chapter 8: "Bullying-part 1"

Monday. Everything in Simran and Nandini's school was fine, until... the new girl arrived. Her name was Una-Imelda Peligrosa. After she arrived, she became famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) for a short time. Due to her sense of humor and self-esteem, a lot of the children in the school liked her and even admired her. She was like the typical popular girls you see in movies. Exactly like them.

Una-Imelda had only one point of view-hers. For her, the world is an amusement park, and she is its best visitor, but also the manager. Other people are just the other visitors, who can either ruin her fun or maybe make it better. The "visitors" who ruin her fun will suffer, but they do not always intend to ruin it-sometimes she picks herself who is going to suffer. Also, there are no rules in her amusement park.

A few minutes before the classes started, Una-Imelda entered the classroom and picked a seat. Then she introduced herself, with a smile on her face:

-"Hi! I'm Una-Imelda Peligrosa! I'm new here!"

Nandini was the first who greeted her back:

-"Well, hello, to you too, Peligrosa! My name is Nandini Ootori and this is my twin sister, Simran Ootori."

Una-Imelda gave Simran a quick look, like she was analyzing her. Simran herself found it strange, but she did not pay too much attention to it. After a short moment of silence, Una spoke again:

-"Ootori, eh? Yeah, I have heard about your folks. By the way, Simran Ootori, why are you wearing that dress?"

Simran felt confused:

-"What? My dress? What is so wrong with it?"

-"It's just so... it does not have any color. Its just white and a little grey. Your boots are the same."

-"Well, I like them. I think that, despite the lack of color, they are beautiful in their own way."

-"Nah, still not my cup of tea! I prefer something more colorful. Look at your sister, for example-cool purple shirt with red lines, boots decorated with emerald-shaped buckles and a belt to match."

-"Well, thank you, I guess!"-Nandini thanked her for the "compliment", but a little after that, she frowned. She was starting to dislike the new girl, while Simran felt a little awkward.

During class, Simran kept thinking about what just happened. After the bell rang, it was time for the children to go home now.

The next day, Una-Imelda was already very popular. She quickly managed to befriend a lot of her new classmates. They enjoyed listening to her and loved being around her. Although, there were still a few children who did not enjoy her company that much. Simran and Nandini were among them.

Today, Una-Imelda came to the Ootori twins again:

-"Hey, hello again, you two!"

-"Hello!"-in order to hide their discomfort, they replied quietly and unenthusiastically.

-"So, Ootori, I see that have not listened to me."-she turned to Simran.

-"What do you mean?"

-"About your clothes. They are still not colorful."

-"It is just my decision. Right now, I want to wear these clothes."-she raised her voice, a little bit. She sounded confident, but not sassy.

-"Geez, calm down! No need to act mean."

-"I am not acting mean, I am just..."

-"Wow, you are making a big storm in a cup of tea, because of some clothes. What a drama queen!"

-"Look who's talking!"-Nandini joined.

The next day, it got even worse. Una-Imelda was giving invitations to her classmates. The invitations were for a party this weekend. She gave to everyone, except for Simran:

-"Hey, what about Simran?"-Nandini said. She got an invitation too, but she was wondering why her sister never got one.

-"What about her?"-Una responded.

-"Aren't you gonna give her one as well?"

-"Not after what she did yesterday."

-"How about what you did?"

-"Ootori, if you keep acting like this, I'm gonna take the invitation back and give to someone who does not ask many questions."

-"Do it! Like I care."-and she threw the invitation.

-"Come on, Ootori! She is such a weirdo."

-"You better take that back!"

-"I mean, look at her. She makes a lot of noise for small things."

-"No, that's just you."

-"No, I'm not. Take yesterday, for example. I just made little jokes."

-"You made another girl talk with her, while you sneaked behind her and put the trash can right on her head."

-"It was just a little joke."

-"You did not even apologize."

-"Well, she snitched on me, after that. How do you expect me to apologize?"

Simran kept listening to their fight without saying a word, until she finally got enough courage:

-"Stop! Nandini, let's just not bother. It is not worth it."

-"But she.."

-"Please! I can take care of myself."

-"Okay! But if things get any worse, I am going to do something about it."

-"Okay!"

Both twins turned around and started minding their own business.

Unfortunately, not paying attention to the teasing and the pranks was not enough for Simran. Una-Imelda never stopped. She made school life almost unbearable. Each day was worse than the other. Sometimes, Simran really wanted to cry. Like that was not enough, but some of her classmates were part of it too-they laughed at her and enjoyed watching how Una-Imelda was ruining her days. Her sister, Nanidni was one of the very few, who were there to defend her, but that was not enough. Not that she did not appreciate it, but it could not stop the bullying.