Fixing Arrietty

A small girl made her way up the steps of the High School with a school bag on her bag and a black teddy bear in tow. Walking through the corridors she heard the whispers of the other students, "What's she doing here?" and "Is she lost?" However, the whispers did not phase her and she made her way to her first class and sat down near in the front row.

The ringing of the first bell signalled the arrival of the other students, all of which kept their distance from her. Eventually, the teacher made her way into the classroom and surveyed her students.

"We have a new student joining us today," announced the teacher gesturing to the little girl in the front row. "Why don't you introduce yourself?"

The little girl stood up and brushed her red hair away from her face revealing her bright blue eyes. She still clung tightly to her teddy bear as she made her introduction, "My name is Arrietty Van Zandt. I'm six years old."

At her last statement, the class burst into a flurry of whispers before the slamming of the teacher's hand on the desk silenced the class. "Arrietty is here because tests have indicated that she has a higher level of intellect than most people under the age of twenty," explained the teacher, "Therefore, she will be in your class until further notice."

Arrietty shrank further into her seat, trying to avoid the gazes of her classmates and holding onto her teddy bear for dear life. After ten minutes of attempting to concentrate and possibly learn something, Arrietty picked up her bag and her teddy bear and walked out of the classroom and out of the school gates without a second thought.

*✧。*・゜゜・✧。・゜゜・。*

The next week continued in the same manner. Arrietty always went to class but left when she got bored or became uncomfortable. Due to these actions, the teachers began to call her a little rebel, especially when she took it one step further at lunchtime.

Instead of eating in the cafeteria with all the other students, Arrietty sat with her teddy bear on the roof of the cafeteria so that she could be by herself. The teachers had tried several times to get her down but she simply stuck her tongue out at them and turned away. So far she hadn't been disturbed by any of the students, it was just her, her teddy bear, and the occasional book.

It was a normal Thursday afternoon when it happened. When one of her classmates made his way up to the roof.

"What's his name?" came a voice to Arrietty's left, "The teddy bear." She jumped noticeably and scooted away from him before she answered.

"His name is Watson," Arrietty replied softly, "Who are you?"

"Nathan Vertes," he said holding out his hand, "I'm a junior, in your AP Chem class."

Arrietty hesitantly shook his hand before backing away again. He looked familiar with his dark hair and brown eyes but if he hadn't told her, she wouldn't have recognised him.

"You look like you need a friend so I'm just going to stay here," said Nathan smiling as he made himself comfortable.

Arrietty smiled to herself. He would leave eventually.

*✧。*・゜゜・✧。・゜゜・。*

As the weeks went on Arrietty continued to skip classes and sit on the roof at lunchtimes, the only difference was that Nathan was always a few steps behind her.

Everyday they would end up on the roof with Nathan constantly trying to get to know her, but Arrietty would never tell him anything.

"What are you reading?" Nathan asked one day.

Arrietty was going to stay silent but she couldn't stop herself from replying. "It's the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes."

Nathan sat in shock for a minute and the silence must have been noticeable, because Arrietty looked up from her book to see if something was wrong. Nathan quickly regained his composure and shot a quick smile in Arrietty's direction.