The school bell rings and everyone runs out as Aizivaishe and Mufaro walk with their belongings on their backs and hands and see their mother's car out of the window near the exit. They immediately run out until they arrive near the car with Mufaro in the front seat and Aizivaishe in the back as they enter the car.

"Hey, Mom." The girls greeted. Mufaro was more excited in her tone than Aizivaishe.

"Hey, girls. How was the first day of school?" Fadziso asked with both excitement and worry as Aizivaishe wasn't the best at adjusting to new settings.

"My day was good. My teachers were so cool and my classmates were...okay? Some were cool, some were eh. Hopefully, I'll make some friends." Mufaro said, not expecting much from the first day of school.

"My day was okay. I met this one kid, Booker and he was nice. My English teacher was nice and so was my learning specialist. She told me you spoke to her when enrolling us here." Aizivaishe added.

"That's right. I spoke to her, and she seemed like a lovely woman as we're both from Zimbabwe. Did she mention anything about your father?" Fadziso asked.

"She did but apologized for mentioning it." Aizivaishe instantly replied even if she wanted to lie about it so she won't disrespect the Zimbabwean culture.

"That's good because if she went further, then I would have stopped talking to her altogether. She respected my wishes and hopefully, she will respect yours. If you have any issues with her, please let me know. I want you to start speaking up more. We can't keep doing everything for you." Fadziso said with the fake excitement of another Zimbabwean in their area but also finding a way to avoid dealing with the grief.

"Are you okay, Mom?" Mufaro asked.

Fadizso doesn't respond and starts up the car. As the drive started, Aizivaishe was relieved that she told her mother about Mrs. Jenson and Booker and not about the bullying that she just endured. If she were to do so, they would have moved to another school, which would have cost more money than it already has. The silence allowed everyone to collect their thoughts with gentle instrumental music on the radio.

Once the car pulls up on the driveway, the girls grab their stuff and wait until the car unlocks. Fadizso and the girls get out of the car and enter the house. Fadizso goes upstairs with no explanation while Aizivaishe and Mufaro remain behind. They look at each other and sit down at the dinner table.

"Should we check on Mom?" Aizivaishe asked as Mufaro pulled out her supplies from her backpack. Like most parents, Fadziso wants the best for her children even if their experiences are different from their children. The differences could also make priorities and desires complicated with every immigrant parent wanting to be the best version of themselves. At the same time, the kids believe that because they were born and raised in America, the land of the free mantra that has been etched for every hopeful must be true. The American Dream is usually about achieving fame in one way or another or at least that's what Aizivaishe's parents thought when their finances went from somewhat upper-class in Zimbabwe to middle-class though not very poor after arriving in the US. Since the children didn't have to face the same struggles that their parents had, it still created cultural clashes.

"Let her have her space. Mom, well we've been through a lot, and we're doing everything we can to make it through the day. Did anything happen at school that Mom or I don't know about? Please tell me the truth." Mufaro asked as she noticed Aizivaishe's mouth was dry and her hands tightened in a fist.

With their mother alone upstairs, now was the perfect time to tell her what she was hiding.

"There were these two girls, mostly one of them. When my English teacher announced my name, they laughed. A couple of moments after that, she glared the entire time before calling me a freak for staring at her. What's even worse is Principal Crafton is her aunt." Aizivaishe verbalized.

"Wait, what? What is your classmate's name?" Mufaro cried out.

"Her name is Cadence Delanoy," Aizivaishe responded.

"What about the other girl? How does she know Cadence?" Mufaro asked.

"They're both best friends. They've known each other since forever. Her name is Dee Essington and I don't know if she's related to someone who works at the school and I don't care to know." Aizivaishe retorted.

"What are you going to do? Mom is going to find out sooner rather than later." Mufaro asked.

"I don't know. Maybe ignore them and they'll leave me alone." Aizivaishe answered back as she got up to grab a cup of water and Mufaro turned around while she did so.

"Ignoring a problem will make the situation worse, but if that's what you want, so be it. You can't let people walk all over you. You're going to have to do something. Mom and I want to help you through this, but we can't help you if you don't acknowledge the problem." Mufaro rejoined.

"I know, but how am I going to get them to stop picking on me?" Aizivaishe wondered.

"Not doing anything is not one of them, but you have to think of something." Mufaro reacted with uncertainty about how her teachers would handle the bullying situation. Schools have been notorious for not handling bullying well, and Appleton could be different. Shouldn't all schools have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying? At least in Zimbabwe and other African countries, they were stricter with their rules than the West, and maybe her parents have dealt with bullying themselves or they were popular enough to be envied by everyone especially given what they have now accomplished.

Aizivaishe sits beside Mufaro with a glass of water in her hand and pulls out her backpack. She pulls out all her syllabi from her four classes and Mufaro does the same.

"Mufaro, for your English class, are you required to read the same books as me?" Aizivaishe asked.

"I haven't checked. It might be the same books that every English class requires." Mufaro answered with the enthusiasm of someone who never had any interest in the class, to begin with. As much as Mufaro wasn't a fan of school, at least she could interact with new people where she can interact in a place that was not in a classroom setting. In her defense, she has joined the debate team and has won some championships as a result. Aizivaishe looked at her syllabus, noticing the massive difference in the kind of books her English class was going to read: Native Son, The Outsiders, The Grapes of Wrath, and Wuthering Heights. Even though she's a massive bookworm, the storylines in those books sounded very of their time making it hard to see how it connects to what was happening at the moment.

"I'll give our syllabus to Mom for her to sign and then come back. Do you want to play a game or watch a movie?" Aizivaishe suggested.

"Anything is fine, I don't care," Mufaro answered back before Aizivaishe looked back and walked towards the stairs. Assuming that she had fallen asleep, she slowly walked up to ensure she didn't wake up. It was already tough dealing with loss, it was a whole ball game if she came with more bad news and more of the negative thoughts would continue to cloud the family. After arriving near her mother's bedroom, she sighs and slowly opens the door with Fadziso asleep in her bed. She tiptoed towards the bedside and placed her syllabus and Fadziso's syllabus with a pen for her to sign before leaving.

Aizivaishe goes back downstairs to see Mufaro on her phone, presumably scrolling through social media. Mufaro looks up and puts her phone down to see that Aizivaishe is flustered with shortness of breath and stiff walking with one painful step after another. Mufaro turns her attention back to her phone as she hears Aizivaishe take the final stairs.

"I gave Mom the syllabus for her to sign, but she's asleep right now." Aizivaishe beamed.

"That's cool. I'll grab the UNO cards from the living room." Mufaro puts her phone down and walks off as Aizivaishe sits down. Aizivaishe believes that her mother fell asleep to escape from everything bad without having to deal with it. Everyone was grieving, but Fadziso did her best to maintain a level of privacy like any celebrity would. The thought of revealing that information or someone discovering it terrifies her, so it isn't worth the risk.

Aizivaishe turns around to see Mufaro with a pack of UNO cards, coming in her direction.

"Let's play!" Mufaro yelped only for Aizivaishe to quell her. Mufaro pulls out all the cards to pass ten cards for each and starts to play three rounds.

The next day, Fadziso is much better than yesterday as she gets ready to take the girls to school and less tear marks on her face through her concealer.

"Vasikana, huyai! Mese hamudi kunonoka kuchikoro handiti?" Fadziso commanded. Girls, come on! You both don't want to be late for school, do you?

Aizivaishe and Mufaro jump up as they put on their shoes and shove each other back and forth to see who will get breakfast first and get the car's front seat. Once they go downstairs, they see two bowls: one cereal and one oatmeal the girls grab the bowls that their mother made for them. Aizivaishe hasn't been the biggest fan of oatmeal with its slimy and gritty texture, especially after being forced to eat it whenever her kindergarten class had snack time and spit it out every time the teacher convinced her to do so with no success. After that year, she hadn't had oatmeal and had no plans to with her mother not forcing her to eat anything that she didn't like while Mufaro had no problem with it. They quickly run out with the bowls in their hands and try to get to the car's front seat with their mother stopping them with her hand extended.

"If you're going to eat, grab some napkins and make sure your food doesn't drip. Get the napkins on the side before you enter." Fadziso said. Aizivaishe and Mufaro slowly grab two napkins before looking at their mother with scrunched eyebrows and a stern look. They quickly grab more napkins and enter the car with Fadizso nodding her head in approval. The girls eat their food while Fadizso starts the car.

With a near mess in the back seat that came from eating too fast without giving it a second thought that could have gotten an easy scolding from Fadizso, the family arrived at Appleton Prep, the school where they just had their first day yesterday.

"There it is, girls. This humungous school. I didn't realize it would be this big from the picture." Fadizso glazed in wonder.

"It's not that big. It's just a normal-sized school." Aizivaishe said.

"That doesn't matter. It's still a big school to me." Fadziso quipped back with Aizivaishe suppressing her desire to argue back, knowing the consequences for doing so.

"We'll see you later, Mom. Aizivaishe, come on, you don't want to be late." Mufaro said with Aizivaishe sighing before getting out of the car with their stuff. They both wave goodbye and mouth "I love you" with Fadziso doing the same. They turn around to see the entrance of the school and walk toward it to see the other students inside entering and leaving random classrooms. With the moment as a sign, they enter the school together without having to hold hands and continue to walk through the hallway, moving past each student and casually sliding through without touching.

Once the sisters have gone their separate ways, Aizivaishe enters Ms. Belden's classroom with shaky hands and sweaty legs and runs to her desk next to Booker.

"Hey, Aizivaishe. Are you okay?" Booker asked, noticing her sweating from her forehead.

"I'm fine. It's just nerves." Aizivaishe lied as she sat down panting. Booker looked deeply with concern as his eyes widened as Aizivaishe placed her notebook on her desk.

"What's wrong with you? The class hasn't started yet and how did you get sweaty?" Cadence snarks.

"Maybe she went to the gym and never bothered to shower. That's so disgusting." Dee agreed, high-fiving Cadence in agreement.

"I know. She can prioritize everything but her hygiene. I don't want her near me." Candence gagged.

Aizivaishe looks at Booker for guidance and Booker looks up at the ceiling to collect his thoughts. Though they just met yesterday, there was no way he wouldn't sit back and do nothing.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Booker shouted, standing up.

"Or what? She's been acting weird since yesterday and I'm not having it!" Cadence argued back with Aizivaishe silently observing. She remembers the words that her father had told her and Mufaro: "You go to school to get an education and figure out the skills that you hone at home, not to make friends and create drama." He would tell them constantly because as a youngster, he didn't have the best childhood and got into a lot of trouble through stealing, having an anger problem, and battling a drug addiction that lasted from his childhood to his early 20s with therapy and having a better support system, including her mother. Before his death, with his new life in America, it would have been hard to believe that he went through any struggles. Without looking at Cadence and Dee, she attempts to ignore them, but the temptation becomes too strong to resist.

"I know that I'm sweaty. Now can you leave me alone?" Aizivaishe asked.

"Can you leave me alone? Try us because what are you going to do? Call out for Ms. Belden? She's not going to do anything." Cadence mockingly spoke, waving her head in a faux jittery way with Dee laughing.

Ms. Belden, Dawn, and Finch enter the classroom, causing Dee to stop laughing. Dawn and Finch continue walking to their desks while Ms. Belden slams her folders on the desk.

"Can someone explain to me what's going on?" Ms. Belden asked with her voice strained.

"Nothing, Ms. Belden." Cadence and Dee said with the fake innocence of people who would never hurt a soul but did in private.

"Don't lie to me. What happened?" Ms. Belden asked again, stomping her foot on the ground with Cadence and Dee jumping up. Cadence's statement about Ms. Belden was completely thrown out of the window, unlike most teachers who blame the bullied for the situation instead of questioning why the situation happened in the first place.

"Cadence was making fun of Aizivaishe and she thinks that you wouldn't do anything about it." Booker stood up and pointed at Cadence with Dee glaring at him for doing the right thing. Ms. Belden turns to Cadence and Dee with her arms crossed.

"I can't stand liars. I hate them and if you ever do that again, you'll face dire consequences. Do I make myself clear?" Ms. Belden said with crossed arms. Cadence and Dee look at each other, pretending not to hear what Ms. Belden had just told them before Ms. Belden clears her throat.

"Yes, Ms. Belden." Cadence and Dee replied in the way a child would do when being scolded for doing something that could have been preventable. Ms. Belden slowly turns her back to pick up a marker to write. Ms. Belden see-saw the marker up and down to process her thoughts.

"Hey, thanks for sticking up for me, Booker." Aizivaishe lightly taps Booker on the shoulder.

"No problem. Cadence is...something else. She used to be cool in the beginning when I first enrolled here. Now it's just....I don't know. It's strange and not my place to say how it happened." Booker said.

"Yeah, it's odd. But at the same time, I don't care because I have stuff that's more important that I have to worry about than her." Dawn scoffs.

"Like what? Anytime you say that, it's usually about anything unrelated to school. It's always about gaming and music." Finch counterargued.

"Why do you say that?" Aizivaishe asked.

"Last year before the end of the school year, she wanted to go to a gaming convention, but my mom wouldn't let her go because her grades weren't good. She wanted to go, so the only way she could do that was by using a straight-A student's paper because we had a major chemistry test one day. Before the test started, she whispered that she had plans to go to a convention surrounding her favorite artist and the girl didn't hesitate to help her out because she also loved that artist. And surprisingly, she 'passed', and our parents were surprised and allowed her to go." Finch replied with Aizivaishe looking at the sky as if she knew she would do the same thing for her favorite hobbies with no question and the same could apply to Mufaro.

"It was still a fun time. Don't play innocent, Finch. If you were me, you would have done the same thing but with Pokémon trading cards." Dawn protested as she stuck her tongue out.

Ms. Belden cleared her throat to have her students stop talking and stand up, causing all the students to turn around.

"Before we start, I'll do roll call and collect your signed syllabi." Ms. Belden said, causing everyone to grab their folders except for Cadence and Dee. Aizivaishe slowly pulls out her syllabus and puts it on her desk. Noticing that her phone is sticking out, she pulls it out only for Ms. Belden to take notice.

"Aizivaishe, hand me your phone." Ms. Belden demanded.

"I was going to put it on silence." Aizivaishe sighed, getting up to give her phone to her.

"I'll give it back after class is over. Make sure you never do that again." Ms. Belden said, moving her three fingers repeatedly.

Though Aizivaishe didn't turn on her phone, she hands over her phone and sits back down. Ms. Belden walks to her row and with her hand extended, everyone has no phone. She nodded in joy at the thought of a phone-free classroom, but the syllabi still needed to be collected as she put down her hand with Aizivaishe being the first person to hand over her syllabus to make up for her mistake. Booker does the same thing and turns to Aizivaishe.

"Hey, at least it didn't go off." Booker chuckled with Aizivaishe staring down in defeat.

"Booker, no talking!" Ms. Belden shouted, causing Booker to turn back to her and Aizivaishe to remain silent. Ms. Belden continued to walk around to collect their syllabi starting with Dawn who had a desk with a notebook filled with Mario stickers, a pencil, and a pen with a puff ball at the end.

"I like your pen, Dawn. Where did you get it from?" Ms. Belden asked.

"I got it from my cousin's birthday party last summer." Dawn squeals with Ms. Belden nodding her head. She grabs the syllabus and moves on to Finch, who instantly gives her his syllabus.

Aizivaishe turns her head towards Cadence and Dee with Cadence rolling her eyes at her and Dee writing in her notebook, possibly drawing nonsensical scribbles. Dee puts down her pen and looks up at Ms. Belden.

"Girls, where is your syllabus?" Ms. Belden asked.

"My dog ate it." Cadence sneers with the class laughing at the ridiculous excuse and Dee continues to doodle. Ms. Belden scoffs and taps her shoes repeatedly in a way that doesn't scare off the entire class.

"Seriously, Cadence. Where is your syllabus?" Ms. Belden asked again.

"I just told you my dog ate it. Why don't you call my mother?" Cadence scoffs with the whole class covering their mouths with some laughing out loud. Ms. Belden blushes in embarrassment and looks down in uncertainty. Finch stands up to step out only for Aizivaishe to signal him to sit back down.

"Cadence, go to the principal's office right now! Your behavior is unacceptable." Ms. Belden exclaimed, pushed at her wit's end. Yesterday, she was a pleasant person who seemed like someone to have a nice chat and now it was clear that Ms. Belden wasn't messing around. Aizivaishe prays that she doesn't become the receiving end of her wrath and her mother adding to that wrath.

Cadence stands up and strolls towards the door, but not before she mutters under her breath with Dee dropping her books on the ground to follow Cadence. Dee gets up to follow Cadence and waves goodbye with a smile as if she already knows she will get in trouble for following Cadence no matter how questionable the plan is.

"Anyone want to join them?" Ms. Belden asked once Dee left the room. Everyone shakes their heads no.

"That's what I thought. Now back to what's going on at hand. I've got all of your syllabus, now our very first lesson is solving analogies. Does anyone know what an analogy is?" Ms. Belden asked with Aizivaishe raising her hand, causing Ms. Belden to point at her.

"An analogy is comparing two things for explanation and clarification," Aizivaishe replied.

"Very good. Does an analogy also mean a simile?" the already-stressed teacher asked without response. In frustration, Ms. Belden flaps her arms from dealing with Cadence and Dee's shenanigans. The friendly teacher the class saw the day before has become a demon from hell.

The class recoiled in terror and Dawn reluctantly raised her hand. The entire class slowly turns their attention to her with bloodshot eyes. Dawn shivers and gets up from her seat.

"An analogy can also be a simile, but it doesn't mean the same thing." Dawn continues shivering with Finch helping her sit down. After Finch sits her down, Dawn continues hyperventilating as Ms. Belden runs over to help.

Booker runs over to the phone to call for help before Aizivaishe stops him. She froze from everything around her throughout the day and the day before. But this time, she jumps into action running to her side. Dawn continues to hyperventilate as Aizivaishe and Booker rub her back in a gentle circular way. Finch bends over to comfort his twin.

Dawn looks at Finch and her heavy breathing slowly subsides with Ms. Belden putting down the phone. With the bullying and Dawn having a panic attack, the first lesson is off to a rocky start.