Helena and Leon spent the remainder of that weekend quizzing Aliya on what to say to various teachers and peers when asked certain questions about her upbringing and what her home life is like. Hunnigan had stopped by late that Sunday night to drop off a cell phone for Aliya along with some colored contacts for her to wear.
Helena brought her to school that Monday morning, making sure to go inside with her and making sure that she was comfortable before allowing for the principal, an older woman with graying black hair and glasses, to take her to her classroom.
"Alright class, we have a new student joining us today. Please welcome Aliya Johnson." The teacher, Ms. Waltmire, a petite woman with lighter brown hair and a tan complexion, barely older than thirty, had introduced her, "sweetie, you can go sit behind Trevor."
Aliya nodded as she went to sit behind a boy with fair skin and curly blonde hair. The boy, Trevor, turned around to face her.
"Hey, you live on North Road, right?" Trevor asks, speaking barely above a whisper.
"Yeah, why?"
"Just wondering. Me and my parents live across the street from you guys."
Aliya nodded, smiling faintly at him as the teacher started going over the lesson.
"Hey what class do you have next?" Trevor asks as they got up when the bell rang.
"Oh uhm," Aliya starts, looking at her schedule, about to speak again when another boy pulled on her braid. Hard.
"Ow!" She squeals, grabbing her braid and glaring at the boy as he laughed and walked away.
Trevor rolled his eyes, "don't pay any attention to Logan. He just hates his life, so he tries to get attention from others."
Aliya nodded, "anyway, I have Geography with Mrs. Kershnar."
"Oh sweet, so do I."
Throughout the day, Aliya discovered that she and Trevor had all the same classes. It made her feel better knowing that she'd have some sort of friend to help her navigate throughout the day. The two had shared some laughs and found that they had a lot in common, such as the fact that they were both only children.
The two were walking out to school pickup when the announcements came on and there was feedback over the speaker. Aliya covered her ears, knowing that the sound wasn't that loud but the experiments she went through with both the T and G viruses running through her veins made her more sensitive to loud noises.
"You okay?" Trevor asks, concerned for his new friend.
"Yeah, it was just loud." She says, regaining her composure as the two headed outside.
Trevor said goodbye and started walking the opposite direction.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Oh, both my parents work long days, so I walk home."
"Well, I'm sure my mom can give you a ride." She says, gesturing to where Helena was waiting in her car.
"Nah it's fine."
Aliya rolled her eyes, "well I'm not taking no for an answer because it looks like it's going to rain soon. I also don't think my mom would be okay letting you walk home alone either."
"I mean if you're sure it'll be ok with her."
Aliya nodded and took him by the arm, leading him over to where Helena was waiting in her jeep and opened the door.
"Hey mom? This is Trevor, he lives across the street from us. Can we give him a ride home?"
Helena looked at her, trying her hardest not to show that she was surprised. She had really hoped she wouldn't have to play pretend mom on the way home.
"Yeah of course honey. I'm glad you made a friend." She says, finally recovering from her surprise.
Aliya smiled and got in the passenger seat and Trevor got into the back.
"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Johnson." He says politely as he buckled himself up.
"Oh, it's nice to meet you too, and call me Helena." She says. She had always hated the formalities and she still felt weird about the whole thing. Helena started the car and began driving them back, "so how was school?"
"It was okay. A boy pulled my hair and turns out I have a lot of homework to do since it's a month into the school year. Turns out me and Trevor have all the same classes."
"Well, that's nice that you have someone to help you out."
"Yeah, and I was wondering if Trevor can maybe stay for dinner. We already have so much work to do, and I don't understand anything, and he offered to help."
Helena sighed, "I'll have to talk with dad about it. He can come over for now but I'm not sure about dinner."
Aliya nodded and sat back in her seat, looking out the window and watching the scenery as they drove by. Trevor looked between Helena and Aliya, noticing that Helena's shirt had ridden up slightly and her gun was exposed.
Huh. Is she a cop? He thought, quickly looking away when Helena looked at him in the rearview mirror.
Helena pulled into the driveway and the two kids got out and started for inside. Helena didn't like the idea of Trevor being over, knowing that if someone from C.A.T Co had shown up, this would mean that Trevor would also be in the middle of it. However, Hunnigan told them to make sure that Aliya had as much of a normal life as possible, and that included being able to have friends.
"Where's daddy?"
"He's working today but he'll be home in time for dinner."
Aliya shrugged and went over to the kitchen table with Trevor, taking their homework out of their bags.
"I still can't believe you're also an only child. Everyone else I know has at least one sibling."
"Yeah, I wanted siblings, but mom tells me all the time that being pregnant with me wasn't a good time. Right mom?"
Helena snorted, trying not to laugh, "Oh yeah I was sick the whole time, you even had me in the hospital a few times."
Trevor laughed, "yeah, my mom was the same way with me. Apparently, I was also a bad baby on the sleeping standpoint and stuff, so she told my dad no more."
Helena chuckled, "oh yeah don't get me started on her sleeping and all the tantrums she had as a toddler."
Helena turned to grab her phone when it rang, and she put it on speaker.
"Hey hon, how's work?" She asks as she saw it was Leon calling, trying her best to sound like a happy housewife.
"Hi daddy!" Aliya calls, feigning excitement as she put on her act for Trevor.
"Hi, how was your first day of school?" Leon asks, confusion in his tone as he wondered why they were in character still.
"It was good! I made a new friend!"
"Yeah, his name is Trevor and he's here currently helping her learn the material. She wanted to know if he could stay for dinner?"
"Oh, uh yeah. I guess that's fine."
Fuck me. Helena thought, hanging her head down.
"Alright, I'll start dinner soon. Text me when you get out."
"Will do. I love you."
"Love you too."
Helena hung up and Trevor got his phone out to text his parents that he would be home late, and the two kids started on their homework.
Helena spent some time straightening up the downstairs, answering the occasional question that Trevor may have had to make small talk until it was late enough that she could start prepping for dinner. Helena started cutting up various meats and vegetables.
"Trevor, do you have any allergies?" She asks, not wanting to accidentally kill someone's kid.
"Oh, just peanuts ma'am. Thanks for asking."
Helena nodded, "do you two want anything to drink?"
"Just water." Trevor says, Aliya mumbling the same thing.
Helena went and grabbed the two kids some water, placing it in front of them on the table before going back to cooking.
Leon arrived home an hour later to the smell of beef stew wafting throughout the kitchen. Helena didn't hear him enter at first, too focused on her task at hand until he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, making her heart skip a beat.
"Smells good." He says, resting his head on her shoulder.
"Uhg get a room!" Aliya says from the kitchen table, rolling her eyes.
"Maybe we will." He says jokingly, trying to get a reaction from her.
"Ew gross!" She says, making vomiting noises.
Helena tried to hide how red in the face she was as she turned and grabbed some bowls, dishing up dinner for everyone.
"So, you must be Trevor. It's nice to meet you, I'm Leon, Aliya's dad."
"Nice to meet you, sir." Trevor says, looking up at him as Helena brought the bowls over and set them down.
"So, Trevor, what do your parents do for work?" Leon asks, trying to ask questions that any parent would ask their kids friends.
"Oh, my mom is a doctor. A surgeon. She works over at Mercy. My dad is a night guard for pharmacy company? He doesn't really tell me much about work."
Leon nodded, "Well, I'm sure they work a lot."
Trevor nodded, "uh this is good stew, Mrs. J_I mean Helena." He says, remembering that Helena had told him to call her by her first name.
"Thank you. It's my mother's recipe."
Trevor nodded and looked around, trying to make conversation about anything at this point.
"So, what do you guys do for work?"
"Oh, I'm a cop and Helena used to be a cop until Aliya was born."
That explains the gun that Helena has. Trevor thought, finally looking over at Leon.
"That's awesome! I want to be a cop when I'm older because I think they're cool."
"Yeah, it's a cool job." He nods.
The four of them ate in silence for the rest of the meal until Leon got up to start doing the dishes.
"Do you need help?" Trevor asks, wanting to make a good impression on his friends' parents.
"Oh no that's fine. You're a guest."
"Okay uh in that case I should get going. Thanks for having me."
"Of course, anytime." Helena says, forcing a smile, "I can walk you home."
"Oh no need for that. It's only across the street," He starts, "see you tomorrow, Aliya." He adds, the two of them waving at each other as he left.
"I'm going to go finish my homework in my room." Aliya says, Helena breathing a sigh of relief that they didn't have to act anymore today.
"Well, he seems like a nice kid."
Helena nodded, "yeah, it's great that she made a friend." She says, yawning as she started to load the dishwasher.
"Here, why don't you go and relax. I'll finish up here."
"Alright," She shrugs, deciding to go upstairs and read a book for a couple of hours before bed.
Helena was focused on reading her book when Aliya came into the room.
"Hey, Helena?"
"Hey what's up, kid?" She asks, putting her book down and looking up as she girl approached.
"I wanted to say thanks."
Helena looked at her taken aback, "Oh? For what?"
"I know it's only a job to you guys, but thanks for watching over me. I'm glad Hunnigan chose you."
A/N: Let me know what y'all think! Please review