"Clover, sweetie, you're going to be late if you don't wake up!" Stella yelled up the stairs. 8 year old Clover stumbled down the stairs, her shirt over her head.
"Mom… A little help please? I got stuck again." Clover said, desperately trying to untangle herself from her shirt.
"Honey…" Is all Stella said as she untangled Clover's new braces from the shirt.
"Thanks mom!" Clover said, happy to be freed from the shirt. She ran back upstairs and finished getting dressed, coming back down after she was fully dressed, stopping only to get a pop tart and to give her mom a small kiss on the cheek.
"Bye Mom!" little Clover yelled as she ran to her bus stop.
"Bye Clover! Have a nice day at school!"
Clover hadn't heard this naturally. It was her first day of 3rd grade and her arch enemy, Mandy, was going to a private school.
Nothing is going to ruin this day! Clover thought as she skidded to a stop on the corner and watched the bright yellow bus pull up.
The doors to the bus opened and Clover stepped on. She walked down the aisle, looking for a seat, when she spotted a girl with long, red hair, staring absently out the window.
"Um...Hi. May I sit here?" Clover asked, looking at the girl.
The girl turned and looked at her, her green eyes shining, and nodded. Clover smiled and sat down. The two sat in silence, despite the noise around them.
"I'm Clover." Clover said, hoping to make conversation.
"I'm Samantha…people usually call me Sam though."
"It's nice to meet you Sam." Clover said, smiling a little. Sam smiled two and before the two knew it, the bus stopped abruptly and a dark skinned girl with short black hair stumbled onto the bus.
She made her way down the aisle, searching for a seat until she realized that no one was going to let her sit with them. She then stood in the middle of the aisle and cried. Clover looked at Sam and both of them laughed at the girl, as was everyone else on the bus.
One girl, named Jayden, stood and walked over to the girl and told her that the two of them could sit together. The girl who was crying stopped and sat with Jayden.
"I'm Jayden." Jayden said, holding her hand out for the girl.
"I'm Alex." She said smiling. Jayden and Alex began talking and Clover and Sam looked over at the two.
"Hey Jayden, come here!" Clover called, signaling for Jayden.
Jayden got out of the seat and walked over to Clover and Sam's seat.
"Yeah?"
"Tell the girl that you're sitting with that we're sorry and we didn't mean to laugh at her." Clover said, glancing over at Alex.
"Here, why don't you tell her yourself?"