The Outcasts

      I, a plushie Zafara, was not as enthusiastic for the first day of school. My owner, Linda, has been to school. She says they give a lot of homework. I don't understand what 'Homework' is, but I guess it's work you do at home.

      My brother, the blue Yurble mentioned before, is named Spark. And let me tell you. He's not very bright, for a name like that. Spark was bouncing around the room, having just eaten a doughnut stolen out of the fridge, and an entire bag of sugar.

      "ZELLA!" shouted Spark as he bounced on the sofa. "DIDYA PACK YOUR BACKPACK YET?!"

      "No…" I said trudging into the kitchen. Linda was behind me, in her lavender bath robe.

      "Morning guys…" Linda said opening the fridge. I started to pack my Kadoatie backpack with lunch and books and anything I'd need. Just in case.

      "Zella, sweetie, you're over packing!" said Linda as she took a first-aid kit out of my hands. "There's a nurses office if you need that!"

      "But-" I said trying to grab it back.

      Linda laughed, "You'll be fine, Zella, I assure you!"

      I shuffled into my classroom 3 minutes late. The bell already rang, and the class was in their seats. My first class was English, with Miss Saria, a very tall skunk Lupe. She intimidated me at first, but Miss Saria turned out to be a pretty good teacher by the time English class was over. I was seated next to a Maraquan Scorchio, named Ray. Ray seemed nice. I guess.

      At lunch I became a member of the outcast table. There wasn't any tables left to sit at, and I decided to give the outcast table a shot.

      "Hi," I said nervously. "Can I sit here with you guys? I mean… yeah, there's like nowhere else to sit."

      A white Uni waved me over next to her. "Come on! You're welcome to join us!" she said, smiling. "Oh wait; I should introduce everybody, right?"

      There was a nodding agreement.

      "This is Kammy," said the Uni gesturing to a white Poogle. "And she's really smart." Kammy was doing a math problem on her homework. She shyly looked up, smiled, and looked down.

      "And this is Skylark," said the Uni nodding toward a pink Lenny. "She can sing really well." Skylark nodded in approval.

      "Over here," said the Uni nodding at a shadow Shoyru with a spiked collar. "Is Evan. He's… different. And he likes it."

      "And there's Chad, he's the spotted Gelert, and he's an artist." She went on, "And then there's me. I'm Rain."

      I smiled, and stood up. "My name's Zella."

      "HI ZELLA!" chorused the table with a welcoming smile. We ate out lunches, and talked about school. I really liked that table. They didn't seem to outcast-like.

      It turned out that Rain was in my gym class. She was very quiet, and a few girls made remarks about her and I being friends, but Rain told me to ignore them. That's what Linda would have told me too. She's right about that kind of stuff.

      The 'cool table' as Rain referred to it as, came up to me at recess. They asked me to sit at their table on Friday. I didn't want to commit to anything, as Rain turned out to be my new best friend. The Uni told me not to, and I agreed. The cool table was all the rich, famous, and popular pets, most of whom teased Rain. That's why I chose not to sit with them. They outcasts are my friends.

      During lunch the next day, Friday, the cool pets started to make remarks about me being stupid. Rain stood up for me, and told them to make fun of her instead of me.

      "Rain!" I said looked up at her. "Rain! I'd rather have them make fun of me!"

      Rain looked down at me from her standing point. "No," she said sitting back down. "That's what friends do."

      "I owe you," I said grinning. "I owe you something. I really do. After what you did back there, well, I should really repay you!"

      Rain laughed and shook her head. "Naaah," she laughed. "I told you, that's what friends do!"

      Recess. The outcasts sat under the playground talking about life. It was cold, and Rain shivered from the cold. Rain didn't have a jacket. I handed her my sweatshirt, and she refused.

      "I-it's OK," said Rain forcing a smile. "It's almost time to go inside and I forgot my jacket at home! It's OK!"

      "But I owe you!" I protested. "I mean after what happened when you stuck up for me-"

      "That's what friends do, Zella!" she said getting up as the bell rang. "I told you, and I won't tell you any more. Soon you'll learn your lesson."

      The next day was Halloween. Linda said that I could bring my friends, the outcasts, along. I don't like calling them the 'Outcasts.' It makes us sound stupid or something. I made a plan to talk to them and try to make up a name.

      Kammy, Skylark, Evan, Chad, Rain, and I trooped down the street with our owners. Our costumes blew in the breeze; all except for Kammy- She was a Neopian Times author. She wore a bathrobe, held a copy of the 'Times, carried an empty coffee mug, and to top it all off, lucky green boots. It was classic.

      As we ran ahead, we confronted the 'cool crowd.' They're costumes were "superior to ours, yet not as creative," as Kammy said.

      The crowd's candy baskets were full to the top. Candy actually fell out as the leader, a brown Wocky, named Kelli, waltzed in her witch costume ahead of us.

      "Well, well, well…" said the Wocky strutting as she flipped the fluff on her neck aside. "Look who we have here! The brain, the singing dork, the 'Shoyru of darkness', the peasant, the doodler, and the newbie. Seems we have more candy then you do! Probably because of your-" she paused to look them up and down. "-costumes."

      "Listen here, KELLI," I said getting up close in her face. "If you think you can make fun of my best friends, you can't. 'Cause they have me. And I'm they're 'guardian angel,' so to speak. Now you just run along in your so-called superior, 'cause we know who the better people are. And that's us."

      "Whatever," said Kelli, sticking her nose in the air. "Come on guys. We've got better things to do."

      Rain grinned. "Thanks Zella," she said hugging me. "You've shown me a real act of kindness."

      Evan, the quiet one, stood up. "Guys," he said. "We gotta stick together. Nobody breaks up the outcasts."

      "I really don't like that name," I confessed. "How about we call our group the…"

      Skylark raised her cloaked wing. "…the Ghosts. We're not painted ghost, but we're hidden! And ghosts can be good ghosts too, right?"

      The group nodded.

      Kammy raised her hand. "I think this calls for a group meeting. MY HOUSE!"

      And the 6 of us ran down Aisha Avenue, holding our candy baskets as our owners yelled things such as, "HEY! GUYS!," and "WAIT UP!"

      And one thing was for sure.

      This school year was going to rock.

THE END

Author's Note: Special thanks to my brother, my cousin, my friends, and the authors who inspired me to write for the 'Times. Oh yeah, Sockmonk too, 'cause she gave me the name Zella for my story. Thanks guys, you rock! n_n