CHAPTER 5: NEW LIFE, NEW MAILYS
Mailys felt her blood go cold. She tried her best to keep her cool and said, "Ah, I forgot to take cramps pills!" She turned around and headed to the medicine cabinet. As middle schoolers, they weren't allowed to take pills by themselves, but at this moment, Mailys didn't think twice. This way, she avoided bumping into him. She was thinking that, it shouldn't have happened. They shouldn't have met here and now. Is it that she made the wrong decision to skip PE class? Maybe, in her past life too, Nate headed in the infirmary as soon as the class ended. If she had gone to class, all she had to do was read a book, or close her eyes in order not to see him. She changed her course of actions and the outcome was the same as her past life. She felt stupid suddenly. Why did she have to be this stressed out anyway? She felt that the more she will try to avoid him, the more she will create situations like this. Maybe the best way of doing things was to act without thinking. She learned how to deal with people, and how to deal with herself later in her past life. She was well aware of her weak points and worked hard not to be affected by them. Even if she was afraid, even if she was a coward, what could he do to her? Wasn't he just a middle school boy? Furthermore, as she was given a second chance in life, isn't it the best occasion to change herself and erase her past teenager self?
Since she had started to accept herself, Mailys always had to be faced with the critical situations before her brain could think right. If she had to make plans, it would always fail. Only when she would have the feeling of 'this is the point of no return', she would cool her head down and be more rational. At this moment, she chose to completely ignore her heart from now on.
- "That is how you skipped class, huh?" Nate asked
"I talked to the teacher beforehand." She answered, as they were alone in the room.
Mailys was shaken, but still focused in pretending to search for pills. She didn't turn around to look at him, nor did she show any interest. She thought about the fact that in her past life, they never talked until 7th grade but she convinces herself it wasn't important. She took whatever came to her hand and put it on her bag. All this time, she didn't hear him busying himself to do what he came for, so she thought she was in his way to take something in the medical cabinet. On the other side of the room, Nate was half-sitting on a desk, staring at her, not saying a word anymore. He stared at her until she turns to the door to leave. He headed to the cabinet, blocking her way out. She stepped aside, and he took a step in the same direction. She tried the other side, so did he. "Let's not play cat and mouse game, kid!" she wanted to say. Instead, she blocked him with an arm, and went to the door, never looking at him. Nate's gaze followed her until she wasn't visible anymore. He sighed and sat on the chair for a couple of minutes before he went to his next class.
Mailys's next class was art. Unlike other classes, the art classroom configuration was special. They were hubs of four desks here and there. She couldn't sit at a random place to be left alone. She had to talk with her classmate in order to not look like a loner. Unfortunately, this day, she didn't feel like talking. She sat on a place near the teacher desk without caring on who would sit in the same hub. She was thinking about Nate and was wondering if the way she acted was natural. She stayed focused on her own thought until the teacher taped three times on Mailys's desk with the tip of her finger. Only then did Milys realized it wasn't her usual teacher. She didn't remember of her 6th grade art teacher, but she did, at least, remember her teacher was an old guy five times her age. Whereas, the person in front of her was a gorgeous young lady. "Put yourself together! You didn't even notice the class have started with a whole different teacher," she scolded herself. She smiled at her and waited for her to go before asking her classmate about the teacher. Mrs Sibel wasn't her real teacher and only was here for a month for her internship. Mailys understood why she seemed so young.
Anyway, once she came back to reality, she started to think of what she will do know she was a student. Instead of thinking about love, she better thinks about her new future. She recalled about the resolution she made before transmigrating. "I would live a more artistic life… But how?" While she was ruminating, she was drawing non-uniform figures and lines. She stopped thinking and looked at her canvas.
- "I'm definitely not a painter," She chuckled
- "It's not that bad," the teacher responded as she heard Mailys
Mailys was surprised but she felt she could ask the teacher for advice.
Before, she could have become an actress. She loved to act and was very good at it. Maybe she could become a good actress now. After a long time of reflexion, she came to a conclusion: she wanted to be a model of photography. This would permit her to be the most different from her past self. She would train her mental disposition and she would have to put herself and her body first. She always feared to be judged, know she will expose herself to judgment, and learn to get over what people are thinking. She will try her best, and try to keep her body to the standards, but if it doesn't work, she could still pursue her career, as she now knew, that all bodies are beautiful.
When the class ended, she waited for all the students to leave before she went to talk with the teacher.
- "Mrs Sibel, I have a question for you."
- "What is it?"
- "I'm interested in art studies. I wish to go to art school after High school. Do you mind telling me what the school you are graduating from?"
- "It's a good thing to know what you are interested in so young! I'm happy it is about art!" She seemed happy to talk about her passion and asked, "What the field you are interested in?"
- "As I said, I'm not a painter, but I'm interested in photography and modeling."
- "Usually, young people who want to model don't care about photography, it's surprising. Well, I'm not sure about modeling, but if it's photography, I think a school like mine is suited. I'm graduating from the Urban Art University. But since you know what you want to do so soon, you should aim for a better school. I don't know what your grades are like, but you could even aim for the Ecole Nationale Supèrieure des Beaux Art, which is the best school I know."
- "I'm not too bad currently, but I still can improve myself. I heard it's better to build good academic record sooner than later, so I have to include artistic activities in my schedule, but I don't know where to start…"
- "For now, you don't need anything extravagant. If you can, start by buying a good camera then you could take pictures of things that pick your interest. It can be anything: nature, animals, people, buildings, food… You can post them on a blog with the date and a little text to describe what you were thinking when you took the picture. By the time you apply to the school, you will have enough material to make two or three books." She was talking while Mailys was taking notes on her notebook.
- "As for the modeling part, I have a friend who may help. I'm talking to him as soon as I can and tell you what he said.
They continued to chat a bit, then Mailys went to math class.
Back at home, Lily busied herself searching about the school her teacher told her about. It indeed was the best school she could find in France. Looking at the brochures and the admission criteria, she started to feel hyped by all of it. She took out her notebook and wrote on it. She wrote down a whole new schedule for her home-time hours. She would wake up at 5am every morning and work out for an hour. Then she would take her shower and proceed with a day skin care routine. As she is underage to wear make up in her daily life, this shouldn't take more than an hour. The hour left before she goes to school, she would have a light breakfast while studying. Talking about breakfast, she remembered her family had an unusual diet. As her siblings were both doing basketball 3 times a week for two hours, her mother often cooked meals with more carbs than anything else. It was OK for Mailys when she was young, but as she grew up not practicing sport at all, she gained weight. Now she had decided on her career, she couldn't afford too caloric meals.
Mailys's family was kind of strict. They would allow their children to do whatever they want; the only condition was to be the top. She knew she couldn't just tell her mother she wanted to be a model, so she had to eat balanced meals. Her mother would put her on a strict diet for sure. She didn't want to restrict herself, as when she tried dieting as an adult, she always ended up gaining more weight than what she had lost. But how to tell her family she suddenly wanted to make her own meal? How to even tell them she knows how to cook for herself?