Also by adoriblelapin
Buffy slung her back pack over her shoulders. It was
heavy with textbooks and her writing equipment, but she didn't care. Neoschool
was the highlight of her day. She had pride in the fact that she was the smartest,
intellegent and most highly thought of pupil in the entire school. Every test
she took, every essay she wrote, was marked with a letter very familiar to her.
A. Today was her algebra test, and Buffy could almost smell her victory, top
of the class yet again. Ahh, how she loved being the best. Buffy left the neohome,
a rare smile plastered across her mutant Cybunny face.
Meanwhile, another Neopet, Lapinnie, also appeared
at her own Neohome's front door. It was her first time at a new Neoschool, and
worried she was, but her silbings had already reassured her that everything
was going to be alright.
Peering through the door, she called for her
younger brother. "Lappiny! We have to go now. I really don't want to be late..."
A second later, the disco Aisha looked relieved, as her Shoyru brother zoomed
through the halls and onto the porch with all his Neoschool utensils.
"I hope our classrooms aren't too far apart,"
Lapinnie said worriedly to the blue Shoyru. "It would be fun to see each other
between classes..." she continued as they walked.
Buffy hopped up to the school gates, she was
ten minutes early. She liked to be early, so she could organize all her work,
and do some extra jobs for her teacher. Buffy sauntered in the front door, and
placed her bag underneath her desk, near the front. She checked all her pencils
were sharp, and her pens were filled with fresh ink cartridges, before plopping
herself on a chair. Almost like clockwork, Mrs. Flash entered the room. She
was wearing an electric pink tracksuit, which clashed hideously with her cyan
streaked fur. Buffy shielded her eyes.
"Ahh, Buffy! I was wondering if you could help
me with something," she said, a big plastic grin slapped on her bloated Kougra
face. Buffy smiled back. "I was wondering if my favourite student could perhaps
help the new student around." Buffy's smile disappeared. Showing round meant
she'd have to socialise. Probably with some brainless Grundo who hadn't touched
a book in their entire life! Buffy looked down at the desk.
Sure, she muttered. If looks could kill, that
desk would have been burnt to a cinder by now.
"Excellent, Buffy, I knew I could count on you!"
From outside the hall, Lapinnie appeared. She
looked around the classroom shyly, only seeing a plump Kougra and a mutant Cybunny.
"A-am I a bit early?" stammered Lapinnie, trembling
as she spoke. "I'm sorry," she apologized quickly. "I didn't mean to interrupt
with whatever you're doing..."
Buffy looked up. There stood a disco Aisha, a
backpack stung on one shoulder, looking extremely worried. Mrs Flash slid over
to her.
"Ahh, you're not too early at all! Come sit here,
next to Buffy." Buffy had gone back to trying to set the desk on fire with her
eyes. Lappinie sat down and got her books out. Buffy saw the books in the corner
of her eye and forgot about being in a bad mood.
"Ahh, so you like reading. I like reading too.
What books have you got?" she said quickly, leaning on her chair to get a better
look.
"Mostly fiction books and encyclopedias," explained
Lapinnie, feeling more relaxed. "Fiction books are always enjoyable."
Mrs. Flash smiled, looking satisfied at their
quick friendship. There were still a few more minutes until school really began
and their teacher allowed them more time to chat. Suddenly, remembering that
she was a new student, Mrs. Flash handed her some objects. "Here is your schedule
for your classes. And there are a few notebooks you need for my subjects...
Also, do you have the materials - protractors, pens, pencils, and such? If not,
I could lend you some."
Lapinnie opened her bag and showed her everything
she had brought with her. Mrs. Flash smiled and commented, "Good! You're well
prepared, I see. That's much better than most of the students in the class,
and you're new too!"
Buffy smiled. Lapinnie had obviously gotten on
the right side of Mrs. Flash. Which was a good thing, Mrs. Flash was infamous
around school for being the most harsh and strict teacher in the school. Buffy
sifted through Lapinnie's books, while she unpacked her things. Mostly books
Buffy had read. Buffy had expected this anyway, after all, she was the mostly
highly educated and best thought of Neopet in the whole school...
Buffy dropped the pile of books, her face pale.
A book sat at the bottom of the pile, she'd never read. In fact, she'd never
heard of it. It was the thickest of all the books, and looked rather challenging.
Buffy picked the books up hastily, and put them back on Lapinnie's desk.
"So," she said casually, trying to hide her nerves,
"How many books have you read? I've read 92." Buffy was almost sure that this
overgrown Aisha couldn't have read more books that her...
"Erm, well -" began the nervous Aisha. "I haven't
read a lot, but umm... 109, actually. But they were all flimsy and thin books,
so I'm sure you technically read more than me."
Lapinnie flushed anxiously, waiting for Buffy's
reply. She never enjoyed boasting at all; it always felt wrong. In fact, she
felt awful telling her the actual number. Almost having a nervous breakdown,
Lapinnie praised, "92 is a lot of books! It took me a while to read all of that.
Isn't it, Miss?"
Mrs. Flash had been eavesdropping on the whole
conversation.
"109 books, that's truly outstanding!" she said
excitedly. "I don't think I've ever met a student who has read so much before!"
Lapinnie could see Buffy boiling over with anger. Lapinnie was about to open
her mouth.
"Yeah, well, I have loads of new books at home,
way more than 18, and I'm gonna read them all tonight," she said huffily, turning
away from the disco Aisha. She hated her. She hated the fact Mrs. Flash loved
her. She hated all her complicated books and her stupid name. Buffy felt like
crying. She was being replaced.
"Really? That's great!" complimented Lapinnie
quickly, sensing her anger. "I don't have any books at home. I always love having
books left over, because when you finish a book, you always have the satisfactory
of reading another one afterwards. Maybe we could discuss about them, I'm sure
we have read a lot of the same books..."
The Aisha looked into Buffy's eyes, and could
see her unhapiness. Seeing other people like that always made her depressed.
"Are you alright? Maybe we should tidy up before the students get here."
Soon enough, the first bell rang, echoing through
the empty halls, aligned with many lockers. Merely a few minutes later, feet,
hooves, and such stomped along the floors, causing the room to shake for a short
period of time.
"Right class, I would all like you to meet Lapinnie,
the latest addition to our class," Mrs Flash said, pointing the disco Aisha
out to everyone. "She enjoys reading and writing." "Great, another Buffy," a
Skeith muttered form the back row. The entire class giggled. Buffy turned an
alarming shade of crimson.
"Engelburt! Don't test my patience!" Mrs Flash
shouted across the room, bringing her claws down the blackboard. A earsplitting
screech filled everyone's ears. She smiled at the groaning Neopets, their hands
and paws over their ears. "Now, speaking of testing, I have the Algebra test
to set you all!" Another groan echoed around the room.
"BE QUIET!" she screamed, throwing her blackboard
eraser across the room. It slammed into an unfortunate Poogle, knocking her
off her seat. The whole room was deathly silent. The Gelert next to Lapinnie
leant across and whispered in her ear.
"That happens alot."
Lapinnie attempted to smile back, but she felt
guilty upsetting such a Cybunny. She seemed almost like her - they both seemed
to keep their thoughts inside and they had the same interests. Sinking in her
seat, Lapinnie waved to the many students who glanced at her.
She looked back at Buffy, who was turned away,
looking down at her desk.
"Now," said Mrs. Flash. "I'll need a volunteer
to hand out the papers." Her eyes flashed at Buffy as nobody else raised their
paw or hand.
Buffy got up, taking the papers from Mrs. Flash's
paw. At least that rotten, interferring Aisha hadn't offered to help...
"Hey Buffy, do you want a hand?" Lapinnie said.
Buffy glared daggers at her.
"No thanks," she said coldly, slamming a paper
on her desk. Mrs. Flash waltzed over.
"Now Buffy, lets not be a grouch," she said,
smiling at Lapinnie rather than Buffy. Sighing loudly, Buffy dumped half the
papers on her desk. The two handed them out to the rest of the class, before
returning to their seats.
"You have one hour to complete the test. By my
watch, I make it as 9:30. You may begin," Mrs. Flash said, slumping back into
her chair.
The questions were very new to Lapinnie, but
obviously not for Buffy. She skimmed through the questions and answered them
immediately, as Lapinnie read each question over and over. Answering them carefully,
she finished after a long 45 minutes. Then she began to check her answers, until
the rest of the 15 minutes had passed.
"That's all the time you have!" announced Mrs.
Flash. "Now, would someone like to collect the tests? Class, you will recieve
your marks by Tuesday."
Tuesday was tomorrow, the students noticed, moaning
at the lack of time and the mention of "marks" and "tests".
The rest of the day passed, and for Buffy it
got worse and worse. It seemed Lapinnie was better at everything than her. She
had outdone her it art, maths, English, science and even geography. It was history
last of all, and Buffy was feeling well and truly depressed. Lapinnie was telling
an account of the Sakhmet battle. Most of it Buffy couldn't even remember.
"Now class, what is..." Mrs. Flash began.
"Terror mountain," Buffy yelled. The rest of
the class laughed.
"I hadn't finished my question," Mrs. Flash said
sternly. "What is the name given to the food featured in the first clue of Usurper?"
Lapinnie put her hand up promptly. Surely nobody knew this...
"Ummagine, miss," she chimed.
"Correct!" Mrs. Flash said, her face in a real
smile. I never got real smiles, Buffy thought to herself. The bell rang. Students
piled out eager to get home.
As the class hurried off, Lapinnie went to speak
to Buffy.
"Hey," she greeted, no longer as nervous. "Are
you okay, Buffy? Do you want to read together at my house? I'm sure my owner
wouldn't mind."
Buffy gave her a dirty look, as Lapinnie drew
back. She did not reply, but Lapinnie understood. The disco Aisha helped her
pack up, Buffy reluctant to allow her to, but Mrs. Flash stood right in front
of them.
"Hurry up now, the good weather is waiting for
you outside," ushered the teacher, beckoning them toward the window, which shone
with sunlight.
Buffy cringed, before hurrying out of the classroom,
avoiding talking with Lapinnie any further. She was fed up of today, of Mrs.
Flash and most of all that stupid Aisha. She walked home dejectedly.
"How was your day," Tracy said, as Buffy entered
the house. She ignored the welcome, and walked straight to her room. Tracy looked
at Lucy with concern. The robot Kacheek sighed.
"Do you think she's okay?" Lucy said, scratching
her head with her robot paw. Tracy sat still, as if in thought. Finally, she
got up.
"I'll go see her," she said slowly, climbing
the stairs.
Buffy slumped onto her bed, she could feel her
eyes filling up with tears. But she wouldn't cry over something so silly, the
thought to herself. Even if Lapinnie was smarter, prettier, and nicer than her.
She heard Tracy on the landing. Buffy grabbed her blanket, and hid underneath
it.
"Buffy, are you in here?" she said, opening the
door.
"No," Buffy replied bluntly. Tracy sighed, and
sat next to the blanket covered heap. She could sense Buffy was upset.
"What happened?" Tracy said soothingly, putting
her arm round her. Buffy burst into tears.
Meanwhile, back at Lapinnie's house, Lappiny
and his sister just arrived home.
"How was your first day back at school?" asked
their owner Lapin anxiously.
"It was good," replied Lappiny. Lapinnie didn't
reply.
Lapin glanced at her oddly, having never seen
her upset before. "What's wrong? Did you get a question wrong in math?" - Lapin
was not particularily good at math - "Was your class noisy? Did anybody bully
you?"
"Lapin," replied Lappiny. "If somebody bullied
her, I'd box their -"
"It's alright," said Lapinnie quickly, before
Lappiny could say something violent. He was the kindest in the family, but sometimes
driven away from that reputation by battling and staring at the computer at
home.
Hurrying up the stairs to her room in which she
shared with her younger sister, she slumped on her bed and began to read through
her new notebook. After a few minutes, she sighed.
***
Tracy dried Buffy's eyes. Buffy had told her everything, from the books to
history class. Tracy hugged her close, wrapping them both in Buffy's black bedsheet.
"I think you just need to talk things through,"
said Tracy, stroking Buffy's back. Buffy sniffled.
"I... I can't," she mumbled miserably. "I bet
she hates me now," Tracy sighed.
"If she hates you, then nevermind, she isn't
worth it. But if she doesn't, then you have a new friend," Tracy said cheerfully.
Buffy sat up, and thought for a while. Finally, she gave Tracy a smile. Tracy
smiled back.
"You wont tell anyone I was crying," Buffy said,
referring to her brothers and sisters. Tracy shook her head.
"Our little secret," she whispered.
To be continued...
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