something far worse than any of us. I couldn't help her because I was a coward…"

"But…"

Naz, Emily and Arthur were just standing there, speechless and clueless on what was going on between the two. Naz could only deduce from the fact that Elizabeth used to be Avegaille's best friend. Now, it was Nicole May who Avegaille considered as her best friend and Elizabeth had realized that as well. Naz finally understood that Elizabeth just really wanted Nicole May to do the things she couldn't do for Avegaille.

"Do it for her sake, will you?" Elizabeth smiled weakly and held on Nicole May's shoulder. Nicole May was speechless and just slowly nodded her head. "If you need anything, just ask me, as long as I know the answer to it."

"Ah… all right," Nicole May muttered and looked away from Elizabeth.