I Feel Alone

Chapter two: 2013

Rosa was a bit of a trouble maker in grade one. Maybe because there were so many bad influences in her past class. Or maybe it was just the fact she was a mischievous seven year old. Her teacher, Ms Summer, told Alyssa during a parent-teacher interview that she was very popular and the whole class wanted to be friends with her. Ms Summer had to make the children take turns every break to play with Rosa in the playground. "That doesn't sound like my daughter." Alyssa raised her eyebrows. "She's quite a shy child." Alyssa clutched her handbag and looked out of the window where she saw her daughter laughing and chasing her little sisters around. Ms Summer smiled. "Rosa is seven years old after all. She's growing up. Most children tend to grow out of their shyness." She finished.

A few weeks later...

The bell rang piercingly in the warm spring air signalling to the students it was time for first break. "Yay! Come on Mei, let's go!" Rosa jumped out of her chair and grabbed her friend's hand. Mei was seven, like Rosa, and they'd met in their year one class. She had messy light brown hair usually twisted into a plait, and hazel eyes. "Where should we play today?" Mei asked, holding her waterbottle in her hand. "Hmm... we can go to the playground." Rosa answered. The girls raced off to the playground and squealed in delight. Rosa hid in the tunnel and giggled as she heard Mei chant. "I'm coming to find you Rosa! Where are you?" Then Rosa felt someone else in her presence. She screamed as another girl smiled at her. "Jessie you scared me!" Rosa cried. Mei joined the girls and peered curiously into the tunnel. "Oh, hi Jessie." She said. "Hi Rosa and Mei!" Jessie grinned. Jessie was a girl in grade two and she had frizzy brown hair and green eyes. She could be a bit mischievous sometimes. "I have a fun plan we can do." She said. "You have to be quiet so I can tell you guys." Jessie whispered. They all gathered around as Jessie whispered the plan to them.

*******

Riiiing riiiing!

"That's the bell! Off to class kids!" Mrs Evan, the teacher on duty called out loudly to all of the students in the playground. Mei leaned forward out of the tunnel to peek out, and Jessie grabbed her shirt to pull her back. "Don't do that, Mei! We don't want her to see us!" Jessie hissed. Mei flushed red. "Oops." Rosa crouched down, hugging her knees to her chest. A funny feeling rushed through her stomach. Like butterflies. Mrs Evan soon left the playground and walked up the pathway away. "Yay, let's go!" Jessie climbed down the netting. Rosa and Mei followed her excitedly. "We get extra playtime, hahaha!" Mei laughed. The girls ran towards the clump of cotton trees near the edge of the playground. Jessie lead the way inside, with the other two girls tentatively following. Something caught Rosa's eye. "Look! A swing!" She shouted, hurrying over. Rosa sat on the branch, which dipped down a little. Mei and Jessie joined her. Jessie pushed with her feet, and the branch began to move back and forth. The girls burst out laughing. Jessie climbed off suddenly. "Where is Tanya? She should be here now." Tanya was Jessie's best friend and was equally as naughty as her. Rosa hadn't played with Tanya a lot. She only hung out with the year one children. "BOOO!" A female voice yelled from behind, and all the girls screamed loudly. Rosa's ears were ringing as she stumbled back, biting her lip slightly. "Hahahaha, I got you guys good." A small girl with tan skin and curly brown hair in a bun laughed hysterically. "Tanya!" Jessie scolded, brushing her shorts. "Don't do that again!"

*******

Now that Tanya joined the little group, things went up a notch. Jessie insisted all of the girls go into the girls bathroom and have a toilet paper fight. Mei giggled. "That sounds fun!" She said. Rosa nodded in agreement, though a tiny part of her mind was telling her to go back to class. She ignored the voice, and raced along with her friends. Jessie threw some toilet paper at Tanya who chucked it at Mei. "Catch, Rosa!" She yelled, hurling the roll at Rosa. Instead, it landed in the sink and got all wet. "Omg, I have a better idea." Tanya smirked. "What is it?" Rosa asked. "Watch and learn!" Tanya tore apart the toilet paper and scrunched it into a ball. Then she wet it under the tap and threw it on the ceiling. "Omg!" Jessie cried. "That... that... looks so funnnn!" She immediately did it herself, and burst into fits of laughter. Mei did it as well and Rosa stepped forward. She took a roll of toilet paper offered to her by Jessie, and ran it under the tap. Then she threw it on the ceiling. "Woah." She mumbled. Suddenly, the girls heard footsteps outside the toilet block. "Damn!" Tanya hissed, and pushed all the girls towards the nearest cubicle. Sighing with relief, she locked the door.

*******

Mei started giggling quietly. "Shhh!" The girls shushed her. Soon the footsteps walked out of the toilet block, and the coast was clear. The girls let themselves out of the cubicle and got back to their fun. They began pelting each other with bits of toilet paper. "Ahhhh!" Rosa screeched with laughter. She slid back and grabbed onto the soap dispenser for support. A glob of soap dropped onto the floor. "Omg, another brilliant idea!" Jessie squealed, running over. "We should empty all of the soap on the floor!" She laughed. The sound of the girls laughter rang in the air as they joined Jessie.

*******

Rosa and the girls had emptied the soap onto the floor and after that ran back to the playground to hide in the tunnel. Jessie said to pretend they were sleeping. Unfortunately, a teacher spotted them and they got sent back to class. Rosa felt especially guilty when she found out a girl called Lilia Hamish had slipped over in the bathroom and bruised her forehead. Rosa secretly admired the girl and wanted to be friends for months, but didn't have the courage. Now her chance was ruined. They got in trouble and had to pick up rubbish at break times for a week. Alyssa and Samuel were shocked and disappointed. After that week, Rosa worked especially hard in class and got a sticker from Ms Summer. Rosa smiled as she glanced at the sticker on her blue jumper. The weeks passed on, and Rosa never spoke to Jessie, Mei, or Tanya again for the rest of the year. It felt like a weight lifted off her shoulders.