Nicolette (The New Girl #4)

Chapter 12

Alina's POV:

It was Monday morning. I had a day off work so I decided to go to Nicolette's school.

I went to the front office, "hi, could I speak to the principal?"

"Sure," said the secretary with a smile, "one moment."

A few minutes later, she motions for me to go back into her office.

"Hi, I'm Nicolette's mom. She's been in the mental hospital for attempted suicide," I explained.

"Oh my god, that is awful. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Well, the reason I came here is to ask if you have a student named Maude at this school."

"Maude? Miss Jewel, I haven't heard of a kid named Maude since back from when I was a child."

"Can you check? My daughter says she is friends with a girl named Maude and it seems like she might be what influenced her to try to take her own life."

The principal looked very concerned.

"I will take a look into the student directory right now."

She typed in her name but nothing came up.

"I'm sorry, but we really don't have a student here with that name. Are you sure it's her real name?"

I felt defeated, "no, it might be a nickname or a fake name for all we know."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you, is there anything else you need?"

"No, thank you anyways though."

"My pleasure, I hope Nicolette feels better."

I smiled and walked out of there.

I don't know what to think anymore. I need to find out more information on who this friend of hers really is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I waited anxiously at my nightly visit.

Nicolette ran up to me and gave me a hug.

"I missed you," I said. I wanted to ask her about Maude so much but I knew I probably shouldn't.

"I missed you too, mom."

"So, How was your day?" I asked.

"It was good, I had a chance to draw today."

"Oh nice, what did you draw?"

"I would show you but they took my sketchbook away afterwards. They said I would get it back tomorrow when it was time to draw again. I guess you're not allowed to be alone with pencils."

I chuckled, "okay, well I'm glad you're not miserable."

"No, this actually isn't so bad."

"Good."

We talked for a little while longer until it was time for her to go back again. I then waited for the social worker to come and talk with me.

She pulled out a photo copy of a drawing of a girl that looks to be about Nicolette's age.

"What's this?" I asked.

"During therapy today, your daughter described this as her best friend."

"You know, I went by her school today and there is no one there with that name."

"That's strange," she said, "maybe you should take a copy of this photo and check with them again. I'm sure seeing a photo might help them to try and remember who this student is."

"Thank you so much," I said, "how are her medications?"

"We're still keeping an eye on the dose. She seems to be doing okay for now so we will keep her on the same one."

"Good, thank you for the update. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You take care."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, I came by to see the principal again.

"Have anymore information?" she asked.

"I do, I have a drawing that my daughter made of this student."

I showed it to her.

"Honestly, I have never seen a student who looks like that here. This school is pretty small and I remember every single student here."

"Oh," was all I said. I felt so defeated. Who is this person?