ROOTS

The Phoenix, Part Two: Jannet's POV

-Jannet-

It was the first day of middle school.

 I'm now in 6th grade. Then the bell rang. Kids running inside school to start the day. 

I saw a girl who dropped her books and watched, my stomach turning as another meaner girl and her posse made fun of her. 

She had brown loose curls and eyes that changed color like a kaleidoscope. The girl with the curly hair snarled something harshly at them which made the mean girls huff in annoyance and stalk away, throwing dirty glances at her from a distance. 

The other kids witnessing just walked around her.

Feeling bad for her, I went up to the girl as she picked up her books.

She was on the floor with all her books on the floor. She had no purse to put it all in. Her eyes were full of fear, but sparks of malice glinted as she eyed me warily. 

"Don't worry," I assured her, referring to her many books scattered on the floor.

"My name's Jannet. What is your name?" 

"My name's Ember." Her eyes crinkled at the edges like she was faintly amused by my attempt at friendship. 

While she was bending down, I caught a glance at her beautiful amulet. 

"Nice amulet." I said. 

I think she isn't much of a talker.

Ember's eyes narrowed, filled with sudden hostility as she gripped her amulet possessively. 

"You know this is mine, right?"

Or maybe she is.

I felt my cheeks blossoming with heat as I stuttered, "I- Of course I do! It's just so pretty!"

She studied me for a while, then, seeming to believe me, released her necklace, stuffing the rest of her papers in her bag.

Before Ember could walk away, I blurted out "Here, take my phone number. You can call me after school. Maybe we could hang out?"

For a moment, I thought she was just going to walk away. Then she took the slip of paper from my hand gingerly, mumbled a quiet "Sure" and walked down the 400 wing, probably heading to her next class.

I smiled, giddy that I had made a friend on my first day of middle school. 

~~~

Later at lunch, I found her in the back, sitting alone. I came over and she was reading a book called "The Outsiders". 

"Hi again! Ooh, that's a good book." I sat right next to her.  That made her smile. 

"No one... no one really likes me, thank you for being nice." She replied. 

That made me sad. "Well, they should be nice to you. Oh, I forgot to get some milk, I'll be right back." I said. 

I went to the lunch serving place where people were still getting lunch. But then I saw some girls crowded around her, like vultures circling greedily over a carcass. 

I could hear what they were saying. 

"Oh, lookie what we have here! I think someone got lost on their way to the garbage dump!" A girl in the middle said. 

The two girls next to her laughed. One of them said "Yeah, she probably works there too!" 

Ember's eyes were watery, but she only glared at the girls harder. "Go away." She snapped.