Close Friends Stick Together

*A week later*

In the morning, I was suddenly awakened by this loud announcement on the intercom.

“Good morning everybody! I hope you’re all ready to start the new day, ‘cuz we have a guest that’s coming to live with us. When she arrives, I want you to make her as welcome as she can be, okay? Now everybody, have a very good day!”

The intercom turned off and it left a sharp sound that left my ears ringing.

“What was that about?”, Sonata asked.

“Dunno. Said something about a guest, I think?”, I answered.

We got out of bed and went to the bathroom, but not before giving us our toiletries. After that, we went to brush our teeth. We took a shower and washed our faces for the first time in years, at least. Soon, we got in line for breakfast with Sonata behind me. Hard to believe It's been a week since we were at the hospital and today, we start class.

“Who do you think this new guest is gonna be?”

“No idea. Who do you think it’ll be?”

“I hope it’s Aria. I haven’t spoken to her since yesterday.”

“Me too, Sonata. Me too.”

After we got our breakfast, we set down by ourselves and we started talking to each other to kill time. She asked me,

“So what do you think school’s gonna be like?”

“Well… it has it’s ups and downs, but you can learn about many different things.”

“Like what?”

“Hmm… there is history, and homec.”

“I heard that homec was about cooking. Is that true?”

“I’m not sure. I was taught how to cook, but I was never told about anything else. I’m sure there is more though.”

“Do you think that we’ll be in the same classes?”

“Dunno. Hope so. Which would you like to try?”

Honestly, I hope we were. It would make our lives easier and so they wouldn't have to deal with any of the mean kids.

“I would like to try cooking.”

“So you wanna do homec? Fine by me.”

“Which class do you wanna take?”

“Haven’t decided yet. Maybe I could try cooking too.”

“Great!”

“Saay. What class do you think Aria wants to take?”

“No idea. Maybe drama?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“I overheard it from one of the roommates.”

“Ah. You’re learning more now that we’re here.”

“Yeah… I guess I am.”

She smiled as she said that. It feels great. I haven’t seen her this happy since the day I met her and Aria. I really hope that we end up in the same classes. It would make me forget why I was even sad in the first place. Which is saying a lot, considering what I’ve been through in the outside world. As we walked towards the front of the school, I saw someone, just sitting there minding their own business. Upon a closer look, she looked like someone I knew. It couldn’t be. It was my imagination. When I got closer, I was in shock at who it was. It was Aria. But what was she doing here? I thought she had to stay back at the hospital. Just then, I heard Sonata scream,

“ARIA!!!”

She ran over to her like she was at race track. She was never this happier to see her again. As she was about to hug her, she stopped herself which surprised me. Aria seemed just as surprised but didn't change her body language as she said,

“I see you're not the crybaby I remember.”

Sonata smiled and said,

“I'm starting to grow up just like you wanted.”

I walked over to them and said,

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Aria replied back.

“How’ve you been?” I asked.

“Well, you know… same old, same old.” she answered.

I tried to not look at the scar on her cheek. It reminded me of the foster place. Before my thoughts could go any further, I heard footsteps behind me.

“She’s going to be attending school with you two.” a voice said.

I turned around and I saw Redheart and Bolt.

“Wha-? How-? Didn’t you say she needed to stay at the hospital for a few months?”

“Correct, but we spoke to the administrator, and he said that she could go… on the condition that we supervise her in her daily activities.”

“What does ‘supervise’ mean?” Sonata asked.

“It means to watch over someone on another person’s order.”, I answered.

Sonata still had no idea what I meant, so I said,

“You’ll understand when we’re in class.”

“Okay!”, she said, beaming with a smile.

I looked at Bolt and he smiled.

“We will see you later but for now, you girls should get to class before you're late.”, he said as he waved goodbye.

We helped her up from her seat and we can see that she’s actually doing better. I asked her,

“So what have you been doing back at the hospital?”

“Well, I had to go through a few tests to see if I could recover.”

“What kind of tests?”, Sonata asked.

“They had me walk while I was holding onto these poles, did a lobotomy on me or whatever that’s called, and they had me take a few blood samples.”

“Hmm. Sounds like a great vacation.”, I said, sarcastically.

“Hey, none of that crap was easy, you know. I had to wake up early every day because the nurse had to check up on my health, and the food was nasty. Almost made me miss the food I would pick up off the ground.”, she said, annoyingly.

“At least you had someplace to sleep in, and it’s actually warm.”

“They kept treating me like a kid.” Aria said angrily.

“What’s the harm in that?”

“They wouldn’t let me use the bathroom without a nurse, I couldn’t get anything to eat without a guard asking me where I was going, and I had to take my medicine two times a day. Try wrapping your head around that.”

“Oh please, you’re just sappy that you couldn’t sneak a candy bar into your room without inspection.”

“Oh, come on girls… let's not fight.”, Sonata, said stepping in.

“Don’t worry, Sonata. It’s not a fight. We’re just talking about how being treated as a guest is a good thing.”

“Guest?”

“It’s someone who’s been invited by the person in charge.”

“Ah. Learning is fun.”

As we kept walking, I noticed Sonata kept averting her eyes at Aria’s scar. I asked her,

“What’re you looking at, Sonata?”

“Oh… it’s nothing.”

“Really? Looks like something from what I can tell.”

“What’re ya looking at?”, Aria asked.

“Well…”

“Don’t worry, Sonata. Nothing bad’s gonna happen to Aria.”

She didn't say anything, but simply nodded.

“You worry too much. I’ve been through worse.”

I rolled my eyes when she said. As we were walking, I began to notice that everybody is looking at us like we were today’s new lodger’s at the homeless shelter. Just then, I heard a voice that I never wanted to hear,

“Hey everybody! It’s the town tart.”

I recognized that voice and it stung me like a thousand knifes. Minxy Link. But what was she doing here? I thought she stayed back home with her parents. Nevermind. As long as I stayed away from her, nothing bad would happen. But this brought up another question: how did she end up here? Are those other two with her? No, that doesn't matter. We walked up the staircase and we saw this door that was right in front of us. They walked inside and I walked up to the door.

As I looked at it, I releasing a breath I didn't know I was holding. I held the doorknob in my hand, but I just didn't have the courage to open it. I thought about just turning back until...

"Hey, Addy! Are you going in or what?"

I squealed in fright and jumped, which resulted in me pushing down on the door knob and ungracefully tumbling into the room, landing face first unto the floor. I turned slightly to glare at the person who scared me and caused me to embarrass myself, which so happened to be Sonata who gave me a weird smile and muttered 'oops' under her breath.

"What an idiot...", I heard a voice say amongst the kids in the classroom.

"I told you that girl's stupidity was contagious." said another.

After getting up, with the help of Aria, Sonata went to her seat next to a short green hair girl while I roamed my eyes across the classroom, looking at the different faces. To the right, there was a group of three boys, obviously in a clique. There was a boy with toned hair and many piercings giving me a hard glare. The boy next to him was a short boy with some hair spots missing and gray glasses. He looked kind. Behind the rebellious wannabe, was a boy who had blond hair and a goofy grin making a 'call me' gesture with his hand. I rolled my eyes at him. In the front seat of the middle row was Sonata who gave me a small smile when she noticed my gaze. Next to her was a blonde girl with short hair and bright green eyes. And the the left side of the room was a petite girl with purple hair and tiny eyebrows. She too gave me a cold glare. Great, I have two people that hate me already. And they were teenagers, which didn't help.

While I filled out boring paperwork with the director this morning, I manage to get Aria and Sonata along with me to the cram school since I was the only one who could fend for them right now. I wasn't about to let them be by themselves in a school where nobody knows them. I smiled at and took a seat next to Sonata.

“I wonder who our teacher’s gonna be?”, Sonata whispered to me.

“No idea. Hopefully she’s nicer than my last teacher.”, I answered.

“Why’s that?”

“Well, it’s a long story…”

Sonata gave me a confused look as soon as I said that.

“Let’s just say that she wasn’t nice.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Just then, we heard a door open. We looked and she looked like she was our new teacher. She looked like she was 50, but I have no idea. She looked older. She was wearing this grey suit that you would normally see at a church. Her hair was brown, but it had shades of white. She also had makeup with glasses on, giving her the appearance of a single woman. Just then, cleared her throat and said,

“Good morning class. My name is Algebra Geo. I will be your teacher this year. Now, after I’m done taking attendance, I’m gonna call you up one by one to introduce yourselves to this class in alphabetical order. And also, we have a new student joining us today.”

I was caught by surprise when she said that. I wondered who she could be? I just hope she’s not someone I met at my old school. It would just make things worse.

“Come in, sweetie.”

The person walked in and had long pink hair that covered one side of her face. Her skin was as white as a marshmallow you’d see in a bag. Her clothes even looked stylish, yet they had a casual feel to them. She looked familiar to me. I couldn’t put my finger on it. She looked like someone I knew. Have we went to school together? It took me a few seconds to realize who it was. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Why is she here?

“Would you care to introduce yourself, young lady?”

“My name is Fleur Dis Lee, and I will be part of this class. I hope to get along well with all of you. Also, I was classmates with Adagio Dazzle. She was a dear friend of mine. I hope to treat her nicely as well.”

“Hmm, I see. Anyway, take your seat and we will discuss today’s assignment.”

When she finished talking, she walked towards the desk she was assigned to. Before she sat down, she saw me. Her gaze made my blood freeze the moment she turned her face. She didn’t say anything or make a face. She just quietly walked over and sat down, acting as if I didn’t exist. Which is fine by me, because one less classmate bothering me is one less bad thing that could happen to me. But still, how did she even end up here, of all places? I thought she’d be living it up with her parents and her “friends”. I knew that she wasn’t the type that wouldn’t engage in the drama with Minxie, but I can’t take any chances with her. If I get drawn into something with her, history would be repeating itself, and I will not allow that to happen this time.

“Now, we will begin by introducing and talking about ourselves, in alphabetical order.”

When we were finished introducing ourselves, she gave us an assignment sheet for our class assignment. It was an English paper that appeared to be grammar spelling. I looked over to Sonata and she appeared to be have some trouble. I asked her,

“What’s the matter, Sonata?”

“Well, I can’t figure out-”

“Shhh.” the teacher interrupted.

We looked at her and she wasn’t happy with Sonata speaking. She placed her eyes back on her work after giving us a nasty look.

“Why don’t we whisper for right now?”, I said.

“Okay.”, she said, whispering.

“So, what’s the matter?”

“Well, I can’t figure out what this says or what this means. Could you please help me?”

“Sure. What do you need help with?”

“Well, right here…”

I helped Sonata with her writing and her spelling, and it was all easy for some reason. I guess school can come in handy at times. Still, looking back on all of what I did, nothing has really changed. Everybody just minded their own business and just wanted to finish up so they could go home or back to their rooms. Suddenly, I felt a spitball hit my head. I ignored it. Then I felt another one. Again, I ignored it. I felt it again, and this time, I turned around and I didn’t see anybody.

An hour has passed by, and we were given a fifteen minute break. When I put my pencil away and preparing to talk to my sisters, Fleur walked over to me. I had no idea what she was going to say to me. I didn’t even wanna know what she was gonna do. I kept my guard up as she approached. She got closer to my desk. Suddenly, Sonata asked,

“Who’re you?”

“I’m nobody special. I just wanna talk to Addy for a few minutes.”, Fleur answered.

“And what do you wanna talk to her about?”, Aria asked, sounding defensive.

“We’re classmates. We haven’t spoken to each other for some time, ever since that ‘incident’.”

I turned my head away when I clearly knew what she was referring to.

“Just a few minutes. I won’t take long.”, she said with a friendly smile.

Feeling unsettled about this, they backed away from me over by the doorway. She got closer to me and she said,

“How’s life?”

“Same old, same old.”, I answered, sarcastically.

“I can tell that you’re busy, so I’ll make this quick. I have no idea how you got here or when you transferred here, but I will make one thing clear: don’t bother me.”

Huh? Don’t bother her? What was she going on about? I don’t remember anything about being with her, other than being with Minxie and Suri.

“What do you mean?”

“Listen closely, because I’m only gonna say this once. Me and my friends had a small problem in our relationship, so I have no one else to turn to but myself. You want the same thing as I do, right? Well, it’s simple. Stay the hell out of my way.”

“But I don’t-”

“I don’t care what you do in your spare time, whether it be by yourself, or with your friends. But if you just keep away from me, then there will be no problems.”

“Just what do you want?”

“A fresh start.”

“A fresh start?”

“Yes. A fresh start. I want my classmates to see me as someone whom they’ve never encountered before. I want everything that happened between us to be as if it had never happened before. And if Minxie asks, tell her that I don’t know who she is.”

“But what did Minxie-”

“Let’s just say that it wasn’t a pretty sight.”

“Huh?”

“Like I said, I want everything that happened between us to never exist. And if you do that, I will leave you and your friends alone. But if you fail to understand this…”

I held myself back when she said those words. There’s really something off about what she’s telling me. Then she said,

“Well, I’ll leave that to your imagination. I will be honest though. It was good seeing you again. Things never really change, do they?”

“I… suppose.”

“Hmm. It’s nearly five minutes. We better get- oh. You’re already at your seat.”, she said, giggling.

She walked back to her seat without even batting an eye. The way she spoke sounded serious. Did she really mean all that? Did she really want to start over? I had no idea what was going through her head. Just then, my sisters came to me and Sonata asked,

“Who was that?”

Fleur turned her head towards me in a discrete manner.

“No idea. Never met her before my whole life.”, I lied.

“Okay.”, she said.

“Oh come on. She must’ve said something to you. Do you honestly believe that-”, Aria said.

“I don’t know her.”, I falsely assured.

“Hmph.”, she said as she returned to her desk.

It was clear to me that she never wanted to see me again. But I still couldn’t shake the question on why she spoke to me about all this. Was she trying to tell me something, or is it a trap. Maybe I’m overthinking it. But either way, as long as she doesn’t bother me, or my sisters, I don’t care about what she does. Hours went by really quick in class and break. It felt like everything was going fast. I had no idea why, but it felt pretty good.

After cram school was over with, Blot and Redheart came over and ask if we needed help finding our dorm. I accepted the offer, and gave them my dorm number, which they at laughed at gave each other a weird glance. Both of their faces was also tinged with a smile, but I chose to ignore it.

When we finally arrived, we looked at the building. It was huge, but old, and from the windows we could tell it was well furnished.

"So, is this it?" I asked having trouble holding back my smile.

"Yep. Welcome to your new home Sonata, Adagio, Aria.", he said, smiling at me. I looked over to Aria and saw her frown.

"I never said you could call me that," she said as I opened the door.

He ignored the comment as they walked in with Sonata tailing behind us.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?!" Aria exclaimed following after them. “Don't you think it was rude to just barge in?”

He turned around and chuckled a little. The room was rather small and there were two beds.

"Oh yeah, we forgot to mention... we will be living here too. Or rather, we'll be in the next room." he said with an awkward smile.

"But isn't that against some rule or something for us to dorm together?", I protested.

"Do you have anything against my rules child?", The director asked coming out from behind him.

Bolt jumped and looked behind him as the director spoke.

"Come on, director, that's the third time you've scared me this month,", he sighed.

The director ignored him.

"Anyway, you won't be able to get a proper dorm unless you enroll in the academy's elementary school, but there's no point in that. All the girls dorms are filled up. Besides," he said leaning into my ear so only I could hear. "I can't have someone with your lineage running around here freely without someone watching you. So be a good girl and don't complain unless you want to go back to living on the streets.", he pulled back with a smirk.

Then in an instant, he vanished. Sonata and Blot looked at me with curious eyes, sensing my change of mood.

"I... I need some fresh air." I said, forcing a smile as I left the dorm.

I walked deep in thought until I came across a park with a fountain. Sitting on it, I looked down at my hands. Just how much did that director know about me? Hearing laughter, I looked to the side seeing the other exwires from the cram school. They all sat talking under a tree near the fountain. They didn't seem to notice me. It was the same ones from class.

"So what do you guys think of the new chick?" The boy suddenly asked.

"Which one?" The girl asked.

"Adagio. Or was it 'Addy', like her dumb sister called her?"

"Oh her. She's an idiot, I mean, I can't believe she came through the door and fell on her face!"

The girl laughed.

"It kinda reminded me of you, Ace."

He frowned with a blush.

"Jeez, that big guy must be getting it on with her. I'm jealous." The girl sighed.

"W-what makes you think that?" She asked with a mortified expression.

"Well, they did know each other before she came in, didn't they? Plus, I heard a rumor that she's done certain things just to get by! I mean, how pathetic do you have to be to do those things?", Ace drooled. "Plus... I followed her so I could find out what dorm she's in, and it turns out she's living with her little sisters and some guy! Man, imagine all the snooze fest they must be having...", he added.

"Oh man! I'd be careful Sunrise, that slut might take Storm from you.",

She blushed, but I didn't miss the sad expression on her face.

"That can't be true though, doesn't she already have a kid...?", she questioned.

"Why does that matter? She probably got knocked up by someone when she was young.", he replied. "We don't know anything about her or where she came from. For all we know, she could be nothing but a whore."

After hearing that, it started to rain. They got up and left, running off to god knows where. I looked up to the cloudy sky. Ever since Aria got better, it seemed to rain a lot lately.

My thoughts were interrupted by a black umbrella. Holding it over me, was none other than Sonata, who had their hand stretch out in front of me. Taking it, she helped me up and walked back to the dorm in silence. There was probably nothing for her to say after what she heard.

When we reached the dorm and I turned to go to my room to have her stop me by grabbing my hand. I looked back to see her looking down with her bangs covering her face, her eyes avoiding mine.

"Listen Addy, I... I'm sorry I didn't say anything to them when they were saying that stuff about you. It's just... Never mind, it's still no excuse. Just please give them time to get used to you. I promise they'll warm up to you."

I softly squeezed her hand and gave her what I hope was a reassuring smile, to which she returned. Then, left her in the hallway. I didn't belong here. I went to my room finding a uniform folded neatly on my bed. It was a white button-up shirt, a black blazer, a black tie with red and white stripes, and a black skirt. The director let me change some aspects of my uniform such as the color, but refused to change the skirt to pants... What a geezer... Besides the uniform, I had no other clothes to change into. Perhaps I will take them to go shopping with me tomorrow.

Leaving the room, I walked down the creaking halls to the women's bathroom. After quickly undressing, I jumped in the bath and soaked in the hot water. After a while, I grabbed a razor and began to shave since I had to wear the skirt tomorrow. While shaving, I winced from accidentally cutting my leg. I looked down at the warm blood oozing from the cut and falling into the water. It hurt, but yet... It was so satisfying and relieving, like a weight being lifted off of my chest. I looked at the razor and pulled the blade out, cutting my fingers in the process. Idiot. Slut. Whore.

Maybe I am all of these things. After all, I have given my body up for money on several occasions and having to deal with the perverts who wanted to feel me up and trying to have a good time with my body. Just thinking about it made me wanna puke.

With a shaking hand, I traced the crisscrossing scars along my wrist. And then I cut. I cut to feel numb, to cause severe pain to myself physically, that I can forget about the years of emotional pain in my life. My parents, the streets, everyone. I cut to feel empty. To not suffer. To be happy and to care for them.

Once the bath turned into a light shade of red, I got out and hid the razor and bloody towel that I used to dry myself in a locker. I bandaged myself, got dressed, left the bathroom, and made my way to my room. I had to hold on to walls to prevent myself from falling along the way. I was dizzy from all the blood loss and I felt like I was going to puke.

“Addy? Are you okay in there? You’ve been quiet for almost forty-five minutes now.” Sonata said worried.

“I’m fine, Sonata. I’m just getting my pajamas on.” I answered.

“Are you sure? Because I smell something weird in there,” she said worriedly.

“I promise. There’s nothing wrong. Why don’t you go and see what Aria’s up to?”

“Really? Is there anything-”

“Don’t worry. Everything is in good hands.”

“But it smells like-”

“It’s alright. Just go check on Aria.”

“Okay…”

I heard her walking away from the doorway. I look at my arms and they were stained in blood. It’s all over the floor and I didn’t have any disinfectant to clean it. And I knew I would never hear the end of it if anyone saw this. I needed something to wash it, and I needed it fast.  But what? All I had with me are my clothes, toiletries, and my tow- wait. If I could use my towels, I could wipe it away, even if it was still visible. I grabbed the towels and I began wiping the floors very hard. As I wiped, I kept thinking about what my classmates said about me, especially Fleur Dis Lee.

Did she really mean it? What could she gain from telling me to leave her alone? Is she planning on pulling a vicious prank on me? Is she trying to turn the whole school against me? Just what does she want? Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I still can’t shake the nerve that she actually spoke to me today. And she told me that she was glad to see me again. Something’s very wrong from what I can tell. Still, it just makes everything feel normal to me. Even if it is, I’d still feel glad that I have Aria and Sonata with me against this world gone cold. But this pain just feels relieving, and I can’t get it out of my mind. I feel like I travelled to a whole new world, and it feels so great. This pain is just too refreshing.

As I got the floor mostly removed of blood, I wrapped my arms in toilet paper and exited out of the bathroom. Once I closed the door behind me, I saw Aria already asleep in the other bed. Sonata was on the other side passed out. I crashed into the other side of the bed and wrapped my arms around Sonata. No matter what, I wasn't going to lose them too. They're all I've got left.