Superficial: Part Three

      I arrived at the gate to find, to my surprise and pleasure, that Satisha, Sugar and Farowyn were there already, waiting for me. I dashed joyfully across to greet them, and together we went up the path to the school.

      We spent an enjoyable morning with Mrs. Sandestripe as she taught us addition and subtraction with beautifully glowing organic apples and pears, which she let us snack on after we were finished. Then there was Ms. Spineworth's Geography class, where a wonderful large map of Neopia was brought out, and Ms. Spineworth, a young smiling Yurble, called upon us one by one to paste the names of various Neopian provinces onto their respective places. After that was Mr. Yonks' art class, where we made beautiful messy collages of paint, glitter and various other things. Several of the boys got into a paint-fight at the back of the class, and while they got in trouble for that, I think the rest of us found it a great joke.

     By the time recess rolled around I was blissfully happy. All the negativity of yesterday seemed to have disappeared completely. Neoschool was a wonderful place! I loved it. From now on, every day would be as glorious as this one.

      I was sitting at our table in the cafeteria, tucking happily into a slice of fresh cherry pie while I listened to my friends chatter, feeling on top of the world, when I noticed Sekya out of the corner of my eye. She was sitting at an adjacent table with the lanky red Lenny and the shy-looking yellow Kacheek. As she caught me gazing at her, she shot me a venomous glare and looked away again.

      I felt that ice of yesterday lance through my heart again. What had I done wrong? Sekya clearly had something against me, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was. Was she still angry with me for knocking over the Kacheek? Possibly. But I'd already apologised for that... or had I? Perhaps I hadn't made myself totally clear. I made up my mind to go and talk to her later, and get the whole issue cleared up.

      When the final bell rang on our Neopian History lesson, I packed up my things quickly and approached Sekya's desk. She was gathering up her books and saying something to the Lenny when she saw me. Her eyes turned cold.

      "What do you want, Uni?"

      "Please," I began. "I just wanted to ask you why you don't like me. Is it anything I said? Is it because I knocked over your sister yesterday? Because-"

      "Oh please," the Gelert snapped, cutting me off, "don't patronise me, Uni. I know pets like you. Spoiled, overstuffed, perfectly groomed, strutting around the schoolyard in that pink painted pelt of yours, all prettied up with ribbons, like you're the Faerie Queen. Showing up at school with your human maid. Making Babaa's eyes at the teachers, just so you can get them to like you."

      I stared at her, mystified. Sekya, seemingly encouraged by my confusion, went on.

      "There's plenty about your lot, too. You and your snotty painted friends, laughing and chattering away in the cafeteria like a flock of Pawkeets. It's always the same, a bunch of painted pets who only hang around with each other, because we plainfurs and those whose owners don't get much NP a day just aren't good enough to be your friends. Or do you even read the Neopian Times, Uni?"

      Several pets had begun to gather around us. I heard murmuring, and several of them darted glances at me that ranged from curious to suspicious. I felt my ears fold back of their own accord, feeling rather embarrassed by their scrutiny. I still didn't understand.

      "What we want to say is, Uni, is that it doesn't matter to us what you think," put in the Lenny icily, gazing at me imperiously down his long beak. "We won't be made to think of ourselves as low down or 'not good enough' just because we aren't rich and we wear the colours we were born with on our backs."

      The Kacheek said nothing, but gazed at me with the same expression of fear.

      "B-but..." I stuttered. This was too much to take in at once. Why were they accusing me of thinking they weren't good enough? "I... I..."

      Sekya simply rolled her eyes and turned her back on me, the Lenny and Kacheek following suit. I stared at them as they strode out through the class door, feeling my entire inside frozen numb by the onslaught. I hardly noticed the small group of curious onlookers around me drift away, still whispering amongst themselves. I think I stood there until a soft paw brushed hesitantly against my foreleg.

      "May?" came SugarFlower's whisper of a voice. "Why were those pets shouting at you?"

      I felt the firm, familiar press of Satisha's paw on my shoulder, behind my wing. "May? What happened over there?"

      I shook my head, trying to sort out the confused gale of thoughts and emotions tearing through my mind. "They... I... don't..."

      "Are you alright?"

      I lowered my eyes to the floor, miserably. "I... don't know. I... don't... understand..."

      "What did they say, May? What did they say to you?" Satisha was beginning to shake me. For some reason I couldn't get the words around the knot of shock and pain in my belly.

      It was Farowyn who came to my rescue. "Don't press her, Sati," she said in a low voice, coming up behind us. "May, let's get you sent home for now. If you want to talk about it, you can send us a Neomail or wait for tomorrow. Okay?"

      I nodded dumbly. Satisha looked like she wanted to say a great deal more, but she nodded as well and together the four of us made our way outside.

     ***

      Later that night, I was curled up in my bed under my duvet, waiting for sleep, when there was a soft tap at the door and I heard it swing open.

      "Maybellene?" came Mother's voice. "Can I come in?"

      I poked my head out from under the bedclothes and turned over onto my back, glad to see her despite myself. She hadn't appeared for dinner again, but she was apparently here now.

      Mother seemed to take that as a yes, and she came to sit beside me on my bed. I studied her profile in the dim light of the room, the long, narrow human face, the pointed nose, the wispy auburn hair tied back into a severe bun. It wasn't often that I got to really talk to Mother, and she never came into my room much. This was a surprise.

      "Maybellene, I am sorry. I... had forgotten what a special day it must have been yesterday, for you. And I realise I should have been there for you, as your owner... perhaps I just... don't know how. I admit I am... not always what an owner should be, Maybellene."

      "No, Mother," I protested, surprised at what I was hearing. "You give me so many things! How could you be a bad owner?"

      Mother sighed deeply. "Never mind, Maybellene. Suppose you tell me all about Neoschool"

      I gave her an account of everything the past two days had held for me. Or at least... almost everything.

      "So, you've made new friends, you and the young Wocky?"

      "Oh yes! There's SugarFlower, she's a white Usul who's really shy and sweet... and Farowyn, this demure Zafara. I'd like to invite them to our house sometime... Mother, may I?"

      "Of course, Maybellene. Any friends of yours are more than welcome here." She looked at me meaningfully. "And has anyone given you any... trouble at school?"

      Something gripped my chest, making me catch my breath. I coughed a little to recover myself.

      "Maybellene? Are you alright?"

      I held up a hoof and raised my eyes to hers, managing a weak smile. "Yes, yes I'm fine, Mother. And no... there hasn't... really... been any trouble at school."

      "Ah, good, good. I knew you would make me proud." Mother nodded approvingly and got up again. "Well, I shan't keep you awake any more. You'd best get to sleep."

      I nodded assent. "Good night, Mother."

      I waited until the narrow track of light from the doorway had thinned out and disappeared into darkness before I burrowed back under my quilts.

     Sekya's words still rang in my head, weighing heavily on my soul. I wasn't a stuck-up, snotty pet, was I? Surely not. Why would Sekya think that about me? And more importantly, what could I possibly do to prove to her that I wasn't?

      This last thought filled me with a determination that somewhat lessened the weight. I decided I would ask Satisha, Farowyn and Sugar. Surely between us we could come up with some idea.

To be continued...