The class went well with the new teacher. Her name still scares me, but at least I can still have my friends around the table. Though they couldn't just talk to me behind the presence of this Frowling-like human.
I did not like this silence at all. The teacher should not hurt the students' joy like that! She seems to be an unhappy human in that chair. Moreover, her lesson is too hard to understand with all those tiny words she scratched on the board with the chalk.
"So, who would like to go first?"
"Me! Me! Me!"
"Wait, Doorwell...this isn't a game. We had a small exam yesterday, so this is for anyone who studied yesterday." Anna reached my hand, lowering it before I could raise it high.
"Aww, not exam! Not me! Not me! Not me!"
One student near me had an unfortunate fate with her gaze. When one wrapper fell to the ground, even the softest sound of its crunch could alert her ever-hearing ears. She wasted no time in telling the boy to leave the table, and he walked off with a terrified eye. I heard he will have his punishment. Will he crumble, too?
"Aww..." I muttered to the boy outside by the window.
Out of nowhere, I found an apple lying on the table with my name carved on it. When I look to the left of my table, it was Anna who offered me the apple with a wink, as if she wanted to hand me a present for being her friend. I couldn't waste any time to give a crunch on the apple and savour it for a day.
Crunch!
But it was a terrible choice. The crunch was what called Ms Thorn into my chair with fury. Seeing the piece of the apple on the table makes her angry. Turns out I wasn't allowed to eat in class. But I always eat like the other cookies in the Institute.
"Ms. Valentine. What is the meaning of this?" She asks.
I was out of words, fear struck me again, and Ms. Thorn slapped her ruler on my table fiercely, echoing with such a tone. I was silenced, but was given a warning again before she left to teach again. When I looked beside for advice, Anna was laughing along with Calista and Stan. It wasn't funny, but they were laughing.
"Why are you laughing?" I asked.
"Because of your face! Look how funny it was! That apple surely made you happy, aren't you?"
She was pranking me, along with the other two. They were laughing at the fear on my face when Ms. Thorn confiscated the apple. I did not favour that laugh—not very funny and friendly for a human. I confronted them for a talk, telling them how awful it is.
"Not funny..."
"What do you mean? That was funny. We're all laughing..."
But unlike my expectation, they were laughing even further. They did not take me seriously, and Anna continues riddling me with more apples on the table. I told her that friends shouldn't play a prank on one another, but she laughed at me for thinking I was her friend.
"How could you! Doorwell didn't teach a child to be this disrespectful!" I yelled.
I raised my tone before her, trying to rid the nonsense from this class. But Ms Thorn was the one coming and scolded me instead, while the other three laughed at me again. I was trying to tell her what I did was for the three humans before me, but she didn't believe me from the look in her gaze. Instead, she kicked me out of the class.
"Ms. Valentine, you may enjoy your day out of my class. Consider this is a reduction to your grade...."
"Aww..." I left as she asked.
I was outside the class, along with the boy who was also forced to watch the scene together. We didn't have much to do, and he told me I couldn't wander away during the hours of a class. So we had to stay here and hear only Ms Thorn's voice in the hallway.
"What's your name?" The boy asked my name. I replied Doorwell, and he smiled.
"Doorwell...Doorwell Lovemore?"
"You know me?" I replied. He smiles again, raising his head higher.
"Of course! My young sister talks about you. A big fan of your show before it got...you know?"
We get along together outside, while I'm talking about the three humans who had me here by accident. The boy was so happy to see me alive and dazzling, as he had been promised on the TV show. But seeing the star directly felt like a dream, he said.
"Joylingers Studio is such an amazing place!" He said. "I couldn't believe I never got to be there..."
He had heard about me and my people that much, but he never believed or had a chance to look at them. He was amazed when he heard that the studio brought people to life because he always wanted to be a part of the show. I couldn't agree more! Who else would want to miss being like me?
"It's a pleasant day to meet you, Doorwell!"
It warms me to know someone holds my life lesson well. He told me that I have changed her sister for good with my lovely voice. But he pities that nobody gets to watch Doorwell like him and her sister. Only they knew me well enough to treat me like an actual star. He even asked for an autograph. His happiness entertains me, which makes this punishment less hurtful.
He said he had a sister, but I didn't see her. He said she wasn't punished, and she would drop her jaw if she saw me. What a flattering and terrifying word to see, I didn't want to have her jaw on the floor! But anything for my loveliest and most loyal viewers.
"Hey, sucker! Enjoying your punishment there?"
"Oh, look! He's with a new girl! Ooh..."
"Hahaha! Pathetic!"
We were met by two students who looked down on us in the hallway. When I asked about their thoughts on me, they just laughed about it. They made fun of the boy for watching my show? At my face! They left without even finishing their words to us. So many mean humans around.
The boy comforts me with his words, telling me not to trust the hateful ones with their words. He knew me well enough to even use my own words—I taught him well. But he knew more than I can even remember my own show.
"I think you need to know a few things about the school, Ms. Valentine." He replies. "Some people in this class aren't too good..."
He wanted to help me. He told me about the people here being way different from what I thought, and that I shouldn't have trusted the three children I befriended before, as it would be a waste of love. It was rude, but it was better than to be here with him again.
The school would be a 'place' for so many things, but I'm going to fit right in as long as more Joylings come—he said. What an idea it was; colouring this place with more of my people so I don't feel lonely. But I wonder what took them so long.
"I like that idea~!"
"Yeah." He said.
We talked about our life here. His name was Ariel. He lived not far from my house in Wiltham, except that he did not take a carriage every day, and he went after a small carrier. Those public carriers that were only used by someone unfortunate like me, were it not for the doctors' aid.
"Hey, I think we should get to know each other." He said.
Ariel and his sister's lives were not in good fortune. However, they remains in solitude for the hope I have inspired them behind the screen. Their parents aren't always home, so they never get to do much but watching Lovebloom Lullaby Their life is amazing, and Ariel has always been alone—filled with love. He loved everything, much as I do to the world.
"Amazing, right?" He asks.
"You must have an amazing life inside the facility, too. Right?" He asked me.
"W-well..." I muttered.
I told him a little truth about my life. It wasn't what he thought I was. I didn't start off as a star when I was made. Instead, I was a janitor working on the stage because Mr. Sebastian couldn't get me a place to start my role when he made me. It wasn't his fault, but I shouldn't have believed him too much.
I used to wipe off the crumble on the stage where my brothers and sisters would be after they failed on the stage. So much that I have accustomed my life to the back door every day, with brooms and buckets. I barely forget about that role when I start to enjoy it.
Then one day, they couldn't find a perfect cookie to make a role in a new Lovebloom Lullaby show. Every cookie just gives up or crumbles, leaving me as the only one who survives and matches the criteria. I didn't even practice! I just do what I always do.
When I earned that role, I didn't even do well. I struggled a lot with the script and couldn't think of love as much as I was not ready to be on stage. The expectation was high, and the audience's rating is very crucial to my career. Yet somehow, I accomplish them with little effort.
These wings are given to me as the role of a matchmaker. I was gifted with the power of love to earn hearts and change the world for the better under the name, and also a lyre and a bow. What makes me now is not what was moulded into me. It was what I accustomed myself to.
"That doesn't sound happy..."
Ariel was surprised to hear those stories. He thought I would've been made perfect like an angel. He thought I was Pristine Pearl, but perfection isn't as easy as going to this school. His smile was gone, and he found himself sorrowful for everything I endured.
"I...I didn't know that." He mumbled. "Doorwell wasn't that happy...?"
"I mean, it's not really that bad! I have practised for years, too! It's not that I am really that bad!"
He looked away from me, as if he were disappointed to find out how terrible his idol was. I tried to earn his attention again, but he went silent and refused to hear me. Did I make a mistake? Because he didn't seem to be eager for anything else.
"A-Ariel...?" I asked him. "Oh, I see. I'm sorry..."
"I didn't meant to...I—"
*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*
After two hours, the class ends with the ring of a bell. Ms. Thorn left without saying a word, but she kept an eye on me in a hateful manner. She might have thought of something terrible to plan against me because I wasn't doing too well in her class. It was so clear that she was.
"I hope you learned your lesson in the future, Ms. Valentine." She said. "The world isn't bright for you anymore as it is there..."
The other three students looked at me with another taunting face while passing by. Anna was laughing, Stan was rolling his eyes, and Calista was smirking while throwing a paper ball at my face again. These people are so hateful for what they did to me! But at least I didn't have to stand here anymore.
"Oh, it's you, Ariel..."
"Never met your hero, I guess...!"
"At least you got a friend. Does she count as imaginary friend? Ariel used to imagine her, right?"
"Hey, my show is for all genders and ages! No restrictions unless you're a hater!" I yelled in defence. "Which is why none of you are allowed to!"
Time passes so quickly between me and the school. The sun is already above my head, and it is time to eat. But right before I could go out and have fun with the new world, I saw a girl passing by the hallway calling Ariel's name. She seems young and vibrant with pink colours. It didn't take me long to realise it was her sister. She was dazzling in those pink shoes, unlike the other students who were wearing a lame blue uniform.
"Hey, brother. Are you done with the punishment?"
"Yeah, just had a fun. Anyway, how's the class?" Ariel smiles, and so does the girl.
"Fun! It was lovely! I make a lot of friends, and I can't wait to have more!"
I couldn't believe my ears when I heard her say that. It was like a copy of me, as if baked in the same oven. She was cheerful, optimistic, and thoughtful about kindness, as I always taught children. I can tell that from the pink set that her brother and she shared.
"Ooh, that's lovely...! I've been waiting for a child like that here!" I compliment.
"Aww, I know what you're thinking. Terrible place full of hate here." She replies. "But Doorwell always told me to find love even in the hardest place."
"I know! You take my lesson well, kid! I almost lost the fire of passion in this place when I saw so many hateful children. If only the world were brighter when I come out..."
"Hehe, funny friend you have, Ariel. I want to be your friend! What's your name?"
"Well, what else? I'm the beautiful and lovely Doorwell Lovemore! The one and only matchmaker of the Joyling city!"
She was laughing, but I think she wasn't sure what she had heard. I tried telling her who I am, the one she has been idolising for a long time. But she wasn't very fond of hearing it, still believing that I was making a jest of her. Yet I have no malicious intention to hurt anyone's feelings, especially my own fans.
"Funny one, friend!"
"No, sister. It was her. It's DOORWELL herself..."
"Haha, brother! I get it!"
"Ehm, sister. Take a look..."
"Hi...!"
Her brother reminds her of who I am and who she was talking to. I wasn't someone she expected, but when she saw me right in front of her eyes open, her jaw dropped just as Ariel said. The cookie she was seeing was real, unlike what she expected from the screenshow.
"D-D-D-D-Doorwell?? Doorwell...Lovemore??"
"Yeah? Hello!"
Her voice stutters, and she is shaking with shock. She didn't move an inch, and her eyes were open wide as if she had seen a Frowling. Suddenly, she was frozen, and there was nothing in her eyes more than a blank stare for me. Her body was standing here like a statue.
I tried snapping my fingers to check on her, but she was frozen. Even her brother did not know what happened. But that's when the silence was taking too long, and she finally snapped with a scream.
"EEK!! Doorwell Lovemore! Doorwell Lovemore!" She hugged me. "My biggest idol was here!!!"
The joy in these children was immense. I had never seen this kind of happiness in the studio or among all my cookie siblings before. But who am I to deny that joy?