The next few seconds were a blur for her as the fist swung into her face, causing blood to well from her nose in a flood.

"I don't know what you're doing here, but it can't be good." her assailant yelled "Now take that."

She opened her mouth to complain hotly that she had done nothing, that for once she was in fact just another innocent bystander. But before she could utter a word in her defense, the fist came once more, this time into her stomach. She clutched it in pain.

"We don't want you here." the puncher yelled once more. "Now why don't you back off and leave us all alone."

She sighed. There was no point in saying anything. Buttercup wasn't known as the toughest fighter for nothing. She'd probably only get another punch in reply. So she kept quiet and said nothing.

"You understand you'll never be another Powerpuff girl like us. Or do I have to remind you again." shouted Buttercup. "Now back off, Back off and leave us all in peace. You're not welcome here. Go!"

The other kids took this as a cue to point accusingly at her, gesturing for her to go. The cold silence they shared said more than words ever could.

She left without another word hoping the rest of the day would turn out better.

The lesson bell rang. The teacher organised her and the other students into teams for a project. "Don't go with her. She'll just ruin everything" Buttercup said. The other students quickly took this as a cue to move away from her, leaving her to spend the lesson moping in a corner, all by herself. No one said a thing to her and their eyes slid by her without pause.

Lunch started. She took her tray and sighed as she looked for a place to sit. A student quickly grabbed the tray as she turned away. "Give that back." she asked. The student said nothing, but responded by spilling the bowl of food all over her, so that her outfit was splattered with stains. "How does it feel now" he grumbled "Because this is exactly how you make me and the others feel when we see you." He left, before she could say another word to him.

She turned to see Buttercup staring furiously at her from another corner of the room. Buttercup said nothing, but instead motioned her away with a flick of her arm.

She opened her mouth to protest, that this was not the right way to treat someone with as much elegance and refinement as her, but then quickly decided against that, seeing Buttercup raise her fingerless fist in anger.

The next lesson seemed to crawl by. The seconds crawled like years as every time the teacher turned away, Buttercup would throw a paper plane in her direction and written on them were words so vulgar, so rude that she could not believe anyone would ever use them so casually.

She thought about telling the teacher, but quickly decided against that too. It was Buttercup's words against hers. She would be matching her credibility against Buttercup, a powerpuff girl. The teacher would most likely scold her for telling lies again, or worse, hold her in detention for trying to frame an innocent student. Then the other students would laugh at her even harder.

The lesson ended. She slowly stepped outside, as Buttercup walked beside her. She barely registered what happened in the next second as her balance was lost and she fell face first onto hard gravel. She looked at Buttercup, half mad with anger, half horrified and begging for mercy. Buttercup shrugged and headed off, without a word.

That was final. School had ended and now she could return to the safety of her manor, where she would be safe from the mocking stares of her peers and Buttercup.

Buttercup was not the only Powerpuff girl, she had two sisters Blossom, and Bubbles. Blossom wasn't exactly a saint, but she was slower to anger than her raven haired sister. But then again, Blossom liked her no more than Buttercup, and did not protest when she was around with Buttercup. If Blossom was upset with her sister, she certainly didn't show it. But then again, Blossom wasn't in school today.

Neither was Bubbles. She could bring herself to hate Buttercup for all the times Buttercup rained on her parade, and made her feel small. She could resent Blossom for not doing more to restrain Buttercup when Buttercup attacked her, and for rubbing in the fact she would never be another Powerpuff girl in her nose when Buttercup had already done that.

But she could not hate Bubbles. For some inexplicable reason, she could not hate Bubbles. She tried and failed to resent Bubbles even slightly. And when she did try, she still had the image of that beautiful present she got last year after Santa had placed her on the permanent naughty list where she would stay till the day she died. But on her doorstep that very day she returned home, defeated and humbled, she found that present.

"From Bubbles" it said. "Merry christmas to you. I hope Santa takes you off the naughty list soon."

She could not fathom that. After she had hurt Bubbles and her sisters so much, the last person she expected any sort of gift from was from her, especially how sensitive she was. But there it was.

She shrugged and trudged home, trying very hard not to look back.

The one though she could not help but dwell on was that things might have been different if Bubbles was not sick today.
Something about Bubbles made her seem too nice.

Her one birthday present on her last birthday when like usual no one came, came from Bubbles.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there." it said on the card "My sisters needed me. But I hope you have a nice birthday."

She quickly pushed those thoughts aside. Bubbles was indeed nice, saintly even, but that didn't mean anything. Bubbles was another Powerpuff girl, and to them, she was a sworn enemy. Bubbles's responsibilities were to fight off evil and keep Townsville safe. A noble goal but unfortunately, to them, she was just another evil. In fact she was only second to Mojo Jojo, Him and the Rowdyruff boys on the list of enemies they were not to trust on any account.

Except that they didn't go on the naughty list, while she did. Hardly a coincidence.

Sometimes she thought about asking Bubbles for help. But Bubbles probably wanted nothing to do with her. She didn't blame her, she had wronged Bubbles and her sisters many times in the past and they had fought over many matters, most of them started by her.

She sighed as she trudged to her mansion, and stepped in, and up the stairs without a word.

"You're not a Powerpuff girl, and you never will be" came a voice in her head.

A surge of pain welled from her nose once more, and she clutched it to stop it bleeding.

"All I wanted" she sobbed as she remembered the hurtful words Buttercup had said to her "Was to have friends just like the Powerpuff girls. Was that, really too much to ask?"