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Friends. Normal kids have friends—or at least one. You need someone to watch your back and protect you in the cruel existence that is high school.
Milly Clarke was far from normal, and she did not expect anyone to watch her back anytime soon. Kids turned their heads when they saw Milly, as if she were Medusa and would turn them to stone. It was such a drag.
Milly was used to it. She was never the centre of attention. She was the girl whom nobody attended her birthday when she invited the whole class. At least there was more cake for her.
But something had changed. There was a bounce in Milly's step. She had sung! She soared through majestic mountains as a queen. The sun kissed her skin with praise. She escaped that icy cave of rejection that she had lived in for so long and emerged into fields of freedom. But she wished that she had someone she could tell.
She wanted to talk to Zahra. Even though she had been the bane of her existence, Zahra had validated her. She replayed the look on Zahra's face over and over again in her mind.
"It sucks that you are actually good…"
When your enemy said something nice about you, you could be sure it was bait. Maybe Milly would now sing in front of the whole school only to be laughed at. But this compliment was not in front of Zahra's goons. It was between Milly and Zahra. It couldn't have been a lie.
Milly felt that they were on the same playing field now. She was not a bug under Zahra's shoe. Milly felt that she could talk to her.
As the day drew on, Milly could not get it out of her mind. She watched Zahra in class. After some time, she felt it was creepy and eased off. Zahra paid no attention to her. Maybe she was so stunned by Milly's marvellous performance that she was incapable of even looking at Milly, let alone bully her?
After the last bell rang and school ended, they were all at the lockers. Milly's locker was right opposite Zahra's. It was strange that Zahra was still ignoring Milly. Rosa Cristina had noticed it too. She was one of Zahra's best friends. She had dark brown hair that curled at the ends, black eyes into which you could fall into and never return, and she wore too much red like she was one of Santa's elves. Rosa looked like she was going to spit on Milly. Rosa nudged Zahra to start the ragging, but Zahra was lost in her own world.
Milly almost missed the conflict. Zahra would say something about her hair being a bush, and Milly could get her vengeance.
Zahra was out near the entrance, near the bike rack, with her crew. She didn't seem to be interested in talking. She was recoiling into her shell like a turtle.
Milly walked up to her. "Why did you say what you said?"
Zahra sighed and ignored her.
Rosa replied for her, "Get lost, Smilly."
"Tell me," Milly said, "Why did you say I was good at singing?"
Her crew laughed like it was some sort of joke, but Milly was dead serious.
Zahra finally opened her mouth. It was poison.
"I didn't say that. You are a worthless weirdo who nobody likes and will never like. At best, you would be a cat lady, or worse, they will put you down for killing someone," Zahra said.
Milly wanted to attack back, but instead, these strange feelings built up in her chest. She felt like she was going to faint. She fell to the floor and began hyperventilating. Her arms were shaking and she couldn't stop. The world closed all around her and she was crushed. People gathered all around her.
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"Hey! Hey! Hey! Get out of here!" A voice came from a corner. Someone had picked her up and walked her back inside.
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When she woke up, she found herself in an old classroom. She had never been in this part of the school before. The wallpaper was peeling off and tables wobbled. It was empty except for a boy talking at the centre and a girl sleeping at a desk next to her.
"Hey, you. My melodramatic friend. Good, you are awake," he said.
"What?" Milly said.
"My name is Viraj Chanda, or The Chan-Man. Remember it because it is going to be everywhere in the future," he said.
Viraj Chanda was a lanky, brown-skinned boy with curly hair that fell over his face dramatically—maybe he had hair-sprayed it. He looked rather dashing except for heavy dark circles underneath his eyes.
"You can't do that again, my friend... we were barely strong enough to carry you," he said. Then he looked at the girl next to Milly. She had bleach-blonde hair tied into a ponytail and a strong jaw.
"Stevie! Wake up!" Viraj said.
Stevie was almost drooling.
"Wake up!" He chucked a ruler at her.
"Ow... Stop that, Chanda..." she said.
Who were these weirdos? Millie had never seen them before. Why were they talking to her?
"Where am I?" Milly asked.
"That is a fantastic question. You are at the first meeting of Savanna High FilmSoc!"
"Why am I here?" Milly said, getting up to go.
"Because we want to be your friends, Milly."
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What did he say...?
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