Rising from Ashes: Reborn 17

Chapter 2: Renaissance in the Classroom

Mayella POV:

I snapped awake, my mind still fuzzy and disoriented. It felt as if I had been pulled from the depths of a chaotic whirlpool, floundering for a sense of reality. There was a dense weight in my head, like a tightly wound ball of yarn.

"Mayella! How disrespect can you be, by sleeping in my class? Stand up and leave this room at once!" Mr. Zephyr's voice burst into my ears, a sonic boom disrupting my tangled thoughts.

I blinked against the classroom's sterile lighting. Young faces peppered the landscape, their expressions a medley of intrigue and nonchalance. They were kids, yes, but on the cusp of adulthood. And there, in a state of vexation, stood Mr. Zephyr. With his graying hair and bespectacled eyes, he loomed over his podium like a judge passing a sentence.

"I won't tolerate such behaviour, Mayella. Leave the room and stand in the hallway!"

As if to punctuate his command, a piece of chalk sailed through the air and landed squarely on my face. I was emotionally numb to the impact yet bewildered at the unfolding scenario. I took a hesitant step toward the exit. Each footfall seemed impossible, like a small victory over logic. After all, how could I be walking? The concept was alien to me after years of paralysis. Was this some cruel trick my mind was playing?

Once out in the corridor, I looked up at the vast, unblemished sky through the hallway window. Not a single cloud marred its perfection. The sun was blindingly radiant, and I felt tears tracing their way down my cheeks. The luminosity of the sky contrasted sharply with the gnawing, dark questions in my mind.

Could this be a mere figment of my imagination?

Some convoluted daydream in the realm between life and death?

In an impulsive search for reality, I pinched the skin on my thigh. The sensation was sharp and instant. A stinging confirmation that I was truly here, that I felt pain.

Was it possible? Could it be that I had turned back the clock? I surveyed my hands—strong and fully functioning. I took a moment to appreciate the sensation of standing on my legs—firm and unbending. An inexplicable joy bubbled within me. It seemed I was back, thrown back in time to an era twelve years ago. A time before the nightmare began, before my life crumbled into a thousand irretrievable pieces.

A slow, grateful smile crept across my face. There was a second chance, and I would be damned if I didn't seize it with everything I had.

The school bell erupted, marking the end of class. Students spilled out from the rooms, their faces reflecting the myriad emotions that only high school can provoke anticipation, anxiety, and mischief. At that age, they were magnets for drama, and I had always been the epicenter of many storms. Today, as they shot me curious glances and whispered to each other, I realized they were in for a surprise.

The girl they thought they knew. That girl was reborn. I had a new lease on life and an opportunity to rewrite destiny. I was relishing this unexpected comeback, preparing to show the world a version of Mayella it had never seen before.

And oh, how marvelous that revelation would be.

A smirk snaked across my lips as whispers spread through the crowd like wildfire.

"Oh, look, it's Mayella. Punished by Mr. Zephyr again? Aren't you a bit too old for this, especially as someone who has already taken this class before?" one girl sneered.

"What does she care? She's got money. Even if she flunks out, her family can buy her a diploma from some trashy college," chimed in another student, not even attempting to lower his voice.

Their biting words should've hurt, but I couldn't care less. In a school of naive teenagers, open mockery was practically a rite of passage. It was trivial, especially compared to the bleak future that had been my life. My smirk widened. I was back, and these people had no idea what they were in for.

"Would you all just shut up?"

The crowd parted like the Red Sea and out walked Arabella, my half-sister, her fitted white dress and coffee-colored sweater a stark contrast to the crowd of school uniforms. Ah, Arabella —the model student, the teacher's pet, the half-sister who wore a halo but had horns hiding beneath her soft locks.

She sauntered over and grasped my hand.

"May, Dad is seriously worried about you. We had to practically bribe Wardell School to admit you with your grades. Couldn't you try a little harder? For his sake?"

She oozed concern, but her words were calculated, revealing to everyone within earshot that my admission was bought, not earned. I yanked my hand free.

"Why are you playing dumb, Arabella? Afraid your halo might slip?" I shot her a glare so cold it could've frosted glass.

She flinched, hugging her textbooks against her chest.

"I—"

"Don't bother," I interrupted. "Excuse me, I have things to do."

She scurried away, her high heels clicking against the floor. Good riddance. If I'd seen through her charade when I was nineteen, maybe life would've been different.

"May, you're giving me goosebumps. What's up with you today?" Leelu, my baby-faced best friend, cut through the crowd and grabbed my arm.

I looked at her, my eyes misting over. Leelu was the one solid thing in my past life—the one who stuck by me when I was confined to a bed. A quick scan of the room found Xavia, my other anchor, sitting quietly in a corner. They'd both been my lifeline, the ones who never abandoned me.

Without a word, I pulled Leelu into a tight hug.

"What the hell, May? You're choking me!" she gasped, taken aback by my sudden display of emotion.

I let go and wiped a tear.

"It's nothing. Just felt like hugging you, that's all. I'll catch you tomorrow. Gotta go."

I slung my backpack over my shoulder and headed toward the school's entrance. As I stepped through the gates, I saw a sleek, black car waiting—a signal of the life that could now be very different. A chauffeur was there, holding a sign with my name: Mayella.

In that moment, as I stepped into the luxury car that was a far cry from my past life, I knew. Whatever games Arabella wanted to play, whatever these people thought they knew about me, they were all in for a massive wake-up call.

And I couldn't help but relish the thought.