Thursday. A day that is special this week for someone. Well, certain someones. Out in the school's parking lot, Freya was casually walking over from the main building. Leaning against a cherry red car was Abigail, texting away on her phone. Her attention was brought away from the mobile device, when she saw Freya's cozy boots. "Oh, hey!", Abigail greeted, perking up.
Freya joined her side and greeted back. Quickly, Abigail finished her text, before pocketing the phone and giving full attention to Freya, "So, how has the second day back from winter break been?"
"The same as usual."
"Really? Because for me it started off boring, then got crazy after lunch."
"What happened?", Freya questioned.
Abigail lowered her voice as she spoke, "Well, Mr. Reyes had us to do another watercolor painting and we started to paint today. Then, Taylor and Felicity were arguing non-stop, because Ron's sheet of paper got covered in paint, and those two were pointing fingers at each other. Even after the class ended, they wouldn't shut up."
Freya sighed, "That sounds like those two..."
Some older students passed by, getting into their cars and driving off, while two young women waited at a friend's car. Freya had continued speaking, "Did Mr. Reyes do anything, or did he ignore it?"
Shaking her head, Abigail responded, "Not at all did he help. He just sat there, acting like he was typing away."
Abigail would certainly know that Mr. Reyes was typing to nothing at his computer. In art class, everyone has assigned seats at four tables. At the fourth table, Abigail sat facing the teacher's corner of a folding table and two computer desks. From her seat, she could see the old computer's screen, even when someone is seated in front of it. When at the computer, the person is facing to the front of the room, which is to Abigail's right. The morbid young lady sits at the end of her table, giving her a good view of the computer monitor.
"The screen was pitch black, so there was no way he was writing anything on that computer."
Crossing her arms, Freya leaned back a bit and thought out loud, "How is it that his daughter goes out of her way to help others, but Mr. Reyes could not bother to resolve a problem in his own classroom?"
Abigail only shrugged with a hum. She and Freya had a slight moment of silence between them. When checking the time, Freya questioned where Diana was. It is unusual for her to be held back for this long. "Hey, Freya...what-"
Interrupted, both Freya and Abigail looked over to see a cheery Diana hopping over. Waving with a big grin on her face, Diana said, "Heeeey! I missed you girls!"
Chuckling, Freya responded, "We saw each other at lunch."
"I know, but still", said Diana, "So, what were you saying Abi?"
Containing her smile, Abigail spoke, "I was just about to ask Freya what she thinks about the transfer student."
"Wait, someone transferred here?", Diana asked shockingly, "Why would anyone want to go to this shithole? I mean, every person who transferred to our school either got picked on and left, or got turned into a bully!"
Both Abigail and Freya laughed a bit at Diana's reaction. "No, no", Abigail waved her hand, "He's not here yet. Mr. Ramos told us in homeroom, that there will be a new student here from New Jersey."
"New Jersey?", Diana questioned, "Why New Jersey?"
"Well, that is the state he's moving from."
Full of questions and confusion, Diana asked why this transfer student is moving, but no one has an answer for that. But it was not long, till their junior grade friend came over in style, like her car. Both Abigail and Freya waved at their friend, as Diana did too, after turning around and looking in surprise. While smiling and waving, Diana exclaimed, "When did you cut your hair?"
Silvia, an eleventh grade student of Mountvalley. A friend to Freya, due to a mutual friend, then later befriending Abigail and Diana. A former member of the student council, after being outvoted by another student. But despite that, there are some students who still address to her about issues and concerns of the school.
Pushing back her bangs, Silvia responded, "It happened during winter break. My aunt and I had gone to a salon, so we got our nails done and our hair cut. Do you like it?"
"Oh my god- Of course! It's amazing!", Diana squealed in excitement.
The other two girls chuckled, as Abigail said, "It looks nice. I thought you would chop it off, since it was being grown out."
"Yeah, I was", Silvia stated, "but since the news of that girl getting her hair pinched by elevator doors, I thought that maybe I should cut mine, before something like that happens to me."
Quickly realizing the sour note she ended on, Silvia then spoke again, "But it does look nice."
"And stylish as always", added Diana, throwing a small hand gesture.
Silvia brought her hand out of her coat pocket, holding the keys up, she said, "Now, who would like to head on to downtown?"
Happy and ready, all four young women got into Silvia's car. They all are able to fit, even with their bags. In the warming up vehicle, Silvia backed out the parking spot and drove off. There was no fuss over the choice of radio station, since each of them have shared taste in music. Although, their preferred film and literature genres kind of differ.
While driving, Freya asked, "I saw on your page that you had gone to New York, how was it?"
"It was great, despite airlines being cancelled, because of the weather", Silvia responded, without removing her eyes from the road.
"Was that why you weren't here yesterday?", questioned Diana.
Nodding with a hum, Silvia answered, "Yeah. We had actually returned in the afternoon."
"And your flight was suppose to take off when?", Abigail asked.
"In the morning of Monday. My parents had to return to work the following day, but that didn't happen."
Diana had spoke from the back, "Well, at least you made it back."
Agreeing, Abigail said, "Yeah, and you did have fun in the city."
While away, Silvia did update about her break away from school on her social media page. Pictures taken of the places she visited with her family, but also pure text posts of what she did. It is very much Silvia to keep her friends and family in the loop of what she is doing, even if it is online at times. Never the type to leave people in the dark. But that openness may seem to be a weakness, even the people in student council think so too, yet Silvia has never been too open about everything. There are some things the young woman will keep a secret, that may be shared with a close friend or family member.
"So Diana, has Charlie reached out to you yet?"
Turning her head, Diana looked directly at Abigail in confusion, "What do mean?"
Snickering, Abigail responded, "Well, he did have a big crush on you in seventh grade, but lost interest for Rachel. Then you had a big crush on him after he gave up on you. And after Rachel left him, he got back crushing on you. You know, that Charlie~"
Cooing, Abigail saw the flustered look on Diana's face, remembering what exactly she was talking about. Even Freya and Silvia giggled a small bit, finding it cute. Of the four young women, Diana was the cutest one, especially when embarrassed or doing a puffy pouting face.
Pulling the car into the parking spaces between road and sidewalk, Silvia turned the key to shut off the car. The young women got out, leaving their book bags behind, and started to head off into one of the buildings. Out of the four, three are especially creative. Silvia and Abigail are the greatest artists with different mediums, while Freya is the talented fashion designer. As stylish as Silvia is, she could never sew as great as her designer friend.
Looking at the group, Silvia reminded, "Like I said, I just need to grab a few things here, then we'll catch the movie."
"Same. I could pick up some yarn while we're here", spoke Abigail.
Remembering something, Freya wanted to go to the yarn section as well, so she tagged along with Abigail. Diana burst with sudden excitement, "Ooh! I'll go with you too!"
As the eleventh grader went to the area where all the paint supplies are, the other three went in a different direction together. In this store, all yarn is located at the back, while all drawing and painting supplies are at the east side. Abigail always wants a variety of yarns at the ready to use. Any project from washcloths to afghans to stuffed toys. Anything that is possible to crotchet, she wants to make it. Luckily enough, the store has a wide selection of different types and brands of yarn, including the ones Abigail likes the most. And with the store organizing the yarn by brand made it easy to tell if they held a specific brand or not.
Not just the morbid female looking for yarn, but so was Freya. Unsure of why Freya was also picking out yarn, Diana had to ask the question. Turning back to her, Freya responded, "There was a technique I saw in the special features of that movie with Johnny Reynolds and Helena Brewster, where they used yarn in Helena's dress, in that scene where she is brought to the general. I want to try out the technique they used."
"Wait, is that the one where the brother is executed for the general's affair with the haughty lady?", questioned Diana.
Freya nodded, "Yeah, it is."
"What was that movie even about, because I never saw it."
Budding in, Abigail simply explained, "It's about the injustice and corruption from the law, while both star actors go to uncover it. But Helena's character doesn't start, until her brother is killed under a false accusation. The whole movie is based off a book, taking place in the 1900s London."
"That sounds kind a dark...", Diana spoke, dropping her cheerful energy.
Both Abigail and Freya understood, as dark themes are not for Diana. The cheerful lady prefers happier and positive stories, which tends to often lead her to family films. But there is no denying her love for some of the romance movies. The same can be said for the others, but not the unrealistic or super cheesy ones.
After picking some yarn, the three friends went to rejoin their forth member. When they spotted Silvia, she was still grabbing bottles of oil. Smiling, Diana pointed and exclaimed, "There she is!"
"Heh, I was wondering who would finish first. Guess its me", Silvia chuckled.
Seeing the bottles and canvases Silvia is holding, Freya asked, "Do you need help carrying those?
Thinking about it for a moment, Silvia admitted that some help would be nice. Since Diana was not holding anything, she took some things from the older student to help. Since Silvia is also done, everyone headed to check-out, but since there was only one register open, they all waited in the same line. It could not be helped for Diana to question why there is only one check-out counter available, for as large the store is. True, the store's size is due to the wide selection of arts and crafts, but not many take employment here.
Back out to the car, the girls put their purchases in, before heading down the street. They all been waiting for this. A movie about a noblewoman running away, due to her husband having an affair. Trailers were shown during commercial and ad breaks, giving an impression of what the story is about. And now, the group of friends can see the movie together at last.
Keeping diner in mind, Freya and Silvia only got a snack and beverage. Waiting for a while, as Abigail ordered a personal pizza and nachos. Diana got her popcorn in a large bag. "At least this theater still serves popcorn in a bag, like an old classic", commented Abigail.
"Yeah, many places now have upgraded out of that. Like that burger place with the 80s style dinner aesthetic. Now it's all modern", said Freya.
"And they took out the jukebox too!", Abigail exclaimed.
Diana spoke, "Do places do that for marketing purposes?"
"Maybe", Silvia said, "It's sometimes their way of luring customers back with a new and improved look, while sometimes it is just a make-over. Depending on the business itself."
An employee came soon, handing over Abigail's order. Moving along, the girls got in line to show their tickets, then directed to the house playing the movie. Once inside, the students found their seats and shortly after, the lights started to dim down. The seats were not as packed as believed, but they were not the only ones there.
Through the romantic thriller, the audience watched the story unfold. A highly respected woman of noble birth, ignored and mistreated by her husband, over a servant girl. The husband has an affair with this young woman, which was no secret to his wife. Despite how he treats her, the noblewoman stayed. Until she reached her limit, after the servant was going to be made a second wife, despite where she came from. The story ends with the noblewoman in the arms of another man, treated fairly and given genuine affection. Even if it meant escaping the strict rules of high society and throwing away all the fortune and wealth, that came from family ties and marriage.
While exiting the theater, Freya and her friends talked about the movie on their way to the car. Diana felt bad for the woman being chased away from her husband, then Abigail budded in saying, "If that hadn't happened, she would be in an unhappy marriage."
"I know, but...", Diana somberly said, "none of that needed to happen, if he just stuck to his wife and not cheat."
"That's the point of a story. There needs to be conflict to get the character involved in the plot. One doesn't just do something out of nowhere", chimed in Silvia.
Abigail had to add to the topic, "Like a person, who doesn't suddenly go out and take a life. Something has to happen, in order to lead the character into that action. Like your family being killed is a reason to take revenge on the man responsible. Every story has conflict thar get things going, otherwise, there will be no story."
Finally at Silvia's car, everyone was about to hop in, till Silvia's voice sounded, "Hey Freya, there's an envelope on the windshield."
Being handed over the envelope, Freya opens it to find a folded piece of paper. Upon reading the few words scrawled on it, she was able to identify the paper as a love note of sorts. Despite the poor handwriting, the young woman was able to read what the contents were saying.
Hello Freya
Its been so long of watching you that I had to follow you. After all the time Ive known you I have become addicted to seeing you. I cant stop. I have fallen in love with you.
"What is it?", Abigail questioned.
"It's a love note", answered Freya.
Suddenly, the paper got grabbed by Diana, as she exclaimed, "Really? Oh my god!"
Abigail and Silvia came over to see this love note, looking over Diana and Freya's shoulders. There was no signature, so no one could tell who the writer is. Both Diana and Abigail started to awe at it. In excitement, Diana squealed, "I can't believe you have a secret admirer! That's so cute! I wonder who it is."
"Cute?", Freya asked.
"It is, in a sort of creepy-cute way", said Abigail.
Not agreeing with the "cute" thing about the note, Freya was given the paper back, before getting in the car. That note was all they ever talked about on the ride. It would be a lie for Freya to say she is not curious who wrote it, but has not fallen head over heels from the note. If anything, she found it harmless and decided to not do anything about it.
Silvia dropped off each of her friends at their homes. Diana and Freya live in Luisville, so they were dropped off, before Silvia drove into RiverCreek. As Freya grabbed her things, she waved to her friends, before they left. The sun was still up, but everyone eventually had to head home.
Into the house, Sarah was not at home. No surprise, since she works during this time of day, despite bouncing around different jobs. Freya never understood how her mother has been able to do anything, even be hired for a job each time. There are no remarkable skills Sarah has, but she also is incredibly lazy and stubborn. Someone else had to have been paying for the bills for Sarah, aside from her own daughter.
There have been times Freya had feared being like her mother. Bitter. Stubborn. Lousy. Can never follow directions. Barely capable of holding down a job, let alone doing one. Incapable of caring your own needs. As a young teen, Freya kept herself in check. But now, she knows that she will never be like her mother. Despite everything, things will be fine.
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