Chapter 36: Unforgettable Past

"Ah, thanks for coming along with me, Nicole May…" Avegaille smiled sheepishly while she put the papers she received from the teachers earlier inside her bag. “Although, Miss Read seemed so bothered when we went to her desk in the faculty room. I did give to her my homework for the subject… and then, for tomorrow she said I have to take the quiz at the faculty room if my narcolepsy hits me again as you guys will be having the quiz that day as well… but still…"

"What do you expect? She probably thinks you would have a hard time catching up with the lessons because you only do self-study most of the time and you're rarely inside the classroom, wide awake to listen to the lessons…" Nicole May retorted. She folded her arms across her chest and sighed.

"Well, I'm managing so far. Plus, you and Jane help me out most of the time…" Avegaille said and laughed nervously.

"Yeah… still, you know how some teachers are…" Nicole May muttered and looked really exasperated. At the same time, she was also worried. "Hey… you know when Elizabeth said she plans to have the newspaper published at least every first week of the month… do you think you can keep up with the pace for that?"

"Elizabeth doesn't really let me do much aside from drawing whatever needs to be drawn… so, I guess it's fine," Avegaille replied. "Plus, knowing her and if all the materials were available, she would make the most out of it… especially now she is the editor-in-chief. One more thing… I like drawing, so I don't mind as well. I think I can handle that pace at least."

"Of course… clearly, I know the school paper needs more staff. Six people versus the amount of students in this school. I highly doubt we can cover everything if that was the case. I suppose that Emily's idea for the other clubs coming into our office was good so we would know what we're lacking…" Nicole May muttered and sighed.

"Yeah, I know… but don't worry, there's also the student council as well to turn to for ideas. Jane said that there's a possibility we could move to a much bigger room once the area in the fifth floor of the other building has been fully renovated. But at the same time, she told me that the funds for the school are used elsewhere… so, the renovation for the said floor has been delayed for months, or even years…" Avegaille stated and looked weary. "How I manage to remember that is beyond me…"

Nicole May stared at Avegaille surprisingly and quickly grabbed her shoulders. Both of them had stopped walking at this point. The two of them were now on their way home after Avegaille finished talking with the teachers of the classes she missed for that day. This was something that she had to do every time she would fall asleep in the afternoon. Most of the time, she would do this by herself but today, Nicole May wanted to tag along with her. Avegaille thought it was unusual for Nicole May to come with her but she eventually agreed with her request.

"Wha… wait… what? What is it?" Avegaille asked nervously. Nicole May's serious stare was too scary for her and made her shudder.

"When did your sister tell you this?"

"I forgot when… but while she was helping me out with homework, I guess. She saw some of my drawings and I told her it was for the school paper… Then, she brought up that. They were doing some hallway monitoring for all of the floors and buildings…" Avegaille replied nervously and closed her eyes. "Don't hurt me… please…"

"Geez, if you have told me this sooner, I could have done something…" Nicole May released Avegaille from her grip and placed her hands on her hips. "I'll ask the student council regarding the details of this room…"

"Eh… okay then? Um… what are you going to do, exactly?" Avegaille scratched her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Same thing that I did to the current school newspaper room… only this time we get a bigger space," Nicole May replied and sighed.

Afterward, they continued walking through the hallways until they reached the main entrance of the building and got out from there. Eventually, they reached the sidewalk. Most students at this point had already gone home and club activities had ended for the day. Some would walk on their own, while others would board the school buses. There were also some students that would ride their bicycles. A couple of students riding their bicycles were passing by Avegaille and Nicole May.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow then?" Avegaille stopped walking and turned to Nicole May. "Do show me some pictures of Kuroko when you get some saved in your laptop as well… okay?"

"Huh? Sure… I'll see what I can do regarding that one," Nicole May replied while she slowly lifted up her hand and waved at Avegaille. "See you then…"

"Okay, bye!" Avegaille exclaimed and waved back. Nicole May walked off after that, opposite to the direction where Avegaille usually goes to get home.

Avegaille was now alone and started walking to get to her house. While walking, she noticed her sister, Jane, standing next to a bus stop sign. She quickly ran up to her sister to see what she was up to.

Jane was staring at the cars and people passing by while she was waiting for a bus to arrive. Then, something started pulling her sleeve and quickly turned, only to see her little sister standing next to her.

"Gah… since when did you get there?" Jane asked surprisingly and looked weary.

"Just a few moments ago…" Avegaille replied while she let go of Jane's sleeve. "Anyway, what are you doing here? You're not going home yet?"

"No, I'm just waiting for a bus so I could visit Dad… just for a few hours at least and then go back to Mom's place…" Jane muttered and turned back to the road, watching the vehicles passing by again.

"Eh? Dad… um…" Avegaille's face turned pale and started sweating. Then, she shook her head and quickly gripped on Jane's arm tightly, which surprised her. "Hey… can… can I come with you?"

"What?" Jane quickly turned to her sister, surprised by her request. She didn't know what to say next as she knew that the moment Avegaille saw their father, she would be shaking and trembling out of fear. "Are… are you sure about that? I mean, I don't mind but I'm more worried about you."

"Um… you're also there, right? I mean… I shouldn't worry too much… right?" Avegaille asked nervously and her hands were already shaking that Jane could feel it as well. "I really hate this… this feeling whenever you would bring up Dad… but at the same time I don't want to be always afraid of him for the rest of my life. You'll help me out, right?"

Jane sighed and slightly shook her head. She looked at the direction where the buses were arriving from the east side of the town and one is about to stop by. She had to decide now if she would let her sister come along with her as the next bus would probably take another thirty minutes to arrive. Jane noticed that Avegaille was trembling but at the same time, the determined look on her face was enough to convince her to let Avegaille come with her.

"All right, let's go. I'll call Mom once we get to the apartment to let her know you're with me…" Jane muttered and patted Avegaille's head.

.-.-.-.-.-

The two of them were now facing a brown door with a plate showing the number of the apartment. Jane looked at the panel next to the door and pressed the button, which was the doorbell. Avegaille, on the other hand, was clinging on her sister's arm tightly while her eyes were closed. She had been like this since the two of them got off the bus and entered the apartment complex. The complex itself had five floors and their father's apartment was on the fourth floor. At least, the place had an elevator. Some people that they passed by in the complex still recognized Jane, even after a few months had passed from the day she moved out and lived with her mother and Avegaille.

"Huh… as expected. Dad doesn't come home until seven in the evening…" Jane muttered after waiting for the door to open but no one responded from the other side.

"Eh?" Avegaille opened up her eyes and looked up at her sister. "So… does that mean we wasted our trip?"

"Not really… I still have the key to this apartment, mind you," Jane replied apathetically. She took out from her blazer pocket a key and inserted it in the keyhole. Then, she turned the key and both of them heard a click, in which Jane turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. "After all, I still have some of my things in this apartment that I couldn't be bothered to bring at Mom's place because they're too bulky… or wouldn't fit in my room there if I take them all with me."

"Huh? What do you mean by that…?" Avegaille asked, staring at her blankly.

"Oh… I'm talking about some of the books Dad bought for me," Jane replied and stepped in the apartment, in which Avegaille did the same.

Avegaille slowly released her grip from her sister while she looked around the apartment. Looking at the left side, she saw a sofa with a coffee table in front of it and to the other side of the coffee table was an LCD screen television that was almost leaning on the wall. Then, she turned to the right and saw the kitchen table with some chairs, the counter with the sink plus the refrigerator by the corner. She then turned again to her front and saw three doors and wasn't sure where they led to.

"Heh… yeah, my room is the one to the right, the middle door is the bathroom, and you guessed it, the left door is Dad's room," Jane guided while pointing to the respective doors she was talking about.

"Aah…" Avegaille slightly nodded and then noticed a small cabinet next to the door going to the bathroom. There was a picture frame on top of it. She quickly went closer to it and stared at the picture displayed. The picture had an image of her when she was only three years old and was being carried by her Mom. Next to her Mom was her Dad and Jane was in the middle of them. Everyone looked happy in that picture, in which Avegaille couldn't stop staring at and eventually her mind started going blank.

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"Hey, shrimp!" Jane called, in which Avegaille quickly lifted up her head and turned to her. "Why don't you sit on the sofa for the meantime and do your homework while we're waiting… I'll call Mom to let her know you’re here."

"Okay then… um…" Avegaille glanced at the picture for the last time. Then, she quickly went to the side where the sofa was and sat down on it. She placed her bag on her lap and opened it, looking through her notebooks and papers.

Jane approached the phone that was attached to the wall near the door of her room and grabbed it. Then, she started dialing the number to her Mom's house and then placed the phone to her ear. It started ringing and eventually, someone picked up.

'Hello, Stewart residence, Andrea speaking at the moment…'

"Huh? Oh… wait, you're my Mom's friend…" Jane blurted and scratched her head. She had gotten used to the fact that Andrea, or Phil's mother, would always visit her Mom's place occasionally. "It's me, Jane. Where's Mom?"

'Oh, Amelia is just making some coffee but I'll tell her you're on the line,' Andrea replied and then Jane could hear Andrea calling her Mom. The line was muffling for a while and then…

'Jane, where are you right now? And also, have you seen your little sister?' Amelia asked, and from her tone, she sounded worried.

"Yeah Mom, I am calling you about that. I'm at Dad's apartment right now… and Avegaille wanted to come along with me…" Jane muttered slowly, and from the other line, she heard a shriek from her mother. "So, basically, she's with me right now…"

'What?! Jane, you are aware of your sister's condition, right?' Amelia asked furiously.

"Yes, Mom, I know… but Avegaille really wanted to come with me, at least for today," Jane replied and sighed. "Dad's not yet here at the moment as it's not yet seven in the evening… but once he's here… I just hope the little shrimp can last."

'Geez, Jane, you're too reckless! Whatever, in case Avegaille's panic attack triggers when Jake arrives, there's a packet of medication in Avegaille's bag. Make her drink one and she will calm down but she will fall asleep for who knows how many hours. Probably enough to get her back here…' Amelia instructed and sighed.

"Why is there something like that in her bag?" Jane asked and raised an eyebrow. "Does Avegaille even know that there's medication in her bag?"

'No, she doesn't. It's just something I put in there in case of instances like this… or other instances while she's at school. All of her teachers do know about the medication as I have given them instructions if ever she goes out of control for whatever reason,' Amelia replied firmly. 'Anyway, I'll drive over there to pick you guys up. Just call me when you're done or if… well, you know…'

"Understood, Mom…" Jane muttered and sighed. Then, the line from the other end dropped, in which she placed the phone back on the wall. She turned to her sister, who was sitting on the sofa. Her sister was still calm but she was afraid of what would happen next once their Dad gets home.

.-.-.-.-.-

"Amelia… calm down…" Andrea started stroking Amelia's back with her hand, hopefully enough to ease her tension.

After dropping the call, Andrea knew that Amelia would start a fuss from the conversation that just happened. Andrea had known most of things that happened before Amelia and Jake divorced. Her way of visiting Amelia at her place most of the time was one way for her to make sure that Amelia doesn't completely lose it. It was also another way for her to keep track of the things she had recommended Amelia and Avegaille to do after their therapy sessions.

"How can I when I know that Avegaille's at her father's place and I'm not there to make sure he doesn't do anything too drastic to her?!" Amelia exclaimed furiously and held on her head while she shook her head.

"I know but it was Avegaille herself who decided to do this. If she really didn't want to go there, she wouldn't ask Jane to bring her along," Andrea said while she grabbed both of Amelia's wrists and slowly put her arms down. Amelia paused for a while and stared at Andrea. "You should at least give Jake a chance. If he has truly changed, he should be able to show that properly to Avegaille as well."

"Fine… but I am driving down there as soon as they're done or if something happens to Avegaille!" Amelia declared, in which Andrea couldn't help but sigh heavily and released Amelia's wrists from her grip at the same time.

"Of course. Hey, let's talk about something else for the meantime… what do you think?" Andrea suggested, in an attempt to distract her friend for now, and grinned at her.

"Hmph, like what?" Amelia frowned while she folded her arms across her chest.

"Well… let's see. It's almost December, right? What are you planning to do for the holidays?" Andrea asked nonchalantly.

"I'm still thinking about that. Maybe, I'll just stick to the usual routine like last year…" Amelia muttered and groaned. "But you know my parents. They also like to bring the party to this house once in a while…"

"Of course, your parents are really fun to be with, you know?" Andrea remarked and chucked. "I'd like to meet them again if they're not too busy."

"Sure… I don't mind. I’ll let them know soon," Amelia said and sighed.

.-.-.-.-.-

Avegaille was quietly writing her answers on her notebook for her homework while she was sitting on the sofa. On the other hand, Jane started cooking dinner as this was one of the things she did back when she was still living in the apartment for a good few years. Looking at the refrigerator earlier, Jane saw the ingredients were just enough to make something edible. Knowing her Dad after she moved out, most likely, he had been ordering food from outside instead of cooking on his own.

After Jane was done cooking, she heard the doorknob turning and quickly turned her attention to the main door. The door swung open and saw her Dad entering the apartment. He gently closed the door and looked around. Avegaille, at the same time, was just done with her homework and quickly stood up from her seat. As soon as she turned around, Avegaille saw her father and stood there, frozen stiff.

Their father had black hair, which was spiky, most especially in the middle. He was also wearing glasses and his eyes were partly open and from a distance, one would think that his eyes were closed. But underneath those eyelids, he had blue eyes, just like Jane. He was wearing a black suit, a white shirt underneath with a necktie as well, and of course, black pants.

Jake was fine with Jane dropping by his apartment once a while and even her cooking dinner for him. However, as soon as he saw his youngest daughter, he stood still on his spot, speechless. He took off his glasses and put them back again and Avegaille was still there. He dropped the briefcase he was holding with his hand on the floor and slowly approached Avegaille.

Jane quickly ran and stood next to Avegaille, in case something would happen to her. She looked at her sister and saw she was already trembling. She grabbed her sister's hand and held onto it for a while, to somehow lessen her nervousness.

"Avegaille… I… I don't know what to say…" Jake started, and his voice was also trembling as he didn't want to scare his youngest daughter. He stepped closer until the only thing that stopped from approaching Avegaille further was the sofa in between them.

"D-Dad… I… I…" Avegaille was still trembling and couldn’t look at her father at all. Then, she quickly turned to Jane and pressed her face against her sister's chest. After a while, she looked up at her sister. "He's… not gonna hurt me… is he?"

"It's okay…" Jane started stroking Avegaille's back with her hand and then, she turned to her father. "You're probably wondering why Avegaille's with me right now."

"Jane, of course I am. I mean, it has been too long… I really wanted to tell her how sorry I was…" Jake muttered and his hands were shaking. He tried reaching his hand close to Avegaille. However, Avegaille was still trembling from fear that he put down his hand again and sighed. "Avegaille… if only… you would listen to me, even for a while."

"Looks like this isn't the right time yet. Even if it was Avegaille who wanted to come with me…" Jane said while continuing to stroke Avegaille's back. She could hear her little sister muttering some words but didn't understand them as her face was pressed on her chest again. Then, she turned to her father again. "Dad, could you get me a glass of water?"

"Ah… sure." Jake went to the side where the counter was and started looking for an empty drinking glass.

Jane looked at the things on the sofa and saw Avegaille's bag. She slowly moved to reach it while her little sister was still clinging onto her. She positioned Avegaille to sit down on the sofa but Avegaille still refused to let go of her. Then, Jane reached out for Avegaille's bag and started to look through its pockets until she found a blister of pills. It was the only medication she found in the bag, so she knew it had to be the one her mother was referring to. She held onto the pack with one hand and then placed the bag back on top of the sofa. After Jane got the pill out of the blister, Jake came back with a glass of water.

"I don't know what this is for, but here…" Jake handed over the glass of water to Jane.

"Avegaille… come on," Jane hushed and sat down next to Avegaille, in which Avegaille was still clinging on her chest. Then, Avegaille looked up at her sister again and her eyes were swelling.

"I'll… I'll be a good girl… I'll do my homework everyday… and then, get good grades like you… Dad will be nice to me that way… won't he? He won't make Mom mad as well… right?" Avegaille muttered and eventually, she started crying. Memories of her past began to flood through her head. She continued crying and muttering out things every time that incident that happened years ago continued playing inside her head. She vividly remembered that day… when her parents were arguing and she was there, watching them.

"Avegaille… here. Drink this…" Jane put the pill in Avegaille's mouth and then, slowly placed the rim of the glass of water on Avegaille's mouth. Avegaille started drinking the water in the glass. Then, she placed the glass on top of the coffee table and started stroking Avegaille's head.

Jake went in front of his daughters and noticed that Avegaille was slowly calming down and her eyelids were closing. He looked down at the coffee table and saw papers and notebooks scattered on it, as well as a blister of medicine on top of the mess. One of the blisters of medicine was already opened. Then, he looked at Avegaille again, who finally fell asleep.

"Jane… that was…"

"Yeah, it was one of her medications in case she started fidgeting like that…" Jane replied and stood up. She held on Avegaille's shoulder and positioned her until she was lying down on the sofa. "Mom told me about it the minute I told her she was here with me."

"I see now. Amelia is still the same as ever…" Jake muttered and crouched down in front of the sofa while he started stroking Avegaille's hair. "I’m hoping there would be a day where the two of us could talk about your likes and whatever stories you have in mind…"

"Dad, you know… Avegaille is looking forward to that game you're developing," Jane said, in which Jake quickly stood up and turned to her. "Of course, she doesn't know that you're part of the staff making the game… or rather, you're creating it. She's even saving up for the new console it's going to come out on."

Jake smiled and turned to Avegaille again, who was now fast asleep. He felt that the only way he could truly be united and be forgiven by his youngest daughter was to show how much he had changed for the past few years. He felt motivated again to work hard on the game he was developing to meet his youngest daughter's expectations.

"Okay then! I won't give up on this game, not after what the Rustfords have done to the company so far to save it, and for Avegaille as well," Jake declared while he clenched his fists.

"Good to hear, Dad," Jane said and smiled softly at him. Then, she turned to her little sister again and sighed. "Perhaps, I should get Nicole May involved in this after all."

"Nicole May? Is she… Avegaille's friend?" Jake asked curiously.

"Yeah, Nicole May Rustford. She is the only daughter of the Rustford family… the same family who owns the company that bought your gaming company," Jane replied while she folded her arms across her chest. "I'm surprised at how happy Avegaille was whenever she was with her. Something I could no longer do… but perhaps, it's probably better that way."

"Jane… don't say that. Just Avegaille being here with you right now while visiting me… I think it's a sign she really looks up to you and thinks you're the greatest sister," Jake said and held on Jane's shoulders. "Is that why you came here in the first place? Something was troubling you the minute I saw your face. Not just because you know Avegaille would react like this the minute she saw me… but because of something else."

"You know too much, Dad…" Jane muttered and slightly turned away from him. "I guess, you could say it is all about that…"