Clara Anastasia

[7 Years Ago]

Tchaikovsky - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

Thomas' convertible sports car sped through the gate of their private school, passed several students walking, and skidded in front of the entrance door.

Someone whistling, "New toy again, Thomas? Coool.." He eyed the body of the Lexus in red.

"Yups, just launched a week ago. An early birthday gift from my father!" Thomas shouted from the front seat.

Jordan jumped out without opening the door and warned, "Just look no touching."

Tiffany smoothed her wavy blonde hair and checked her appearance on the gold Gucci pocket mirror. She applied a deep shade of pink lipstick when I didn't even bother on my looks.

"Thanks for the ride, Thomas."

"My pleasure, honey." Thomas winked at me. He just dropped us and has to park his car.

I rolled my eyes at him, he always 'honey' every girl he met. We were best friends, always stick together. Sometimes the boys would take turns picking me and Tiffany to school. Hey, free ride. Who would refuse?

The three of us got in first but I was in a different class from Tiffany and Jordan because our classroom was determined by the starting of name.

I opened my locker with a wired earphones still on, playing my favourite classical music. Someone had dump a stupid love letter in my locker again, I sighed. I just stacked them with the other letters piling up at the corner of my small locker without reading the content. I was taking out my math book when I heard a loud bang beside me.

"Yo! New student huh? What's your name, pretty?

That was stupid Erikson, one of the bully of our school. He pulled the brown shoulder bag from the girl's hand and shook it on the floor, scattering her books, a pencil case, and a teddy bear. The girl wailed and quickly crouched down to put her things back inside.

Erikson guffawed until other students came to see them with interest, "You take a doll, a teddy bear to school? Such a little baby!"

Some of them laughed, but several of the kids that notice me standing just five lockers away from the scene chose to stay silent. The girl didn't reply him but the doll was safely inside her bag. It seemed she couldn't move from the embarrasment.

BAM!

I banged close my locker door and saw Erikson's mean downturned eyes widened a bit. Good. He better be scared. I pulled out my earphones and approached him.

He stammered, "C-clara!"

"Morning, Erikson." I greeted with cynical tone. The girl still looking down at the floor.

"I-I don't know you are there. You look different today." Erikson said, assessed the choice of my clothes today.

Usually, I always wear a feminine clothes, a dress or skirts to school. Today I'm wearing a navy bomber jacket, jeans and sneakers. Too lazy to style in girly clothes because it didn't match my mood. My mother had a high fever last night, she has been sick for many times this year, I started to worry about her.

"Don't let me see you bothering this girl again, Erikson or any other of you." I looked at him and the crowds around him. They dispersed peacefully under my stare.

But Erikson still held his position and mocked because I had ashamed him, "What is she to you? Your little sister? Told her not to take a teddy bear here, this is not a fucking playground."

"Oh yea? If it's not a playground then why I have a picture of you peed your pants when Jordan was about to hit you with baseballs?"

"W-what?"

"Do you want to see it? I still have the picture in my phone." I was bluffing, I didn't want to save disgusting photos like that.

A month ago, Erikson bullied a girl until she had trauma to go to school. We punished him in sport hall when class was over, tied him to the basketball poll. Thomas threw the ball and Jordan battered at Erikson's way.

He screamed with high-pitched sound like a girl when the ball missed him and hit the wall behind. It would hurt like motherfucker if Jordan really hit him. They did it until he wet his pants and promised not to bully the girl again.

"If you don't want me to share it to the whole school, you better say sorry to her."

Erikson looked left and behind him, "I'm sorry please don't share it, Clara." He said with pleading eyes.

"Say it to her, not me!"

"Hey new girl, sorry.."

The girl didn't even look at Erikson.

"Say it like you mean it." I ordered again.

Erikson lowered his body a little, "Hey, I don't know your name but I'm sorry."

The girl nodded her head once then Erikson looked at my approval. I shoo him away by lifting my chin up, he didn't waste his time to flee.

I kneeled on the floor and helped her collecting the books. "Hey, it's okay. He wouldn't dare to insult you again. If any other students bully you, you have to tell me."

She finally looked up with tears welled up in her eyes, "T-thank you.."

"I'm Clara. What's your name?"

She was a beautiful girl, no wonder that stupid Erikson tried to get her attention.

"I'm Aurelia. Nice to meet you."

Aurelia gave me a sweet smile, she had natural blond hair and unique pair of grey eyes.

"You're so brave while I could only cry without giving him a fight." She wiped her cheeks.

"You're a new student here, right?" I helped her up.

"Y-yes.. I got the scholarship to finish my high school in this private school this year.

"Wow, you must be really smart! So we're in the same class, right?" I was a little surprised because it's rare for student to have this privilege.

"Ehmm. I'm in class 55."

Then I saw my three friends walking down the hall to us in hurried steps.

"Clara, I heard from other students that you clashed with Erikson? Where is he? I'll punch his nose until he bleed." Jordan said.

I laughed, "Aurelia, they are my friends. Tiffany, Jordan and Thomas. This is Aurelia, guys.. She is the new girl."

I introduced them and Aurelia shyly shook their hands. The boys seems interested in Aurelia. They were playboys anyway, I had to warn Aurelia not to be easily swayed by their charming looks.

"Yooo guys.. It would be another interesting news to share. The Four Saints successfully protecting the new pretty student!" Someone said with a phone filming us.

"Yeah, you better watch out Erikson if you don't want your little secret being published." Thomas's face came near the camera phone.

"What secret, Thomas? Spill the tea!" He said with a grin.

The four of us looked at each other then bursted into laughter.

From then on, we became friends with Aurelia. She was smart and helped me a lot in study. Well, I'm just an average student. Not too dumb and surely not too smart.

I loved to dance and I had learned ballet since I was a kid watching an opera with my parents and captivated with the grace and fluidity of the ballerina dancing in harmony with the music. Since then, I begged my parents to let me take a ballet course. But my father always wanted me to enroll in prestigious university so I studied on this private high school in my hometown and take ballet class as a hobby.

I never judged someone based on their appearance so I learned that Aurelia came from a poor family when I visited her house to study together. She only lived with her dad, her mother was already passed away when she was a child.

Her house was not that far from my mansion. Since my mother often getting sick, we decided to move from town and lived in the mansion because the air is cleaner. I drove her to school everyday, and i got protested by my gang of friends.

I slowly realized that what I did with them is the form of rebellion because my father refused to let me enroll at ballet school. I explained to them that I want to focus on my study.

By studying together with Aurelia, I had great exam results. Jessica announced that she would throw a party at her house. She invited Aurelia too.

But the day of the party, I got a terrible news from hospital. My mother's laboratory test results are not good.

She had stage 4 breast cancer.