FIFTY-THREE

"Hey, hey, is it true that you're getting adopted?"

She flinches at the blunt question, but at least the person who's asking doesn't seem to be looking for trouble; he just looks curious.

"Um, well…," she casts about for a way out, but now a few other students have gathered around her desk, also curious, "I-I s'pose…." Her face feels hot. She ducks her head, trying hard to keep her hands and legs from being jittery.

"It's the stern lady with blue hair and the one with funny pink hair that came last week, right?"

"U-um—"

"No, it's the man with the butler!"

The man with the butler? She hasn't seen anyone like that….

"Or is it the woman in red? She wears a lot of red, and she looks really stern, too!"

She hasn't seen anyone like that, either. Actually, it looks like she's been pretty out of it lately, because she doesn't recognize any of the people being described.

"Well? Who is it? Tell us!" the first boy from earlier interrupts the babble of the others, thus refocusing their attention onto her.

"It's… Mrs. Kazanari… a-and Mrs. Kazanari." Just then, she realizes that she never did ask about their last names, and she realizes that her bare-bones answer definitely won't satisfy the curiosity of those surrounding her. But she can't. She can't talk about Mrs. Tsubasa and Mrs. Maria, because—because they're hers.

A few seconds pass without her elaborating, so the boy prods again, "And?"

She shrugs; her hands are sweaty now, and she thinks her blush has extended to her ears, too.

"Children, what are you still doing here? It's such a nice day—go out and play!"

Thank goodness that the teacher came back; the students scatter, which lets her slip away. A few glance at her as she passes, still prying, but she makes it to her room without anyone else stopping her.

Dropping her books on her bed, she takes a deep breath to slow down her racing heart. She reaches for Mr. Penguin and Ms. Teeth, burying her face behind them. For the moment she has the room to herself, which doesn't happen often—it's a fortunate coincidence that gives her some space to breathe.

It's not that she doesn't get along with the others. It's her anxiety that gets in the way, though the fact that most of the people she meets are extroverts doesn't help, either.

Back home, she was never lonely… she had Carol and her father and even a few village children (but only when they stayed long enough to get to know the people). Here, she's out of her comfort zone on a daily basis.

Honestly, it tires her out.

Keeping up the energy to deal with everything around her means that she doesn't have the energy to go deeper—it's a stable equilibrium that's skewed towards conserving energy, not making friends.

Still, she's learned from this. She's pretty sure she'll be thankful for the practice at socializing once she starts going to her next school, which will probably be much, much bigger than the orphanage's school.

And, that's her cue to start doing homework. She doesn't want to daydream about the future, because that's just going to set her up for disappointment; it's better to wait, to have patience.

Going to her desk, she pulls out her notebook to do today's homework. Maybe she'll have time for a few chapters if she finishes the Parts of the Cell, p. 53 assignment quickly.