Breakdown

After a long day of school, Mona and Serena returned to their dorm room to get some rest and think through the mysterious broadcast earlier that day. Once they entered the room, Serena jumped on her bed and lay down with her face pressed against the pillow. Mr Cat, excited the girls came back after being alone all day climbed upon Serena’s bed, trying to grab her attention. But Serena wasn’t having any of it. It was only a little bit later that Mona noticed her friend looking really upset.

“What’s up Rena-chan? Are you not feeling well?”

But there was no reaction, so after some guesswork, Mona tried again.

“This is not usual for you. Are you upset about Mrs X’ hacker broadcast this morning? Me too… I keep forgetting and then remembering it actually happened. She looks like some kind of cartoon villain from another world, not something happening to the ordinary and boring Mona-chan”

Still no response, after a little break Mona continued her monologue.

“Ever since I was a little baby Mona, I have been wishing for something like this to happen. In the cartoons, I saw and manga I read the characters were always on the move, exploring uncharted territories and trying to outsmart their enemies by solving these mysteries. Compared to that my life always seemed so boring. I used to ask my mom and dad every day when my adventure would start, but then they would quickly turn the conversation to how I should focus on getting better grades instead of all this childish fantasy. We all know how that went… The whole investigation squad thing was fun at first, but now with all this stuff happening I see there are real-life consequences and I feel guilty for dragging you all into this. So please accept my apologies and don’t feel too bad about yourself Serena”

Serena turned herself on her side, facing the opposite direction from where Mona was sitting. She quietly spoke.

 “Please stop, it is all my fault”

Serena started sobbing.

“If I…I was only able to speak up in the park, none of this would have h…happened”

“The festival would have c..continued”

“We would have been h…happy”

Mona moved over to Serena’s bed and sits down beside her.

“It isn’t your fault Serena. Even if you recognized her, that wouldn’t have stopped her from sabotaging the gym floor. It is not like we could have handed her over to the police with no evidence.”

Serena’s sobbing stopped for a brief second, but after that, she continued crying even louder. Mona didn’t really know what to say after this, but she guessed something else might be up with Serena. After a minute, Serena calmed down a little and continued talking.

“I..I joined the literature club to find friends” “Bu…t I just… just could say… anything”

“They just think I am w…weird”

Mona finally understood what Serena must have felt like when she came back to the dorm after the last literature club meeting. Mona lay down on the bed next to Serena and gave her a hug.

“It is alright” she said while petting her hand over Serena’s head.

“We will figure it out okay?”

Mona got out of bed, and grabbed her little ukulele from the other side of the room, and started singing a short and sweet song.

“You will fly my little bird”
“Spread your wings, my little bird”
“Even though the sky feels high”
“You don’t know until you try”
“You will fly my little bird”
“Open the window, my little bird”
“You should take it step by step”
“Don’t look down the biggest depth”
“You will fly my little… bird”

Serena now turned around, facing Mona for the first time since they entered the dorm room.

“Thank y..you Mona” Serena whispered.

Meeting

“Okay everyone, let’s start discussing plans to raise funds for the school festival. I need ideas, you say anything that comes to mind okay.”

None of the girls said something so Mona started with one of her own ideas, hoping the other girls would get inspired.

“Okay… so then I will begin: we can earn money by counting traffic”

“Don’t they do that all digitally now? Right Nia?” said Ti.

“Like if I’d know, I am not a big nerd like you all”

“Mmm… maybe that anime I watched has become a bit outdated. Also, a festival is probably a lot more expensive than that guitar they bought"

“So you don’t even know how much money we must raise for the festival? Maybe start with that before annoying us all with this fundraising thing”

“Good point Nia, but how would we figure out how much we need?”

“I could ask Maika, she was supposed to help organize the festival” said Ti.

 “Great idea Ti write that down. Back on-topic, what can we do about raising funds… ehm… what about selling some freshly baked cookies?”

 “Mmm… I don’t know Mona. We’d need someone with baking experience. Remember that time you put the school on fire?”

“Well firstly we were technically cooking and not baking and secondly nothing happened in the end. Just a bunch of smoke”

“You can be so stubborn Mona…”

“The good thing is, we have someone that could” Mona looked in Nia’s direction with a big smirk.

“Don’t look at me that way! I have no idea where you’re talking about!”

“Yeah didn’t you bring those cookies that meeting in the park? They were delicious!”

“That we're just some leftovers okay! I had to do it for school”

“Okay, but how is this different. You have to do it to save the school festival. We will all help you”

Nia still looked really defensive about it.

“Come on Nia, you can do this!”

Serena looked at Nia and smiled at her in order to encourage her to do it.

“Okay… okay… I will do it on one condition. Mona must stay at least 10 meters away from the oven, that child is a big safety hazard okay?”

“Deal” said Mona.

The hallways

The next day, Ti met her friend Maika in the school’s hallway.

“Maika do you have a minute?”

“I always have time for you Ti-chan, what do you want me for?”

Ti explained the plans they have for raising the necessary funds.

“Great Ti, I really like you taking the initiative here! I will make some time between all my club activities to help you sell these cookies. It’s going to be awesome!”

“But do you know how much funds we would have to collect so the school festival could continue?”

“You shouldn’t ask me, I am just the person that spends it all on glitters and balloons. Yuki, the festival's treasurer will be able to help you with the finances”

“Isn’t that the girl with long white hair? She is a bit scary…” Ti said, while a chill runs down her spine.

“That is right, she is in the literature club with me. I am sure you’ll figure it out. Have to go bye!”

Maika hopped away.

“Yuki? That is that really freeky-looking girl, right? I heard she can talk to ghosts or something” said Nia as the group met up later that day.

“Maybe she is a ghost” Mona said jokingly.

“Maybe you could ask her about the finances Serena since you’re both in the literature club?” asks Ti not knowing what happened.

Serena started nervously twisting her hair.

“Let me do it” said Mona to save her friend. 

But Serena stopped her and insisted on asking Yuki herself.