Dead & Forgotten

Ch. 6

A lot of crazy things have happened to me while I was at Marshall Academy. And no, I didn't mean crazy in a physical sense; crazy meaning unexpected, miraculous, life-changing....you name it. One of those crazy things was, I actually replied to my parents' letter the next day on Wednesday, September 6. Well, it was actually later during the day I replied to their letter. I was reluctant to reply to them at first, but then I thought, "Ah, why not? They care about me a lot already," and decided it was the right thing for me to do. Which I actually did.

I wrote, "Dear Mom and Dad. It's been a while since you and I have made contact since you've left. I had a great time at Aunt Hillary's house, and baby Mercy continues to get cuter and cuter every day. I love it here at Marshall Academy. The people here aren't exactly very friendly, but I have made four friends, so far, and they are really nice to me. I miss you guys too, and I hope to see you both by the end of this month. Good luck in filming your musical, Mom. As we always say, the show must go on. Love, Your Little Princess Cassandra."

And for some reason, that actually made me feel very good inside. But do you know what made that day even better for me? Being finally able to stand up to Jeanna Morton once and for all, which happened way before. It all started at the fair---I've learned that Marshall Academy always threw an annually traditional fair during the beginning of the school year as a way to welcome back former (and new) students. The fair always had some kind of cool themes, and this year, it was pajama-themed. So the whole day was basically a relaxing day for all of us. Marvin and I made another encounter with each other at the swimming pool, and from him, I actually learned to improve my swimming skills. I'd been a pretty great swimmer, which I started learning when I was five, and from that time on I never really remembered how to swim anymore. Not until now when Marvin taught me again, and I got so much better at it. "Wow, you're really amazing, you know that?" he told me.

"I haven't learned to swim in over ten years," I said with a chuckle.

He chuckled, too. "Yeah? Well, it's a good thing that you know it now."

In fact, he and I had such a blast at the fair. We had so much of a great time that I unintentionally blew Donna off. When I met with her in late afternoon once the fair was over, I said, "I'm sorry if I blew you off like that."

"Ah, that's all right," she said. It's amazing how she could be so forgiving. "I could never interfere with my friend's love life."

Did she really just say what I thought....? "Um, what?" I said.

"Never mind, just joking," she said with a laughing expression, which I wasn't sure if I should take her seriously or not.

"No, please tell me what you mean, Olivia," I threatened, in a jokingly manner.

"Don't call me that!" she said while laughing. Then she stopped and said, "You and Marvin....there's nothing....you know, going on?"

"No way, why would you think that?" Even I felt embarrassed by the mentioning of that. Was there really something going on between Marvin and me? I didn't think so; he had Jeanna, or at least he used to have her.

"Because of the snobby bitch, that's why," she said. "You should keep an eye out for her. She's like a shark waiting for the right time to strike its prey, to attack. So watch out for those signs, gal pal. I'm telling you now."

"Oh, she can't scare me anymore," I muttered. To Donna, I said, "Marvin and I are just really good friends, that's all there is to it." She gave me an incredulous look. "Trust me, Donna."

"It's not that I don't trust you," she said. "Honestly, I really don't mind it if you ever do have feelings for him; it's just, you know whom...."