Chapter 5

Ms. Fleming's Advice

"Okay. You were with me yesterday," Aria reviewed as she walked to school with Vanessa the next day. "We went to the salon. I got nearly six inches of my hair cut off. That really did happen…right?"

Vanessa did not even know how to respond. Aria's sudden hair growth came just as much of a shock to her as Aria.

Aria continued, "What's really weird is that my parents did not seem shocked at all. It was like they knew it would happen."

Vanessa remained silent for another moment then asked, "Aria, do you know anything about your birthparents?"

Aria had known pretty much her whole life that she was adopted. Before now, she had never really given much thought about her birthparents. As far as Aria is concerned, Ted and Elizabeth Rosenberg are her true parents.

"No," Aria answered. "I never asked about them. Why? Do you think they would have an explanation for this?"

"I don't know, Aria," Vanessa tried to phrase this as delicately as possible. "It's just that hair doesn't just grow six inches overnight. That's not exactly normal."

Great, Aria thought, now even Vanessa thinks I'm a freak.

"I suppose I could try to find out who my birthparents are, except I don't know how, and I don't really feel comfortable asking my parents."

"Do you know where your parents adopted you from?"

"No. They still tell me the story about how they found me in a basket on their front porch with a note. As if they expect me to still believe that! It's not like I'm Harry Potter."

"Maybe not exactly, but you have to admit this could be something supernatural."

Just as Vanessa finished that last sentence, Aria suddenly realized how crazy they both sounded. "No! There has to be some logical explanation for this. Besides, its just my hair, nothing else. It probably just wasn't cut as short as we thought. After all, it was starting to get dark by the time we left the mall. And, I'm sure they are some people like me that has hair that grows real fast."

The girls happened to arrive to school early so they had extra time before homeroom began. Aria heard a voice call her from behind them.

"Hey Aria!"

Aria turned around to see Lacey Goodman heading in her direction.

"What does she want?" Vanessa wondered aloud.

They found out when Lacey reached them. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what Kendal did yesterday. That was a really dirty thing to do. I'm glad to see you got it out okay. You didn't even have to get your hair cut."

Aria sighed. There was no point in telling anyone about her haircut. Who would believe her? "Yeah, I used peanut butter. Worked like a charm."

"Well, that good. I'm sure Kendal is sorry and won't do it again. She was just having a really bad hair and, well, your hair is just so perfect. I'm sure she was just jealous and acted rashly."

With that, Lacey turned around and headed to homeroom. Aria rolled her eyes. Its amazing how Kendal's friends defend every mean thing she does. Both Lacey and Ian are generally nice people, but they have a blind spot when it comes to Kendal.

"You know she may be right," Vanessa commented once Lacey left.

"Right about what? Kendal has never felt bad about anything mean she's done, ever."

"I meant about her being jealous. Maybe the reason she's especially mean to you is because she's actually envious of you. Don't you think?"

"What is there to envy. She's the one everyone wants to be. She the one that has all the cool parties, she the head cheerleader, and she's the one who is dating football star, Ian Harris. Why on earth would she be jealous of me?"

Vanessa thought about this then said, "Maybe because you have always had naturally flawless skin and perfect hair, while she has to work for them. I mean, you don't even have to wear make-up. Or if you want to get deeper, it could be that your parents are happily married while her parents got divorced."

Aria remembered when Kendal's parents split up. It was when they were in seventh grade. She and Vanessa were the ones who stood by Kendal and helped her get through it. They even helped Kendal convince her mother not to move to New York as she planned on doing at the time. If only Aria had known then what Kendal would turn into now.

"Let's just not talk about Kendal anymore." As much as Aria could not stand Kendal now, she could not help but miss when they use to be friends.

Vanessa nodded. "Hey, do you want to go jogging with me tomorrow morning?"

Every weekend morning, Vanessa went out for a run to stay in shape for volleyball. Plus, she enjoys the extra exercise. On the rarest of occasion, Aria would join her, just as long as she goes to bed early enough to get a decent amount of sleep.

"Sure. I guess I could use some fresh air."

The rest of the day seemed to drag by at a slow pace. Fridays are always like that to Aria. It seemed like at least one bad thing happens to her every week. Aria just could not wait to get out of high school, then she would hopefully never have to see Kendal or Derek ever again.

xXx

Fortunately for Aria and Vanessa, Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for jogging. The sun's rays shined brightly, not a single cloud in the sky, with the temperature in the mid sixties. The two girls jogged side by side, Vanessa pacing herself so Aria could keep up.

"So what do you want to do after this?" Aria panted, starting to feel fatigued.

Vanessa, on the other hand, still had plenty of energy. "I don't know. Maybe go to the mall?"

Aria did not particularly care for going to the mall on Saturdays, mainly because that is when Derek and Kendal are most likely to go. Aria remembered last year, she went clothes shopping with her mother and ran into Derek. That next Monday, he made fun of her for needing to shop with her parents. Aria tried to think of something else she and Vanessa could do. "We could watch a movie at one of are houses."

Vanessa was not fooled by Aria's suggestion. "Are you worried about running into Kendal or something. I swear, Aria. You can't just keep on avoiding her forever."

"I know, but I can try for the rest of high school."

"You need to learn to stand up to her, and Derek, too for that matter."

"You know that's hard for me," Aria fell silent for a moment then asked, "Do you really think Kendal is just jealous and that's the only reason she's so horrible to me?"

"To be honest, I really can't think of another possible explanation," Vanessa answered. "She's always been like that. Ever since we first met her in elementary school. She always had to have the best of everything."

"Do you ever regret helping Kendal convince her mother not to move to New York?"

"Are you kidding? Every second of the day! If only we had known back then what she be like now."

Aria added, "Besides, she would probably be happier in New York than Nebraska."

New York would be perfect for someone like Kendal. The big cities, places to go, and the shopping. Kendal already goes to New York City every other weekend. She says its to visit her grandmother, but everyone knew the real reason is to shop for more fashionable clothes. After all, as a whole, New York City has more stylish clothes than Norfolk.

"I think I'm going to head back now," Aria panted even harder than before.

"Okay. I'm probably keep going for another half hour. I'll give you a call when I'm done." Vanessa started to jog a bit faster while Aria turned around to walk back home.

As Aria approached her street, she spotted Ms. Fleming out in her yard. She noticed that the bricks on Ms. Fleming's house seemed to have even more paint on them than before.

"Hi, Ms. Fleming!"

Ms. Fleming turned around. "Oh hello, Aria. Did you have a nice little jog?"

"Yeah, it was good, though I'm a bit exhausted now. Vanessa's still running."

"Well, that's nice." Ms. Fleming continued to smile. "How's school going?"

"Its, um, well its going." Aria really did not want to complain about school and the people in her class to Ms. Fleming.

"Aria, would you like to come inside and chat for a moment? I can make tea."

"Um, sure. I hope you don't mind I haven't showered yet." It didn't matter too much. Aria only jogged a short distance and it was not warm enough for her to get real sweaty.

"That's alright, dear. I don't mind."

The inside of Ms. Fleming's house looked pretty much the same as the outside with different colors of paint on the wall. Aria remembered when her parents would drop her off here so Ms. Fleming could babysit her. Ms. Fleming had so many beautiful dresses and she'd let Aria try them on. Aria, wearing these fancy dresses, would pretend to be a princess and imagined a prince that always came to her rescue. Oh how she missed being a little girl.

"Here's your tea, darling." Ms. Fleming placed the tiny teacup on the table in front of Aria.

"Thank you." Aria grabbed a couple sugar cubes from the bowl and stirred them into her tea.

"So," Ms. Fleming sat down at the table across from Aria, "You will be turning sixteen next month."

"Yep, October 7." It just hit Aria that her birthday is only a couple weeks away even though the school year seemed to go by slower than normal.

"Funny how time goes by. It seems like just yesterday I saw your parents carrying you around when you were a baby."

Aria thought for a moment. Ms. Fleming appeared to be only thirty, yet she was around here when Aria was a baby, nearly fifteen years ago. Maybe Ms. Fleming is just older than she appears. Aria realized that she did not even know Ms. Flemings age. Come to think of it, she did not know much about Ms. Fleming at all.

"Aria, are you alright?

Aria looked up to see a concerned Ms. Fleming. "Yeah, sorry. I just spaced out."

"Thinking about a particular boy?"

Aria nearly choked on her tea. "No, I, um. There is no one I like."

"Really, are you sure? I'll bet there are a lot of nice boys at your school."

Not really, Aria though but decided to say, "I guess there are a few, but none of them are interested in me."

"Now, I'm sure that's not true. Maybe they're just shy."

Aria could not think of a single shy boy at Sheerwood High. Maybe since there are too many loud and obnoxious boys, the quiet ones just went unnoticed. Aria had no idea what to say. Never had she felt more uncomfortable in a conversation.

Ms. Fleming continued, "Listen to me, Aria. You are almost sixteen. Love is a wonderful thing for someone your age to experience. I advise you to give someone you are normally not interested in a chance. After all, love works in mysterious ways.

Aria wondered why Ms. Fleming was so concerned about her love life. She made it sound as if it is absolutely important for someone her age to have a boyfriend. Come to think of it, Ms. Fleming seemed awfully interested in a lot of Aria's life. Almost like a… a sudden thought hit Aria.

"Aria?"

"Um, I actually have to go now. My mom is expecting me for lunch." With that, Aria bid Ms. Fleming a quick good bye and almost ran home.

Her mind was racing. All her life, Aria knew her parents had adopted her, but they never said which adoption agency they got her from. Most parents, once they put their children up for adoption, are not really involved in their children's lives after that, but what if this situation is different? Aria looked back at Ms. Fleming's house with wonder as she continued towards her own home. What if her real mother chose to stay close by.