Chap 1.) Another day of school.

"Get up, get up right this moment Rony, and do not let me repeat myself!"

"Okay...Okay! Just a minute ma."

"No, no, no Rony. You already said that thrice and fifteen minutes have already passed by. I don't want to hear another excuse from you. Get up right now!"

"Okay then, ten seconds only."

"Rony!"

"Okay. Five seconds."

 "No excuses Rony. Get up now."

"Okay then. I'll just say a short prayer."

This was an everyday routine for Rony's mom who had to wake Rony up more than twice each morning; during school days.

"No more excuses Rony-Xue! Get up now and prepare yourself. You are running late for..."

Even before her mother was done speaking, Rony sat up on her bed and, "SCH...OOL.... ANOTHER DAY OF SCHOOL!" She exclaimed.

She yawned wide like a cavern's mouth, stretched her arms about, put on her pantoffles, and ambled to the bathroom at a snail's pace. She took a warm shower and clad herself in her crimson-red, checked tunic dress that complemented her white cotton blouse, pink Adelaide hair bow, red-stripped white socks, and dark-brown leather shoes.

"Ma, what day is it again?" She asked as she was having breakfast.

"Are you being serious Rony-Xue?" Her mother queried.

"I get it now, I know. It's Friday! It is when you come storming into my room to wake me up so that I don't get to be late for my test, isn't that right ma?"

Rony's mother was packing lunch for her but she paused and peered intently at her daughter. "It isn't right at all. Today is Wednesday, the 4th of October 2023 to be precise. I shouldn't be the one knowing it at the back of my mind. Did you seriously say it is Friday?... I wake you up every single day of school, not only when you have a test."

"Two more days of school!" Rony sighed as she recalled her experience on the first day in a new school.

Her first day at a new school, as she wrote in her diary, was scary and nerve-wracking. She had initially thought it was going to be better but she had counted her chicks before they had hatched. "In the end, a new environment calls for new experiences and... new friends. You just need to adapt." Her mother encouraged her beforehand. However, Rony-Xue had never adapted to any new environment, how could she possibly adapt to a new environment at school?

"Are you done having breakfast? It is fifteen minutes to eight O'clock. Put your lunch box in your bag pack and wait for me by the garage. I'm going upstairs to get the car keys."

 "What did you pack for me ma?"

"Your favorite; taco grilled cheese sandwich and..." She voiced as she plodded up the spiral staircase.

 "And Broth Based Meat Soup. Thank you ma."

 "Um... Ma, Is this your book on the counter?" Rony asked as she advanced towards the book with interesting typography on its dark coherent cover design. She put it in her bag pack and waited patiently for her mother, although not by the garage as she was instructed

 "Were you saying something, Rony?" Her mother asked as they were heading out of the house.

 "Yeah. I was asking about the book on the counter. Did you purchase it for me?"

 "A book? On the counter? I don't recall purchasing any book." Rony's mother said

"Okay. Maybe Maya forgot it when she came over yesterday. I shall ask her about it."

As they drove to Rony's school, Rony asked her mother midway, "Ma,"

"I'm all ears cutie pie."

"Hmm, can I go over to pa's place today after school?"

"You want to visit pa ..today?... um... um..." Only she knew how deeply the thought loomed in her mind.

"Oh! Here we are. We've arrived. Can we discuss that after school?"

 "Okay..." Rony responded with a disappointed look as she alighted from the car.

 "Goodbye cutie pie. I'll pick you up after school. "

 "Good bye ma. Love you" Rony retorted with insincere gaiety as she habitually did.

 "Love you more."

Rony faltered into the school's tripod turnstiles and finally stopped in mid-stride only to watch her mom drive off the school premises.

 She walked to her wall locker and absent-mindedly put the book she picked from the kitchen counter that morning. She set her heart on visiting her father that day after school.

 -------------------------------------------------------

The bell signaling the end of English class and the beginning of lunch break rang.

 "Line up and hand in your assignment before going on lunch break, and don't forget to prepare for your presentations tomorrow. They will account for thirty percent of your final English test next week." Mrs. Mola informed her pupils.

 "Your last presentation was quite impressive Rony-Xue. Keep it up in the final exam."

 "Thanks. I will Mrs. Mola." She said as she handed in her assignment.

"Wait up, wait up ally," Maya called a wool-gathering Rony-Xue, as she hurriedly handed in her assignment.

"Rony-Xue, you're the one I'm calling. Maya patted her on the shoulder.

 "Oh, I didn't hear you."

 "No worries ally. Let's go and have lunch."

 "Wait up, ally?"

"Ha-ha!" Maya laughed sarcastically. "That's the new word I mastered during the English lesson. It's simply a metonym for 'friend'."

 "I know. But please stick to calling me Rony. I'm comfortable with that. I don't want people thinking we're weirdoes.

 "Just to mention, you appear dull today. Could Mei Zhen have crossed your path?" Maya asked Rony-Xue over lunch.

 "Hell no! Not at all. Mei Zhen has....."

"Ridiculous. Did I just hear my precious name being uttered from some immensely sordid gob?" Mei Zhen ridiculed as she and her accomplice, Scarlett, appeared out of nowhere and sat beside the two friends.

 "Well, speak of the devil!" Maya mumbled.

"What happened? Did you become dumb all of a sudden Rony-Xue?"

 "Mei Zhen, I suppose she was gossiping about you to her so called friend here." Scarlett taunted her.

 "No she wasn't" Maya stood up for her.

 "Of course she was..... Else she would have the courage to defend herself." Mei Zhen affirmed. "So, the timid girl now has the courage to gossip about me, Mei Zhen, of all the people. Do you have no shame?"

 "It you who....."

 "Let's go Maya. Leave them alone." Rony-Xue told Maya as she took her lunch box and stood up from her seat.

 "Not so fast Rony! You wanna run away yet we're not done." Mei Zhen provoked her.

 "I don't want any problem Mei Zhen. Please let me be." Rony-Xue mustered the courage and told her.

 "You asked for it." Mei Zhen hit Rony's lunch box and her well packed but half eaten lunch spilled all over the place.

 Rony-Xue gazed at the floor and... ('Your favorite taco grilled cheese sandwich and...' 'And Broth Based Meat Soup. Thank you ma.') crossed her mind.

She sighed heavily, letting her head drop. A single solemn tear rolled down her cheek and she felt her throat closing up. She looked crossly at Mei Zhen behind wayfarer eyeglasses. Her emerald beauteous eyes narrowed to a pinprick, not unblinking but slowed, she got a vertical wrinkle between her eyebrows as her lips pursed slightly.

 "What? Daring to hit me now? Here hit me!" Mei Zhen broke the silence that reigned in the vicinity for that short while, as she advanced towards Rony-Xue.

 Rony-Xue ran away from the scene leaving a hysterical laughing Mei Zhen in the dining hall. Maya ran after Rony-Xue but she, unexpectedly, stopped in her tracks and turned back to pick up Rony's lunch box. She stared at Mei Zhen with a fixed expression and went after Rony again.

 "You know you didn't have to do that Mei Zhen." Scarlett confronted her.

 "Ch! What can she possibly do anyway? Didn't you just see the way she ran off?" Mei Zhen said proudly. "The last time I checked, you don't get to tell me what to and what not to do. Now, let's go!" She remarked.

 "But..." Scarlett didn't get the chance to speak up since Mei Zhen interrupted her, "No buts, let's go. Math class is in seven minutes and I'm not going to miss it just listening to some meaningless chatter."

 "Math class!" Scarlett grumbled.