In Memory of Grace

5. Friend

Bells rang. It was lunchtime.

Two weeks in.

Maeve had searched desperately for the name of Grace's friend. But there were no photos from those years, and Grace's picture was not in the high school yearbook from 2012.

There was a small bloom of helplessness nestled in Maeve's chest, her thoughts muddled as she made her way towards the cafeteria.

In this mental traffic, she did not notice the dirty-blonde girl coming towards her, not until she collided into the slightly taller figure, nearly dropping her books in the process.

The immediate reflexes kicked in.

"Oh, I am so sorry; I did not see you come –"

She raised her eyes, realizing who the person standing before her was. Reflexes retreated, and sense finally entered Maeve's mind. After a moment of continued shock, she forced a smile onto her face. "Serena! Hi, how are you?"

The other girl smiled steadily at her, entirely aware of the rising tension between the pair. "I'm good; great, actually. Just wanted to check in with you...you're doing the report for Doctor Charles Knight as well, aren't you? What was the case you chose again?"

A scream welled in Maeve's throat. She swallowed it, working hard to keep the smile in place. "Yes, I'm doing the report. It's just a bit of research on Grace Arden's death – she committed suicide twelve years ago."

A sympathetic expression crossed the girl's face, and she nodded in understanding. "Right, that girl. I'm sure it is a very sad story. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help, yeah?"

The scream got louder, threatening to burst. This was so petty. Maeve nodded, then quickly brushed past Serena to find the nearest washroom.

She wasn't actually going to scream, of course. Her father had raised her to be decently well-mannered. But losing a friend can sometimes feel like losing a limb, and despite what others say, the phantom pain that haunts you will still hurt.

Maeve had travelled to many parts of the United States, but part of this travelling included a severe inability to make any permanent friends. When she moved into her father's hometown, things seemed to go as they always did, until she met Serena Ashbourne.

The Ashbourne family had descended from the original founders of Ameryn Falls. They owned the town's tourist business, the century-old iron and steel factory, and headed the town's educational board. But despite the vast family fortunes, Serena was quite different from the stereotype that was attached to people of her status.

At least, part of her was.

In many decades, the high school had not seen as talented a mind as Serena's; she carried the town to the nationals for the annual science quiz, and reigned supreme in the world of Whitcomb High's academics.

Maeve never truly learned what made Serena notice her. They started a conversation in Freshman year over their mutual love for books. Somehow, a year later, the school's most intelligent asset had turned into Maeve Grey's closest friend. It was never something she had imagined for herself, but there was something so intriguing, so absorbing about Serena; there was not a moment when Maeve did not trust her. For two years, they would roam the hallways together, their hands clasped together, laughing over the most trivial of matters. Maeve would often think that she had never been happier; she did not know that having a friend could be so wonderful.

Then, in the middle of Junior year, the Arison family moved back into town. 

The Arison family owned two hundred acres of maple groves and coffee estates in Ameryn Falls. They lived on the edge of town, and did not have a habit of interacting much in the daily activities of Ameryn Falls. When the family patriarch passed away in the summer of that year, he left a rather harsh demand on his family: either his only surviving son, Eduard Arison, and his two less-than-beloved grandchildren return back to Ameryn Falls and their family home, or the entirety of the Arison family would be left to the late patriarch's orphaned niece, Eneida.

There are some demands that cannot be avoided, and this was one of them. The family did not arrive quietly; the news of the town and every house-wife's load of gossip for many weeks surrounded the newly arrived Arison descendants.

But for Maeve, this was not a happy welcome.

In the next four months, her world fell apart faster than she could realize. Aster Arison was beautiful, wild, and a stormy character. Her cousin who came with her was entirely different, and his mind proved to be quite a rival for Serena, but it wasn't him she was after. Serena was fascinated by Aster, and though there was never a true falling-out between her and Maeve, there was an evident change between the two.

In four months, Maeve had lost the only friend she ever really had. Pushed to the side, shadowed completely by the blinding personality that was Aster Arison, it wasn't until Aster announced to the whole class about her and Serena's mission to solve Kennedy Guard's disappearance through the wonderful oppurtunity presented to them by Doctor Charles Knight that an unbearable pain of betrayal grasped Maeve.

Surely, the doctor would have deduced that Serena Ashbourne had a much brighter future than Maeve could even fathom. Besides, they could not both cover the same case.

The Ashbourne's would have had very close connections to the Guard family; it didn't matter that they announced to the public that dear Kennedy's memory was to rest quietly in peace. 

But despite everything that happened, surely Serena would remember that forensics was always Maeve's dream, and never her own. And Maeve would never have cared that another person wanted to pursue the same goals as her, except Serena knew that there wasn't a way in a million years that she could afford such a field in college without a scholarship.

She could still remember the shouts of praise and encouragement, the radiant smiles on both the their faces, the teachers acknowledging the strong friendship between the two. That was the day Maeve realized that what Serena and she had was long gone, and she hadn't even noticed it.

It hurt a bit more that she never bothered to say goodbye before she left.

Then again, that's the poison that comes with letting people come too close - they scar you when they leave.

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