Believe

Honey, Hunters

"Greater than, less than." The teacher in the front of the room pointed at two sideways Vs. "Yes, Rose?"

"Rosabella. My name is Rosabella!" The first grader with two pigtails said.

"Yeah."

"They're crocodiles!" The class stared at her, sitting on the navy blue rug, in the front.

"No, they're signs."

"See? This sign," she made a < with her hands, "means that this is less than that. Like a crocodile mouth! The smaller number eats the bigger number!"

"No, Rosabelle, these are just shapes to show quantity."

"Rosabella," she mumbled.

"Don't you see? This is just a drawing."

"But if you imagine-"

"Okay, we're done with this lesson." The other first graders got up from the navy blue rug and went to get their lunch boxes.

A girl walked over to Rosabella. "What was that about?!" She laughed.

"But it's true!"

"What's true is that you have no friends, and I do."

"I can be your friend, too."

"Rosabella, friends with Heidi? You should just learn to live. Without weird dreams." Rosabella scowled and walked away.

But she never forgot those nine words. You should just learn to live. Without weird dreams.

TWO YEARS LATER

Rosabella walked around the new third grade classroom, looking for the desk with her name on it. Finally she found it, right behind the board, in a "clump" with two other desks in front and to the side, so that it was kind of like a square. The two other names said Hannah Lockwood and Toby Cannon.

"I'm Hannah," a girl said to Rosabella. "You're Row-za-bell-a, right?" She sounded out the syllables. "Can I call you Ro for short?"

Rosabella smiled. "Yeah."

"Great! I'm a new student here. I don't have any friends yet. We're friends, right?"

"We're friends."

"Where's Toby?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's flying with Peter Pan."

Hannah laughed. "Peter Pan? Like that stupid, made up, person with magical dust?"

"Uh... kind of..."

"Well, he's just something ancient people made up to describe why people felt lonely. That's what my parents say, anyway."

Great. Just great. "He might be made up, but the idea of storytelling for fun isn't."

"Magic?"

"Yeah. Like stories. And happiness. And luck!"

"What's luck?"

"When good things happen."

Hannah stared at Rosabella. "Good things? They just happen? Oh. My. Gosh. I can't wait to tell my parents!"

A middle-aged woman walked to the front of the classroom. "Hello. Call me Mrs. A. Short for Mrs. Appel. Now let's introduce ourselves." She put her hands out to one side of the room. "Say your name, and an interesting fact about yourself. Mrs. Appel, I was born in a car."

"I'm Kara Chandler. My name is like Car in a Chandelier. But don't call me that. It's just a made up thing."

The introductions moved across the room, finally reaching Rosabella. "My name is Rosabella Vincentza, but Hannah says you can call me Ro. And my interesting fact... Um... I really like honey, and for some reason it reminds me of hunters."
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(A/N) Oh. My. Gosh. #35 in Adventure!! Just, how?! How are you guys so awesome?!

Flurry