AVALINE

Turns out I was right about Mavis. She knows everyone. She was with me in the following days. She introduced me to her acquaintances, and they were nice to me. But I have a feeling they’re still okay with me because I haven’t done anything to annoy them yet. They really love to talk about other people. They’ll smile and chat, but once someone turns their back, they start saying things.

“Hey, don’t tell anyone, okay? You might be quiet now, but you’re a gossip reporter to others,” Naria jokingly slapped my arm, but her laugh seemed a bit forced. Every time she backstabs someone while I’m listening, she always does this to me. It’s like a reminder not to say anything and subtly indicating that she doesn’t trust me yet.

“Who would you even tell that to? We’re the only friends she has here,” Mavis defended.

“Are you done with your segment? Maybe you want to start on our assignment,” Dylan said with a frown. He’s usually smiling, but when he gets bored, he pouts. He’s game to talk as long as it’s about a topic he likes. Naria’s backstabbing sessions bore him every day. And I feel the same way. Can’t everyone just be friends? Why not give others the benefit of the doubt? They don’t really know the person well and aren’t even trying to get to know them. They judge based on one-time interactions or stories from others.

Naria frowned at Dylan.

“Don’t you care about my feelings? I’m just sharing,” Naria said.

“You have too many feelings,” Dylan shot back. “You’re so full of feelings that you used up an hour of our free time when we could’ve been working on our assignment. After dismissal, you’ll just chatter away in the group chat again. Just take a break from those feelings.”

We were sitting on the floor next to the chairs near the teacher's table. Our teacher was on the other side of the room talking with other classmates about movies. The four of us formed a circle on the floor because we planned to work together on an assignment due after lunch. I was already done, but they didn’t know that yet. There was no chance for me to say that I had finished because as soon as we sat down on the floor, Naria started talking about other schoolmates.

“You act like you're so hardworking. You just come to us for answers; you’re just copy and run,” Naria punched Dylan's arm.

“Easy for you to say when your answers are often wrong—”

“Well then why are you copying here?” she hit Dylan again.

“You should be grateful I still trust your abilities even if you make mistakes.”

Dylan's words seemed effective because Naria couldn’t hide her smile anymore. She turned to her yellow pad and focused on the assignment she needed to do. Maybe Dylan motivated her with his comment.

“How do we do this? That’s why I procrastinate; Ma’am is rushing us. She wants us to have a draft of our speech ready right away. What if you’re not in the mood to write? Doesn’t she want us to just recite it on the day itself?” Mavis scratched her head with her pen.

“Ssh!” Naria put her finger on her lips. “I’m trying to concentrate. Trust me! We’ll finish this soon.”

“It’s speech writing! We can’t all be doing the same thing,” Mavis said.

Naria slumped her shoulders and started pinching her lower lip. Her breathing changed; it was heavy, and her brow was furrowed.

“So? What now?” Dylan tapped his pen repeatedly against his paper.

“Wait, your pen is so loud!” Naria said irritably, one hand tangled in her hair. “I’m having a mental block! There’s less than an hour left until submission.”

And when opportunity presents itself, Ava, you grab it.

“Actually, I’ve finished my draft already. I can help you.” My cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

Naria and Mavis exchanged looks; Mavis’s eyes were filled with pride as if saying, ‘See? I told you.’

Mavis was the first to respond.

“How? Can you handle all three of us within such a short time frame?”

I nodded. “It’s easy since it’s just a draft for now. It can be added to or changed later on. Ma’am just wants to see that we’ve started something so that on recitation day, no one can make excuses for not being ready yet; it’s not final.”

I let them choose topics they liked and gave them ideas on how to present those through speech.

That became our routine. Whenever a teacher assigned something, the four of us would gather on the floor, and I would help them. As the days went by, starting as just the four of us, we began to grow in number, which made it a bit difficult for me since everyone was vying for my attention.

“You really are a blessing from heaven, Ava!” Rune said. I was happy because he was finally engaged in class; meanwhile, during the first and second weeks, he would just sleep and didn’t care about not submitting assignments.

“Oh, what about us? We’re the original friends, okay!” Dylan and Naria pulled me in. Mavis then created an invisible line with her hand as if she were fencing me off from our classmates.

Sometimes, people from the other section would visit me because my classmates would tell them stories about me. I felt like I was floating. We were all excelling in class. Our teacher praised us because our section was supposedly doing great.

I arrived home out of breath. I hadn’t actually planned to go jogging when I asked my dad for permission. But it seemed like it happened anyway. As soon as I got away from Kairos, I started running. I didn’t stop or feel tired at all during my run. Now that I’ve gotten home and stopped, I feel like I’ve run from Moscow to Saint Petersburg.

I can’t believe that I… NO! Do not revisit!

The house was quiet. Not at all like I expected, full of people preparing to search and rescue. When I did my little rebellion, I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that I could get away with it. Still, I half-expected that they would suddenly start looking for me. I guess they were too busy to notice. Or they simply didn’t see me as someone who could do such a thing. Again, they underestimate me too much.

“Ma’am Ava!”

I looked up to see Lian coming down the stairs with a basket containing thick sheets, blankets, and pillowcases.

“Lian,” I smiled at her. She’s one of my friends here in the house. They really feel like family to me—minus Morana—since my dad and I don’t see each other often.

“I’ve changed your bed sheets and cleaned your room,” she informed me even though it was obvious since I could see she was carrying the bed sheets from my bed.

I sighed. “I’m going to sleep so well with this.” I love the feeling of fresh, clean bed sheets.

“Just relax before the wedding,” she said sympathetically. She knew that I didn’t want this.

“It’s not about being ungrateful. But sometimes, I wish I were like you guys,” my tone softened.

She nodded in understanding.

“Since I'm just like this, there’s nothing much I can do to help you. Comfort is all I can offer…” She came closer and placed her hand on my shoulder. “So, I'll cook for you to ease your sadness a bit.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

She walked away but then stopped and stepped back. “By the way, Miss Ava, it's that time of the month to call your cousin Miss Freya.”

Right!

Some maids were already carrying cleaning supplies around. Morana was giving orders. As I passed by a long shelf filled with ancient and ceramic figurines along with a few photo frames, I looked up at two portraits on the wall—one of me and one of my dad.

It somehow made this house feel colder. We didn’t even have a picture together. It was always separate pictures for us; there wasn’t even a photo of my mom from when I was a baby and completely unaware.

I thanked Lian and went upstairs to get to my room.

My study room is separate from my bedroom so that my body knows when it’s time to sleep and when it’s time to be productive.

My room is bright and airy with minimal decoration and plain paint. My room is mostly white with wall paneling to add some life to its simplicity. The floor is light brown. My queen-sized bed sits on a white rug with simple black texture patterns. Near the floor-to-ceiling window is a single-seater lounge sofa in brown.

I dove onto my bed and was met with pure fluff. For a moment, everything faded away as I savored the feel of the freshly washed sheets.