I was angry about going to school, I was not someone you would call the kind of person who welcomes new things with open arms. I don't. And I was tired of people making my decisions.

I slept with a heavy heart that day, knowing I was sleeping with a ghost next to my room and school was there the next day. I was sort of happy that Lady Jo decided this was the time to go on her extravagant tour to Paris, now I don't have to start my day with the amazing moral support and encouragement from the lady herself. I woke up early to decide my clothes for the day, and the angel in me, which I could basically imagine as a little Aunt July on my shoulder, wearing her wedding dress and a glowing halo around her head, speaking in her voice pleaded me to get dressed decently. I was thankful Lady Josephine did not know about my fake hair or eyes. Or maybe she did not bring them up, but they were out of the coast for now, which I was glad about.

I decided on vintage clothing because that was the best definition of appropriate I could ace. It was a dark blue floral patterned knee length dress, which I wore leggings and a red upper with. I made my dark hair into a loose braid that I had learnt from Aunt July and wearing boots to go with it, because it was cloudy with a strong prediction of rain, I headed downstairs. Serena kindly gave me a syruped waffle that I ate before leaving. I traveled with George to the main city and he gave in to my request to drop me off a block away from the school and pose as my brother while walking in there. I don't care if I have to lie about my family, I don't want people treating me like a goddess because that is exactly how Rachel told me they do to her. Her private school though, for some reason Lady Jo did not allow Rachel with normal people. She attended a private school for kids from noble families, and still she was treated like a goddess. So I took the warning pretty seriously.

Now I knew what George described was true, Hanselane was a lot like the Paris I heard about in stories, I have never been to Paris. And Feline Mansion was at the corner of the city near the highway where George drove in from Manhattan. I dismounted the car a block away and George laughed while walking me to school, calling it ridiculous. I obviously had to tell him about everything going on in my mind. People don't just agree to become your apparent brothers, do they?

Entering inside I felt a blizzard run inside me, I felt eyes staring me down, and hating the attention I started to walk fast towards the reception and the podgy woman gave me a final stare before the attention was swept off me. 'Wanda Andere Flash?' I nodded and she handed me my time table. One Year, Wanda, and then you are out of here. Freedom. Independence. No more stupid old ladies. No more coping up with people my age.

I looked back to people twisting towards the door, while two girls, cat walked inside like super models. According to my movie knowledge, these were supposed to be the queen bee and her minion. Sure enough, the blonde in the front passed dirty looks towards the easily classified nerds and freaks, and then winked at the guys gaping at her. She wore a mini shirt, stating "Slaying", and no joke I misread it as slutting. And skinny jeans, and heavy mascara, and shiny pouty lips, and hair up in a high ponytail, and heels higher than my thumb. The girl at her side was equally in attitude but sucked on a lollipop, funnily enough and I bit down a snicker.

'Hey new bee,' someone said from behind me and I looked at my back to find a cute guy, his dark hair standing up smoothly, and a small smile tugging at his lips. I passed him a small wave and hurried towards my locker, trying to avoid any more talking. 'Hey, hey, hey,' he tried again and followed me, 'I am Cole,' he said when I turned around again. And I am Groot, 'Wanda,' I told him.

'Unique name,' he said, 'so which class first?' I told him I had English and he told me he had the same. We checked our time tables to see we had a lot of classes in common. He even had the same majors as me, psychology and business studies. I thought it would be extremely unusual to take these subjects in a combo, but here he was, small world. We talked for a while, and I discovered I was not that bad at socializing, might give it more shots. 'So tell me honestly, why would you even talk to me in the first place?' I asked him for the tenth time while we walked around the corridor to our first class together. 'I realize how making friends how we are supposed to make friends has become very uncommon, people are always looking for a benefit. I am serious, Wanda, I realized you were new and gave it a try without a cause. Plus, who does not want to talk to a cute girl standing in front of you?' I chuckled, and then realized he just called me cute, and subconsciously started fiddling with my upper, again. That was kind of my go to reaction to nervousness, or awkwardness, fiddle with whatever you are wearing. 'Uhh, sorry, I am just straightforward like that.'

'Nah, it is alright, thanks by the way,' and he smiled. You are also cute, I wanted to say but just dropped it.

So the classes went by like that, giving more shots to socializing, in the dustbin. I did not talk to anyone at all after that. And discussing the meaning of life with your geeky lab partner who looks like the future prediction professor in the University of Magic does not count, because she did the talking, not me. People gave me different looks all day long, let me list the ones I remembered. The oh-poor-new-bee look, the oh-should-I-go-help-her-find-her-locker-nope-never-mind look, the new-addition-to-emo look. At break, I sat alone on a small table so I won't be the attention of anyone at all. But does the universe ever listen to my mental cries-out-loud? No it does not.

Soon enough the queen bee herself was making way to my table, as I picked on a cold stale French fry. I looked up to her, as she beamed, and giving her a little lopsided smile, I looked back down. 'Hey, Ruby's the name, you?' I replied Wanda, monotonously and the other blonde, waved, 'Miranda,' I waved back. 'So?' she asked, 'Where are you from? I have not seen you around.' Right then I saw Cole come inside the cafeteria, and waved at me, and I smiled.

'Manhattan,' I told Miranda and she grinned, 'Ooh, how is life there?'

'It is nice, it is home, importantly,' I said truthfully and she nodded. Just then Ruby started up a conversation about their next football match, and for a minute there I actually wondered if they were interested in football, but then she brought in cheerleading and I boringly started to pick on my French fry again. The cheerleading convo intensified, I knew they expected me to be interested but I was not. Even Aunt July thought cheerleading is not a sport. I kept humming all the time, before it got out of my mind to bear the depth of the matter, how it was so hard to keep the shirt right where it is supposed to be and some creep named Tom kept staring at their legs. And Oh-so-hot Ashton, I caught him staring at me that day, and did you hear Olivia was going out with the freak guy, and did you hear bla bla bla. It got so out of my tolerance level that I just got up, said 'I have some where to go' and walked away. I knew I was being rude, but I could not care less.

'Hey, Wanda,' Cole said as I walked to his table. I shot him a nod, and got to the point, 'Umm, can I please sit here? I am not interested who Olivia is going out with and why Ashton is so hot,' I said and Cole coughed hard while nodding. He started to choke and a blonde guy who I did not notice before came by and thumped his back. I felt déjà vu and stared at him questionably. 'Did I say something wrong?' I asked and he laughed after getting better.

'Yeah, no, it is just that, Ashton,' he said and I nodded, 'what about him?'

'This IS Ashton,' he said and I looked back to the blonde guy again who was embarrassingly eating. I flushed red, why, Wanda, it is not like you called him hot, Ruby called him hot, okay? Well, not in front of him. 'Oh,' I said loud enough for him to hear and he looked up. Cole laughed at Ashton and he threw him a look saying, shut up. When Ruby talked about this Ashton I got an impression of someone cocky and flirtatious, Ashton over here was something opposite. As much as I am tired of myself judging people from their first look, and being irritatingly right, Ashton looked like he was humble. I traced his features.

He had light brown eyes, not the chocolate kind but those that offered warmth that you crave for on a cold day, his hair were dark, brown, soft and his diamond shaped face was as mysterious as his attitude seemed.

'Oh,' I said again, and Cole shook my hand, 'It is alright Wanda, not like you caught him naked or anything,' he said and I flushed a deeper red, crimson, and Ashton mumbled, 'Dude, stop.' And I wanted to yell at him to stop too. Cole burst out laughing, 'I did not intend to say that. It was merely a truthful thought exposure.' Uhh what is that?

'Don't pay attention to him,' Ashton said to me and I punched Cole's arm to make him stop laughing. He clenched his arm, 'Ouch,' in a fake cheerleader accent.

I smiled at Ashton, 'So I guess you don't really want to know that Ruby caught you staring at her last week in Starbucks when you guys were there at the same time, right?' I asked and he groaned. 'Ashton was playing video games with me,' Cole said and I chuckled, 'No need to explain.'

Ruby came up to our table just then, 'I hope you don't tell anyone about what we talked about Wanda. Or even if you do. Does not matter.'

'Um. Okay?' I said unsurely. By saying that she just made her point of stopping by senseless. 'Yeah, and next time please give us a reason other than an emergency to flirt with these guys to walk away, okay?' she said and I raised an eye brow, feeling anger pump through my veins, another thing was there too, oh. Confidence, and I know my confidence is a dangerous thing. That peril is not the reason why I decided to hide it away though.

'Yeah, okay,' I said patiently. But just when she turned back to leave I shot without thinking, 'Yeah, and next time give me a reason other than spilling out the rumours in your guts to start talking to me without my will.' She turned back, Miranda gasped, sucking on the lollipop again and she grimaced at me, 'Watch your step, new bee.' And with that she took off.

There were an amazing amount of woohoos and yahays in the whole place, and eruption of them as she left like I was Dorothy who had just killed the wicked witch of the east and these were the munchkins just about to begin their ding dong the witch is dead anthem. Even Cole smiled at me like Glinda the good witch.

'No, Wanda I am not Glinda, the good witch,' he said bursting my little bubble.

'I said that out loud? Wow, sorry, of course you are not,' I said and picked on my French fry again before pushing the tray backwards, I missed Manhattan, Aunt July's food. I did not want to start up with this again too, Hanselane was just bringing on about all the things I wanted to forget. Hallucinations, seeing ghosts, unintentionally speaking my thoughts out loud, and even the urge to ballet dance. Stupid Lady Jo. Stupid mom. Stupid dad. Stupid Stupid Hanselane.

'Wanda Andere Flash, meet me in my office after break,' someone called out from the door and I winced and looked back to see a teacher standing at the door of the cafeteria and I nodded. 'Must be to have you select your extra-curriculars.' I nodded at Cole.

'Andere, eh?' Ashton asked and I nodded, 'my mom's idea to name me after her inspiration, I don't know who that is.'

'Andere. You don't know who that is?' Cole asked and I shook my head.

'Cole. She is new here,' Ashton said, 'Andere, is the middle name for Lady Josephine,' he said and my eyes widened, 'she is...' and I cut him off.

'I know who she is, just not that her middle name is Andere.'

They both nodded and resumed eating and I sat dumbfounded looking at the sky. Lady Josephine was my mother's inspiration. The sky looked like it would start to pour any second, grey and heavy just like how I found myself to be. Heaven was going to break loose here. Rain was coming, it was on its way, and it was coming for me, for the sake of my true happiness. Now I always have had this history with rain, whenever it rained I got a good news. Be it really small or really big, it was at the time of rain.

When I got admitted to ballet, it rained. When River got me my hair wig, it rained. When I went home to Aunt July from the hospital, it rained. When I got my job at Starbucks, it rained. I was waiting for it to rain to get my good news that day. I went into the office where the gorgeous teacher waited for me. She had a cute bob in her brown hair, and wore cat eye glasses and wore office pants with a loose magenta top. She looked at me smiling and told me to have a seat. Sure enough she had called me to decide my extras and I was given the option between singing, dancing, drama and cheerleading. Sports was a must though, which I was happy about.

It was true. I was actually pretty good at sports. Because growing up with River, who was a football addict, he taught me to play both football and basketball until I became 'A Pro' like he called me. After ballet classes, I used to play tennis with the senior ballet dancers over there, which makes me good at that too. I fiddled with my pen for some time, you would think it should have been easy for me but dancing was something I was out of practice. Singing, uhh, no, I mean my voice was not intolerable, but I was not really what you would call a singer either. And for drama, saw how I ran away from it at break? Nope, that could not be. And I ticked Dancing, my fingers trembling. Schools had dancing? Or was this another surprise Hanselane had in wrapped for me. Hello to the Good Old Days.

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All my Love,

Miracle ❤