Chapter 13: The Truth Behind Past Conflicts

"Hmm, if you think about it, it seems ridiculous… but then again, I'm not saying it's impossible to happen…" Nicole May muttered while she placed her glasses on her head and folded her arms across her chest. She looked around and realized how quiet the area they were at. "Do you really think it's possible?"

"What is?" Avegaille asked and started to become confused.

"I mean, two people having the same dream, even though it really happened in the past…" Nicole May replied but Avegaille just shrugged, an indication that she was not sure. "It could probably be coincidence…"

"Hmm, either way, maybe I'll remember the answer to your question when it comes out on its own…" Avegaille said and sighed while she stood up from the floor. Then, she reached out her hand, in which Nicole May took it and she pulled her up. "Hey, you're still coming over later at my house, right?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Nicole May replied while she looked away from Avegaille. She was still holding Avegaille's hand and she didn't want to let go of it. Her face started turning red while Avegaille slowly moved closer to her.

"Are you all right?" Avegaille asked, in which Nicole May quickly turned to her. Then, Nicole May quickly let go of Avegaille's hand and turned away.

"I'm… fine…" Nicole May muttered nervously. She took out her mobile phone from her pocket and looked at the time. "Hey… shouldn't we go back or something?"

"We should… I suppose. I really don't want Mom to worry too much even though Jane would be scolded," Avegaille said. She grabbed Nicole May's hand and both of them walked out of the small space they were standing at, and headed to the main area where the exit was.

As the two of them got out of the bookstore, they saw Jane and Phil standing by the entrance of the arcade. Then, Nicole May noticed that her parents were approaching them. Finally, Avegaille saw her mother and Andrea walking towards the group from the other side. Amelia was carrying a box around her arms. Avegaille assumed the box had the television inside. Nicole May was observing the group from where she was standing, and noticed they were either arguing over something, or asking about her whereabouts with Avegaille. Finally, Phil turned to their direction, noticed them standing at the entrance of the bookstore, and ran up to them, while the rest of the group followed him.

"Yo, so, this is where you guys have been hiding," Phil remarked and chuckled.

"Hey shrimp, you know running off like that wasn't funny," Jane remarked exasperatedly and placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, it's good to know you two didn't get lost or anything," Sandra said with relief as she quickly approached Nicole May and hugged her. Then, she looked at her daughter and saw that her hair wasn't tied. "Well, you look cute this way… don't you agree, Doug?"

"She sure does," Doug replied and chuckled a bit.

"Mom…" Nicole May muttered as she looked away from her mother while her face started to turn red again.

"We should probably head back," Andrea said as she turned to Amelia, who was still carrying the box. Then, she quickly took the box from her and carried it around her arms. "This television seems to be a bit small, don't you think?"

"Hey, it was the only one I could afford!" Amelia protested and sighed. Then, she turned to Avegaille, who was still standing next to Nicole May. "Avegaille, we're going home, is there anything else you want to do?"

"Not really," Avegaille said as she shook her head and quickly approached her mother.

"Hey Mom, I thought we were going to stay a bit longer…" Phil protested while Andrea turned to him.

"Well, if you want, but Amelia told me that Avegaille still has to do her homework…" Andrea said while Amelia approached her and took the box from her. Then, she looked at Nicole May, who was quietly observing them and turned back to her son. "Why don't you go do your homework with Avegaille also, maybe something interesting will happen…"

"Geh…" Nicole May muttered and looked exasperated. Her parents noticed her sudden change of expression and were both confused.

"Mom, you know I'm already done with my homework…" Phil said and sighed.

"Hmm, too bad then, oh well…" Andrea said as she shrugged. "Either way, we can't stay here either. You still have to clean your room while I have to do some cleaning of my own."

Avegaille giggled to herself while Phil groaned. Then, Amelia placed the box on the floor as she was getting tired of carrying it. Then, Sandra approached both Amelia and Andrea. Nicole May was curious to what it was about but as she looked at her father, he seemed to know something.

"Oh yes. Amelia, Andrea, if you two aren't busy, my manager called me and is organizing a party for next week. It's to take place at our house… well, I guess you can call it a mansion. Anyway, I'm inviting you two… it would be nice to get you two better," Sandra said and giggled.

"Eh, seriously?!" Andrea exclaimed while she quickly clung into Amelia's arm and squealed.

"Hey, don't start a scene here!" Amelia exclaimed as she pinched Andrea's right cheek and tried to pull it.

"Ow, ow, that hurts…" Andrea groaned while Amelia sighed and released Andrea's cheek.

"Ahaha, you guys remind me of the times I had with Nancy," Sandra remarked and laughed a bit. Then, she kept quiet for a while and sighed. "Anyway, forget about that, Nicole May will tell you guys how to get to our place by next week."

"Ah, yes, of course," Amelia muttered nervously while Andrea looked at Sandra curiously.

"We should be going also. I'm quite busy but if Nicole May has any school events where I need to be around, I'll come," Sandra said as she waved her hand and went back to where Doug and Nicole May were at. After that, the three of them left, going down the escalator.

"Hey, do you think Nancy is her best friend?" Andrea asked while Amelia turned to her. "Something must have happened back then… you know what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, well, we don't know her that much, but maybe there's something in us that she saw and reminded her of that person," Amelia remarked as she shrugged. Then, she picked up the box from the floor and carried it in her arms. "We should get going… after all… I want to see how this television will blend in the kitchen."

.-.-.-.-.-

"Such a boring weekend," Naz whined and folded her arms across her chest. She was with Elizabeth and both of them were actually near the entrance of the mall. She wanted to have some fun by going to the mall but since she was new in town, she asked Elizabeth to show her around, even if Elizabeth didn't want to tag along with her at first.

"Yeah, you're just lucky my Mom allowed me to come with you…" Elizabeth replied and groaned. "Seriously, how did you know where my house is?"

"Oh, well, it's probably because I saw you entering that house on my way home from school," Naz replied and shrugged. "Didn't know you live only a couple of blocks away from school…"

"Well, yeah… Avegaille and Phil also live nearby, so we're practically neighbors also," Elizabeth added as she placed her hands in the pockets of her shirt. "Anyway, what do you want to do since we're already here?"

"First, I want to see what the mall has…" Naz replied and giggled. "Pretty sure there are lots of stores and places to eat, but my first interest is the arcade."

"Yeah, we could go there, I suppose," Elizabeth said and shrugged. Then, from a distance, she saw someone who looked really familiar. The girl had long brown hair and she was using her mobile phone. Elizabeth assumed it was Nicole May, but she looked somehow different because of her clothes and hairstyle. Still, she didn't hesitate and approached the girl.

"Nicole May, is that you?" Elizabeth asked while the girl turned around and looked at her.

"Yeah, it's me… you have a problem?" Nicole May asked and she turned back to navigating through her mobile phone.

"Hey, why did you leave me there all of a sudden?" Naz asked as she was getting closer and then stood next to Elizabeth. Then, she turned to the direction where Elizabeth was looking, which she saw Nicole May and quickly hugged her. "Yo Nikki, what brings you here?"

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"Geh, stop that!" Nicole May exclaimed as she stared at Naz exasperatedly.

"Sorry, couldn't help it," Naz said and giggled while she released Nicole May from her arms. "Anyway, why are you here?"

"Yeah, well, I mean, it's just you here standing on the sidewalk. Are you waiting for someone?" Elizabeth asked and Nicole May turned to both of them.

"No, I was just trying to figure out how to get to Avegaille's house from here…" Nicole May replied and sighed. "My stupid mobile phone apparently can't give me a viewable map yet, only coordinates of my current location…"

"That's some phone still," Elizabeth remarked while Nicole May handed to her the phone she was holding. She looked at the screen and saw the coordinates Nicole May was talking about and nothing else. Then, she handed back the phone to Nicole May. "Well, if you want to get to Avegaille's house from here, I can lead the way… we're neighbors after all."

"Hey, what are you going to do at Avegaille's house anyway?" Naz asked while she looked at Nicole May mischievously and giggled.

"Shut up, it's none of your business!" Nicole May protested as she looked at Naz exasperatedly. "Anyway, I'm just going there so I can help Avegaille finish her homework, considering I'm already done with mine."

"Oh yeah, you guys have extra homework because you both cut classes," Elizabeth said and folded her arms across her chest. "Avegaille takes a while when it comes to finishing her homework. It's best if she's not distracted most of the time…"

"Hey can we come? I mean, we want to visit Avegaille too," Naz interrupted, in which Elizabeth sighed and slowly shook her head. "Okay, so maybe I do… at least."

"It's not my house… I am not even sure if Avegaille's mother would allow it, but whatever, let's just try and see," Nicole May replied and groaned.

.-.-.-.-.-

"Whoa, what are you guys doing here?" Avegaille asked as she saw Elizabeth and Naz behind Nicole May. She was at the front door of her house, and the three of them were standing in front of her. It had been a few hours since Avegaille arrived home with her mother and sister, and now she was just waiting for Nicole May to visit. She was not expecting Elizabeth and Naz to be with her.

"Well, I wanted to see where you lived," Naz replied and giggled. "Who knew that you live just a few blocks away from school and also from Elizabeth's house?"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Elizabeth remarked while she looked at Naz exasperatedly.

"Naz was persistent, so I had no choice and Elizabeth was the only one who knew how to get to your house from the mall," Nicole May added.

"Eh, why didn't you ask your parents to drive you here?" Avegaille asked Nicole May and slightly scratched her head.

"I had some unfinished business, so I told my parents I'll go to your house by myself," Nicole May replied while she folded her arms across her chest.

"Why don't you guys come inside and we'll talk more in the living room," Avegaille suggested and everyone started entering the house. After that, Avegaille closed the door behind her and led her guests to the kitchen where her mother was.

"Oh, I didn't expect you to have more than one visitor today," Amelia remarked and giggled. "Anyway, I see a new face here aside from Elizabeth and Nicole May, what's your name?"

"Ah, it's Natalie Howard, but people just call me Naz," Naz replied and nodded slowly. She noticed there was something familiar with Avegaille's mother. "Hey, aren't you our school principal?"

"Nice to meet you then, and yeah, I am, though I'm still getting used to it," Amelia replied and chuckled. "Anyway, you guys have fun now." Then, she turned back to the television that she was setting up behind her, which was on the counter.

"Mom's kinda busy, so we should go to the living room instead…" Avegaille whispered while everyone else nodded.

All of them got out of the kitchen, through the hallway, until they arrived at the living room. Luckily, no one else was inside. Naz sat down on the sofa, which Elizabeth and Nicole May also did the same. Nicole May noticed that there were lots of papers and books on the coffee table and even saw Avegaille's notebook. She took one of them and flipped through the page.

"I'm guessing you're still not yet done with your English homework?" Nicole May asked, which Avegaille nodded and sat down next to her. "Well, I don't see where you're having problems… I mean, English is your native language, right?"

"Hmm, that's easy for you to say…" Avegaille muttered and groaned.

"Well, Nicole May, I know for a fact that Avegaille's Mom used to teach her another language when she was still in elementary. Of course, she didn't continue teaching it after a certain incident…" Elizabeth explained while Naz and Nicole May turned to her.

"Eh, what incident are you talking about?" Naz asked while Avegaille leaned her back against the sofa and closed her eyes.

"I don't really want to talk about it, unless Avegaille wants to, or if she still remembers it…" Elizabeth muttered and they all looked at Avegaille, waiting for her reply.

Avegaille opened her eyes and saw that everyone was staring at her, which freaked her out. She quickly stood up from her seat and stared at them exasperatedly. They were also staring at her and eventually, Avegaille finally gave up.

"Fine… I'll tell you guys…" Avegaille groaned as she sat down on a couch to the right of the coffee table. "Hey Elizabeth, is this supposed to be about the incident that happened before I got suspended in Centralville Elementary?"

"I suppose you can say that, even though we're drifting off," Elizabeth replied and shrugged.

"Well, even if I want to talk about it, I don't remember the details too clearly anymore…" Avegaille muttered as she folded her arms across her chest and sighed.

"I'll summarize it for you then…" Elizabeth insisted and both Naz and Nicole May turned to her. "Basically, Avegaille got into a fight during fourth grade. Of course, she didn't start it… she was merely defending herself. However, she defended herself too much and ended up injuring the person who offended her, and was sent to the hospital. I wanted to speak up but I couldn't because the friends of that person might have picked on me next. The public knew that the principal suspended Avegaille for that incident. Although what really happened there is that Mrs. Stewart asked the principal if she could transfer her to another school instead, while making it clear that she was suspended, so the incident wouldn't have any further investigations. The principal also knew who was at fault in the first place, but decided to go with Mrs. Stewart's request."

"What?! That's impossible… I thought I was suspended at school!" Avegaille exclaimed, which both Naz and Nicole May turned to her.

"No, Avegaille… you weren't suspended at all… you were just transferred to another school while making it look like you were suspended. That's what my Mom told me," Elizabeth said and sighed. "Your mother knew what would happen if I told the truth, and if you continued to stay in that school. That's why your mother and my Mom had an agreement."

"Then… how come Mom never told me?" Avegaille asked.

"Maybe it might have been best, but I really don't know. You would have found out about it eventually anyway," Elizabeth replied and shrugged.

"Okay, so now I practically know the whole story behind the rumor circulating around Midway Academy about Avegaille having major issues…" Nicole May muttered and turned to Elizabeth. "I'm just glad they weren't able to get to this information… not like there was one to begin with."

"Issues huh… so what did those people from there thought of what issues Avegaille has?" Naz asked and Nicole May turned to her.

"It's nothing that's worth noting, even though they tried to exaggerate it. They were proven wrong afterwards. They thought Avegaille was a terrible student in terms of academics and sports but she was able to excel in them," Nicole May explained. "Although, there was one type of sport that we couldn't see Avegaille doing…"

"Let me guess, swimming?" Elizabeth asked and Nicole May nodded in agreement.

"Please don't talk about that…" Avegaille groaned as she took the pillow next to her, hugged it and closed her eyes.

"Don't worry, we won't go any further," Elizabeth assured her and giggled. Then, she looked at the clock that was on the wall, above the television. "Well, I should get home now, before my mother nags at me again…"

"I'll come with you, even though we never went to the mall. Maybe tomorrow perhaps?" Naz asked and got up from the sofa.

"Sorry Naz, I'm busy tomorrow, you'll have to go on your own… I mean, you know where the mall is now, right?" Elizabeth replied. She also stood up from the sofa. Then, she turned to Avegaille and Nicole May. "See you guys at school."

"Speaking of school, the newspaper room should be finished with the furnishing when we all get back to school," Nicole May said and took out her mobile phone and browsed through her messages. "Yeah, I'll have the key to the room by then."

"Can't wait to see how it looks," Naz said happily. Then, she turned to Elizabeth and giggled.

Then, Avegaille opened her eyes and saw that Naz and Elizabeth were leaving the living room. She stood up as she led them to the hallway until both of them got out of the house. Then, Avegaille went back to the living room and saw Nicole May reading her English book. She sat down next to Nicole May and kept quiet. Nicole May was too busy reading that she didn't even notice that Avegaille was already sitting next to her. Then, Avegaille took Nicole May's arm and moved closer to her, and leaned her head against her shoulder. Nicole May was a bit surprised but when she saw Avegaille's expression, she paused and kept quiet. Now, she was starting to get worried at what Avegaille was thinking. While observing her expression, she felt that she had seen that expression before.

'Where I have seen this?' Nicole May thought as she slowly turned away from Avegaille and started thinking. 'I could have sworn… she was also like this the first time I met her…'

"Hey, Nicole May, I want to tell you something…" Avegaille muttered and Nicole May turned back to her.

"Go ahead Avegaille… what is it?" Nicole May asked while she placed back the book she was holding on the coffee table.

"Well, to be honest, the first time I entered that room and saw you, I thought we could be friends. But you didn't want to. I thought that was somewhat mean because you didn't know who I was yet. Then, when I found out the real reason was it was because you were friends with them. I wanted to know their real intentions to you. I wanted to know if they were being true to you. When I saw that they were stabbing you behind your back, I wanted you to know the truth and maybe that could change you… to become better than them. That's why… I did that…" Avegaille muttered, in which Nicole May stared at her surprisingly. "I finally remembered why… maybe because I was always alone… I always did my best so that the same incident won't happen again. And I didn't want to be bullied either, so I asked my mom if she could find any sort of defense I could do without using my legs…"

"Did something bad… happened to your leg?" Nicole May interrupted and Avegaille nodded slowly. "I see…"

"I don't really have anyone else to tell this… I'm sorry if it somehow bothers you…" Avegaille muttered softly as she closed her eyes.

"It's fine…" Nicole May said while she gently stroked through Avegaille's hair. "Although there's something that's bothering me… do you really remember things in the first place and just not want to talk about it or you don't remember them and it just comes out of its own?"

"Oh, yeah, that…" Avegaille opened her eyes and laughed weakly. "If something happened more than a year ago or more, I tend to forget… but there are certain events that I can't forget and if I'm reminded of those… eventually they lead me to remembering events after that which I've forgotten…"

"I finally understand now…" Nicole May said and smiled softly.

Avegaille felt a bit relieved after she saw Nicole May smiling at her, and giggled. Then, Nicole May took the book from the table and started flipping through the pages until she found the page she was looking for. She placed the opened book in front of Avegaille and made her read it afterwards. Avegaille got somewhat annoyed at the fact that they had to do homework after everything that transpired, but she had no choice but to start reading.