One of a Kind

Bad News

The school day went by very well for Milagra. She interacted and got along with some of her peers, but she was especially fond of Ramiro. Despite his height and cleft, there was something magical about him that really put her under his spell.

It was time for lunch, and Milagra saw that Ramiro was sitting by himself, so she went up to him.

"Hola, Ramiro," Milagra waved. "May I sit here, por favor?"

"Por su puesto," Ramiro smiled.

Zooey and her girl posse were just entering the cafeteria when they saw Milagra sitting with Ramiro.

"Aw, look, isn't that cute?" Zooey cooed in a mean way. "Milagra is having a little date with Ramiro."

"So, how do you like Tanglewood so far?" Ramiro asked. "Made any friends yet?"

"I might've made a few friends, the first one being you," Milagra replied. "Speaking of which, my parents told me a pretty good way to make friends, like throwing a special Disney royal party."

Bunty came up to the duo and said meanly, "Aw, you're having a little Disney party? That's so cute."

"So, what makes this Disney party so special?" Zooey asked.

"All the guests will be dressing as their favorite prince or princess," Milagra replied. "The character can be royalty either by birth or marriage or even nature—he or she doesn't even need an actual royal title."

"Aw, how cute," the Asian girl, Tori, said. "Are we invited?"

Milagra wasn't so sure if she should invite these girls because they were mean, but it wouldn't be fair to exclude them since she only just met them. She turned to Ramiro, hoping for his opinion.

"Go ahead and invite them, Mila," Ramiro told her. "It depends on whether they want to go or not."

Milagra turned to their girls and asked, "Do you want to come?"

"You bet," Bunty said.

"You know we do," Zooey said. "There is no way I would miss a chance to be the prettiest princess at the party."

"Good to know," Milagra said awkwardly. She turned to Ramiro and asked, "Ramiro, do you want to come, too? You can dress up as your favorite Disney Prince or at least any Disney guy you think is very worthy of being one."

"Gosh, Milagra, I'd love to," Ramiro smiled.

Bunty, Zooey, and the other two girls couldn't believe it. Milagra was inviting Ramiro to the party.

"You know, Milagra, the only parties I've been to in my life were the ones hosted by my family," Ramiro admitted. "No one outside my family has ever invited me to a party before. I can't believe it."

"Me either," Bunty sniffed. "I can't believe you have the nerve to ask him to show his face. He's going to make me look bad."

"He can wear a mask if he needs to," Milagra defended him. "I'm not going to exclude him from the fun just because of his cleft."

"Aw, you must have a thing for boys who are only a foot tall," Zooey cooed meanly.

"I'm 3 foot 11," Ramiro snapped. "I've been this height for about a decade now."

"Yeah, he's the only senior who hasn't even hit puberty yet," Zooey sniffed. "But don't be sad when you don't get any taller by your birthday this December."