Annabelle wrote a quote on the board, "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

"Who can tell me who said this?" she asked.

"Was it Marcel Proust?" asked a shy girl in the back row, as she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Yes, it most certainly was. Well done Lucy." Annabelle replied, smiling.

"Miss Tillman, this doesn't make any sense. Are you telling me that having new eyes around this dump is going to help me discover something? I don't think so." A somewhat rowdy student who liked to make an issue of things was stirring the pot as per usual. Her name was Gemma, and she reminded Annabelle a lot of Kat. Annabelle hesitated and took a deep breath, trying not to lose her temper. "You'd be surprised."

The bell rang, and Annabelle's students were out the door at the drop of a hat. She didn't mind, this gave her time to think and relax before the next class. She paced around the room, remembering the events of several years ago as the memories came flooding back. For old times sake, she even sat in the same chair where she'd once doted on Miss Bradley, in disbelief as to how different things were now. She hadn't heard from Simone in over a year. The pair hadn't left things on the best note and after many failed attempts, Annabelle had given up trying to contact her. Her heart broken, she decided that if she couldn't have Simone she had to come back to Saint Theresa's so she could at least feel close to her again.

A knock on the door awakened Annabelle out of her daze. "Mother Immaculata?" she answered, looking at the frail, tired old woman. "How can I help you?"

"There's a new girl in your class, Lucy Browning. She's just moved here from Colorado and her mother's concerned she's going to be quite lonely. Could you find her a buddy in your dorm to take care of her?"

"Yes, absolutely."

"Thank you very much Annabelle. That will be all."

Later that night Annabelle saw Lucy eating alone in the dining hall. She approached her and sat down, trying to think of the best person to point her towards.

"Hi Miss Tillman, how are you?"

"It's 6pm so you can call me Annabelle. I'll be the teacher who looks after your dorm. Have you found any of your roommates yet?"

"No not yet, I've heard Gemma lives in dorm 5 but that's about it."

"Yes, she does... Let me see if I can find you some of the other girls and introduce you to them. Oh see, over there! That's Jessica Edwards, she's lovely. Why don't you go and sit with her?"

"I don't know, I'm a bit nervous about meeting new people..."

"Don't worry, I'll go talk to her. She'll be really excited to meet you, I'm sure." Annabelle smiled comfortingly at Lucy as she got up and approached the other table.

"Jessica, how are we this evening?" Annabelle asked, looking somewhat sternly at the table of girls.

"We're great!" she laughed. "Let me guess, has my Mom been asking about me again?"

"No I haven't heard from Kristen in a while... just as well you've been on your best behaviour. I have a favour to ask you, see that girl over there?"

Jessica nodded.

"That's Lucy Browning, she just got here today. She's going to be in our dorm so you need to make her feel welcome, okay?"

"Sure!" Jessica yelled, and practically skipped over to Lucy's table. She liked making new friends. Annabelle felt her mission had been accomplished and left the dining hall, managing a dark look at Gemma on her way out.

Annabelle enjoyed looking after the girls, but definitely felt she needed her own space too. She retreated to her own private apartment just off of dorm 5. Yes, the same apartment that Simone once inhabited. The same bedroom where they... well, you know. It was hardly recognisable now, the walls had been painted a deep red and Annabelle had put her own stamp on it. Posters adorned the walls, her guitar on a stand in the corner, and even one of Kat's cat paintings that had been gifted to her as an inadequate "sorry" gesture. In fact, Annabelle almost made a point of arranging the whole space differently so it didn't remind her of Simone. She had come back to remember those times, but being so close to where they had happened was unexpectedly painful for her. She also wanted to start a new life, and teaching poetry and music was what she loved.

Annabelle sat on her bed and scrawled down words for a song. She'd decided she was going to perform to her music class tomorrow. Blue eyed woman... these walls hold your stories... these halls are your home... but where are you now... "Argh!" Annabelle screwed up the piece of paper and threw it to the floor, frustrated. "This is terrible," she said out loud, but under her breath. What on earth was she going to sing? If she couldn't come up with an original song by tomorrow she was going to be forced to play something else. But it didn't matter, she didn't care anymore. She just wanted to go to bed. As she nestled under the covers she heard giggling from the room next door, the girls obviously having a good time. She wasn't going to disturb them, it brought a smile to her face and she thought "that was me once."