Nend Ardhon Chronicles - Complete

Chapter 28 – School’s rumour

In the morning, a very happy Byia went down for breakfast and started to prepare everything for the other two members of her family who were still sleeping.

When everything was already on the table, her mother appeared from the tunnel that connected to the upper level, dragging by his tail a still-sleeping older son.

She placed him on his chair and leaned his head on the table. She smiled at Byia and approached his left ear and made such a shout that Paullu jolted and almost hit the ceiling, “Wake up! Time for breakfast!”

Paullu rubbed his eyes and looked around, wondering how he got there. Teera was seated on her chair and gulped down one biscuit before asking, “You are in a very good mood, Byia. What happened?”

“Nothing; I did a bit of meditation before going to sleep, and it really calmed me down. I must do that more often.”

Teera nodded while throwing the half-eaten biscuit to Paullu’s head to wake him up again. “Unlike you, that one over there is still thinking he still has time to sleep. I went to your room last night, Byia, and I saw you seated on your bed so peacefully. I got out without making any noise because I didn’t want to startle you. As for that young male over there, he came home really late. What were you doing all that time in Drezara’s home?”

Paullu yawned and stretched his arms before biting a biscuit. “Well, I helped Drezara with her studies, and after dinner, her parents told me some funny stories about her childhood. She was so ashamed, and I couldn’t stop laughing. Finally, her mother told us that she needed a bit more studying, and we could have some time for ourselves, so we went to the study room again. I think I managed to help her by explaining some subjects in which she was having difficulties. I even gave her two tests, and she had a good grade. We were making a list of the things which she was still struggling when her mother told us it was getting late, and she asked if I wanted to sleep over in one of their guest rooms. I freaked out when I looked at the time and came home as fast as I could. Sorry about that, but I was having a blast.”

“That’s okay, as long as you were a gentleman and didn’t try anything funny with your girlfriend. You didn’t, right?”

Paullu stopped eating and tilted his head, wondering what his mother meant by that. “I guess… I just helped Drezara with her studies. Well, I may have scared and threatened her father when I arrived, but that was his fault. He called Byia annoying. By the way, mother, his lawyers will contact you regarding a contract for a fair share of the sales of his revised new book. Byia and Guyi corrected that big equation of his, and after I pointed that out to him, he said he would take care of that. Not that Byia will need more money, but I guess Guyi’s parents will be very happy.”

Teera Calla dropped one biscuit and stuttered, “You… did what? You… threatened the father of your girlfriend? Moron… You were supposed to make them like you!”

“Oh, don’t worry, they liked me. Professor Albeyrt was very friendly after we got past our first head bumps. Miss Theita Forgge sent a big, fat kiss to you, like she said. They even invited us three for dinner, and she said she would call you to set a date. She said she was missing the very amusing talks you and she used to have, but you are always delaying a visit because of work. Other times, she is.”

Teera nodded with a big smile and gulped down her closed cup. “Yeah, I must find time for that. I need to relax a bit and talk with some grownups outside of work. Wait, a minute… Drezara’s parents are Professor Albeyrt and Theita Forge? That’s a weird coincidence!”

She then pointed to the window of the back garden and said, “Rodhy is trying to eat my vase again, Byia! You didn’t teach him that my vases and flowers are not for him to eat? What sort of ‘Rodhocetus Trainer’ are you, anyway? And stop taking leaves from my table! Geez, no wonder that Rodhocetus is so weird! He learned with you!”

Byia avoided one slap to her head while laughing and quickly placed the leaves inside her bag, going out the window next to take the vase out of Rodhy’s mouth.

Paullu gave a quick kiss to his mother’s forehead and went to the front gate, where Drezara, Lodon, and Guyi had just arrived. Byia and Rodhy joined them, and after a big smile and a hug to Drezara, Byia signalled the others to follow her, and Paullu stayed behind with a very happy Drezara making a tip with her lips and with her eyes closed, waiting for her good morning kiss.

Paullu approached and complied, smiling at her in the end. “You are in an excellent mood. What’s up?”

“Nothing… Well, I had a very nice talk with my mother before going to bed, and even with your initial confrontation with my father, they were both very impressed by you. My mother threatened me that she would take both our heads if I laid an egg before graduating from School, but besides that, she seemed genuinely happy for us.”

Paullu opened wide his eyes and tried to remain calm. “An egg? That’s… way too soon to even talk about that, isn’t it? Not that I am not fond of the idea, but we have so many things to take care of before that!”

“Hehehe! The look on your face! Don’t worry, I won’t seduce you for an egg anytime soon. I like how things are with us. We can just enjoy each other’s company for as much as we want without an egg being the objective, don’t you think?”

Paullu quickly nodded, and a gentle slap on his head from a laughing Drezara was enough to make him burst into laughter. They continued swimming to School, with Drezara thinking about how their offspring would look.

…

In Byia’s school, a big crowd of students was gathered on the right side of the gate, and when Byia stopped to see what all that mess was about, she heard a few half questions that made her stop in her tracks and signal Guyi and Lodon to be quiet. Then, Nayima’s yellow body pushed through the group of students with her two friends working as bodyguards, clearing a path for her.

Guyi noticed that Nayima was crying and avoided looking at him, going straight to the front door of the School at high speed. Byia touched the left arm of one light-green older male who was shouting at Nayima, calling her a loser, and he turned bright red when he saw those inquisitive light blue eyes looking at him.

He almost choked when she asked, “What’s the matter? Why is everyone so mad with Nayima? What did that spoiled brat do this time?”

“You… humm… don’t know? There is a rumour that she bullied some first-Tide students from another School, yesterday. One of them is in the Hospital. It seems Nayima was bullying them for quite some time, but yesterday was so bad that one very young female even tried to kill herself. Nayima denied everything when we asked her, of course, and now everyone is hating her. As if going after you was not bad enough, now we found out that she is a long-time bully! Who does that prideful brat think she is? Imagine, making a young female try to kill herself! That’s so despicable!”

Byia frowned and glanced at the crowd that was approaching to hear her opinion. She remained silent for a while and asked while looking around, “Did anyone try to see if that rumour was true or not? Who told it the first time? I know Nayima is full of herself, but making something like that after what happened to her uncle the last time he was here? She may not be the brightest female around, but I don’t think she is such a moron to actually do such a thing!”

No one answered except the light-green older male. “Well, I heard it from… wait a minute, who shouted that when I arrived? I know it was someone here, but I didn’t see who it was!”

They all looked at each other, but no one seemed to know who was the one who shouted that because it was when all the students were gathered in front of the gate waiting for the opening. The same older student shrugged and spoke, “I am not even doubting she could do that, considering who is also a member of her family. It seems they are all rotten. Her uncle had to flee from his office yesterday because a group invaded the City Hall and tried to get him. His office was destroyed, and his bodyguards were killed. He managed to barricade himself inside his house, and there is now a new City Mayor in his place. You didn’t see the news yesterday?”

“No, I was practising at home, and I didn’t have time to watch the news. That’s so weird… and that guy tried to get me expelled!”

The light green older male made a slight smile and cleared his throat before speaking with a bunch of young males looking at him in amazement at his courage. “If… you need help with your training, I would love to help you… That is, if you want…”

Byia made such a gentle smile that most of the males gathered around felt their hearts skipping a beat, and the females sighed, moved by her honest answer, “That’s so nice of you, but I must decline. I am way too young to be near a big male such as you. It would be better if you offered your help to another female. I bet there are a few around who would love your company. Better if we get going, right? The classes are about to start!”

Byia turned around after waving at the red-faced male, and Rodhy joined her in a race to the front door. Guyi and Lodon were quick to follow them, while three males comforted the heartbroken light green male, who was mumbling, “She is young, but the way she smiled… Let’s get going, or we will be in trouble if we arrive late to class!”

…

The morning went by quickly, and as soon as recess started, Byia and Guyi rushed out the door to join the tail-waving Rodhocetus, who was looking at them through the window. Byia sat next to Rodhy, munching a few sweet leaves and giving him some, with Guyi waving at Lodon, who was talking with his first-Tide classmates on the other side of the garden.

Sveta Roolyi and Cruvir Ignyter approached Byia, and Sveta whispered, “Byia, my mother sent me a message. She wants to see us at the Guild in the afternoon. She said she has a surprise for you that she is sure you will like.”

“I hate surprises. I got enough scary surprises from my brother while growing up, and it ruined the point of a surprise to me… You don’t know what it is?”

“No, but she seemed really excited on screen. I couldn’t get anything out of her except that you will like it, for sure.”

Byia nodded and threw a rock up as hard as she could to make Rodhy go after it. She then heard Lodon’s voice, or rather, she heard him trying to call for attention while getting near her, “Hi… humm… hello! I heard a strange thing, and I can’t figure out what to believe.”

Byia tilted her head in his direction and looked up again just in time to see Rodhy catching the rock and returning, “If it has something to do with that rumor about Nayima, I am not the slightest interested. It doesn’t surprise me if it were true.”

“That’s why I think it’s weird; I don’t think it’s true. Nayima was in class all morning, in complete silence, and that’s an unusual thing for her; she likes to call all the attention upon herself most of the time, either by being the first to answer the Teacher’s questions, going to the board, mocking the others for a wrong answer, or things like that. Today, she didn’t make a sound. She kept staring at her paws that she had laid over the table, and she didn’t say a thing, even with the Teacher questioning her.”

Byia rubbed Rodhy’s head and threw the rock again. “Probably because she wasn’t expecting everyone in School to hear what she did yesterday.”

“Yeah, it could be that, except that I asked her when class ended, and she and her two friends were the only ones in the room. She seemed out of here; she kept repeating it was all a lie, that she never bullied anyone besides you, and that was just because she hated you with all her heart. She then started to cry and left with her friends. I got worried because it was my questioning that probably made her so sad, and I went after them. I heard them speaking in an empty corridor, and her friends were saying that they knew that the rumor was a lie because yesterday they went together to Nayima’s house to study right after School. Nayima kept crying because no one believed in them, not after what happened between you and her uncle. You can very well say that it was just an act, but they didn’t know I was hearing everything. I think they were telling the truth, and that rumor is just that — a nasty rumor.”

Byia shrugged her shoulders while rubbing Rodhy’s head. “Not my problem, and I don’t care. She deserves everything that comes her way, even if it’s a rumor and her reputation as a good and pretty girl gets destroyed. As long as she stays out of my way, that is. If she annoys me again, I might slice her tail, just for the fun of it.”

Lodon looked at the calmness with which Byia was talking, and he couldn’t believe it. How could she be like that, so cold? She noticed his look and asked, “What? You are surprised? What do you expect? That I swam to her to be by her side to comfort her as soon as you told me all that? She has tried everything possible since the first day of School for me to get hurt! I don’t know what I ever did to her to turn me into one juicy target, so forgive me if I am not a bit interested in her problems. I don’t care if everyone in this School hates her, calls her bad names, or beats her up. As long as she doesn’t cross my path, that is. I got enough of your bullying over the years to be sad about another bully getting what she deserves. If you don’t have anything else to say, go to your friends. We will meet after School, to…”

Byia glanced around and lowered her voice. “We must go to the Guild; our Party Leader called for us.”

Lodon slowly nodded and whispered, “Okay, I also want to ask her one thing. We can go through my shortcut so that no one follows us.”

He then swam to his Classmates again, who were eager to hear Byia’s opinion about the rumors. Byia continued throwing the rock for Rodhy to catch, noticing Lodon’s classmates nodding and looking in her direction with a puzzled look.

Byia thought that they were probably expecting that she laughed or jumped out of joy, and since she did neither of those things, they found it strange and unexpected.