The designation

.~*{Chapter I}*~.

   I turned over to the desk to my right. "Do you happen to carry more than one pencil?" I asked the copper-haired girl, who sat up tall even though she was one of the shortest in the class. "Yes, I always do," She replied swiftly. "Mind if I asked to borrow one?" I asked. "You should always carry your pencils. That way, there would be no need to ask your class-mates for one every day," she informed strictly, sitting back up. 

It took all my courage to ask her that, and I don't think she approved. I laid back in my chair and sighed. There was no choice left then to ask the teacher, which was a treacherous thing to do, especially for an introvert like myself. 

So, as I sat up straight and fixed my hair, I found the courage to raise my hand. "Yes, ~Maluca?" The teacher turned to me. "May I h-have a pencil, please?" I stuttered. "Why, of course, child, but please try to avoid stuttering like that," She informed kindly. I felt my face heat up as humourous voices giggled and laughed around me. She picked up a pencil that sat on her desk and paced towards me. "Thank you, Ma'am," I replied as she set it down. "You're welcome," She replied, pausing for a moment. "Alright, class! please turn to your first page for the test!" I turned down at my paper, flipped it over, and started at the first question. "Alright, you may begin," The teacher said. I glared up for a moment, realizing her command, then turned down again, hoping she didn't notice my quick start.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  How to pronounce Maluca: M-uh ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   I raced down the stairs. I had no intention of sticking around to hear Kelma blab on about how awkward I was acting in class. She only attended one grouping with me, and that was in History. Yet she talked as if she knew me for the most part and everything I do with my life. Her there's and ideas of me, are mere pictures she painted with her mind, which was nowhere near the truth. All I wanted to do was wait for my test papers to arrive and hope for a good grade. 

"Meluca! Wait up!" Kelma called out. Not this again! My mind groaned. Slowly I turned to face her, as I could sense her footsteps pounding towards me, faster with every step. "What?" I asked softly, blinking sand out my eye. Kelma's running was with such a force she always kicked up dust everywhere. I was tempted to cough but held my breath. 

"Why, Maluca! Your eyes are so blue today! Did you wear more intensive lenses today?" She laughed. The joke obviously to make the other girls laugh.  They always teased me about my blue eyes, whether they were fake or not. Once Kelma pinched my eye, trying to find out. She annoyed me more than the rest. I once thought of her as a friend, but for the past month, she acted differently. 

"What's wrong w-," I held my words if I did say what's wrong with you, she would snap. Even though Kelma wasn't the kindest friend, I still respected her to some extent. "Well, for one, you started too soon on the test," She informed, placing her hand on her hips. "Oh yeah, sorry," I apologized. "Just hope that you don't get caught," She said, staring me in the eye. "Yeah," I replied. 

"Anyway, where's Roxy?" She asked, looking around. "Oh, she's not coming today," I replied, my hand clenched onto my backpack. If I told Kelma about Roxy's party, she would ask why no one invited her. The thing was, the party was for Emy, someone Kelma didn't know. Emy was a very cautious person. She wouldn't send an invitation to a stranger to her party.

"Why not?" Kelma asked, hitting the thoughts out of my mind. "She had to attend something. She'll be here next time," I replied quickly, hoping she missed the sentence. (Highly unlikely) "Wait, where did she have to go?" She asked. Shivers ran down my spine. There was no way I could sugar coat it. 

"A party," I quickly confessed, then turning. "I wish I had a party to go to," I laughed at myself. "Wait, a party? Why wasn't I invited?" Kelma asked. I knew this was coming. "Because the girl who's hosting it doesn't like to invite strangers," I replied. "Wait. What? Does she think that I'm strange? Okay, you're just rude!" "What?! But I'm not the one who-! I mean, she doesn't think you're strange. I mean, she might. But she probably won't. And I mean she doesn't like strangers coming to her parties, she wants to get to know them first. You know, make sure that they're trustable," "So you're saying I'm strange and untrustable?" Kelma crossed her arms. "No, no!" "Okay, that's it! I'm leaving. Goodbye!" Kelma turned swiftly and paced away. "NO! No! That's not what I~," "So rude!" Kelma said as she paced off. "Meant," I sighed.

I knew it! I knew it would happen! Kelma always did this. I rubbed my hands over my face. "Why, Kelma? Why!" I groaned. Nevermind, Kelma was something else. I figured, no matter how many times I tried to help, it was better to let herself deal with her problems. With that, I paced away and headed home.