The Different Ones

     I was walking along the Mystery Island beach, wondering why all the other Unis sat on the beach suntanning, grooming, and reading glossy fashion magazines. I loved the sound of the water and the rush of the wind. I dived into the water and began to swim. It was a very hot day. I was a fire Uni then, and people expected me to love heat and despise water because of my color, but it was exactly the opposite. Okay, not exactly. I didn't despise heat, but I gloried in a good swim. Water was my best friend. Which was fitting because no neopet would be. I wasn't just not like the other super vain and girly Unis, I was a tomboy, a complete tomboy. The other Unis stayed away from me because I was so unlike them, and I didn't fare much better with the other neopets. At one point the boys let me into their group, but as they got older they stopped wanting to hang out with me, and I was deemed "that weird Uni girl who wanted to be a pirate". None of them could ever pronounce my name anyways, so it worked. I guess they stopped doing things with me because I was different, even to the boys. They had given up their dreams of being pirates when they were about eight. I was in fifth grade then, so they considered me a complete weirdo. So I was left alone, to swim in the water and dream of being painted pirate and going off to sea. Not that I wanted to steal from people, I would do it for the adventure of being off at sea. That was what I deeply wanted.

      "Hey, Hlaoa!" called out an island Uni named Darlena. "I heard that there's openings for a cabin boy on a pirate ship! If you cut your mane shorter and put on a hat you'd pass!"

     The other Unis snickered.

      "Thanks for the advice," I said, calmly surfacing from the water. "But you wouldn't understand much about pirate ships. For all I know, they'd be hiring a cook and you wouldn't know the difference."

      "Hlaoa, you are so uncool," said Darlena, tossing her mane behind her back.

      "I know you think that," I said before diving down again.

     I had been putting up with other Unis' taunts and teases ever since I was a little girl. They were old news. But it was the opposite that I feared. You see, I was considered a very pretty Uni, though I didn't spend time pampering myself like everybody else. I would never want to appear vain, but the truth is, I was a lot prettier than all the other Unis, although they spent about twenty four hours a day on their appearance and I couldn't care less. That part annoyed me. I had the appearance that every Uni wanted, every Uni except me.

      "Hlaoa, wanna come to my grooming party tonight?" asked a shadow Uni named Ramena. "It's going to be awesome, and we need some advice from you."

      "Um, I don't do that kind of thing," I said to them, bobbing in the water. "And honestly, I wouldn't know what to say. I really don't groom myself except for my teeth and a necessary brushing when my fur gets uncomfortably messy."

     The Unis suddenly dropped their brushes. You see, when they weren't being mean to me, they were sucking up to me. They alternated between tactics, trying to put me down (I think it may have been to feel better about themselves that they did this) or make me love them in turn. They treated me oddly. But I didn't care what they thought. I knew none of them liked me in their hearts, and that they were only jealous of me. So I continued swimming, hoping that one day I would find a true friend, a friend who would love me for me . . .

     I was hanging out at the volleyball court, waiting for a group of noisy, giggling, not-good-at-sports girls to be done with the net.

      "They shouldn't even call that volleyball," said a Halloween Kougra beside me.

     She turned to me, and suddenly she blushed a little.

      "Oh-um, sorry," she said, turning her head away and staring intently at the game of volleyball.

      "What?" I asked, turning to her.

      "Well, you're a gorgeous Uni," she said. "I figured you were in with their group, you know."

      "You don't need to be afraid of that!" I said quickly. "I've never been a part of anybody's group."

     The Kougra smiled a little. I looked at her more closely. She was a Halloween Kougra, with short black hair cut in a bob cut. Her fangs were long and her wings stretched out longer than usual. Her eyes were expressive and she held herself in a way that said, "I don't care what you think of me; I am who I am." I immediately liked her.

      "I've never really been part of a group, either," she said. "They call me a tomboy and they're afraid of my fangs. My name is Kafferi, by the way."

     I smiled at her and told her about why they excluded me. We were fast friends.

      "Don't hang out with her!" coaxed Ramena. "We understand you better! We're UNIS!"

      "Just stop it," I said. "I can choose my own friends."

     I was getting ticked off with the other Unis.

      "Come to my grooming party NOW!" Ramena demanded. "Come!"

      "No," I said, turning away.

      "Are you coming?" asked Kafferi, flying down onto the beach where I stood with my friends.

      "No, she ISN'T!" said Ramena angrily.

      "Yes, I am," I said quickly. "Goodbye, Ramena. Kafferi and I are going to explore the jungle."

      "Wait!" cried a rainbow Uni called Caestara, holding out her hoof to try to stop me.

      "Sorry," I said, and then Kafferi and I were off.

     We had a lovely day exploring the jungle, but at the end of that day, we came across a not-so-lovely sight. There was Caestara, her long red mane tangled, her head in her arms, sobbing her eyes out.

      "What's wrong?" I asked immediately.

      "The other Unis," sobbed Caestara. "I'm not obsessed with grooming like them! I try not to be! I like reading, and writing, and swimming, and while they suntan and put on makeup I'm forced to join in because I don't have any other friends!"

      "Oh, Caestara, I'm sorry!" said Kafferi, patting her on the back.

      "So am I," I added. "Do you want to come swimming with us now?"

      "Oh, I would love that!" said Caestara, jumping up and tossing her mane back.

     So that way, we three, three pets who were different from everybody else, who didn't have any real friends, came together and were best friends. And I'm talking best friends forever. You may be wondering what happened to us. I got my wish, and I am a pirate Uni. But I'm not a real pirate. My two friends and I have a ship we sail on. It's a traveling store. We sell books (several written by Caestara), petpets, and all sorts of other things. We get lots of business, too. Thank you for reading my story!

The End