***

"Look, a bunny!", a little girl exclaimed, pointing at the snow-white fuzz creature running in the field. A bright smile was on her face as she ran out to catch it, accidentally tripping over a rock and scraping her knee. Her eyes welled up with tears, a small scream escaping her lips. Another child ran down the hill with surprising speed. She crouched down next to the crying girl, a worried expression on her face.

"Don't cry, Mands. I got you a sunflower!" She had a little lisp in her voice because of two missing baby teeth at the front, making her sound all funny. Mandy giggled, wiping her tears with her small fists.

"You got your teeth out? Mine is still strong! No fair!" Calliope giggled, flexing her muscles and saying, "That's because I'm cooler than you!"

Mandy crossed her arms, turning away from Cali and pushing her bottom lip out. Calliope groaned, laying down on the grass, waving her limbs around, as if she was creating a snow angel. She snuck a sideways glance at the whining girl, who looked upset and murderous at the same time. Slowly rolling over on her tummy, she wrapped her hands around Mandy's knees, tripping her over, but making sure she didn't get hurt. Mandy screamed out before realising what was happening, but that only made her screams louder. "Get off me! Get off me!"

Calliope giggled, writhing away from her and starting to laugh louder. Mandy's curly mane had leaves and grass in them, which were way harder to get out of her curly hair than out of straight hair. She stomped her feet and ran away, leaving giggling Cali in the grass.

*** 

Mandy slurped the remaining soup out of the bowl, watching Cali stare at her nearly untouched one. She slowly moved the spoon towards her mouth, cringing while swallowing it. Her lips pressed together as an attempt not to vomit the soup up. She sighed in relief when she successfully avoided embarrassing herself in front of Mandy's mom while preparing for the next spoonful of her worst nightmare. The vegetables stared at her as if they were laughing at her for not eating the food. A bright idea popped in Cali's mind. Asking Mandy where the bathroom was, she quickly shoved three big spoons of the soup inside her mouth and pretended to swallow it and quickly ran to the bathroom. She opened the toilet lid and spat all of the soup in it, pressing the flush button and smiling victoriously. Cali washed her hands, bracing herself for the rest of the bowl that was waiting for her on the table. She knew she could just tell Mandy she didn't want it, but she didn't want her mom to feel like the soup was bad. It was, but she was not about to shove it in her face. Walking through the hallway, Cali heard a weird noise, close to a liquid being flushed away. Peeking into the kitchen, she saw Mandy with her bowl full of soup, flushing it away in the sink. Cali let out a quiet screech of happiness, seeing that she didn't have to eat the awful soup anymore. She hid behind the door, and only walked back in when Mandy got everything back in order. Cali sat down on the chair, smiling at Mandy who had her eyes fixated on the ceiling. They heard Mandy's mother from the living room, asking them how the soup was. They both yelled back in unison:

"It was great!"

***

Cali looked at the birthday candles, then moved her eyes to the smiling people around her, encouraging her to blow out the flames. She stared at the number, that read 12, with a slightly crooked 1 and a dripping 2. Mandy was right beside her, her smiling too.  Cali thought to herself: "What was her wish for this year?" She had no idea, and to be honest she didn't care. They never came true anyway. Closing her eyes and counting to twelve, she blew out the candles. She searched her mind for the right words and finally found them.

"I wish I liked boys."

***

Mandy felt the hands push her to the ground. Her nose hit the concrete playground floor, making her wince in pain. The boys stood beside her, laughing and congratulating themselves on getting back at Cali. Rolling on her back and sitting up, she felt like these two needed a nice punch or two. However, Cali wasn't here to defend her when things got out of Mandy's strength zone."Oh, screw that," she thought to herself while putting her weight on her left foot and swinging her left one right at the blonde boy's crotch. He yelled out in pain, putting his hands defensively over his hurt area and cursing everybody out. Mandy quickly stood up, scared the other boy might hit her back, but she saw his fear-stricken expression. Realising the duo was nothing more than two cowards, she laughed to herself and began walking towards the cafeteria, her cut cheek dripping with blood a little. It was her last year at middle school, but Cali was already a freshman, which meant she wasn't around to help her anymore. They still had lunch together, so that was a relief. Mandy knew Cali would beat anyone up if they hurt her, she had been doing it for years now. Opening the bathroom door, Mandy ripped a handful of toilet paper. She wet it with warm water and put it on her cheek, wiping the blood off. Humming to herself, she jumped a little when the bathroom door burst open, and a laughing Cali burst in. "Hey idiot!," Her expression quickly changed when she saw her cheek, worry and a bit of anger in her eyes now. "Which one do I have to beat up this time?" she said but stopped when Mandy started laughing. "Already did that for you, sucker." 

Cali stared at her in disbelief, before bursting out laughing, grabbing her head and knocking on it. "Hello? Is Amanda Doyle here? I think she's lost." They both looked at each other, before Mandy threw the bloody paper at her, Cali screamed and dropped it at the floor. Mandy ran out of the room and ran through the hallways. Cali was behind her, her long hair flopping around as she ran after her. The halls were quiet, meaning there was no one around to suspend the two, They dropped to the floor and started wrestling. Suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching, both freezing at the sound. The hall monitor, a cranky  old man with pale blue eyes and a balding head, was staring at them with fury. 

"Detention! Both of you!"

It was the first time they got caught, and surprisingly, they didn't care.

***

Hello! :))) This is the first chapter and I'm nervous and excited at them same time! Please, if you read this, don't just leave. Tell me your honest opinion, very much appreciated! :)

Word Count: 1,123

Love,

Talia