My Next Life as the Heroine – Chapter 5

The first day of school: a nerve wracking day, for any child. Even an abnormal child like me, with sixteen years of past life memories stuffed into her head, couldn’t help but tremble when standing in front of the school building. It would be my first time ever going inside…

I would go inside, though! There was something I needed to do, after all – something even more important than learning how to read. A secret mission I hadn’t even told Rachel about. Just thinking about it caused a small smile to spread across my lips.

Suddenly – a surprise pinch to my cheeks!

“Ow!” I cried out, turning to face the aggressor. “Why did you do that, Master!?”

“Don’t call me that at school,” Rachel growled back at me, before frowning. “You just looked like you were plotting something, for some reason.”

“Is plotting a reason to pinch someone?” I demanded, rubbing at my cheek. A faint glow lit up beneath my hand, and the pain in my cheek disappeared. “Um. Not that I’m plotting something.”

“Can you at least try to be normal?” Rachel demanded of me, exasperation clear on her face. “Just try and have a normal day of school, and I’ll walk you home afterward.”

“I’m always normal, though?” I protested, confused.

“Normal kids don’t come to school with plots in their head…”

“I’m not plotting anything,” I muttered, looking down at the ground. “I’m just here to learn to read, like all the other students my age.”

That was, of course, a lie. I definitely had a plot in my head. But how could I tell Rachel about it? She had no idea that I had memories of another world in my head. She’d probably look at me like I was crazy if she knew what I was up to.

“Just promise me you’ll stay out of trouble?” Rachel asked. 

It was at that moment, however, that the school bell rang. 

“Whoops! Gotta get inside!” I said, relieved for a reason to slip inside the school building. I was aware of Rachel watching me, and gave her a wave. She had to go to class with the older kids, which meant there was no way she could follow me… Much to my relief.

Like I’ve been saying, I did have a mission to complete. In fact, the moment I was inside my eyes started to dart about. I looked over every student, dismissing them one after another. I was looking for someone with overalls, and a straw hat. Possibly they’d be chewing on a stalk of wheat? But no one I looked at fit the description in my head. Which was quite strange! I was sure I’d find at least one person at school who’d meet the bill…

Finally, I shook my head with a sigh, and took a seat toward the back of the classroom. “I really wanted to find a farmer’s child here, too…” I muttered to myself.

“Now why in the world would you be looking for one of those?” came a voice, to my right. I turned my head to the side, frowning faintly at the kid who’d spoken. She looked to be my age, about seven. She had soft brown hair, and mossy green eyes. She was wearing a plaid skirt, and a plaid shirt, which was an awful lot of plaid.

“I want to learn how to farm,” I informed her, deciding to go with the truth. It wasn’t really a secret – I hadn’t told Rachel, but only because she got weirdly jealous of our tree climbing time. If I couldn’t find a farmer’s child to help, though, it wasn’t like my plans even mattered to begin with…

“Well, I can teach you that much!” the girl declared, holding out her hand toward me. “I’m Bethany. My father runs a big farm, north of town. Just ask me any farming questions you have!”

“Really!?” My shout drew several stares from the other students, but I didn’t care. I immediately reached out to grab the other girl’s hand, giving it several pumps. “Can you take me to your farm? Can I plant some seedlings? Can I help with the harvest?”

“Harvest’s a while off,” the girl murmured. “And the planting season’s over. Why’d you wanna help out, anyhow? We can’t pay you in anything but veggies, I’ll tell you now.”

“That’s fine!” I promised, a small grin on my face. “I just want to learn how to farm! It’s a personal dream of mine.”

“Don’t you have a plot behind your house though?” a boy asked, settling down on the other side of me. He had bright red hair, but his eyes were the same shade of green as the girl besides me.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to interfere with other people’s conversations?” I countered, glaring at the boy who’d flanked me.

“Well, considering it’s my family farm you’re trying to join, I think it’s worth asking a question or two,” the boy responded. “You’re Maria Campbell, right? The light magic wielder?”

“…Maybe…” I muttered, looking between the two of them. “You’re siblings?”

“Twins,” the girl admitted. “His name’s-”

“Greg,” the boy interrupted, smoothly, grinning a little. “Name’s Greg, and boy howdy is it interesting to meet you. Tell me – Ma says your dad was a noble, but Pa says you’re dad’s as common as the rest of us. Can you tell us which one’s true?”

“I’m as common as the rest of you,” I promised, speaking loud enough that all the girls and boys in the class could hear. “I just happen to be gifted with light magic. That’s all there is to it.”

“Like hell that’s true…” came a voice, from the other side of the classroom.

“I don’t know,” came another voice. “Would the daughter of a noble be climbing trees like her?”

“They’d probably be better at it!” one pointed out. “I hear nobles are good at everything they try. And everyone in town knows Maria can’t even climb a tree without falling down…”

My cheeks flushed bright red at that.

“Class, class!” came a loud voice from the doorway. A blonde woman with dark brown eyes entered the room, a small smile on her face. “Please. No spreading rumors, okay? We’re all here to learn facts. Now. If all of you will look inside your desks, you should find a small book. If you’d all turn to the first page, we can start with teaching you how to read properly…”

Maria reached into her desk, like everyone else, eager to start learning. And just like that, class was upon them…

***

After school was over, before even getting out of my desk, I turned to face Bethany with a big grin on my face. “So. About going to your house? Can we do it today? I want to learn how to farm immediately!”

“Don’t you want to talk to your parents first?” Greg demanded, sticking his nose in things again.

I stuck my tongue out at him, which admittedly wasn’t a very mature response. He did have a point, though… I just really wanted to go see a farm !

“Tomorrow?” Bethany suggested. “Then I can talk to my parents about it, too.”

“That’s great!” I grinned, turning back to her. “I’ll see both of you tomorrow, then!”

With that, I got up from my desk and practically ran toward the door, almost bowling into Rachel in the process.

“…Why are you so happy?” she asked me. For some reason, she sounded almost suspicious of me! I couldn’t imagine why.

“Because I’m going to get to start farming, soon!” I told her, smiling brightly. “At an actual farm!” Truthfully, in my last life I had never been much for plants, especially vegetables. I’d tried growing a garden, and my seedlings had all withered within a week. I couldn’t even tell a potato from a weed, in the wild.

This new life was a chance at a new start with that, though! Just like Katarina had conquered her black thumb in the books, I’d be sure to manage it! Even if I didn’t have help from someone like Mary. “Actually, I wonder if light magic would work on healing plants…” I muttered to myself.

Suddenly, pain burst through my cheek. A familiar pinch from Rachel, who was glaring at me. “Why do I get the feeling you’re about to cause me a whole new headache?” the grey haired girl demanded, voice pitched low. “And what’s with the sudden farming obsession?”

“There’s nothing sudden about it at all,” I told her, a little defensively. “I’ve been wanting to farm for two years, now. I just never had the opportunity before.”

“Two years, huh?” Rachel’s voice was pitched low, and her eyes seemed to be angry for some reason. “And you never told me? My family actually does grow things in the plot behind our house, you know.”

“Oh, but I want to go to a real farm,” I told her, waving off that suggestion. “I want to learn how crops work! Irrigation! Cucumbers! Asparagus!”

Rachel studied me for a long moment, before sighing. “You’re not backing down on this, aren’t you?”

“Not one bit,” I promised her, grinning. “You’ll help me convince my parents, won’t you?”

“You haven’t even told your parents about this!?” Rachel’s voice rose to an almost hysterical scream in pitch.

“I will, tonight,” I promised, putting my hands on Rachel’s shoulders and lightly pushing her out the door. “Now come on, we’re blocking traffic.” There was room around us, but apparently everyone was too polite to take it. Half the class was standing behind me, staring at me and Rachel.

“You’re… You’re too much…” Rachel muttered, voice pitched lower now. “And what about our tree climbing lessons?”

“There will be plenty of time for that,” I promised, now walking calmly down the road back home. “Don’t worry. Soon we’ll be munching on fresh veggies, and baked goods, all while reading in the treetops.”

“Where did the baked goods part come from!?” Rachel demanded, hurrying after me. “You want to learn how to bake, too?”

“Well, I already bake cookies with mom sometimes. But I want to learn how to make first class homemade pastries. The sort you can just stuff in your mouth forever and ever…”

“Th-Then… Make me some, too,” Rachel muttered, voice now barely more than a whisper. “For eating in the trees, and reading, I mean.”

“…Of course,” I promised, a small smile on my lips. “I need someone to taste test my creations, after all!”

For some reason, the look Rachel gave me seemed conflicted. I ignored it, though. 

Tree climbing, baking, farming, and of course schoolwork. If I wanted to ensure Katarina’s heart would be mine, I definitely needed to master them all!