Ms. Martin parked the car at the curb. Sofia would be getting out of school in about five minutes. To pass the time, Ms. Martin looked out of the window, and studied the people walking by. She had always been more of a people-watcher, and preferred silence over social interactions, which was why she had never imagined falling in love with man she did. 

Denver had been that one guy that everyone liked. He was nice. He was funny. He was handsome.  And he talked a lot. It was a surprise when he had decided to talk to her, the one girl who's best friends lived in books, and had never traveled anywhere farther than the library, but when he had, they became best friends. Overtime, Ms. Martin fell for his charm, just like every other girl. But the one difference was that he had fallen for her as well. The one problem was that Denver had always wanted to be in the military. He thought it an honor to be able to serve his country in that way. Ms. Martin had always thought she and her husband would live a long and peaceful life, where nothing changed, and nobody died. And then one day, Denver was whisked off into another country, and never came back. 

Ms. Martin sighed. She opened the car door, and stepped out. Just as she reached Sofia's classroom, the loud, and quite annoying school bell rang. Students billowed out of the classrooms, in waves that made Ms. Martin feel small. Even if the people were kids, she still enjoyed the company of people she knew over that of strangers. 

The door to classroom 14 opened, and a man walked out, followed by a line of bouncy kids. Sofia was the last to walk out of the door, and Ms. Martin noticed with a jolt that none of that radiant joy that had shone off her face earlier was left on it now. She, in fact, looked smaller than Ms. Martin felt. 

"Hey Sofi!" Ms. Martin said, cheerfully. 

"Hi mommy." Ms. Martin had hoped that if she would be happy, maybe some of it would rub off on Sofia. But it didn't seem to work. 

"Come on Sof, let's go home."

"Okay."

Ms. Martin took Sofia's hand and they walked together to the car. 

                     ~                     ~                     ~                     ~                     ~                     ~                     ~                     ~

Sofia trudged down the driveway. School hadn't gotten much better after snack-time. Mr. Williams had put everyone into partners, and Sofia got paired up with Sun-haired girl. It turned out that her name was Tracy. But Tracy had never asked Sofia's name. In fact, she hadn't even talked to Sofia at all. Lunchtime wasn't any better. Sofia sat at an empty table in the cafeteria, hoping that maybe someone would see her and come over, but no. She played alone at the playground too. None of the kids wanted to be with her. She was just too different. 

As soon as she got inside, Sofia's mom gave her a snack, and asked, 

"What's wrong Sofi?" Sofia didn't know how to answer. She was just so embarrassed that she didn't meet anyone. 

"I didn't make any friends."

"That's Okay. Sof, maybe tomorrow." Sofia nodded, but didn't truly agree with her mother that she would find a friend tomorrow. She was utterly convinced that nobody wanted to talk to her. 

Sofia finished her snack and decided to go in her room and play. She imagined that she was a fairy princess, who lived in the woods with all of the other fairies. But none of the fairies liked her because she couldn't fly. Her only friends were the animals. But then one day, the fairy princess got new wings and everyone was her friend. And she lived happily ever after. 

If only it was really that way in school. 

Dinner was quiet. Sofia didn't feel like talking, so she didn't. She didn't tell Momma about Tracy, or Fire-haired girl, or Mr. Williams, or the fairy princess that didn't have wings or friends. She didn't talk at all. She just ate her dinner, obediently. 

                ~                      ~                      ~                      ~                      ~                      ~                      ~                      ~

Ms. Martin stared at Sofia, utterly confused. This was not her daughter. She was half convinced that the girl in front of her was really in fact an alien impersonating her daughter, but that was just her irrational (and Doctor Who obsessed) high school self talking. Sofia wan't speaking at all. No stories about school, her teacher, superheros. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Sofi was insisting that nothing was wrong, but if Ms. Martin knew anybody, she knew her daughter. And this was the first time she felt like she didn't even know her anymore. Ms. Martin was starting to doubt that moving to California was maybe not the best decision ever. She should have just stayed in New York where all of Sofi's friends were. 

"May I be excused?" Ms. Martin looked at the girl who spoke. None of Sofia's former, enthusiastic self was shining through like it had this morning. Part of Ms. Martin's heart broke at the sight of her. 

"Yes, Sofi, you may be excused."

"Can you get my bath started?"

"Of course." Ms. Martin picked up the cups and plates, and dumped them into the sink. She would deal with them later. She walked down the hall and into the bathroom, where Sofia sat, waiting. Ms. Martin pulled the tap, and hot water roared out of the spiget. Sofia had never liked the sound of the bath water running, but Ms. Martin thought it was a pleasant noise. It reminded her of a campground she went to as a kid, that had a beautiful waterfall. She and Denver had gone there for their honeymoon, as well. Neither of them had really felt like going somewhere crazy, so they decided that a camping trip would be fun.  And it was. Their honeymoon was the best week of Ms. Martin's life. 

When the bath was full, Sofia plopped in, sloshing the water around, almost spilling some out of the tub. Ms. Martin sighed. She hoped that Sofia wouldn't be like this for long. She already missed her little girl.