The New Girl, Chapter 7

Ah, yes...the pieces are falling nicely into place now. After a bout of initial fear of a wishy-washy direction for the story, some holiday head-clearing has got me thinking that The New Girl could really go places. But oh well, a lot could happen between Chapter 7 and who-knows-when...
On another note, it seems to be a mightily bad time for me to get addicted to Yahoo Graffiti...ooh, those evil marketing people!

"More chips, madame?" Jean curtsied, fake French accent all too apparent.
May looked up from the box she was rummaging through and smiled. "Of course, my dear Mademoiselle."
The two girls laughed heartily and took a sip each from the frosted can of root beer. Jean teased spitting it into May's face, making her respond with the ever-frightening flurry of tickles.
"You know what?" May sighed as they ended up flat back on the ground. "All we're missing now are some kites."
"Kites," Jean mumbled wishfully. "Yeah, those would be real good."
"I used to have this utterly humongous kite at home," May stretched her arms out as wide as she could. "My father helped me make it. I still remember, we spent almost an entire three weeks on it. But when we managed to get it up in the sky, I don't know which one of us both were happier."
Jean smiled sadly. "It must be great having a father like that. Mine passed away when I was four."
"Oh," May didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry."
"Nah, it's okay. We were never that close anyway."
"Does that mean you're staying with your mom now?"
"Nope! Passed away when I was seven. I'm staying with my aunt now."
Wow, May thought. Behind her facade of smiles and laughter, Jean had had her parents lost at an age when most children were still being pampered with toys and goodies.
"The funny thing about being an orphan is that it always shows," she continued. "You try your best to act normal like everyone else, but they see through you right away. And they're all like, 'It's okay.' "
"What do you think, May? Is it okay?" May was caught off-guard by her sudden question.
"Umm...there are always ups and downs to everything. It all depends on which side you're looking from."
She nodded. "Guess so."
A calm silence lingered in the air.
"Oh, no!" May leapt up suddenly. "We have to go back now, or else we're going to be late for class!"
"Oh, don't you worry. I've been here a thousand times before, and never once have I been late for class. Come on now, up and about."
Shrugging to herself, May followed Jean past the fairy tale-like fields back to the difficult fence, all the while thinking - how on earth did Jean come across this place? Was it even real in the first place?