Growing Up

     "I didn't look at it yet, but probably yes!" I replied. I happily pulled her report card out of my Air Faerie Backpack and waved the envelope frantically around Ella's face.

     "Calm down, Pinky!" Ella told me. She was busy counting the small pile of Neopoints on the table. She frowned, putting the last coin down on the table. Times were hard nowadays, and with Christmas coming, I was starting to wonder if we were getting any presents. Inside, I certainly didn't care, but my bossy sister, PrincessSapphire100, aka Sapphire, would but outraged. I made a mental note to give her a talking to about what would probably happen this Christmas.

     "Okay, my precious little red Uni," she said finally. "Let me see it!"

     She gently took the envelope out of my red hooves and opened it. "An A in reading," she read. "An A+ in math, and A in geography and an A- in gym. Excellent!" she exclaimed, hugging me.

     "I would've gotten an A+ in gym if Sally the Lenny hadn't tossed the ball at me when I wasn't looking!" I complained tossing my furry arms in the air. "She was just jealous of me."

     "I know," Ella said understandingly. "But wait! We didn't read the comments!" She looked at the bottom of the paper and read, "Pinky is such a delight to have in my class, but she has grades high enough to be promoted to the sixth grade! I understand that jumping two grades seems highly unrealistic, but Pinky has proven herself to the smartest Neopet in the whole school! Please send me a Neomail before the weekend is over to verify is she would like to take the challenge. Sincerely, Mrs. Williams." Ella looked at me with a smile on her face. "Well?" she asked.

     At first I couldn't believe it. Skip two whole grades? It would be a great opportunity for my education! I'd finish Neoschool much faster than everyone else and would have the rest of my young life to spend at home reading and other things. How could I resist?

     "I'll take the challenge!" I said with enthusiasm. Ella gave me a huge hug, with a tear dropping down her check. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered to me. "Keep on doing your best."

     ~*~

     As soon as Blake (PrinceBlake100) came home from the Training School and Sapphire came home from a Gourmet Club Meeting, I told them all the good news.

     "That's awesome!" said Blake. Blake, the blue Lupe was a good brother on all aspects. He was always proud of my accomplishments in school. He attended school too and had average grades, but today was his monthly trip to the Training Academy. I was surprised to see that Ella scraped up enough Neopoints.

     "Um... that's great!" Sapphire said while looking at her nails. I could tell she wasn't happy for me. She never was. Sapphire was a red Usul with plenty of attitude. She was completely focused on eating gourmet food and buying items from the Grooming Parlor. She never got any good grades and didn't really care. She now spun around and sighed. "Good luck," she said and stalked off to her room. Sapphire had been in a bad mood ever since Ella started making less Neopoints.

     "Don't pay attention to her!" Blake said, patting me on the back. "I think this is a great opportunity for you! Don't give up, no matter what!" Then he left, leaving me alone in the Family Room.

     ~*~

     As soon as they left, I Neomailed my friend from school, PrincessKiara056, who everyone called Kiara. She was a green Zafara who was just like me. She loved school and always did her best. She also had a petpet, a Magaral named Little Kiara. In the Neomail I put:

     Dear Kiara,

     Guess what? On Monday, I will be in the sixth grade! Yup, my teacher, Mrs. Williams said that I can skip not one, but two grades! This is so exciting, but I guess this means I won't be in your class anymore. I hope we can still keep in touch!

     Your Friend,

     Pinky

     I then sent off the Neomail. A couple of minutes later I got this is response:

     Dear Pinky,

     Congrats! I knew you were just too smart to stay in fourth grade forever! I hope you won't be too lonely in your new class.

     No matter what we will always be best friends!

     Your Friend,

     Kiara

     I closed up the letter after reading it three times. "What did Kiara mean when she said 'I hope you won't be too lonely in your new class.' Of course I won't be lonely! I'll make plenty of new friends! She'll see."

     But the back of my mind I knew Kiara might be right.

     ~*~

     I spent the whole weekend cuddled up in my room reading my favorite book Illusen's Novel. How could everything go so wrong? Ever since I Neomailed Kiara, my head kept buzzing around with how my first day in sixth grade would go. Would I make tons of new friends or would people pick on me and isolate me? I'm used to everyone looking up to me for being smart, but now . . . How would sixth graders feel about it? I almost broke down and asked Ella to Neomail Mrs. Williams and tell her I didn't want to go to sixth grade, but I couldn't. I remembered how Ella was so proud of me when I told her I got promoted. She told me to 'Keep doing my best." "Doing my best doesn't mean backing out of a great opportunity," I told myself. I slowly drifted off to sleep.

     ~*~

     "Who's the new kid?"

     "Is she a transfer student?"

     "I wonder how she got here?"

     Whispers surrounded me as I walked down the hallways of Mystery Island Elementary. I looked at the numbers for each of the doors, trying to find room sixty-six, my new room.

     A tall Island Techo noticed me wandering around and looked down at me with a smile. "Are you Pinky?" he asked me.

     "Yes," I stammered.

     "Well you must be the little genius who is assigned to my class!" he exclaimed. "Come on in!"

     She took me inside and showed me my seat. I looked around the classroom, searching for a friendly face. A threesome of Acaras looked over to me and waved. They were all chewing Bubble Gum. Chewing gum isn't allowed in school. Kiara knew that and she never broke the rules, that's why she was such a good friend, but I didn't want to be an outcast so I waved over to them.

     "Alright class, settle down," the Techo said. When the class quieted down the Techo said, "As you all know, my name is Mr. Morris, and the only reason I said that is because we have a new student in our class today. Her name is Pinky and she's a red Uni who has been able to skip two grades! I hope you all give her a warm welcome!"

     Whispers surrounded me again. I wanted to sink into my seat and slip away from the world and be back in my old class with Kiara.

     Mr. Morris slapped a ruler onto the chalkboard, signaling for everyone to be quiet. He then said, "We have a history report due on Friday," he said. "Research King Coltzan III and write a report in your notebooks about him. I want this to be at least two pages. You can work in partners if you like. But Sammy," Mr. Morris pointed to a red Acara, the same Acara that waved to me. "I don't want this report written in your Tatty Notebook again."

     Lilly sighed and sank down in her seat. Her Acara friends giggled around her.

     "I'm giving you until lunch to get some of your work done. You can get the rest done on your own time. You can go down to the library downstairs. I trust you guys, now go write that report!"

     As soon as his speech was over I took out my Starry Poogle Pencil Case. Out of it I took out my Air Faerie Pen and began to write. I already knew tons about King Coltzan III since Blake's always blabbing about how awesome he is.

     The three Acaras who waved to me earlier came over to my desk. "Hey there, Pinky. Getting started on your report already?" It was Sammy, whose owner obviously didn't care what kind of notebook she bought to school.

     "Yeah," I said without looking up. "It's due Friday and I want the rest of the week to do whatever I want."

     The Acaras giggled as if I told a joke so funny King Skarl laughed at it.

     "You must be really smart to skip two whole grades!" another Acara said. She was purple, but her mouth looked pink from all the Bubble Gum. "Do you think you could help us out with our report?"

     I almost broke my Air Faerie Pen in astonishment. I could tell just by looking at all of their faces that they hadn't even started yet. It would be a waste of time.

     When I didn't respond Sammy said, "Oh please, Pinky! We've never gotten an A in our whole lives! You're so smart, it would be easier than chewing Bubble Gum! Plus," she added with a sly smile. "If you help us out, you'll be one of us! Glitter here will teach you all the fashion tricks," she said pointing to the purple Acara. "And Sweets here will teach you all the latest gossip around Neopia! For instance, did you know that Princess Fernypoo has mysteriously vanished? She hasn't been seen since this whole Lost Desert ordeal."

     Glitter and Sweets gasped, but Sammy motioned for them to be quiet.

     "I would love to help guys," I lied. "But I…"

     "We'll let you sit at our lunch table!" Sammy blurted out. "You don't want to be seen at lunch all by yourself. Then everyone will know you don't have any friends in this class."

     I sighed. The fourth graders had an earlier lunch than the sixth graders. That meant Kiara wouldn't be there to sit with me. I didn't want to be seen sitting alone all by myself.

     "Well . . ." I started.

     "Great!" said Lilly, not giving me time to finish. "We'll start out at the library."

     The two Acaras giggled when she said this, as if the library was as funny as reading the Caption Contest winners. Down the stairs and though the hallway Sammy skilfully lead us. I was a bit glad she was leading, since I didn't go down to the school's library often. Their books are often tattered and unreadable.

     When Sammy opened the door, I peered inside. No one was inside. It was cold and dark. There weren't even any shelves inside or bookcases to hold books on. In fact, there weren't ANY books at all!

     "What going on?" I asked. That's when they pushed me inside and locked the door. Glitter and Sweets laughed maniacally while Sammy motioned for them to be quiet.

     "Did you actually think I'd let you hang out with us?" Sammy asked though the glass door. I yelled and screamed for someone to hear me, but the door must've been soundproof. The Acaras ran away laughing, while I silently let tears run down my cheek.

     Suddenly, a miracle named Kiara arrived. She quickly saw the situation and said to the three Acaras, "Leave her alone!"

     "What are you going to do about it?' Glitter exclaimed.

     "This!" Kiara cried. She hurled a huge pile of dung at the Acaras and kept flinging it until the Acaras ran away in flee. "I'll get you for this!" Sammy screamed while her friends quickly followed.

     Kiara opened the door of the library. "What happened?" she asked.

     "It's a long story, but I guess I'm not ready for sixth grade, and I'm not going back into another sixth grade class unless you're right there beside me!"

     Kiara gave me a huge hug, but she smelled kind of funny. "Where have you been, and why did you have piles of dung with you?" I questioned.

     "The class just came back from a field trip to Meri Acres Farm! I knew that dung would be good for something!"

     We both laughed, and I thought of how great it was to be back with my best friend.

     ~*~

     Dear Mrs. Williams,

     Pinky decided that even though she is smart enough to be in sixth grade, she would rather be with her friends and with you. Tomorrow she wishes to be back in your classroom with her friends.

     Ella

     I watched as Ella sent the Neomail off to Mrs. Williams. "Are you sure you're not mad?" I asked her.

     "Mad? Oh for King Hagan's sake! Of course not! All I ever want, Pinky, is for you to be happy," Ella reassured me.

     "Thanks," I said gratefully. I gave her a hug and ran up to my room. My unfinished report of King Coltzan III was sitting on my bed. I picked up my Air Faerie Pen and started to write. I'd hand it in to Mr. Morris tomorrow. Not because I had to do it or anything. I was out of his class forever. I decided I would to it to show them that I was smart, but what I really needed were my friends right beside me.

The End!