15 Chapter 15 (1/2)

During lunch, the next day, The Rejects gathered at their usual spot. ”I'd say screw it” Jackson says, ”if she doesn't want to get along, then it's fine. I'm not about to go above and beyond for someone who doesn't want or need my assistance”.

”It's not about just getting along though” Emma says. ”If Emily doesn't want to be friends, that's her choice. She just... seemed like she really needed the help, is all...”.

”Does she remind you of yourself?” Aeris asks.

”I...” Emma says, then pauses.

”Look” Aeris says, ”it's nice to help people, but sometimes you have to let people fight for themselves”.

”But, what if she's stuck like that for the rest of her life?” Emma asks.

”Her problem...” Jackson says.

”But...” Emma says, then thinks for a moment. ”I don't think I can accept letting someone just... continue going through that. I'm not sure what it is, but if her situation is going to keep making her a bitter person for the rest of her life... then-”.

”It's not our business to intervene” Aeris says. ”I hate to say it, but I'm actually with Jackson on this. It's her problem. Just because we might've gone through something similar, doesn't mean it's our job to fix it for everybody. Her situation might be a little... different than what you may be thinking”.

”She's got a point” Jessica says.

Emma thinks for a little while, then looks at Wyatt. ”Wyatt?...” She asks.

Wyatt thinks for a second, then finally says ”Truth is, we don't really know about her. If it's truly something that she can't handle, then one of two things will happen. She'll either let it get to her, changing her outlook on life in a negative way, or she'll realize that she'll need help and look for help. I think trying to force help upon her might be making it harder on her... so for the time being, if you still want to help her, we just have to wait and see what happens. Until then, just try... I dunno, being polite... Jackson”.

”Why are you looking at me?” Jackson asks, ”I haven't done anything to her”.

Wyatt looks back at Emma and asks ”Do you get what I mean? I don't want to sound like I'm picking sides, because I'd like to help where I can. For now, we just have to wait for her to realize whether or not she can take care of her current situation”.

”No... I get it” Emma says. ”After all, I think I was like that before too. I didn't really want to accept help when I knew I couldn't handle everything myself, but eventually... Well, Matilda happened”.

”Right” Wyatt says, ”it's probably the same with Emily”.

”What even is the problem with her?” Jessica asks. ”You guys are starting to talk like you know something here...”.

”No idea” Emma says.

”But then...” Jessica starts to ask.

”Just... don't” Jackson says to Jessica, ”those two are just a little crazy...”.

Meanwhile, Emily ate alone in the classroom. As she ate, she thought about what Refus had told her the day before. ”I don't want to be here...” Emily says to herself, ”but I'm also tired of being so alone. I don't really like that girl though... but maybe... maybe I can at least tell her about my parents, without being judged for my parents being laibah”.

Refus wasn't there at the time, for he was in the Principal's office. He was talking with the Principal, Ryan Schafold. ”She's not integrating well with school life?” Ryan asks.

”Unfortunately” Refus says, ”Emily has been... well, really negative with her outlook towards the school. So far, she's at least having conversations with me. I'm not sure if I'm right about this, but she may only be comfortable with having conversations with laibah”.

”Strange child...” Ryan says, ”breaks my heart to hear that, really. You remember meeting her parents before the semester began, don't you?”.

”Yeah” Refus says, ”they were polite, and seemed really friendly with humans. I can't imagine why Emily would feel that way”.

”They wanted to enroll her at the start of the semester, but she refused. It may be that she herself had received criticism for living with a laibah family” Ryan says, ”or has seen her parents hated for being laibah, and had built up anger since then. If this were the case, then... I guess it really is important that I help watch over her, though I do hate playing favorites”.

”Wait...” Refus asks, ”why is that?”.

”I know her parents” Ryan says, ”both adoptive and biological”.

”You know her biological parents?” Refus asks.

”Indeed” Ryan says. ”Though, Emily doesn't know them. It's a rather ironic situation, really. As one of her family members work here as well”.

”Emily's related to one of the teachers!?” Refus asks. ”Who!? Which one!?”.

”Not so loud” Ryan says. ”Not even that staff member knows, so I'm not telling you about it either. All I can say is, now that this situation has been laid out in front of me, I do want it taken care of. The reason I've told you anything up until now is because I'm counting on your help”.

”Help... with?” Refus asks.

”Making sure the girl doesn't stick out too much” Ryan says. ”If no one needs to know about anything, then no one shall know. Understand?”.

”Yes... sir” Refus replies. ”Oh, before I forget... You remember this one girl who enrolled really early in the year? Goes by the name of Emma Frey?”.

”I don't think I recognize the name” Ryan says, ”So I can't necessarily picture a face with it”.

”She's one of the laibah students in the first year” Refus says, ”I'm her home room teacher. White hair, purple eyes, hair tied in a bun and used to wear what looked like a really worn down uniform?”.

”I've seen too many faces to remember that in specific” Ryan says.

”Oh... well” Refus says, ”I realized when she entered, there was never a note, message, or even a mention of her parents... Have you... ever heard anything about that?”.

”Are you concerned?” Ryan asks.

”I'm always concerned about all of my students” Refus says.

”Well...” Ryan says as he thinks to himself, ”the students are all adults, so it's true that they wouldn't need any permission from their parents... though, it is also true that most of the students here don't have a lot of money and are taken up to the school by their parents at least once. It is strange that someone wouldn't show up at least once with their parents, while also showing up to school with what you called 'worn down uniform'. Maybe she had moved out of her parent's house before attending college”.

”Is she listed in the dorms?” Refus asks.

”Let me check...” Ryan says as he turns to his computer. After a few minutes, he says ”Nope. No 'Emma Frey' listed anywhere in the dorms. There weren't a whole lot of female laibah that got a dorm, since there were too many female students to house. It's hard trying to get humans and laibah to get along, let alone live together. I tried to house the second and third year students before the new students, while also trying to prioritize which students could live together based on school history. Looks like here, she hadn't attended school for about a year after graduating, so she's likely to have some problems staying with other first years, with her being the oldest in her year. Also, probably would've had some conflict with the second years, since their schedules are different. Unfortunately, we had to leave a lot of our female students out, both laibah and human”.

”Do you think... she's homeless?” Refus asks.

”I'd hope not...” Ryan responds. ”You should ask her about it though. If she requires immediate assistance, then we'll see what we can do”.

After Refus leaves the office, Ryan says to himself ”A laibah student who spent an entire year out of school... why would a student take that long to enroll themself in a college like this? Usually when they wait, it's because they don't have the money... but she was accepted for free due to her grades. Record shows she was a straight 'A' student in high school... so what happened between then and now?”.

”Heya, grandpa” Rose says as she enters the office.

”Hey, how's my favorite non-biological granddaughter?” Ryan asks. ”By the way, you should stop calling me grandpa around the school. The other staff might actually begin to think we're family”.

”Oh, it's just an inside joke...” Rose says.

”Yes, a formality” Ryan says, ”but that's what makes it easier to misunderstand”.

”So... when you gonna retire?” Rose asks, ”I'll take the seat of principal, if you wanna retire any time soon”.

”I'm afraid you'll have to wait” Ryan says. ”I may be old, but I'm not too old to work”.

”Dang!” Rose says as she snaps her fingers and laughs. ”Anyways, I needed to ask about a student in one of my second year classes. He said his family has to move further away from the city and won't tell me why. Anyways, long story short, he asked me earlier about getting a dorm. He said he's not giving up on college, but he won't have transportation available after his parents move. Are there still free spots available for him?”.

”Ah, yes” Ryan says, ”let me check to find the best availability”. Ryan taps away on the computer for a few seconds and says ”We have one male dorm room with no students, and two with only one student. You said he was a second year, correct?”.

”Yes” Rose says.

”Alright” Ryan says, ”I'll try putting him in one of the dorms with only one student registered. The one with a second year, not the one with a first year”.