Mia looked around the school for Chimamanda but she had already gone home by then so she decided to do the same.
~■~
Mia opened the door of her house.
"Sorry honey. I may come back late again today. Eat dinner without me", Mia read the note in the kitchen counter left by her mum. "She could just send me a message on my phone", Mia thought, "But this is kind of comforting."
She then went to the living room, slumped on the couch and gave out a loud sigh.
She was distraught and let out a grunt of frustration.
She then heard a soft meow coming from the floor, close to her leg.
She wasn't even surprised to see Princess in front of her. She stared at the cat as it stared back at her.
Princess then leapt forward, landing on the couch, just beside Mia. Mia was startled but didn't get up.
Princess sat on the couch and rubbed her body on Mia while purring.
Mia sighed. "Whatever. I'll allow it since I'm distressed", she said while petting Princess on the head.
As Mia pet the cat, she noticed Princess golden collar. "This is the first time I'm actually taking a good look at your collar.... It's pretty".
She then looked at the pendant in front of the collar as she held it. It had a symbol on it. "Where have I seen this before", Mia tried to recall but as soon as she held the pendant, Princess hissed at her then pulled back, leapt on the floor and walked away.
Mia was surprised. "If you were going to do that, why come close to me in the first place", she yelled at the cat.
~■~
The next day, Mia intentionally came late to school... well later than usual by her standards. She tried to avoid contact with people so that they wouldn't get the chance to ask her about what happened between her and The Three yesterday.
She arrived seconds before class had started, that way, nobody could bother her.
She dreaded the fact that she had a free period that day.
"How am I going to deal with this", Mia thought as classes went on, "Maybe I'm just over exaggerating", she tried to calm herself.
~■~
The free period had come and nobody dared to come close to her locker. Chimamanda had stepped out to use the restroom since the class was unusually quiet despite the fact that there was no teacher.
"What's going on?" Mia thought as she looked around expecting to be swarmed by questions.
She then looked behind her and saw that Dale was still on his seat, surprisingly, but shortly after, he stepped out.
As soon as he closed the door and walked some paces down the hall, her table was swarmed with some of her classmates.
"Hey, what happened yesterday?"
"I heard from someone that Roxanne talked to you on the hallway?"
"How did you get to sit on The Three's table?"
"I heard that you're Roxanne's distant cousin?"
"What were they talking to you about on the table?"
"Did Nathan mention my name?"
So many questions were flying around at the same time. Mia instantly became nervous. She couldn't respond with coherent replies.
Just then Chimamanda came back from using the restroom. She was surprised to see a lot of people surrounding Mia's seat.
"Hey! Hey! Break it up. Let the girl breathe", Chimamanda exclaimed in an attempt to separate them.
"What's it to you? We're just asking her a few questions", said a rude girl on behalf of the crowd, atleast that's what she thought.
"Well nothing really, but just look at her face...", Chimamanda said referring to Mia, "...she looks like she's about to pass out from anxiety. Also, you guys are surrounding my seat, therefore inconveniencing me... but if not for all that, she's my friend and you're making her uncomfortable. You can ask her this one after the other maybe later but as for now, please give her some space."
"I didn't see her complaining", the rude girl said getting fired up.
"Calm down, Kira. No need to get angry. Chimamanda was just speaking her mind", Brandon said stepping in as he watched everything from his seat.
Kira huffed then cooled down a bit because she was also friends with Brandon.
Mia got some courage then spoke out, "I'm sorry but my heads starting to hurt. I'll answer you guys maybe another time but I really need some air now."
"Come on guys, give her some room", Brandon added.
They were surprisingly understanding and started going back to their seats one by one.
"Sorry, we didn't know."
"You could have just said so, honestly."
"You really need to speak up for yourself."
"I'll be back later."
Her classmates said as they left.
Chimamanda then slumped on her seat. "Phew, well that went well", she said sarcastically, "You better learn how to talk Mia before I become the class enemy."
"Yeah, sorry about that", Mia said nervously as she scratched her head.
"Anyway, what are you still doing here?", Chimamanda asked referring to Brandon who was now sitting on Dale's locker.
"Whaat? I'm friends with you guys, aren't I? Well closer than the rest of them", Brandon said referring to his classmates, "Plus I also helped you get rid of them."
"Yeah, after I stepped in", Chimamanda argued.
"It's okay, Amanda. He can stay", Mia chuckled.
Chimamanda scoffed, noticed something then said, "You have a lot of nerve to sit on Dale's seat"
"What's the problem? It's not like he's going to kill me. If Mia can get close to him, so can I", Brandon said resting on Dale's chair.
Mia became agitated. "What's the big fuss about Dale anyway. The way everyone treats him so differently. He's still a regular human being like the rest of us... sort of."
Chimamanda and Brandon looked at her and paused.
"What's wrong", Mia asked confused.
"You better start talking about what happened yesterday!" Chimamanda demanded excitedly.
Mia was taken aback. "I thought you said they should give me some space to breathe."
"That's them, not us. We helped you get out of that situation so you have to compensate us", Brandon added with curious eyes.
Mia smiled awkwardly. "Well... umm- Nothing really happened. They just told me some things they wanted me to know.... Maybe it's because they found out I talked to Dale.... Honestly, it was mostly awkward throughout. Too many people were starring at me. I really don't want to go through that again", Mia tried her best to make it so convincing.
"What?! Many people are begging to be where you were yesterday, and you're saying you don't want to go through that again", Brandon complained, "The few seconds Roxanne talked to me were the best seconds of my life. You're so lucky."
"Ok, calm down lover boy, it's not the end of the world.... But honestly, she was really radiating when I saw her upclose", Chimamanda admired. She then paused, looked at Mia and asked, "Are you sure that's all?"
"Atleast, that's what I remember", Mia lied as convincingly as possible.
Chimamanda hummed as she thought.
Dale then came back inside the class and Brandon flinched.
"So what are you gonna do now?" Chimamanda whispered teasingly.
"Just you wait", Brandon whispered back.
Dale then approached his seat with a confused expression on his face as he saw Brandon sitting on it.
"Hey, man. Remember me?", Brandon greeted.
"You're on my seat", Dale said blankly.
"You could just kindly ask me to get up", Brandon said disappointed as he reluctantly stood up.
Dale sat back down and said to Brandon, "As a matter of fact, I do remember you", he then brought out a book and faced it.
Brandon was shocked at his response. He then went back to his seat as a teacher came into class.
Mia heard their conversation and was taken aback by Dale's reaction. She then came to a conclusion.
~■~
It was time for lunch already. People began to leave the class.
"I don't think I can afford to go late to the cafeteria again. I had to wait in a long line yesterday", Chimamanda said as she hurriedly packed her things.
"Then hurry up", Mia said because her bag was already packed.
Dale was still sitting on his seat packing his stuff.
Mia then dropped her pen beside his locker. She bent down to pick it up.
"Dale", Mia whispered.
Dale was surprised to hear her call for him in that manner.
"Mhmm?" he responded.
"Tell the others I want to talk to all of you after lunch behind the school, got that?" she said sternly as she slowly got back up.
Dale was confused on seeing this other side of her but he didn't respond.
"Amanda, are you done", Mia said calling out to Chimamanda as if nothing happened.
"Yeah", Chimamanda said wearing her bag as she and Mia went towards the door.
"I saw you bending down. Any problem?" Chimamanda asked curiously.
"Oh, I just dropped my pen", Mia replied as they left the class.
Dale was now lost in thought after what happened but he finally got his bag and left....