Chapter Text
Ring ring ring..
Ring ring ringgg..
Ring..!
The ringing abruptly stops, and a sigh escapes the oh so lazy person laying in bed, clearly about to be late to her first day at her new school.
“Uurgghhh! Stupid alarm..” The girl says to herself, slamming her fist into the alarm clock on her nightstand before rising languidly from the comfy confines of her bed, though soon realising the fact it's almost time for school, and just that alone makes her power through brushing her teeth and hair, washing her face, sliding on her school uniform and getting a quick bite to eat.
On the bus to school, she eats a steamed bun with red bean paste filling that she had gotten from the asian convenience store near her house and heated up in the microwave, and she adjusts her mid-length skirt just to be sure it was not rolled up. Afterall, she didn't want to go to isolation.
She had moved to a different school because of bullying, and at this school she was determined to not make an impression, not a single one. Have people wondering what she's like so she doesn't get bullied. That's a good idea, she supposes. She'd still answer if called on though, just make sure to avoid getting called on as much as possible.
The bus finally arrives at the bus stop she has to get off at, and she pays the bus fare she had completely disregarded until then, giving the driver £2 before getting off and sprinting her way to school, which thankfully didn't leave her sweaty by the end of the run.
As she shows up to school, she realises she narrowly avoided being late. The girl lets out a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding before entering school grounds, hoping nobody would notice her quiet arrival.
But, alas, a girl approaches her. A charismatic one, at that, who immediately starts questioning her. The sudden energy in the rather slow and lazy crowd was bound to attract attention, after all, it's common sense.
“You must be new! My name is Kayla, what about you? Do you need me to show you around the campus?”
Kayla is swiftly ignored, except for the “greeting” she gets that mostly consists of a confused and weary stare from the girl and her walking away afterwards.
Though, this one seems persistent, following her around like a lost puppy..
“It's okay if you're shy! Come with me, I'll show you my friend group! We can help you get integrated here!” Kayla says, moving to wrap an arm around the girl’s shoulders, which makes her pull away, going ahead and blending seamlessly into the crowd.
Kayla frowns at this sudden revelation, trying to trail behind this mysterious girl she had just found, but she realises that in the crowd, she had disappeared, most likely having gone ahead to avoid her.
“Hey! Wait up, new girl!” Kayla says, cutting through the crowd, trying to catch sight of the girl she had seen earlier, a grin playing on her lips as other students make way for her to stride freely.
She walks around, looking for classroom M7 where she's going to have math, her first subject of the day.
Unfortunately, however, when she enters she sees that same annoying girl, Kayla, positioned right in the front of the classroom which makes her even more visible to the energetic ‘puppy’. She thinks to herself about how cliché this is, but that thought is quickly abandoned as Kayla jumps at her, swiftly moving out of the way of her pounce, which causes the girl to come crashing down to the floor, thankfully not hitting her head.
“That was rude, even for you, new girl!” Kayla teases, earning an eye roll from the nonchalant girl she was harassing.
Utterly vexing, this girl, Kayla or whatever her name was. She didn't seem to care though, even as the ‘puppy’ lay on the floor, rubbing her reddened cheek, a bruise already forming from the impact of her face hitting the vinyl floor tiles.
The girl walks past Kayla rather unbothered by her antics, plopping down at a desk in the center row, at the second desk, with Kayla going back to her own desk, seeming dejected for the moment, unlike her charismatic attitude from before.
Though, the dejected attitude doesn't last long as her face suddenly lights up just as class is about to start, like a light bulb flickered on in her head. She gathers her things and moves right next to the girl right before the teacher walks in, ensuring they would be sat together the whole lesson.
She internally sighs at being paired with the energetic girl, but outside there isn't a trace of emotion on her face.
As the bell rings, the teacher, Miss Ritu, strides in carrying the materials needed for math class before finally setting them down onto the desk.
“Mourning class!”(“Morning class!”) Miss Ritu says cheerfully, putting her hands on her hips and tugging up her white trousers a tad bit, her expression confident as she immediately launches into a recapitulation lesson about inequalities, her eyes glimmering with life as she explains the subject, writing down on the whiteboard animatedly, giving examples and answering questions. At the end of the lesson though, Miss Ritu finally remembers the fact she hadn't done register yet and there was a new student whose name she needed to learn.
“Resister please!”(“Register please!”) Miss Ritu says, still confident as she gets out the attendance register and reads the first name, at the top of the page.
“Mourning Maeyv Ayber-Cromb-y?”(“Morning Maeve Abercrombie?”)
“Morning.” Maeve says calmly, and Kayla's eyes go wide at the realisation that the girl she's sitting next to is named Maeve, and now she has ammunition to bother her even more.
Not to mention the fact that the rest of the time Miss Ritu takes the register, Kayla is non-stop pestering Maeve to speak again, which annoys her beyond words.
Class at last ends, and Maeve finds herself in the hallway once more, with her ‘pet’(Kayla) trailing behind her as if she were lost. The girl wasn't even sure if they had the same class next, aswell, but she knew this was going to be a long day with the way things were going.
“You can talk? I thought you were mute..!” Kayla says, a pout visible from the down-turn of the edges of her lips, and Maeve doesn't meet her gaze, even so, only looking at her lips to determine her expression.
The girl nods in response, before tearing her eyes away from the sight of the ravenette's lips, unable to bear the sight of them anymore since she didn’t like to maintain eye contact with anything, now looking down at the marble tiling, thinking to herself ‘Wow.. this floor is sooo interesting..’ in a sarcastic tone, fortunately not letting a whisper escape her lips.
“I kind of wanted to be the first to get a word out of you.” Kayla admits, without thinking, but it doesn't seem odd to either of them, and even though Maeve's lips are pressed into a thin line, she finds herself not as annoyed by this girl anymore, since she's already come to terms with the reality of this situation. She won't be left alone for at the very least a semester by this mere piece of dirt on her shoe, an inconvenience to put it simply. She didn't seem to mind as much after coming to terms with it, and that's an improvement compared to how stubborn she usually is about these kinds of matters.
They continue strutting down the corridor in awkward silence, with Maeve occasionally glancing to the side at Kayla, who's jumping with glee at this point at how much attention she's receiving from the quietest individual she's ever met in her entire 14 years of living. and that fact attracts her, as if they were the polar opposites of magnets. Always meant to connect to each other, to stick together.
They pass by many students, Maeve's gaze bouncing from nametag to nametag, which the school required.
Jessamine Sinclair, Belle Fournier, Aelax Arion. She stops on the name Aelax, her eyes locked upon the person in front of her, who looks almost otherworldly. Kayla, being more brave, taps the person's shoulder, noticing how they tense up and ignore her.
“Huh.. Interesting.” Kayla says to herself, moving to jab the being in front of them once more, and Maeve stares her down, which makes her cease the action.
They fortunately don't turn around to face the two, and Maeve lets out a relieved sigh, not bothering to do anything else, though liking how now when the hallway is crowded, Kayla can't harass her as much.
Kayla begins to think, though, why is she suddenly so attached to this Aelax person, so much so that she can't get her eyes off them?
The girl's eyes stay glued to the person's back for just a moment more, her eyes burning holes into their back before she tears her gaze away from them, and begins to think again.
‘I have to be their friend.. They're way too interesting to pass up. I just have to find a way to do that.’
Maeve watches Kayla think, and snorts as she notes how concentrated her ‘puppy’ seems to be on this Aelax person. It's adorable, really.
The both of them finally reach the classroom, classroom S4, the chemistry lab, where they'll both have a lesson with Mister Ilori.
Aelax steps in first, with Kayla, Maeve and Belle Fournier in their stead, along with other students.
He only spares them a glance, because alot of people are only a bit late to his hour, and the fact it’s the first day, some of them are new and he's busy dealing with a troublesome student, Kyle, makes him not mind as much as he usually would, given the circumstances.
Kayla, obviously, ever the persistent person, sits down next to Maeve again, determined to get her to pay attention to her again, as if she were starved for attention and hadn't had it in days when in reality she was receiving plenty at home.
Maeve seems unbothered in the first few minutes of the lesson, taking notes and thinking that maybe, just maybe this could be a peaceful lesson, but alas, there has to be a distraction, which manifests itself in the girl next to her nudging her shoulder incessantly.
“Hey, Maeve, I didn't catch what Sir said, can you give me your notes?” Kayla whispers, making sure the professor isn't looking when she speaks.
“Fine. Just be quick.” Maeve finds herself saying, surprised by the fact she's actually talking to this girl, who infuriates her beyond words.
She lifts the hand which is covering her notebook from view a bit to let Kayla copy down her notes quickly, all the while continuing to write down exactly what Mr Ilori points to and says, drawing diagrams perfectly.
Kayla looks amazed at the precision of the notes, how beautiful the handwriting is too, at this point drooling at the sight of it, thinking to herself about it too all the while she copies the notes down without thought.
‘Her handwriting is so beautiful.. No wonder I feel this weird intuition about her being special..’
Suddenly, though, to Maeve’s utter shock, the Kyle kid from earlier who was being a distraction to Mr Ilori, gets up and takes Jessamine's house keys, waving them around in the air for a moment before running out, with both Jessamine and Belle trailing out behind him, screaming at him.
Maeve seems bewildered by the spectacle, but surprisingly the professor remains calm, as if this has happened before, and continues teaching. That makes Maeve wonder how many times this has happened for Sir to be so calm about it.
There’s an awkward silence that stretches on for a few minutes in the classroom since Kyle left, the atmosphere tense but just a tad calmer from before, the air no longer carrying the class clown’s voice.
Eventually, though, the lesson resumes and Kyle comes back after waiting outside for five minutes after the scandal even though Sir had initially refused to let him in, as well as Jessamine and Belle coming back, scoffing as they sit back down and clearly gossiping in the back.
Kyle's voice cuts through the lesson after just 10 minutes of actual peace, just to ask one of the most stupid things Maeve's ever heard, that surprisingly made her let out a snort of laughter.
“Sir, can we touch tips?”
Mr Ilori turns around to look at Kyle for a moment after he interrupts his lesson, his gaze falling onto the blond’s form before turning back to the board and continuing the lesson once more.
Maeve feels herself focused again, before she feels another nudge from Kayla, and with an internal sigh she looks to her side to see that there's no sign of a pen in the girl's hand or even on her desk, and understands what she's going to be asked.
“Can I borrow a pen, new girl?” Kayla asks hopefully, looking at Maeve with puppy dog eyes that are almost impossible to resist.
Maeve's eyes dart around for an excuse not to give it to her, gritting her teeth for just a moment before steeling her expression into a calm one, nodding, reaching into her pencil case and handing the ashy haired girl a pen, noting to herself how the girl's eyes light up as she receives it, like she had been given a gift from the heavens rather than a simple writing instrument.
Maeve's skin crawls as she observes Kayla’s expression for just a second too long before turning to write in her notebook again.
The bell rings not long after, with Kayla looking up at the sound with a grin, before announcing it to Maeve, in a tone louder than necessary
“Come on, let's get to our next class!” She says, grabbing the girl's hand excitedly and leading her out of the class, and Maeve doesn't object, which shocks even her because she's already warming up to this girl, and it hasn't been too long..
The auburn haired girl feels herself pulling her hand away out of instinct, her palm no longer feeling Kayla's warm one against it. She almost craves the warmth again, but she clears that thought out of her head as quick as it came, stepping in front of the ashy haired girl and quickening her walking pace, which the girl matches with a grin, even skipping next to her, which attracts curious glances from the other students roaming the halls to get to their own classrooms.
“You’re so enthralling, you know that?” Kayla says, reaching out and twirling one of Maeve's short auburn locks, tucking it behind her ear, which sends a shiver down Maeve's back, and she pulls away from the touch with a scowl now apparent on her face.
“Don't touch me.” Her voice comes out as a low hiss, directed towards the lass to her side, sighing and sidestepping her to place more distance between them.
Kayla closes the distance quickly, though not making any move to touch the auburn haired girl anymore as they make their way to classroom F25, the history and RE classroom.
Miss Woolford greets the two of them as they enter, a warm smile on her face, clearly appreciating the fact that they're early.
“Hellou Kayla!” She says to Kayla, recognising her from last year, before turning to Maeve, squinting her eyes trying to recognise the girl in front of her.
“Ohh I haven't seen you before! What school do you come from?” She asks, her curiosity seemingly piqued by the appearance of a new student.
“I'm Maeve Abercrombie. I come from Oasis Academy Coulsdon in London.” Maeve speaks, surprised by how professional she sounds since she usually doesn't speak like that.
“Oh, nice to meet you!” Miss Woolford says, sitting down at her desk after greeting them.
Maeve sits down in the second row, second desk, with Kayla slumping down into the chair next to her, her voice an excited chirp as other students file in.
“We're in all the same classes!” She says, at least for now they are, but there's no chance they'll be in all the same classes that day. They'd for sure have differences in their programmes, so she just has to bear the hours she spends in the subjects she shares with Kayla.
Maeve spares her a glance before setting her notebook and manual onto her desk, as well as her pencil case, taking notes diligently when class starts, with Kayla occasionally nudging her to ask for notes, which she hands over reluctantly.
Maeve hopes that, for once, one of her first days at school can be normal, but alas, something unproductive has to happen, because the day obviously cannot go on without someone not abiding to the student handbook.
“Alright class, today we will be moving on from the 77 bombing and talking about—”
Suddenly, a glue stick slams into the ceiling, the slightly melted end sticking to the mineral fiber tiles.
Everyone turns to stare at the culprit, the kid who threw the gluestick, and lo and behold its JJ, a youngster whose aim is so bad when throwing glue sticks at his friends you'd think he was a defective tennis ball thrower.
“It wasn't me, it was Jessamine Sinclair!” He says under the glares of the class, raising his hands defensively.
Miss Woolford clears her throat, trying to get the classroom’s attention back to the lesson.
Gazes slowly return back to the front of the class, where Miss is standing, a calm smile still plastered on her face, her features peaceful.
“As I was saying, today we will be talking about the treaty of Versailles.” She says, before jumping into the lesson, explaining what the treaty consisted of, the events leading up to it and when it was signed.
JJ, of course, with his awful aim, is still throwing glue sticks around to his friends while Miss Woolford talks, and everything is fine until one of them hits Maeve square in the head.
It takes every ounce of her self control that the auburn haired girl possesses to not yell out ‘SHIT!’ in a classroom full of people.
“Sorry,” JJ whispers to Maeve subtly, before continuing “Didn't mean to hit ya’.”
Maeve's expression softens, and she nods before turning back to writing, her attention easing back to the lesson.
Before she knows it, class ends and everyone strides out, leaving Maeve, who's gathering her materials, Kayla, who's doing the same and JJ who's waiting patiently for them to finish up, clearly wanting to say something to Maeve as he keeps on glancing at her.
“By the way, Maeve,” The raven haired boy finally speaks up, his voice barely above a whisper, making it clear how embarrassed he is to be saying what he's about to say out loud.
“I really am sorry, mate. Truly didn't mean to hit ya’ in the head with that glue stick,” He says, before continuing. “It won't happen again, alright?” He says, burying his head in his hands before running out, making sure to release his head before he exits.
Maeve stands there processing this new revelation for a moment before grabbing her books and heading out, with Kayla trailing after her in what seems to be a hurry to keep up.
Maeve puts her materials in her locker, with Kayla waiting patiently like her own pet on a leash waiting for her to take it outside.
Since it's break and they're not allowed inside, Maeve thinks that she might as well put on some lipstick and some lipgloss, since she hadn't gotten the chance to put any on that morning.
“So what are we doing? Do you want to meet my friend group yet?” She asks insistently, bouncing next to the auburn haired girl giddily
“Fine.” Maeve finally answers, noticing how there's now a smile etched on the ashy haired girl's features, showing off her dimples.
“Alright! Come with me!” She says, taking the auburn haired girl's hand and leading her outside, grinning from ear to ear as they exit and three girls come into view, their nametags reading Abigail Miller, who's a country girl with two blonde, long braids on each side of her head and wispy bangs, bows tying the braids together, however her outfit is put together. She's wearing the uniform, which consists of a plaid, mid-length black skirt, knee length black socks, a light blue tie clipped to a white long sleeve button up, a black blazer over it and a light brown cardigan to top it off and black sneakers.
Then, to the side of Abigail Miller there's another figure apparent, whose nametag reads Madelyn Ford, a girl with curly, maroon locks, wearing the uniform as well, and Isabella Evans, a blonde girl whose hair reaches her chest.
“Hiya love, yew must be new!” Abigail greets Maeve, being the first one of the three to talk to her.
Maeve responds with a smile and a wave, her eyes drifting to the others, seeing Isabella standing with her arms crossed, her gaze as if taking her in, so analytical and precise it's almost scary.
“Who's this, Kayla?” Isabella asks, squinting her eyes at the girl now present in front of her, standing next to her ashy haired friend.
“This is Maeve!” She says, gesturing dramatically towards the girl next to her with her arms, which makes her roll her eyes.
“Do you have to be so dramatic?” Maeve sighs, pinching her nose as she looks up once more to see Isabella's glare has softened.
“She's right. You have to calm down.” Isabella says, and Maeve notes to herself that she sounds quite like a mum.
“Ohh fine..” Kayla says, rolling her eyes sarcastically and sighing before a grin returns to her features, and she puts an arm around Maeve's shoulders, making her tense up.
“I told you not to touch me!” She hisses, but Kayla just leans in teasingly, almost too close for comfort, her breath mingling with the auburn haired girls’.
“Oh really?” She says, her warm breath ghosting over Maeve's face, which makes her pull her face away, but Kayla keeps at a close distance, making it look almost like they were about to kiss, just edging themselves from it.
Kayla's eyes dart down to Maeve's hand, where she's holding some lipgloss and lipstick, and she seems suddenly very interested in that fact.
“Can you do my lips after you do yours?” She says, making Madelyn gasp, as if she were about to scream out at Kayla about how homosexual she seemed at that moment.
“Okay.” The auburn haired girl says, twisting the cap off of her lipstick, bringing it to her lips and applying it on both her lips, guiding them together with a smack to smear the colour on every part of her mouth, before doing the same with the lipgloss, smearing it over her lipstick.
When Maeve is done, she grabs Kayla's face, her fingers smushing her face slightly, her nails digging into the ashy haired girls’ cheeks gently as she twists the cap off her lipstick once more and applies it carefully to the lasses lips, gesturing for her to smack her lips together which she does obediently.
When that's done, she applies lipgloss as a second layer on top of that.
Kayla feels her brain short circuit at the action, and the others watch on with varying expressions, Isabella looks at Kayla with a scolding expression, Madelyn looks shocked and Abigail just looks like she’s indifferent to it, shocking from her since she's a country girl and it's very frowned upon where she's from.
Isabella comes closer, tugging on the ashy haired girls’ ear gently, as if she were a mother reprimanding a mere child.
“Kayla, what you're doing is inappropriate. You shouldn't do these kinds of things in public,” She nags before pulling away and putting her hands on her hips, sighing at the absurdity of the girls’ actions. “You should really be more careful, you know.”
“I know, I know..” She says, but it's clear she's just saying it to brush her off.
“Don't ‘I know’ me, I know you're saying that to brush me off!” Isabella says, sighing again like she's tired of this before ruffling her ashy locks and backing off.
Aelax watches them from a distance, their piercing blue eyes as if penetrating whatever barrier was between her and the crowd, drawing attention to herself from everyone but whose attention she wanted, a girl who's from that exact same eccentric group..
The break finally ends, and Kayla pushes off of Maeve with a grin, not making any other move to touch the teenager other than grabbing her hand and leading her to her own locker, waiting oh so patiently for her to grab her materials and walking to class with her.
Not even this moment, though, can be calm, as they run into the girls from earlier, Jessamine Sinclair and Belle Fournier. What Maeve hadn't known is that Kayla hated the both of them and wanted nothing to do with them, as well as the fact they were the mean girls at the school who nobody liked but they chatted shit about people anyway.
Jessamine's gaze drifts behind her to Maeve, and this bone chilling grin appears on her face. The auburn haired girl looks around, but Kayla seems to have suddenly disappeared..
She realises that the girl had taken a run for it as soon as she saw the two of them, likely because she didn't like Jessamine and Belle.
“Look what we have here, Belle!” Jessamine says, turning around and closing the distance between herself and Maeve, leaning in, as if sizing up prey. Her perfectly manicured hands lock onto one of her perfect locks of hair, tugging gently as if testing it.
“Maybe you can be one of us,” The girl says, a scowl suddenly forming on her face, as if she was recalling something similar to a bad smell. “You have potential, unlike..” She says, before her voice drops to a conspiratorial whisper. “..Unlike that girl, Kayla. Useless, that girl.” She spits out sourly, her voice dripping with clear disdain and maybe a hint of anger simmering underneath the surface? It seems that there might be more history between Jessamine, Belle and Kayla than Maeve might have initially thought.
“You don't have to talk about her. It's no use, anyway..” Belle says, coaxing the other mean girl gently, her voice unnervingly sweet, condescending even, as if she weren't trying to calm Jessamine down, she was forcing her to calm down.
That realisation makes Maeve's skin crawl as she stands there, and she takes a step, planning to sidestep them until the dark brown haired girl speaks up once more, her sweet voice filling the air.
“Where do you think you're going? We're not done here.” Belle says, her voice even more condescending this time, and Jessamine pipes up too, looking at her nails as if she were bored of this conversation already.
“So? Do you want to join our friend group?” She says, barely glancing up to meet the auburn haired girl's gaze.
“No.” Maeve states plainly, and Jessamine finally looks up, a scowl plastered on her face again.
“No? What do you mean no?” She says, getting too close for comfort, rage radiating off of her in waves. Belle interjects again, the conversation more so just them speaking up one after another and Maeve barely responding to anything.
“Just leave her be. If she doesn't want to join our friend group, so be it…” The brown haired girl says, her voice honey sweet before she adds. “...But she'll be sure to regret it.”
With that, the mean girls walk off, and Maeve sprints to class, realising she's about to be late.
She arrives at classroom H11, Miss Doe’s English classroom, barely having not been late.
Maeve slumps down into a desk without thinking, not caring who ends up next to her.
Unfortunately for her, though, she's going to sit next to one of the most annoying people in Miss Doe’s class, Lucas.
“Welcome to year 9!” Miss Doe says, and Maeve takes in her appearance immediately. She looks put together compared to what she's heard in the halls, since she's wearing a white turtleneck top and black trousers.
“We're starting a new book today!” Miss Doe says, clearly excited about that fact, her eyes glinting with joy as she speaks.
Maeve notices from the start that Lucas is trying to look at her notes, and she pulls her notebook away, covering it with her arm as to not let him copy, since he hadn’t even asked, unlike how Kayla does.
‘Ew. How is this creature more annoying than her?’ Maeve thinks to herself, a scowl forming on her face suddenly.
After that Lucas sighs and pretends like he wasn't trying to look, still trying to steal glances but eventually giving up and taking notes by himself.
“They knew very well why he hadn't: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting..” Miss reads through the first chapter, even though some kids aren't paying attention.
‘This lesson is so boring.. I wish she were here.’ Maeve admits to herself, almost dozing off right there..
Suddenly, as she's daydreaming, Miss snaps her out of it, leaning over and whispering
“What's your name? I don't believe I've seen you around here before.”
Maeve jolts for a moment, almost saying “huh” out loud before she eventually understands what she was just asked and whispering back.
“Maeve Abercrombie. My name is Maeve Abercrombie.”
Miss’ face lights up, and she goes back to the front of the class.
“Maeve, what do you think of the character Piggy?”
Maeve struggles to remember who this ‘Piggy’ character is for a moment before she remembers, and answers confidently.
“I think Piggy is considered an outsider by the other boys because of his appearance, but he's actually quite intelligent!” Maeve says, and Miss Doe seems to like that answer.
“Very good!” And so the lesson carries on for what seems like forever, with other kids being called on too, but Maeve doesn't get called on any more, thankfully.
As the painfully long class ends, the auburn haired girl is one of the first students to exit, and she immediately looks for Kayla.
Unbeknownst to her, someone else is trailing behind her, staring holes into her back. Maeve feels watched, but when she looks back she nearly trips and just sees a normal crowd of students behind her, which isn't too odd.
Aelax doesn't break the silence yet, mostly just observing Maeve. They find her interesting, and want to get closer to her but have no idea how since they’re completely unfamiliar with this school.
Maeve runs into Kayla not too long after that, and the girl's eyes light up, the tension dissipating from the auburn haired girl's shoulders as she's pulled into a tight hug. The girl launches suddenly into a rant about English with Miss Crossman, though.
“English was so boring, May-May—”
The new girl lifts her hand, interrupting the girl who's just about to talk again.
“Who told you to give me a nickname?” She hisses, but her voice is missing the venom that would usually come with it.
“Whaatt? Isn't it cute?” Kayla asks, her lips curling into a pout as she looks at Maeve with puppy dog eyes.
She pulls away from the girl, but not before sighing, calming her expression and looking away.
“I guess it's alright.” The auburn haired girl says, and the ashy haired girl takes it as a win. She jumps up and down excitedly, taking it as a win since Maeve doesn’t seem to mind the nickname that much.
“May-Mayy!!” Kayla says, pulling her into a tight embrace once more, giggling and jumping up and down.
For once, Maeve's walls crack and her lips try to curl into what seems like a calm smile, but just as quick as her walls had dropped they're built back up, and her true self is hidden away again under this cold, indifferent mask.
“Get off me.” She says, the venom in both her gaze and voice returns. She pushes the girl off of her and goes past her even as she nearly crashes to the ground because of how hard and sudden the push was.
“Are you upset at me?” Kayla says, still worrying about Maeve, a smile no longer apparent on her face. That alone makes something in Maeve’s chest sting, something in it tighten..
‘What is this feeling? No. It can't be. I can't be so weak.’ She thinks to herself, and the slight softening of her gaze disappears in an instant, hidden away just like her emotions. She doesn’t answer the ashy haired girl, just keeps jogging to the dining hall, while Kayla tries to get her attention.
‘Gosh. Pathetic.. So pathetic.. Why can't she just—’
“GO AWAY!” Maeve yells, leaving the other girl rooted in place, while she scurries off to the dining hall, trying to keep her composure.
She gets in line, hoping that she could just get her food in peace. But the students there clearly have other plans. She can clearly see a guy who snuck in a Radnor Fizz, which was presumably banned in year 8 — he shouldn't even have one!
Just as suddenly as the girl saw it, it exploded right in her face, spraying Tropical flavoured Radnor Fizz on her uniform and covering her face in a thin layer of soda, slightly resembling a face mask.
Just at that moment, Kayla had entered the canteen as well, hoping to get some food after their argument and sit with her friend group. Though, when she sees Maeve getting sprayed with Radnor Fizz, she feels this uncontrollable urge to intervene – this tug towards her that she can't quite put into words.
“You should be more careful! Gosh.” Kayla says, rushing up to the scene and scolding the guy who had clearly unintentionally caused soda to get on the auburn haired girl's face and uniform. She walks up behind the lunch lady and grabs a tissue from next to her, returning to the scene and trying to wipe Maeve’s face gently, but she pulls away.
“I told you not to touch me.” The girl says, and it's clear she's still trying to push the ashy haired girl away, who's now rooted in place staring at the auburn haired girl's retreating back as she goes to the bathroom to wash her face.
Kayla doesn't bother to follow her. Not now, at least. She doesn't want to rely on someone who's being so rude to her now, but..
‘Why'd she treat me like that? What did I do wrong?’ She asks herself, trying not to cry as the thought repeats over and over as if it were in an echo chamber.
Maeve splashes her face with cold water repeatedly, trying to both clean her face and clear her mind, hoping she could stop thinking about the fact she treated her new friend at this school so terribly. Gosh, she's just such an idiot isn't she?
Well. Whatever. That doesn't matter now, does it? What she said can't be taken back now and she just has to deal with it. She puts her head in her hands for a long moment, just sitting there before grabbing a paper towel and bringing it to her face, drying her skin roughly.
‘Idiot.’ The auburn haired girl thinks to herself one last time before leaving, her appetite for food spoiled, which makes it a wonder to see people going to their respective classes. At least there’s that, she thinks. At least she had chances to not be in the same Spanish class as Kayla. So she thought.
She darts through the hallway, jogging her way to classroom F16, Miss Gonzales’ class.
Maeve slumps down into the seat she's been assigned, the second bench on the second row, not knowing that Kayla was right next to her, not paying attention too much to who was sat next to her, just burying her face in her arms and letting her ashy blonde locks fall over her face, covering it.
The auburn haired girl finally glances to her right, and lo’ and behold, Kayla’s right next to her. The girl finally lifts her head, glancing up and meeting Maeve's icy gaze. She can feel the tension radiate off her in waves, how the air crackles with suffocating tension too.
“Don't even think of talking to me.” She says, making the girl lower her head again.
“Okay.” The girl responds plainly under Maeve's intense gaze. It’s quite clear she wasn't planning on trying to talk anyway, but just being told that hurts more than if it hadn’t been said.
Miss Gonzales pipes up right then, making Kayla sit up straight again to listen to the lesson, after all, she didn't want to be caught ‘slacking off’ even though she was laying her head on her desk because she was upset and about to cry in front of a class full of students like her.
“¡Hola class, buenas tardes!” Miss says, frowning as she sees not everyone is sat, as well as the fact pupils around the room are still whispering to each other.
“Sit down everyone! Silent!” She says before carrying on with her sentence once the class is in order. “Get your books and sentence builder booklets out and start doing the task now, on the board!”
Maeve focuses on the task at hand as Miss turns to the board and begins writing down from the sentence builder.
Kayla glances occasionally at the girl, but decides to settle on a half focus between her and the booklet.
“¿Qué tipo de programa prefieres?” Miss Gonzales questions, and it hangs in the air for a moment as her eyes rake over the classroom, eventually landing on the student in front of Maeve, Jessamine Sinclair.
“En mi opinión prefiero las telenovelas porque son menos aburridos que los programas de deportes.” She says confidently. Miss’ lips curl for a moment into a smile before they widen into a grin.
“¡Muy Bien!” Miss says, before she looks over at Kyle and asks him the same thing she asked Jessamine.
“Umm.. En my opinion.. prefiero? prefiero os programas de deportes.. Uhh.. porque son mas – emocionantes? que los documentales.” Kyle stutters out. Miss squints her eyes at him for what feels like a very long minute, pausing before eventually forcing out some form of ‘congratulations!’ for him being able to even read the sentence builder.
“...¡Bien..!” She speaks through gritted teeth, glaring at Kyle before turning to Maeve, an annoyed expression plastered on her face. She forces a smile and repeats the question to her, as if hoping she were more competent so she'd have a good example for an answer.
“¿Qué tipo de programa prefieres?” Miss asks the auburn haired girl, and to her utter shock, Maeve's answer is prompt and correct. Maeve decides to use the sentence builder example of ‘my friend prefers’.
“A mi amigo le gustan los documentales porque son más informativos que las comedias.”
“¡Muy bien!” Miss says again without hesitation, her happiness radiating off her in waves as she goes pupil to pupil, enquiring their answer and eliciting it like so. Maeve, ever the oblivious youngster she is, does not even bat an eye seeing Kayla seething. She doesn't know why the girl is seething, but she can’t bring herself to care.
In truth, the ashy haired teen can't comprehend why she hadn’t been picked as an example for the answer Maeve gave. Why she hadn't been introduced as a friend of the auburn haired girl and instead some.. Guy she didn't know even existed before this spectacle, but she already hated him! She was better than him, for sure! He must be a sluggard! A good-for-nothing absolutely filthy jerk! And she was absolutely not going to let Maeve fall right into his arms. Just the thought of that happening makes her shudder.
Spanish passes by quicker than they expect. Kyle was surprisingly quiet when the class was taking place, seemingly alert for once instead of just spouting nonsense and jokes as he often does. It's like a tradition for Kyle's voice to play like a badly tuned piano in the melody that is any class, but.. For just once the melody is harmonious.
Maeve rises from her seat, getting ready to leave till Kayla grabs her arm. Her jaw is clenched, her teeth gritted so hard you'd think they'd fall out. Her lips are pressed into a thin line, but the auburn haired girl can only face her gaze with a calm one, trying to ease the clear anger in hers.
“Where do you think you're going without ME?” The ashy haired girl asks, her voice dripping with venom when she tilts her head up, facing Maeve’s tranquil gaze head on.
The auburn haired girl just nods, Kayla using her arm to drag herself up. Her fingers grip onto the light brown cardigan she had already in her palm, feeling the texture for a moment before tightening her hold on it like an iron band.
The teenager whom she's holding on to flinches, a flicker of pain on her face before she masks it with that seemingly never-ending mellow expression.
They walk out of the classroom, a few classmates trailing behind them. Aelax is of those few, their thoughts riddled with confusion, like Maeve and Kayla's relationship for now was a knotted pile of yarn.
‘Why is that girl treating the other one so bad? Where I come from, Ceria, this wouldn't stand. Plus, that looks like it hurts. I feel bad for that girl.’
Aelax’s lips curl into a frown, the most emotion they’d shown ever since they had come to this ‘odd’ town from their obscure place of origin. They don't even know what a frown is, but that's what expression they seem to portray on their face.
“Who’s your friend?” Kayla enquires, but Maeve can tell she's not asking for the answer, she's demanding the answer to her question.
“Just some lad. His name’s Andrea.” Maeve declares, hoping that would be the end of this useless exchange, praying that the gloomy expression on the ashy haired girl's face would disappear, get replaced with a grin or a smile, but alas, her face hardens into pure, unadulterated anger.
“SO YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU CARE ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE MORE THAN YOU CARE ABOUT ME?” Kayla yells abruptly, making Maeve jump, so stiff you'd think she was pretending to be a cutting board.
“Huh? I haven't even met you before this! Why are you so upset?” The auburn haired girl retorts, not understanding why she was so distressed about something so trivial as her having a companion she trusted.
“BECAUSE..!” The teenager begins to say but her voice dies in her throat. It feels like someone’s pressing a brick down her throat to her oesophagus. She doesn't get it, either, in truth. She doesn’t get anything of what she's feeling. It's all so.. puzzling.
Time seems to stop for a long moment, like a pause in the fabric itself. An incomplete string of DNA, an endless void of silence that one could only stare into and attempt to face.
“... Because you didn't refer to me as a friend. I'm supposed to be your pa-” Kayla starts speaking once more, almost referring to the two of them as a term that could mean something more than they are. They're not..
Her cheeks flush a light pink when she catches herself, her voice catching in her throat, barely above a murmur when it comes out.
“..Friend. I'm supposed to be your friend.” She declares, and Maeve stares at her for a long moment, as if she were a problem to decipher. The youngster truly wasn't sure what was more odd about this ashy haired girl, the fact she had referred to the two of them as ‘friends’ or the way the lass acted towards her. It was annoying, annoying how stubborn this puppy-like maiden acted. She could do so much better.
“Leave me alone from now on.” Maeve spits out, her voice carrying venom when she twists so her back faces Kayla. She walks away, not looking back until she's nearly outside.
The auburn haired girl sees the pitiful expression on the other lasses’ face and it’s almost laughable how easily she had trusted her. How hard she'd tried to become her friend. It was never going to happen, though. Kayla was unbearable.
Kayla was left to stare at Maeve's back when she strode away, not being able to bring herself to move, as if her legs were chained to the ground. Her eyes stayed glued to the teen's back, hoping the moment could last longer, so she could see Maeve longer, even if she knew this felt like her heart was being ripped out. She didn't get why she was being so dramatic about this. So sensitive about nothing but another lass, just like her. The damsel had other friends, afterall. She had Madelyn, Abigail and Isabella, but.. There was something special about Maeve. Something about the lass that drew her in like a moth to a flame.
It didn't matter now, though. Nothing did. Kayla would just go home and try to focus on something else. The lass hadn't even noticed the tears now pricking at her eyes and the fact some had spilled over onto her earlier flushed cheeks. Her hand came up to her face when she finally seemed to feel the cold of her tears coming into contact with the autumn breeze.
She finally steps outside of the school, walking steadily as though she felt confident even in her weary state, where she could barely keep her hands from shaking. Her palms were red and sweaty from how hard she had pressed her nails into her skin just to attempt to think about something else but the fact the girl whom she thought of as a friend rejected the mere idea of being friendly with her.
Kayla stares out into the horizon for but a split second, the twinkling glow of the streetlights illuminating her face as she chases after Maeve, her body moving before she could think about it more, her limbs swinging into her movements.
“Wait up!” She yells after the damsel, hoping she'd be able to catch her even though her pace had quickened at the sound of her voice behind her.
“I told you to leave me alone!” Maeve yells back, sprinting down the street that usually seems so wide but now it appears more narrow than ever. Her chest heaves with each step, forcing out all the energy she could possibly muster at the moment.
The auburn haired lass finally arrives at the bus station and to her utter surprise the bus is there. She climbs in as fast as she can and the doors close just as she gets in, leaving Kayla to stare blankly at the spot in which the girl used to be in, her hands grasping at the air which still smells faintly of flowery-scented perfume. Maeve’s perfume. The ashy haired gal inhales the scent as if she were starving, trying to keep every last trace of Maeve even if it meant looking weird or insane.
The auburn haired lass watches from the bus’ window as the other girl's figure becomes less and less visible, as if fading into the darkness. She forces herself to tear her gaze away from the sight, not being able to bear it any longer. She curls in on herself a bit, suddenly not so confident as she realises nobody is watching her. The damsel just hopes everyone in the bus would continue to mind their own business, to leave her alone as she thought to herself about this crazy day that she just had.
‘Why did I do that? Why did I react like that? It's my fault, isn't it? This feels horrible. It's my fault. It's my fault. It’s all my fault!’ Maeve berates herself in her mind, rocking back and forth in her chair without even realising it. Nobody's looking, anyway, so what does it matter? Nobody cares, so what does it matter? Good thing she was almost home, though. She couldn't wait to have some peace to herself, even if it were just for a moment.
The bus screeches to a halt right at the station she needs to leave at. The lass gets up and pays the driver the same bus fare as just that morning. £2. But this time it felt different, like something had changed about even this utterly simple thing even though it shouldn't have. Nothing should have changed, since her routine was the same as it usually was, take a bus, pay the bus fare and go.
Maeve has no time to dwell on it, though. She quickly pushes past the doors of the bus just as they're about to close, seeing them shut behind her and the bus drift off to the next stop. The teen lets out a heavy sigh she had no idea she had been holding since the argument with Kayla and walks down an alleyway towards her house with heavy, measured steps, as if facing the house when she stops right infront of it, pulling out her house keys. She puts them in and turns the lock till the door clicks open, revealing none other than her older brother standing there, as if he were waiting for her arrival back home.
“You're late.” He says, his tone cold and even but Maeve can tell he cares about where she was, and that's worse than if he didn't care like he usually does. He usually doesn't even bother with her, with asking her where she was and with whom.
“I know.” The lass says, trying to move past him but he blocks her way, not letting her pass any further into the house than just the hallway they’re in.
“Don't give me that crap. Who were you with?”
“Like you care.” Maeve retorts, making him snort and get closer to her, his presence looming over her like a ton of bricks just waiting to fall atop her.
“Just tell me already. Who were you with?” He repeats, his voice lower now, with a dangerous hint to it, as if he was starting to get annoyed with her just from this ‘game’ they're playing that's more just like playing cat and mouse.
“Some girl from school. We talked for a bit.” Maeve admits, seeing her older brother now not as stiff, his posture softening from how stiff he was before.
“Fine. Have it your way.” He grumbles, walking off after that, not bothering with harassing her any longer about the topic, knowing he probably wouldn't get any further information anyway than what he already knows. But he finds himself wondering who this girl could be since Maeve doesn't often chat with anyone outside of family, if it’s truly necessary, and her one friend, Andrea. It's odd, really, but by him not pushing he's most likely going to get more out of her, and he knows it.
Maeve walks past her older brother, rubbing her eyes gently, seeing his eyes narrow and lock on her again, as if analyzing her state down to the slightest twitch of her hands.
“You'd better finish your homework. We have to talk later.” He says, making the girl sigh but her reluctant voice rings out anyway after his.
“Fineee.. Things are fine at the new school, though.” The auburn haired gal says, and she can tell he's trying to scold her, his gaze and defensive posture giving that much away.
“Then you'll have no problem telling me about your day.” He retorts, looking at Maeve scornfully, though she can see just a tiny hint of concern in his gaze. Concern about how she was doing, or her day maybe? The lass pushes down the feeling of wanting to tell him things, knowing how overprotective he could be as her older brother, since he truly believed he had to take care of her no matter what.
The auburn haired girl walks off after that, climbing up the stairs, the plush carpet shrinking under her feet, the stairs creaking with her weight as they usually do.
She carries herself up to her room, the door creaking open when she opens it just a crack, checking if anyone went in when she was gone. When the gal realises nobody went in while she was gone, she lets out a sigh of relief at the revelation, looking around at the room she missed oh so much. Soccer, anime posters and band posters span her walls. Most of her posters are of this one anime she's begun to enjoy because of the football aspect, blue lock. She had recently convinced her older brother to get her some figures of her favourite blue lock character, Sae. They sit on her desk, watching her as she opens up her laptop to do the thing she hates the most, sparx. She’d always hated sparx, whether it was sparx reader or sparx math, she hated it all. But she was supposed to be a diligent student, so she was going to do sparx anyway.
She opens up the website, deciding she's going to do her math sparx homework. The lass opens up the homework, going through the problems using notions she already knew quite quickly. This was basically just a review of what they did in year 8, just a reminder of last year’s concepts. She finishes with ease, not needing to put much effort into it, breezing through the problems as if she were a delicate flower resisting the wind. The gal plans to watch a football match after this, to calm down from the long day, but she knows she has to talk to her older brother before all else.
And so, she climbs down the stairs, seeing him standing there, arms crossed, as if waiting for her to explain herself, to tell him who she was talking to.
“Well? Who were you talking to? I want a name.” He questions, his voice calm but she can see the genuine curiosity and the concern about her simmering just beneath the surface of his complexity.
“Her name's Kayla, happy now?” Maeve answers, seeing his eyes narrow before he begins to interrogate her about her day, deciding to enquire more about this ‘Kayla’ she speaks of.
“Right.. And what did she have to do to get you to talk to her?”
“What do you mean by that?” Maeve mutters, her voice suddenly quieter, as if she didn't want to give him the answer to that question.
“You know EXACTLY what I mean by that.” He presses, expecting an answer this time whether she wanted to give him one or not.
“..She bothered me a bit. It's not a big deal.” She says, her voice stronger this time. She knew he wouldn't do anything, he couldn't do anything, but she could tell he was frustrated.
“Why won't you talk to me about anything? I don't bite, you know! I've apologised endlessly ever since those rough times we've had!” He snaps, grinding his teeth so loud Maeve can hear it from where she's standing. She can see how he's now seething over something so insignificant to her. She doesn't get it.
“She’s a bit touchy is all.” The lass says, trying to reassure him but then he yells again.
“A BIT TOUCHY? SHE TOUCHED YOU? WHERE?” He asks, reaching out to grab Maeve’s wrist. He means well, really, but he can't help but snap at her when she says something stupid like that. Gosh, it really does sound stupid out loud, and even she realises that. ‘Just a bit touchy’? What was she thinking!
“Uh- Well-” The auburn haired girl stutters, but he's already checking her for any bruises, lifting her sleeves up to look for them.
“She only hugged me and that's all.” She manages to say, her voice a bit unsteady but nonetheless truthful. Her older brother finally releases her arm, seemingly satisfied with the conversation.
“Alright. That's fine then.” He grumbles, walking off again, leaving her alone in the living room to watch a football match, as per her wishes. He'll probably come back to watch as well, since he enjoys football aswell. Maeve got her love of football from him, afterall. She'd always praised his skills when she was a kid, parading him about like her own treasure, yelling ‘My big brother is the best at football! He's going to win the World Cup!’. She was ecstatic when he, a mere midfielder, would get some action on the field, whether it was scoring a hat-trick or deliver one of his perfect passes to one of his teammates. Maeve had always admired him.
She turns on the TV to see the Guinea vs Algeria match, a match that was part of the FIFA World Cup 2026 CAF Qualifiers. The couch sinks lower under both her and her older brother's weight when he sits down, laser focused on the match as well, both of their concentrated expressions mirroring each other.
Maeve glances ever so often at her older brother, happy to see him so calm compared to how he was earlier. She leans her head on his shoulder as she watches the match, a smile creeping onto her lips as he doesn’t pull away, instead wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her closer, enjoying her company.
They both watch the match intently for about an hour and a half, seeing they’re giving the players an extra 10 minutes as more time to score a goal, since it's 0-0 even 90 minutes into the match. Those 10 minutes are intense, and yet.. Nobody scores. It ends in a stalemate, which Maeve finds pathetic because she's confident that if her big brother were on that field, he'd turn ‘zero’ into ‘one’
“I'm beat. I think i'm gonna go to sleep.” She says, yawning and lifting herself from the couch. She stretches her limbs languidly, lazily, stepping out of the living room and into the hallway, prancing over to the stairs and running up them, back to her room before he can even protest.
In her room, Maeve lays down on her bed, her mind still racing with thoughts of the day that had been today and thoughts of the day that awaited her. Of tomorrow. It sounded a little bit scary knowing how her first day at her new school went, but it's probably going to be alright. Probably.
The lass closes her eyes, starting to drift into a deep slumber, seeing her older brother check on her right before she falls asleep, his expression unguarded, worried as he talks on the phone.
“Mum, I think we should—” Is all Maeve hears before she falls asleep, but the conversation on the phone continues nonetheless.
“—Keep an eye on Maeve. She said something about some weird girl at the new school. I'm worried about her.”
“Alright honey. You do that, I don't have enough time for that. I have to go back to work now. You can handle this, Oliver.” Maeve's mum, Violet Abercrombie says, hanging up on him before he can even respond, to yell at her for not caring one bit about her own daughter. But he stays silent, glancing at the teen curled up on the bed from the doorway, his mind racing with thoughts of how to keep her safe. Afterall, he'd always been the one to protect her, to take care of her, because their parents couldn't be bothered to do even that.
Oliver steps into the room, his footsteps quieter than usual, as if he were trying his best not to wake Maeve. She looked peaceful, afterall, which he couldn’t help but notice and feel relief at. His lips curl into a small smile as he watches her for what feels like ages until he finally climbs into bed right next to her, slinging his arms around her comfortably in something that seemingly resembled a hug. He falls asleep quite quickly, snoring loudly as he usually does in his sleep, his chest heaving up and down against his little sister, her auburn hair spread out on his upper half. The comfortable silence of the room other than the occasional hum of the air conditioning that keeps the room just a bit warmer than the temperature outside.
Meanwhile, Kayla still lays awake, laying on her bed, alone, wishing she had someone, something by her side and yet.. She finds no warmth other than her own. No comforting touch that comes from another person. It's not as if she wasn't used to it, but she craved it this specific night. She needed it more than ever. She just needed someone's touch for once. Her thoughts begin to drift from needing touch to Maeve though, and she decides to write in her diary about the day she had spent at school. To write about her first day, about the girl she so desperately wanted to be friends with. The girl who had enthralled her, had shown her what it means to want something, to fight for something.
𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔡𝔦𝔞𝔯𝔶,
𝔗𝔬𝔡𝔞𝔶 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔰𝔱 𝔡𝔞𝔶 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔠𝔥𝔬𝔬𝔩. ℑ 𝔪𝔢𝔱 𝔞 𝔠𝔬𝔬𝔩 𝔤𝔦𝔯𝔩 𝔴𝔥𝔬'𝔰 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔠𝔥𝔬𝔬𝔩. 𝔄𝔭𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔩𝔶 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔫𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔦𝔰 𝔐𝔞𝔢𝔳𝔢 𝔄𝔟𝔢𝔯𝔠𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔟𝔦𝔢! ℑ 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔰𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔬𝔢𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔬 𝔦 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔫 𝔦𝔱, 𝔦 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔨.
ℑ'𝔩𝔩 𝔡𝔬 𝔞𝔫𝔶𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫, 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥! ℑ 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔬 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔪𝔶 𝔣𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔦'𝔩𝔩 𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔬 𝔞𝔡𝔪𝔦𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔟𝔶 𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔪𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔰 𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔟𝔩𝔢! 𝔑𝔬 𝔪𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱, ℑ 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔦𝔰𝔱, 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱? 𝔄𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔩𝔩, 𝔪𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔪𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔰𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔪𝔢 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔦𝔫 𝔩𝔦𝔣𝔢 ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔬𝔯 𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢. 𝔄𝔫𝔡 ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔯.