I follow the straight line of classmates into the classroom. A familiar icy breeze hits my face as I make my way to my seat. I pull my chair out, placing my bag onto the seat, and start unpacking my things. I pull out my notebook, two pencils, a barely used eraser and arrange them on my desk. I put away my bag and sit in my seat silently, just as the rest of the students do.

Though the classroom contained 29 students, the room was quiet enough to hear the air flowing through the vents, as it is every morning. Everyone sat facing the front of the room awaiting our teacher's arrival.

Here, everyone was the same. We all had the same looks, goals, backgrounds, and interests. Our parents and teachers knew what was best for us and shaped us to be successful. To be perfect.

Eventually, Ms. Gray walks into the still room. She silently walks to the front of the class, her expression neutral.

"Before we begin, I have to inform you that you will have a new classmate joining today," she says. "I expect you will all help her to be the good students you have all learned to be." The class nods. "Good." As if on cue, the door cracks open.

"Is this the right class?" a voice asks from behind the door.

Ms. Gray's eyes widen and she quietly gasps before quickly composing herself again. "I am assuming you're Miss Liliana Una?" The owner of the fruity voice steps out of the doorway and we all realize what had surprised Ms. Gray.

"Yeah thats me," Liliana smiles. "Sorry I'm late I went through like three hallways and then got lost." She turns her head to the rest of us and her smile falls before returning more intensely as she laughs, "You guys look like clones."

Liliana had short messy blue hair. We all had the same brown hair tucked neatly in buns or cut short. The vibrant orange lipstick that coated her lips and the matching studs in her ears could easily be seen in the back of the class, while none of us could even dream of wearing that kind of makeup or jewelry. Our parents had made it clear early on that it was not allowed. Even her tone of voice and vivid expressions were different from our monotone voices and blank faces. She was different than all of us.

"Miss Una please take a seat next to Miss Smith," Ms. Gray says pulling me out of my trance. "Miss Smith please raise your hand." I raise my hand. Liliana smiles and races to the chair beside me.

"Hi," her smile grows brighter as she sits down. I can feel eyes glance at the two of us as she holds out her hand. My face grows warm as I silently nod and turn my head back to the board. When the lunch bell rings, everyone stands up and heads to the cafeteria to eat.

"Miss Smith and Miss Una," Ms. Gray says scribbling something down in her notebook. My heartbeat increases and my mind runs through all the possible reasons why she would need to speak to me.

"Please escort Miss Una through the school for a while." I nod and she sends us to join the rest of the students.

The second we step outside of the classroom, I am bombarded with questions by Lilianna.

"So do you eat porridge for lunch everyday?" Lilianna asks with a smile. I shake my head.

"Today's lunch is Chicken noodle soup and a garden salad."

"Same thing right?" I glance at her and stare straight ahead again. I wasn't used to all this conversation.

She continues to ask questions through the lunch line and all the way to our seats, which makes me uncomfortable.

"Don't you ever get bored here?" she asks stirring her soup.

I glance up at her. "What do you mean?" We didn't have time to be bored, we had too much work to do.

"Like what do you do for fun?"

"I," I stop to think, "I like to read novels in my spare time." I answer with a bit more energy than usual because, well, I enjoy reading.

She raises an eyebrow, "Who do you hang out with?" She was now done eating and was staring me dead in the eyes.

"I don't uh... I don't usually have the time to hang out with anyone." I glance down at my half eaten salad.

She covers her mouth and gasps, "Oh my god. You guys really are robots." I look at her quizzically, confused by what she meant. Before I can ask, the bell rings.

"Oh and you can call me Lily, we're friends you know," she smirks and picks up her tray.

I had a friend. I can't even remember the last time I had an actual friend. Of course, everyone in my class was aware of each other but we were all only acquaintances and never bothered talking to one another.

"Dude," Lily pulls me out of my trance by tugging on my arm, "we're gonna be late." I quickly get up and take Lilly back to the classroom.

When we enter the classroom everyone is already seated. My stomach twists as we make our way to our seats.

"Miss Smith," Ms. Gray turns to us, "please explain why you are late." My heart pounds, and my face grows hot.

"She was showing me where to put my lunch tray like you asked," Lilly said calmly unpacking her things. Ms. Gray turned back to the whiteboard. Lilly just looked at me with a thumbs up.

When the final bell rang, I started to pack up my things. In the corner of my eye I notice Lilly shoving all her belongings in the bag. I zip up my bag and pull it over my shoulder as Lilly continues to struggle with her exploding bag. I start to leave the classroom.

"Anne," she finally zips up her bag and catches up to me, "where do you go after school?"

"I go home?" I respond and she smiles.

"Come with me!" she exclaims as she pulled out a phone covered in stickers. After getting to know what kind of person Lily was, I expected the invitation.

"I have to go home," I continue walking in the direction of my house.

"It will be fine Anne, can't you at least grab a bite with me?" she asks in a desperate attempt at getting me to go with her. The thing is, I didn't get to finish my lunch due to the constant chatting of Lily, so the mention of food started to change my mind. Though I really did have to go home, an hour wouldn't throw me that much off schedule.

"Alright," I agree. Lily's bright smile beams as she celebrates me giving in.

"Come on already," she grabs my wrist and starts racing towards the destination. Despite my protests, we continue running until Lily trips and the both of us fall. I sit up and wince at the sight of my bleeding palms, but Lily was already standing up.

"Let's walk instead," Lily laughs sheepishly and offers me her hand, "you okay?" I nod.

Finally, we reach the small brick building. Lily sprints up to the door and holds it open for me. Inside are a couple wooden tables, couches and stools that are pulled up to the counter. A sweet comforting smell drifts through the air. At the front counter, a woman with a calm expression and butterscotch hair perks up.

"Hey mom," Lily walks up to the woman and gives her a kiss on the cheek. Lily turns around and motions for me to join the two of them. Both of them share the same bright green eyes, though Ms. Una's are accompanied by dark circles.

"This is Anne," she points to me, "and we want two cinnamon rolls and 2 cups of coffee."
Ms. Una laughs "How about hot chocolate instead?" Lily sighs and nods. Ms. Una disappears into the kitchen, shoes clicking against the tile.

"There's a seat over here," Lily, once again, tugs my arm in the direction of a table in the center of the cafe. Lily seems more calm in the warm atmosphere, well as calm as she could be. Her smile grew softer the longer she was in the warm cafe. We both sit down.

"Let them cool off before you burn your tongues," Ms. Una places the two small mugs filled with sweet liquid in front of the two of us. Lily just rolls her eyes. She slides the cinnamon rolls covered in icing onto the table and leaves to tend to another customer. Lily immediately burns her mouth on the hot chocolate.

I slowly pick up the mug and bring it closer to my face. I knew I wasn't allowed to drink it, but I hadn't had something so sweet in years. So, I drink it. When I place down the mug, I notice Lily staring at me as if I had done something amazing.

"You're smiling!" she shouts. My smile drops and my face starts to burn.

"So?" I mumble and take another sip of the heavenly drink.

"I've known you for like," she stops and counts on her hands, "8 hours and you never smiled." She continues to go on about how her mom made a miracle happen and how I apparently "wasn't a robot." I listen to her ramble and even contribute comments to the conversation before my phone goes off.

My blood runs cold as I cut off Lily by tearing through my bag to find my phone. The ringtone was the one I had set for my mother. When I find it, I immediately accept the call.

"Where are you?" My mother's cold voice rang through the phone. I slowly stand up.

"I'm at a cafe," I notice Lily looking at me with concern, "with a friend." Even though I knew I would get in trouble, I wouldn't dare lie.

"So, now friends are more important to you than your schoolwork?" her voice grew harsher. Before I could answer she demands, "Come here, now." She hangs up.

I pull the phone away from my face and stand silently for a moment to let my racing heart calm down.

I should have never came with Lily. I should have just gone home and studied like I do everyday. I shouldn't have come, but I did. I wanted to. Even though I am about to be scolded by my mother, the break from the organized madness I lived by was nice. But of course, my mother wouldn't let me off without reminding me that she had a plan for my life.

"Is everything okay?" Lily asked bringing me back to the present. I didn't realise she had stood up and now was gently grabbing my shoulder. I shake her hand off of my shoulder and grab my bag.

"I have to go," I murmur and shove my phone back in its place, "thank you."

"Okay." she says softly with her expression filled with concern.

I leave the brick cafe and begin to navigate the unfamiliar streets back to my house.

Ten minutes later I reach the two story house that seems to tower over the rest of the town. I have my hand on the doorknob before I pause to take a deep breath and prepare for the oncoming storm.

I walk into the kitchen, the white light from the kitchen is on and typing is heard from the table. My mom is sitting at the table. She has the same stern look on her face as she always does. I stand in the doorway until she slams her laptop shut.

"Sit." She moves aside the laptop as I sit in the seat across from her.

It goes as I expect. She lectures me on my responsibilities, and how she won't allow me to throw my life down the drain. I stay silent the whole time until she excused me.

Now I was sitting at my desk, mindlessly solving the math problems my mother assigned to me as practice. I come to the last problem and place my pencil down. Instead of preparing for tomorrow the only thing on my mind was Lily. Her smile. Her mom. Her colored lips and hair. She was so lucky. I shake my head and stand up.

I pull off my blazer and lay down in bed, too drained to properly change. I close my eyes and drift into sleep.

The next morning I get ready for school. As I pull on my red blazer, I look in the mirror.

The girl in the mirror is familiar, but how could she not be? The image of my almost identical peers was practically burned into my mind. We were all the same. All of us were born from the same picture in our parents minds, except for Lily who seemed to come out of a cartoon.

I stare into my reflection as my fingers slowly reach for the neat bun of hair on my head. I watch in the mirror as I pull out pins and soft brown hair floats down onto my shoulders. It isn't much of a difference physically, but internally I felt as if a weight had been lifted.

The feeling only lasts for a second before I panic and pull my hair back into the tight bun it was in before. I wasn't ready this early in the morning for a scolding by my mother.

I step out of the bathroom and murmur a goodbye to my mother, who is reading a book and sipping from a mug. My hand was already unlocking the front door as my mother started talking.

"I want you coming straight home after school." The crinkling of the page turning echoes through the silence.

"Yes mother."

I close the front door behind me. I run to school.

A chill ran from the vents and through my body as I make my way to my seat. The heels of my shoes click quietly against the tile of the silent classroom. I sit down at my desk, unpack my things, and wait quietly.

Ms. Gray walks into the classroom holding onto a large coffee cup and sits down at her desk. A couple seconds later, Lily slams open the door and dashes to her seat next to mine.

"Liliana please do not-" Ms. Gray raises her voice slightly as she frowns.

"Sorry," Lily laughs nervously and unpacks her things. Ms. Gray sighs and begins to instruct the class.

I turn to Lily and whisper, "Can I come over again after school?"

Lily's eyes widen before she smiles and nods.

The small taste of chocolate flavored freedom I got the day before pushed me to set myself free.

A/N I wrote this for school and I was proud enough of it to share it. As always, if there is anything I could improve on be sure to comment. Have a good day💛