Summer blinked when she saw nobody in the room. Where had everybody gone? They’d all been here yesterday! Panic rose in her chest over missing a class, but a familiar silver-haired girl poked her head out of a door that connected to the room. “Sorry about freaking you out like this, Summer; every Thursday is lab in high school. We just get new people so rarely we didn’t think to tell you.” She saw some color enter Willow’s tanned cheeks and Summer gave a small nod, tugging her hood up. Well, it was just more evidence she didn’t belong in Lamberton. Everyone knew how things worked and she didn’t. She really wished Persia didn’t need more assistance than what she could offer…

  Willow walked over and extended a hand, her smile war. “How about being my lab partner from now on?” All she could do was give a small nod. Nobody else in the small class would want to and she knew it.

  …She was suddenly wondering if she could go to an online school instead of having to deal with this. Then again, Persia had always pushed her way outside of her comfort zone and wouldn’t let her retreat so…

  She sighed and followed Willow into the lab. She shrank back as people glanced at her, talking behind raised hands. Her hands tightened into balls in her hoodie pocket, but Willow put a hand on her shoulder. “They’ll come around in time; I promise.” How? How could she promise that? It was impossible she’d ever fit in here. She was such an outsider and it almost felt as if the town itself hated and wanted her gone. Tears welled in her eyes, but she said nothing, forcing them back.S he’d probably end up running back to the city streets at this rate even though it’d mean leaving behind the woman that had cared for her so selflessly for the past five years…

  She silently listened as the teacher explained what they’d be doing and the student teacher started moving from group to group.

  “Did you get all of that? About half of it flew over my head…” Summer glanced at Willow who had her forehead on the pal of her hand. “Kali’s usually my partner, but she took physics this year instead of earth science to be with Ghira. God, those two are joined at the hip…” Summer couldn’t help but smile faintly, though she did give a small nod.

  “Yeah; it’s not that difficult. I can’t say I’m the best at learning from lectures, so lab stuff is right up my alley. I’m guessing you’re the opposite?” She chuckled a little. Given the fact she’d had to spend six years of her life learning through practical experience, she preferred hands-on to boring lectures and reading textbooks. There was no better teacher than doing it yourself.

  Willow shook her head as Summer started to work. “I prefer hands-on activities but I just hate school. I didn’t enter formal education until I was ten because Papa thought a lot of stuff I would learn in school up until then could be better tough through field experience. He only finally put me in public school because that was the point he knew that if I’m going to take over Schnee Industries that I needed more formal instruction. Plus college.” Willow rolled her eyes and let out a hefty sigh. Summer’s eyebrows just shot up. She was the heiress to a large company? She didn’t recognise the name, but just the way she talked made it obvious. Plus, she’d have to be rich if she visited France as often as she’d stated. But what was the heiress to a massive company doing in the public middle/high school of such a puny town? It didn’t make any sense!

  Summer just sighed and shook her head, starting to follow the directions. She really shouldn’t be bothering with getting to know anybody aside from Qrow since she was on the project with him all year. She really did just want to have friends, but it was impossible. Maybe Raven’s persistence would make her cave but there was no telling. She herself was both stubborn and flighty, so she had no idea which part of her personality would win in the end.

  She closed her eyes for a few moments but they snapped back open as cold that surpassed the most frigid winter swept over her from head to toe. “Do you need any help, Miss Schnee, Miss Rose?” She glanced over her shoulder at the student teacher… or, rather, through him. She just stared, barely registering Willow saying something before he moved on.

  “…Willow, did I just see through—”

  “…Right, Todd’s a ghost. He can’t do a whole lot other than explain things and help people find things, but he’s useful to have to have around on lab days.” A ghost. A fucking ghost?! She wasn’t going crazy, was she? She had to be. Ghosts just didn’t exist. Only crazy people believed in them. But Willow didn’t seem crazy. Then again, a lot of crazy people could seem perfectly sane on the surface. She’d seen more than a few of those people over the years.

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  She just watched in silence as the ghost walked around the lab, often through tables and offering students advice. She pinched herself and sighed. Nope, wasn’t a dream. She really was sitting in a high school science lab with a ghost as the student teacher. What brand of insanity had she been dropped into? With a heavy sigh, she shook her head and returned her attention back to the lab and Willow. “…I know this is a weird question, but do you think you could handle being around somebody that loses their memory of people they fear losing every Monday?” She bowed her head a bit, unable to look up at Willow. She couldn’t see her reaction, but she did hear a soft chuckle.

  “It might be a bit tough at times, but considering the weird little town I was raised in, it’s far from the strangest thing I’ve heard. Why do you—” Summer just bowed her head more, face completely hidden by her hood. All she could see was the black countertop of the lab station now. Her throat closed as she struggled to take in air and started shake. Oh god, oh god. She couldn’t believe she’d just revealed that to her. It was one thing with Qrow, but with Willow, Ghira, or Kali? She knew they’d reject her. It’d be too hard to deal with. She’d be nothing but a burden to them and—

  “We can deal with you. You wanna join in on singing with us, right?” A warm smile and bright blue eyes met hers as she raised her head. Was it really that simple? Would they really accept her and her burden that easily? As far as she knew, aside from Persia, nobody had stuck around. She remembered almost everything from the past five years now aside from a few instances when people had apparently attempted to approach her and her journal entries back that fact up. Once the secret had gotten out at her old schools, that had been it. Nobody approached unless to make fun of or demean her somehow. Since she could see how difficult it was on people, she could hardly blame them for leaving her alone. If they left her starting on Monday, she wouldn’t blame them.

  “…Yeah. I really love music and singing even if I don’t know anything about proper technique. I taught myself to read music and the actual theory, but I don’t know about actual singing…” She sighed and ran a hand over her hood. She really didn’t mind learning to apply the knowledge she’d accumulated over the years, but it would take forever to actually fit in with them. They all sang so well together and the most she knew was how to sing with her favorite songs. It was such a far cry from their proper choral training.

  Willow grinned and shook her head. “It’s really no trouble; we’ll whip you into shape in no time. I’ve had private tutors for years and it’s given me plenty of experience to teach.” She smiled warmly and Summer shifted a bit, giving a tiny nod. She still didn’t think this was a good idea, but with how Raven was, she knew she likely wouldn’t be getting out of this. It was just better to accept it than try to refuse Raven and potentially get into an argument. That was the last thing she wanted…

  But…

  “…If you can excuse me for being a bit blunt, you’re not being as pushy as you were this morning.” It was strange. Why was she so…sedate now? She seemed to actually be concerned about how she felt now rather than trying to force her to join them.

  A bit of color came to Willow’s cheeks again as she scratched one. “Yeah… Rae and I kinda feed into each other. When she gets into something, I just kinda follow along. Kali’s about seventy percent of our impulse control when we’re all together.” Summer gave a faint nod as she took a few notes to turn in for the lab. Well, that did make some level of sense. Some people were just extremely excitable and only got worse when around others like that. At least it seemed like she wouldn’t have to worry about Willow trying to force her into things if they were alone for some reason like they were now…

  “So when’s the next practice?” She swallowed as Willow grinned.

  “Well, I’m busy with Papa tomorrow morning, so we’re planning to get together tomorrow after school and just have a sleepover with us girls. Ghira bows out and Qrow’s… Well, he’s Qrow.” Willow snickered and Summer managed a faint smile. Even though they’d only met yesterday, she could tell he was generally just asocial. She could hardly blame him with how…enthusiastic Raven was.

  She frowned, though, sensing Willow’s unspoken question, throat sticking. She wouldn’t mind learning the songs, but a sleepover? She didn’t want to have a good time then forget everything and burden them, but it sounded like a lot of fun. She bowed her head and closed her eyes, taking in shaky breaths. “…I’ll join you at least for part of the evening.” It was the best she’d promise for now. She could already imagine how ecstatic Raven would be to hear that and cringed internally, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

  “Sounds great. I’ll try to hold back a bit, but no promises.” She looked up and saw Willow’s bashful smile, then gave a small nod.

  “Thanks.” Well, it was better than nothing, she supposed…