The next day, Dowager Hatt sat Stephanie down at the table to reveal something when Sir Topham Hatt was at work.
"Stephanie," she spoke as Stephanie listened to her. "Have you ever been to school before?"
Stephanie paused a little after Dowager Hatt asked, responding as she shook her head a little, "No, not what I can think of."
She reached up with a hand and gently scratched her head a little, thinking of some memories in her mind.
"I was mostly homeschooled," Stephanie continued, remembering some memories.
This confused Dowager Hatt after Stephanie answered her question, thinking to herself for a moment.
Stephanie cocked her head to the side a little and asked, "Are you thinking of sending me to school?"
"That was the idea." Dowager Hatt nodded in agreement, glancing back over to her. "But this is a different school."
"How different?" Stephanie politely asked, feeling more curious about the new school she is going to.
"Well," Dowager Hatt began, thinking to herself. "The school I remember when I was your age was strict. We had to wear the uniforms they told us and follow the rules."
She paused as she chuckled fondly at the memories in her mind of the good times.
"You should've seen Topham's and Lowham's school pictures when they were young." Dowager Hatt smiled.
Stephanie's curiosity grew when she heard the name 'Lowham,' but gently shrugged her shoulders, suggesting that it was one of her sons.
"Although," Dowager Hatt spoke, placing a hand on her chin. "Have you ever worn a dress before, Stephanie?"
A confused expression appeared on her face after Dowager Hatt asked, responding with, "Excuse me?"
"A dress." Dowager Hatt repeated herself, understanding Stephanie's confusion. "Have you ever worn a dress before?"
Stephanie paused a little after Dowager Hatt asked, thinking to herself about wearing a dress, answering, "No, ma'am. I have not."
Dowager Hatt thought to herself after Stephanie answered before stood up to her feet, saying, "Follow me, Stephanie."
Stephanie paused a little after Dowager Hatt spoke before nodding her head and stood up from the chair, following Dowager Hatt from behind.
She entered a room that Stephanie had not seen before, wondering if this was someone else's that she had never heard of before.
Dowager Hatt continued rummaging through some belongings as Stephanie sat on the bed, not wanting to peek around at some items around to make her angry.
After a few minutes of rummaging through clothes, Dowager Hatt soon took out what seemed to be an old dark blue jacket, along with a long black skirt, black slippers, and a white button-up shirt.
"Ah," Dowager Hatt smiled. "Here's my outfit from sixth grade. I'm not certain if it can fit you, but it still is enough for you to use."
Stephanie paused a little as she took the clothes, smiling gently to Dowager Hatt.
But from the back of her mind... she seemed a bit worried about the skirt.
Being polite, Dowager Hatt walked out of the room for her to change her clothes, waiting for her to finish.
It lasted for a few minutes or more before Dowager Hatt heard a knock on the other side of the door, knowing that Stephanie had finished.
Dowager Hatt opened the door to see how Stephanie was doing in her old school uniform, seeing that she did pull what girls are supposed to wear... but wearing a pair of black tights underneath her skirt.
Instead of feeling confused about the choice of wearing black tights, Dowager Hatt merely shrugged it off her shoulders, knowing that Stephanie may feel a little cold.
"I like the outfit," Stephanie shyly blushed. "It fits me too!"
Stephanie twirled around in her uniform to show Dowager Hatt, laughing a little at her new outfit.
"I'm glad that you loved the outfit!" Dowager Hatt smiled. "I'll make some rearrangements with the outfit and gather supplies for school."
"Will school start on Monday?" Stephanie politely asked, hopping up and down on her toes.
"Yes." She nodded, turning her body a little to the side. "That means you get to ride in Thomas' coaches too!"
As soon as Dowager Hatt turned around, Stephanie's smile faded a little with worry, as her mind thought, 'Oh, crap...'
While Dowager Hatt was working on the uniform, Stephanie was sitting on her bed nervously, thinking about riding in Thomas's coaches to get to school.
She still had PTSD about being on something that moves at a fast pace, considering something had happened in her past that terrified her very much.
As much as she did want to go to school to be educated, she was still terrified of how it would happen during the ride to school.
So, Stephanie decided to go with boarding the coaches and forced herself to get over her PTSD rather than taking the 'long route.'
Even though she did not want to get on in the first place.
When the day came, Stephanie was anxious, excited, and confused after being awakened by Alice, getting dressed in her uniform.
But the uniform Dowager Hatt gave her was a little different from the one she remembered.
The uniform was dark blue as she remembered, but the stitches that kept it together were replaced with white, and the inside had pockets, too.
The inside of the jacket was in a lighter blue color with black buttons on the front, and each of them looked newer than old and worn out.
The black skirt was at the same length and the type it was before, but the hems were hemmed like the jacket in black and kept the black tights and black slippers.
The white, button-up shirt had pockets on each side of the chest, and the sleeves were mended, too.
Stephanie smiled gently from the redesign Dowager Hatt did before putting the uniform on and going downstairs to have breakfast.
As soon as Stephanie entered the living room, she saw Dowager Hatt and smiled, walking over to her and, for the first time in her history, hugged Dowager Hatt around the waist in gratitude.
This surprised Dowager Hatt when Stephanie hugged her, before smiling softly and returning the hug to her, as Stephanie said, "Thank you!"
After the hug, Stephanie ate her breakfast as Alice placed her lunch inside her backpack Dowager Hatt bought and even new school supplies.
"Oh, Stephanie." Stephanie stopped before leaving to be dropped off at Knapford to go to school. "Don't forget to take this with you."
Reginald handed a bracelet to Stephanie as she had it in her hand, looking confused and marveled at how beautiful it was.
The chain was silver and had five charms, along with four gemstones on it too.
The first charm was an Om charm, as the first gemstone was a red agate, and the next was an Indian elephant, with a green jasper.
The next charm was a Celtic knot, along with a black onyx, and a Nisshu charm with turquoise, and a Mae charm, and finally, a tiger eye gemstone.
"What's this?" Stephanie politely asked, glancing up at Reginald with a curious expression on her face.
"This is a good luck bracelet." Reginald smiled. "I think you can have it to have good luck on your side."
Stephanie smiled after Reginald handed her the bracelet, hugging him around the waist, and beamed, "Thank you!"
Reginald smiled as he hugged her before releasing and letting her go to the car to be dropped off.
Stephanie was still excited and nervous as Dowager Hatt drove her to Knapford, putting the lucky bracelet around her left wrist.
Once they reached Knapford, Stephanie excitedly opened the car door and stepped out before giving Dowager Hatt a quick hug around her neck before running off to wait for Thomas to come.
As Stephanie waited until after Dowager Hatt left, Stephanie noticed the children were heading over to where she was standing, seeing that they were wearing... different uniforms than the one she was wearing.
Did Dowager Hatt accidentally place her in a different program?
"Hey, who are you?" one of the children asked, pointing at her with a single finger.
"Um, my name is Stephanie," Stephanie shyly blushed, pushing back a strand of hair from her face. "Stephanie Allen."
"Where are you from?" another child asked.
Stephanie paused a little after she was asked, feeling like she was put in the spotlight by children.
But she knew they were innocent, so she answered, "I am from America."
The children looked surprised by Stephanie's answer, as one of them said, "You're an American?"
Stephanie nodded her head, turning a little to the crowd as they talked.
"What was America like?" one of the kids asked.
"Did you like it there?" another asked, sounding curious like her.
"Was the food there weird?" another curiously asked, cocking his head to the side a little.
"One at a time, please!" Stephanie chuckled, blushing a little as she lifted her hands. "I'm a little new here. But I like America, and it can change the weather."
"Like magic?" one of the kids curiously asked.
Stephanie paused a little after he asked before responding, "Almost. Sometimes it comes unnaturally or sudden."
The kids giggled after Stephanie told them about America, feeling shy being around people.
She was even a little shorter than the other kids as she only reaches either to their hips or chest.
It seemed a bit ironic to hear as they mentioned her height to her with questions.
Then hearing a familiar whistle caused the kids to be happier than before.
"Thomas is coming! Thomas is coming!" the kids excitedly exclaimed as Stephanie turned around.
Thomas entered the station with Annie and Clarabel were coupled behind him, and the doors opened as Stephanie entered the carriage with everyone else.
Annie seemed to notice a familiar person that looked like Stephanie, with long brown hair and steel-blue eyes.
"Hmm," Annie thought to herself after noticing the familiar child. "That child looked like Stephanie."
Inside, Stephanie felt a little packed since many people were inside the carriage to get to school.
She curled a little to the side to make sure she did not get hurt by the people coming in.
Despite being a little afraid of being in a carriage, Stephanie was still looking forward to going to school, rubbing Reginald's bracelet for good luck.
As soon as Thomas whistled his whistle after the guard waved his green flag, Thomas began to puff, as Stephanie nervously blushed with worry, gripping her hand tightly as Thomas sped up a little.
The ride was gentle and a little shaky, but Stephanie was amazed at how beautiful the scenery was, forgetting about her PTSD... for the moment.
As soon as they reached the school, Stephanie stepped off with the rest of the kids, lining up to meet their new teachers.
When it was Stephanie's turn, the caller was a little confused when he noticed her but went down the list of children's names before coming to her name.
"Ah, your name is Stephanie Allen?" Stephanie nodded her head, feeling excited. "Okay, your teacher is Mrs. Kabel in room A15."
Stephanie nodded her head and walked down the hallway, heading towards her new teacher's room to a fresh start in a different school.
When she reached the number room, a pause came from Stephanie before she entered inside, biting the bottom of her lip with worry.
But, gathering her courage, Stephanie opened the door of the classroom, poking her head inside shyly.
The inside of the classroom was filled with children, as some spots do not have many.
Stephanie stepped into the classroom and met the teacher, who had her name written on the board.
"Hello," she greeted with a smile as she knelt slightly to Stephanie's height. "What's your name?"
"Uh, Stephanie." Stephanie blushed shyly again. "Stephanie Allen."
The teacher nodded her head after Stephanie answered her question, taking her hand and leading her to the school backpack cabinet.
All the cabinets were full and had many children's backpacks, mailman bags, and lunchboxes.
"There's your cabinet!" the teacher smiled, pointing her hand over at the last cabinet in the back.
It looked different from the rest that had her name over the cabinet but looked a little worn out.
Stephanie turned to the teacher and said, "Thank you." before walking over to her cabinet and placed her items inside, hanging her backpack on the hook.
During that moment, the teacher looked at her body with confusion, seeing that she is indeed a different student than the ones she remembers.
Most of the other students noticed the same thing after she hung her backpack up and walked up to the teacher, as she changed her expression.
The teacher turned to the students, and they went to sit down at their seats, as Stephanie stood in front of the class, blushing a little shyly.
"Everyone," the teacher spoke, mentioning Stephanie with a hand. "This is our new student from America."
She knelt a little to Stephanie's height and said, "Go on, say your name."
Stephanie blushed more and said, speaking to the class, "My name is Stephanie, Stephanie Allen."
"Good morning, Stephanie!" Most of the kids greeted her as Stephanie smiled.
She felt a little brave instead of shy around the kids, remembering like last time.
The teacher smiled and mentioned a seat at the far back, with three boys sitting there, wearing different clothes than the others.
"Your seat is over there, Stephanie." the teacher smiled.
"Thank you." Stephanie thanked before walking over to her seat.
Just before sitting down, one of the boys sitting behind her giggled a little before pulling the chair back to see if she would fall onto her bottom.
After moving the chair out from underneath her bottom, Stephanie quickly placed her arms on the desk and, using her strength, kept herself balanced without the chair underneath her bottom.
The student behind her looked surprised as she balanced her strength and weight after the chair was yanked before pushing it back underneath her bottom, allowing her to sit correctly.
The boys behind her were around twelve or eleven years old, mostly in the same grade as Stephanie was.
One of them has fair skin, short brown hair, and light green eye color.
He wears a short-sleeved white button-up shirt, with a dark green and white, long-sleeved vest over his body.
The ends of his shirt are tucked into his dark brown pants as it has a belt around his waist to keep them up and a pair of black shoes.
The second boy is a broad boy with a handsome appearance, with short jet black hair, medium blue eyes, and fair skin color.
He wore a short-sleeved black shirt with a darker blue jacket over his shirt, a pair of dark gray pants, and black shoes.
Finally, the last boy has long dark brown hair covering some of his face with fair skin color.
He wore a light black ivy cap on his head, as he also wore a black and white jacket with a long-sleeved white button-up shirt underneath.
Topping things off, he also wore a pair of brown shoes.
"Now, students," the teacher said, after Stephanie sat down in her chair at her desk. "Today, we are starting with our pledge of allegiance."
Instinctively, Stephanie stood up with the rest of the children, all except the three boys behind her, doing nothing.
The second was moving his hair around with his fingers to make it smooth as if he was getting ready to have a picture taken.
As Stephanie stood as she recited the pledge, the first boy was scowling at the back of Stephanie.
The third was only 'watching' what was happening, not bothering to move his hair from his face to look.
After the kids stood up, they placed a hand on the side of their chest with a flat hand, repeating the words the teacher said as they faced a flag that Stephanie had never seen before.
It was blue but had a white line across it with two orange linings.
Does not match the American, Japanese, nor German flags Stephanie had seen before, confusing her a little.
After the pledge of allegiance, everyone sat back down as Stephanie sat back down.
She was confused that the chair underneath her had not been moved yet.
So, she figured that the legs were not as slippery as before.
"Okay!" the teacher beamed. "Let's start by making name tags for your desks!"
She walked over to her desk and placed down a single piece of paper on their desks, as she also handed one to Stephanie and the three boys behind her.
Stephanie pushed her glasses into place as she picked up her piece of paper before watching the teacher.
Mrs. Kelly, the teacher, demonstrated how to make their name tags by folding the piece of paper into a tent-like fold, which makes it easier for it to stay up.
Stephanie followed directions, the teacher said, folding her name tag to match the demonstration.
However, the three boys behind her started goofing off rather than doing the project Mrs. Kelly showed.
The boy behind Stephanie took out his pencils and started drawing on the paper rather than folding it, as the second focused on his hair, as the third did nothing.
After drawing something on the paper as the teacher was focused on something else as the kids drew, the kid chucked at the drawing he made before crumpling it in his hands.
He reached around his desk after crumpling a piece of paper given to him and threw it to Stephanie, landing perfectly in front of her.
A confused expression appeared on Stephanie's face after noticing the ball of paper in front of her before taking it into her hand.
She paused a little after picking it up from the desk before placing it into her desk's slot to save for later.
A confused expression appeared on the boy behind her after she placed it away, looking at his friends as they shrugged.
After a few hours had passed, Stephanie finished her name tag and looked proud to make it, seeing how her artwork had been put off.
"Stephanie?" Stephanie jolted when she heard her name spoken, seeing that it was the teacher. "You're done with your name tag?"
"Yes, I am." Stephanie nodded her head, blushing again.
Mrs. Kelly paused after Stephanie nodded her head, before asking, "May I see your name tag, perhaps?"
Stephanie nodded her head and handed her name tag to Mrs. Brooks as she looked impressed at how creative it was.
The name was in excellent cursive, and in each letter were different zentangles, each colored in various colors that blend in perfectly.
"This is remarkable!" Mrs. Kelly remarked, causing Stephanie to blush more. "You are very creative!"
The boy behind her scowled in anger after Stephanie was praised a little for her name tag, as Stephanie smiled gently.
"Thank you, Mrs. Kelly." Stephanie thanked Ms. Kelly, beaming red like a tomato.
Mrs. Kelly placed her name tag back down in front of her before walking off to see other children's work.
The boy behind her hissed after she left, "Rubbish. No one has ever been that good before."
Stephanie paused a little after hearing that voice behind her, glancing over her shoulder to see him.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Stephanie apologized, ignoring the compliment he gave to her. "Who are you?"
He indignantly huffed after she asked, before answering, "Manson, Manson Brooks is my name."
Stephanie smiled after he greeted her and said, "Pleased to meet you, Manson." before pointing to her name tag, surprising him a little from the design, "As you know from my name tag, my name is Stephanie, Stephanie Allen."
Manson paused a little after she introduced herself to him before the second boy said, "My name is William Gabbard, and I am the most handsome boy around."
A confused expression appeared on her face as he puffed like a peacock, as Manson rolled his eyes.
"Oh, and him with the long hair covering his eyes?" Manson spoke, mentioning the third boy as he glanced over. "His name is Jason Demara."
Jason, the third boy, nodded his head as if to greet her, as Stephanie said, "Your parents have creative ideas for naming you three. It's beautiful."
They instantly went silent after she remarked, as a light blush appeared on their faces, glancing away from her.
Stephanie looked confused from the sudden silence but shrugged to herself and went back to what she was doing, re-editing her name tag a little.
Once she had finished, Stephanie placed her name tag down, which now had an American flag on the corner, showing that she is from America.
"You're from America?" scoffed William when he noticed the American flag. "It's filthy there!"
Stephanie glanced over at him with a slightly confused expression on her face, asking, "It's not that filthy there as much as I remembered."
"Oh, really?" William scoffed again. "Is it because you were raised in a poor family?"
"No," Stephanie shook her head. "I was raised in a mansion."
Instantly, both William and Manson's eyes popped wide like saucers after she responded, as Jacob looked surprised by how his jaw dropped a little.
"A mansion?!" Manson exclaimed softly. "You were rich?!"
Stephanie hesitated after he asked before turning around and facing her back at the boys.
"Hey, answer the question," Manson prodded as he kicked her chair a little with his foot. "Were you raised in a mansion?"
Stephanie only remained silent after he prodded her, holding her hands together, and used her fingers to gently rub at the bracelet she was wearing.
Once the last student is finished with the name tag, Mrs. Kelly explains the classroom rules, as Stephanie has a piece of notebook paper out and writes the rules on it.
This seemed to confuse Manson as he leaned his body to the side to see what Stephanie was doing, noticing that her handwriting was smooth and in cursive, which seemed a little hard for him to read.
'When did she learn how to write like that?' Manson thought to himself as William and Jacob were not listening to the rules.
After the rules, the teacher began handing out textbooks to them to take with them for homework, including for them to pick their binders.
Stephanie was impressed at how many textbooks a student had to carry, counting on how many there were.
But she shrugged it off her shoulders and continued with what she was doing.
Soon, it was lunchtime, and Stephanie took her lunch with her from her backpack.
Then she followed the kids behind them to go sit with someone else to eat her lunch with in the cafeteria.
As soon as Stephanie stepped into the lunchroom with high hopes, she stopped when she saw many children inside, talking to each other and eating their lunches.
This seemed to make Stephanie feel small, nervously clenching the handle of her lunchbox from anxiety before shaking her head and taking a deep breath.
She stepped more into the lunchroom and glanced around for a spot, only seeing that there were no spots left for her.
'Well,' Stephanie thought to herself as she sighed. 'This is going to be hard for me.'
Stephanie pushed her glasses into place with a finger after looking around for a spot before seeing one that was wide open with a random boy.
'Ah, there's a spot!' Stephanie smirked before heading towards the boy.
As Stephanie approached the boy to ask a question, something suddenly bashed into her as she yelped, crashing to the ground with a thump!
"Oops, I'm sorry!" a mocking voice spoke as she winced, sitting up from the ground. "You were just in the way!"
She looked up at who went in and saw that it was a female, who is older than her, with fair skin and dark hazelnut eyes and long dark brown, curly hair, which was up in a red ribbon.
She wore a red jacket instead of a blue one like Stephanie's, and she also wore a black, long-sleeved, button-up shirt, a long dark red skirt with black tights underneath and gray slippers.
"I'm so sorry." Stephanie apologized, picking her glasses up from the ground and putting them on her nose. "I was ju-"
"Eww, a nerd!" one of the girls winced with disgust. "I can't believe there is an American nerd here!"
Stephanie blinked in confusion after the second girl complained, stammering a little as she was about to stand up when someone else came over to her and placed a hand underneath her armpit.
"Shove aff, Jessica!" snapped a male's voice thick with a Scottish accent. "Ye did thon on purpose!"
Jessica, the young girl, huffed after the young boy snapped at her before turning around with a twirl, kicking Stephanie's lunchbox to the distance without them noticing.
Stephanie sighed as she was helped up to her feet, using her hands to wipe her skirt off the dirt and dust.
"Sorry aboot Jessica, lassie." the young boy apologized as Stephanie glanced up at him. "She's ane o' the worst bullies i' this school."
He has long, shoulder-length, curly red hair that looked like fire with fair skin and green eye color.
The young boy wore a dark blue jacket with a white, long-sleeved, button-up shirt and a dark blue kilt with red plaid reached his ankles and black shoes.
"Wait a moment," he spoke when he saw her face. "Ye're the American lassie thon came intae the classroom!"
Stephanie paused a little after he remarked, answering, "Yes, I am."
He held his hand out to her, saying, "Ma name is Alastair, Alastair Dougal!"
"Pleased to meet you, Alastair," Stephanie smiled. "My name is Stephanie, Stephanie Allen."
Alastair smiled after she greeted him before noticing something about Stephanie.
"Och, where's yer lunchbox?" he remarked, as Stephanie realized and glanced around.
Stephanie and Alastair glanced around for her lunchbox as Stephanie was nervous about how Dowager Hatt would react to her losing her lunch.
She did not want to have Dowager Hatt's anger towards her for losing her lunch with a lunchbox she bought.
As she passed three familiar boys, Stephanie stopped and walked back to them, seeing that they had her lunchbox.
"Oh," Stephanie spoke as they glanced over her from their shoulders. "Manson, Jason, William, thank you for finding my lunchbox! May I have it back, please?"
The boys paused as they glanced at each other as Manson said, "If we give back your lunchbox, will you give us your dessert?"
A confused expression appeared on her face after Manson asked, pausing a little before saying, with a shrug of her shoulders, "Sure!"
Stephanie picked her lunchbox up from the table between them and opened it, seeing that some continents of her lunch were smashed, but there were cookies as she predicted.
She took the cookies out from inside and placed the cookies between the boys.
"Here you go," Stephanie smiled as the boys looked surprised at how calm and polite she was. "Enjoy."
After giving the boys her cookies, Stephanie walked away from them as they watched her with confusion written on their faces.
Alastair looked surprised after Stephanie had given them her cookies, asking, "Why did ye give thaim yer dessert?"
Stephanie glanced over at him, calmly answering, "They didn't harm me, did they?"
Alastair opened his mouth to reject what she said to him before closing it at the thought of the morning she had with them.
"Uh, changing the subject a little," Stephanie spoke as she blushed. Where can I sit?"
Alastair remembered, taking Stephanie's hand as she looked confused, saying, "Follow me."
Stephanie followed Alastair as he went down the hallways before entering an empty room that she had never been in before, seeing that there were only four or three kids inside.
"Hi, guys!" Alastair greeted them with a wave of his hand. "A found the American A have been tellin' ye aboot!"
Stephanie blushed a little from the compliment, feeling like she was in the spotlight for a museum.
Once they reached the table, Stephanie could see more different kids, as most of them were a little younger than her.
The first one was shorter than the group and had short, jet-black hair, with fair blue eye color and fair skin.
He wore a white uniform with a light gray, long-sleeved, button-up shirt underneath, with a pair of medium white pants and black shoes.
When he turned around to see what Alastair was bringing to the group, Stephanie noticed that he was from Japan.
The second has short dark brown hair, fair skin, and sea green eye color.
He wore a deep green uniform with a mint green, long-sleeved, button-up shirt with a pair of dark green pants and black shoes.
And the third was a female with long blond hair braided in a single braid, with fair skin and baby blue eyes.
She wore a dark blue jacket with a white, long-sleeved, button-up shirt with a skirt around her waist with a pair of black tights and black slippers.
Alastair led Stephanie over to the group, as Stephanie blushed shyly from the small crowd of kids.
"Guys, this is her!" Alastair smiled before gently pushing Stephanie towards them. "Gae ahead an' introduce yourself."
Stephanie blushed further after Alastair gently pushed her forward before saying, bowing politely to one of the students, "Hello and こんにちは, my name is Stephanie, Stephanie Allen."
The student wearing the white uniform looked surprised after she introduced herself, asking in Japanese, "あなたは日本語を話しますか?"
This confused the others as Stephanie nodded her head once and responded in his language that he asked, "はい, 日本語がとても上手に話せます."
An impressed expression appeared on the Japanese student's face before responding in English, "Well, I am impressed! My name is Shigeru Masahiko."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Masahiko." Stephanie bowed back as he blushed a little from her kindness.
The next boy chuckled from Masahiko's blush before responding, with a smile on his face, "My name is Aleric, Aleric Fester!"
"Nice to meet you too, Aleric." Stephanie nodded, smiling as her shyness died down a little.
"And my name is Davinia Jerusha," the female girl greeted her. "But, I prefer being called Davi."
Stephanie nodded her head at the three kids before sitting down on the bench with the others along with Alastair.
"So, you are new here?" Masahiko asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Yes," Stephanie nodded her head. "I am from America, just as my friend Alastair mentioned."
Alastair blushed from Stephanie's mention, as Davi said, nodded her head in agreement, "Yeah, he was excited when he saw your name tag with the American flag on it. He said that he had never seen an American before."
Stephanie paused a little from eating, asking, "Aren't there many Americans here?"
"No, not really." Aleric shook his head. "Most of us are from Scotland, Ireland, the Mainland, Crotoonia, or Bigg Port, but not from any other countries."
Masahiko cleared his throat after eating some rice from his container, as Aleric blushed and apologized to him.
Stephanie smiled after he explained, before saying, "Well, after arriving here, I've been to Bigg Port before, but I haven't been to Crotoonia or the Mainland."
All four glanced over at her with a confused expression on their face as Alastair asked, "Whit dae ye mean bi thon?"
Stephanie blushed a little after she explained to the four before answering, "Well, Sir Topham Hatt and his mother, Dowager Hatt, decided to take me into his mansion until my… foster-father comes here to take me back."
Alastair noticed the pause in Stephanie's voice before saying 'foster-father,' wanting to ask why she hesitated a little from saying the word but shrugged to himself.
"Ah," Masahiko nodded. "What happened to your biological parents?"
Stephanie instantly went silent after he asked, reaching over to her left arm and gripped, shaking a little after finishing some pretzels.
"I-I rather not explain…" Stephanie stammered, still shaking like a leaf.
This confused them a little after Stephanie stammered before deciding to change the subject a little from family, choosing to ask something else instead.
During the lunch hour, Stephanie continued talking with others about her interests, including crafts she liked to do in her spare time.
She even surprised them with one of the small carved projects she had recently made and showed them after taking it with her.
After they finished their lunch, Alastair, Masahiko, Devi, and Aleric stood up from their benches after cleaning up, saying, "Let's go outside to play!"
Stephanie paused after Aleric spoke, saying, "Uh, 'play outside?'"
The same confused expressions appeared on their faces after Stephanie asked, glancing over at her as she stammered, "I-I thought there was something else to do. Shouldn't we-?"
"Ach, whit are ye saying?" Alastair asked, sounding confused. "After lunch, we go outside to play, which is called recess."
"Oh," Stephanie blushed, fidgeting with her hair a little. "I never did that before back at home since I was always homeschooled."
The kids glanced at each other after Stephanie explained before Alastair smiled reassuringly and took Stephanie's hand, saying, "Think o' this as yer first time. This is yer chance tae gae oot an' play wi' us!"
Stephanie paused a little after Alastair spoke, thinking to herself about going outside to play, before nodding her head and said, "Sure! I would love to play!"
Alastair took Stephanie outside after she agreed, going outdoors to see many kids playing on the monkey bars, the swings, the grass, and many other places.
Stephanie learned how to play tether ball, hopscotch, and many other games with the other children around her age or older.
She even learned how to avoid encountering Jessica and her group from being harassed or bullied by them, along with the Troublesome Trio, James, William, and Jason.
As she played outside, Stephanie enjoyed playing with the others, mostly greeting the engines as they passed by, including Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel.
Clarabel slowly grew to notice that same child standing in the school's playground, seeing the same long brown hair and steel-blue eyes.
"I swear," Clarabel mumbled to herself. "It's that same child. …She looks familiar to someone…"
After recess, Stephanie went back inside with the rest of the children and went back to her desk, only pausing when she noticed that her slot was filled with more crumpled paper, and her seat was covered in glue.
'This must be the work of the Troublesome Trio.' Stephanie thought to herself, pulling out a long, thin strand of dark brown hair from the glue placed on her seat.
Rather than telling the teacher about what had happened to her desk, Stephanie instead cleaned it up as fast as she could, even taking the crumpled piece of paper Mason handed to her in her backpack to look after school.
When the teacher entered the classroom, Stephanie had already finished cleaning her desk, sitting back down on it as she waited for the teacher.
However, when the Troublesome Trio turned around to see how miserable Stephanie was, they were only shocked to see that their work had been cleaned!
They sat back down at their desks, a little hesitant at first, thinking she had placed something in their desks while they were getting the glue off their hands.
But as they sat down, Mason noticed a letter on his desk that had his name on it in beautiful but oddly familiar cursive.
He instantly knew that it was that 'American Girl.'
But, before he could shred the letter in his desk slot to not be creeped out by her, he instead left it, not wanting to draw attention to him from the teachers or his friends.
Hours passed, and Manson continued trying to terrorize Stephanie, even kicking her chair a few times to make her frustrated at him for disturbing her.
But to his confusion, he recognizes that she does not take notice of him.
'Is she deaf or something?' Mason huffed with irritation, feeling like a three-year-old again.
He, William, and Jason soon reached math, which seemed to cause a collection of groans from the children as Mrs. Kelly gave them a little glare.
The teacher went to ask each student to raise their hand for the teacher to call them.
Then, they would walk up to the chalkboard to answer each problem they were tasked with.
They mostly winced a little from the scratching noises against it from some students.
Stephanie did wince a little from the noise but did not pay any attention to it, still sitting there politely like 'little miss perfect.'
When it came down to the final math solution, Mrs. Kelly decided to pick Stephanie to answer the problem.
"Stephanie?" Mrs. Kelly spoke as everyone's hands moved down. "Can you write on the chalkboard of what is a hundred and fifty-five minus a hundred and sixty-two?"
The kids glanced at each other after the teacher asked as Stephanie nodded her head and stood up from the desk, stepping over William's foot from being tripped.
Stephanie walked up to the chalkboard and picked up a light blue chalk instead of a white, yellow, or light green one, and started working on the problem.
She first counted with her fingers a little, before starting counting backwards to the teacher's confusion before adding a negative at the end.
After finishing the hard problem, Stephanie turned her attention to the teacher, who looked impressed and innocently asked, "Is this right?"
The teacher paused a little after she asked before looking into her book and using a calculated to double-check, stammering, "Uh, y-yes, that is right!"
"Nerd!" Mason called her from the back of the classroom, as Mrs. Kelly instantly stood up to her feet.
Stephanie huffed and responded, "I'm not a nerd to let you know, Mason. I'm just smarter than you."
A chorus of 'Ohhh!s' went through the air after Stephanie made a comeback, as Mrs. Kelly chuckled a little as Stephanie sat back down in her chair.
'This means war…' Mason hissed angrily, glaring daggers at her back as he hid his face underneath his jacket in shame.
After school ended, Stephanie stood up from her desk but took the ball of paper from her desk slot, tucking it into her pocket.
She walked over to the cabinet to gather her backpack to take with her to head to Sir Topham Hatt's mansion, excited to tell them what she had experienced.
Just as she took the backpack off the hook of her cabinet, she stumbled a little when she noticed that it oddly had gained... weight?
Stephanie peered inside after lifting the open flap to see that it was filled with rocks!
Confusion appeared on her face when she noticed the rocks inside her backpack, placing it down on the ground, and picked one of them out.
It was the size of her hand and was a light gray color.
'They look like they came from the Blue Mountain Quarry.' Stephanie thought to herself with curiosity. 'And the work of the Troublesome Trio.'
She shrugged to herself after discovering rocks in her backpack that was filled by the Troublesome Trio.
Stephanie placed the stone back in her pack and started adding the books into her backpack given to her by her teacher.
Even ones that were from the library during a break time from studying.
Little does she know, the Troublesome Trio was hiding behind the window to see if they could finally break Stephanie, only to be more confused when they saw that she only placed the rock inside her backpack and added the books inside.
"What is she doing?" William asked in confusion. "Is she adding more weight?"
Mason snorted after William asked, saying, "I don't think she can carry all that on her back!"
Just as he snorted, Stephanie grunted and lifted the possibly thirty or forty-pound rock and book-filled backpack on her back and started walking away, gawking Manson, William, and Jason.
"You said that you both filled it with rocks, right?" William asked as they both nodded. "I don't she is human."
Outside, Stephanie walked with her backpack on her back, feeling half sad that she had to leave the school.
But she had high hopes that she is going to return to school the next day.
As she walked, Stephanie was mentally relieved that her backpack had not been ripped from all the books, including the unusual collection of rocks.
Even with her school supplies and now empty lunchbox, everything inside seemed like rocks too.
But she did not mind it and continued walking to the stop where the coaches come to pick them up.
As she walked outside, Stephanie glanced around for anyone thinking Sir Topham Hatt or Dowager Hatt had come over to pick her up.
But she saw Alastair, Aleric, Davi, and Masahiko standing on the train station platform with some kids.
"Oh, hi-!" Before she could finish her sentence, something roughly went into her backpack, before crying out in pain after the impact.
Instinctively, Stephanie whipped around to see what had happened, seeing Jessica on the ground with a scratched arm.
"WHAT IS IN YOUR BAG?!" she shrieked in anger, pointing at her.
"Uh, a collection of rocks that was given to me?" Stephanie innocently answered, pointing at her backpack.
Jessica looked more confused and angry as she stood up to her feet, as her 'helpers' looked worried and scared of her, trying to calm her down.
"Listen, freak!" she shrieked at her as Stephanie winced a little from the tone of her voice. "You think you would fill your backpack with rocks to make sure I wouldn't bump into you, would get you out of this?!"
"What, no!" Stephanie innocently exclaimed. "I was speaking the truth! Someone did fill my backpack with rocks and-"
Before she could finish her sentence, a bucket of water suddenly poured from over them and landed on the group of girls, including Stephanie, causing them to screech from the dirty water.
"Oh, crap!" one of them cursed as they were drenched in mud-filled water. "My hair!"
Stephanie took this chance and escaped from the angry group, running towards her new friends, despite the heavy backpack on her back.
Once she had reached them, Stephanie glanced back over at the group, sighing as she noticed they were crying and screaming at each other, blaming them for losing her.
"Ye are sae lucky!" Alastair pointed. "But, arenae ye mad thon ye are coverit i' mud?"
"No, not really." Stephanie chuckled, shaking her head as she wiped some mud off her cheek. "I used to get muddy a lot in my childhood."
Some disgusted expressions appeared on the other children's faces after Stephanie explained, as Alastair and the others looked surprised.
Stephanie wiped more mud off her into her hands from her face, not flicking it towards the kids but towards the ground.
Soon, James came into the station with a screech of his wheels, causing some children to wince from the noises, as he exclaimed, "Herrreee's James!"
After he stopped, James yelped in surprise when he noticed that one of the children was covered head to toe in mud.
"Bust my buffers, what on Earth happened to you?!" he exclaimed, looking surprised. "Your poor outfit!"
"Och, it's fine, James!" Alastair assured him. "Stephanie is okay with this!"
"'Stephanie?'" James asked, repeating the name in confusion. "Wait. Stephanie Allen?"
Stephanie wiped more of the mud away from her face, nodding her head with a soft smile on her face, saying, "Yes, it's me!"
James looked surprised after Stephanie nodded her head, asking, "What are you doing here, young lady? I thought you were with Sir Topham Hatt or staying in his mansion? You worried us!"
"Oh," Stephanie blushed underneath the mud as her friends looked confused. "I'm sorry. Dowager Hatt decided to send me to school to learn since I have been homeschooled. Didn't Sir Topham Hatt explain?"
"No, he didn't," James answered, shaking his body side to side a little. "But… um… Stephanie?"
"Hmm?" Stephanie responded.
"I, um," James paused a little, trying to come up with more kind words than having to bluntly speak to Stephanie, not wanting to hurt her feelings.
"James doesn't want the coaches' cushions to be dirtied." his driver spoke, answering to Stephanie before him, causing James to huff and sprayed some steam into his face.
Luckily he stopped, only making his driver's face a little red from the steam blown into his face.
"Oh!" Stephanie blushed more. "I think the pipe that was collecting drain water must've burst when I was in a problem with Jessica."
"That brat Jessica?" James snapped, confusing Stephanie. "I'm glad that the pipe burst in time. Climb into my cab and… try not to touch anything."
Stephanie nodded her head and gingerly climbed into James' cab as her friends got into the coaches.
The signalman whistled his whistle, and James puffed off, heading to Knapford to drop the kids off to meet with their mother.
With Stephanie, Stephanie was on the farthest side of James' cabin, making herself small for his fireman and driver to work, not touching anything as he had said to her.
"When you get to Sir Topham Hatt's mansion," James spoke. "Make sure that you will get a very deserving bath!"
Stephanie felt confused after James spoke, thinking to herself a little as she looked down at her muddy hands.
Something in her mind seemed to be a little haunting for her, but she shook it out of her mind.
Once they had reached Knapford, Sir Topham Hatt came out of his office in time to see James.
"Hello, sir!" James greeted with a whistle of his whistle.
"Ah, James!" Sir Topham Hatt nodded. "What seemed to be the problem?"
"Uh, a messy problem." James chuckled nervously.
Sir Topham Hatt looked a little confused after James corrected a little, as his driver moved out of the side a little, showing a mud-covered and shy Stephanie.
"What on earth happened to her?!" Sir Topham Hatt asked, reaching up to her and picking her out of James' cab, only to struggle a little.
He almost collapsed on the ground after picking her up, as Stephanie yelped out of startlement.
Sir Topham Hatt wobbled as he held Stephanie close to his body.
His helpers ran over to Sir Topham Hatt before he collapsed to the ground and grabbed him from underneath his arms.
"Are you alright, sir?" James asked worriedly.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine." Sir Topham Hatt nodded. "But, Stephanie? How are you covered in mud, and… what's in your backpack to make you that heavy?"
Stephanie nervously chuckled as she took her backpack off, seeing that it oddly looked a little… bigger than what he remembered seeing from outside his office.
After placing her backpack down, Stephanie opened it, showing the books inside, including the rocks.
"Rocks!" Stephanie showed, surprising the two helpers of Sir Topham Hatt, including himself.
"'Rocks?!'" The Steam Team exclaimed after hearing what James had said to them after a day of work.
"Yes!" James nodded. "I know that she didn't fill it with rocks herself!"
"Unless she could be like Marion," Toby suggested. "There are sometimes rocks at the back of the playground."
"Rubbish, Toby." Gordon huffed. "I don't think a girl like her can have such a collection of rocks like that!"
"But… where could Stephanie get the rocks from?" Percy asked. "There are bare rocks in the playground at the far back."
"Maybe it came from a bucket?" Henry suggested. "The school usually needs buckets like those to keep the shades from blowing away."
A long pause came from the Steam Team until Nia suggested, "It could be an act of a bully."
"'A bully?!'" Gordon fumed angrily, surprising the team. "Bullying Stephanie?! The nerve of them!"
"Calm down, Gordon!" a voice spoke, causing him to stop. "It is a work of more than one bully, unfortunately."
It was from Dowager Hatt as she walked towards the locomotives.
"Dowager Hatt?" Thomas asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I came here to talk about Stephanie's bully problem." Dowager Hatt explained. "As you know, she is being bullied but not one, but four."
"'Four?'" Percy asked. "What are their names?"
"Well," Dowager Hatt thought to herself. "Stephanie is being bullied by the Troublesome Trio and Jessica."
Instantly, Gordon, Henry, and Edward frowned a little after hearing the names of the bullies, confusing some newer members.
"Who are the 'Troublesome Trio' and 'Jessica?'" Percy asked.
"The 'Troublesome Trio' is a group of boys who enjoyed pulling jokes," Edward explained. "They liked even making some trains late with confusion."
"And Jessica?" Thomas asked.
"A straight-up brat." James snitched.
"Shush, James!" Dowager Hatt shushed, causing him to instantly go quiet. "I'm even more surprised that Stephanie has not collapsed from all the weight added to her back from all the rocks."
Everyone nodded in agreement after Dowager Hatt explained before an idea flew into Thomas's pistons.
"What if we give the Troublesome Trio a little dose of their own medicine?" Thomas suggested.
"Making them carry rocks in their backpacks like Stephanie?" Percy asked.
"No," Thomas chuckled cheekily. "Cover them in the mud like how Stephanie was during her argument with Jessica."
Everyone understood what Thomas said before Dowager Hatt said, "But when are we going to do our little idea? There is barely any mud around."
"Unless one of us leads us to one of the water towers," Percy added. "There is one here that is always clogged with mud inside."
Dowager Hatt paused a little after they explained before smiling a little and nodded her head.
"I like the idea!" she smiled. "But we have to be careful. Don't hurt them a little too much."
The next day, Gordon pretended to fall asleep near the water tower after pulling his coaches.
A locomotive was waiting on the other side behind some trucks filled with crates inside.
The locomotive is a half crane with an arm and is based on Dübs Crane Engine No. 4101, and is painted maroon with yellow and red lining and brown, square, wooden buffers.
His name 'Harvey' is painted on his sides in yellow.
Even had the number twenty-seven painted on the sides of his crane arm.
As Gordon 'slept,' three familiar heads appeared from behind a truck, seeing an enormous blue locomotive sleeping near a water tower.
Mason mentioned over to Gordon with a finger, nodding his head as the others nodded in agreement.
They snuck up close to Gordon as he slept, and just as they were underneath the water tower, Gordon popped his eyes open and whistled the signal, startling the boys as they exclaimed out of startlement.
The half-crane and half-locomotive instantly went into action after hearing the signal, banging hard against the water tower as hard as he could.
Just after hitting it, a spew of disgusting and muddy water came out of it at the funnel where it was poured into the tanks, causing the boys to shriek from how cold it was and how dirty it was.
Instantly, they went off running onto the platform, as everyone came out of hiding.
"That's what you get for messing with Stephanie!" Philip called them, laughing as they whistled and honked.
Meanwhile, Mason hissed in anger as he turned around to them, glaring as he shook his hands to get the mud off, determined to 'get his revenge.'