Greetings, dear readers, and welcome back to 'Bayley's Universe'! *insert one of my apologies for my slight lateness with this* After getting an invitation from Bayley to join her and her friends for lunch, how will things go for Mia? Read on to find out, and I hope you all enjoy. =)
(Heads-up: Things get a bit tense near this chapter's end. Curious about what I mean? Read on to find out.)
She still felt surprised. It was still fairly surprising to Mia that she had been invited by some of her fellow students to join them for lunch. Luckily, she didn't give Shayna all of her lunch money, so she was at least able to get something to eat. So, here she sat. Eating some of the pasta that was on her tray. Listening in on what Bayley and some of her and Sasha's friends had been chatting about, that something being what she could only guess was talk about comic books of some sort.
'I'm so lost here. I have no idea what Bayley and the others are talking about. Maybe I should've just tried to head to Mr. Copeland's room. Could've used that as an excuse to try to figure out something for my book report.'
It didn't escape Sasha that Mia had been fairly quiet. Outside of when she introduced herself to Paige and the others, she hadn't been as vocal. 'It might be because she hasn't really had the chance to get to know everyone. ...I'd like to help her out with that, but I'm still not the best at interacting with most humans myself. ...Wait. I have an idea.'
Looking over to the new addition to their table, Sasha asked "Hey, Mia. Since we have some time left for lunch, do you want to go outside and maybe get a quick lesson in?"
"Sure! ...I-I mean, sure we can," Mia responded, silently feeling thankful for the magenta-haired teen and her offer.
"OK," Sasha said. Turning to Bayley, the magenta-haired teen said "Bayley, I'm going to go outside with Mia for the rest of our lunchtime."
"OK! Thanks for the heads-up with that," Bayley nodded. Looking past the magenta-haired Gem, Bayley said "It was fun having you sit here with us today, Mia. Hope you'll be up for joining us again tomorrow."
"Um, sure," the blue-haired teen nodded in response and surprise to this offer. Even after she and Sasha had thrown away their trash and left the cafeteria, she was still surprised. Could this maybe be the start of her making actual friends at this school? It very well could be. And ...who knows? Maybe this could lead to Mia getting some help with dealing with her problems with Shayna.
Making their way from the cafeteria to the library, Mia said "Hey, Sasha? Thanks for getting me out of there."
"No problem. I could tell that you weren't all that comfortable around mine and Bayley's friends," Sasha said. "But, don't worry. I'm sure you'll get used to them in time."
"You really think that?"
"Of course. Like I said, it's just something that'll take some time."
A light laugh escaping her, Mia said "I wouldn't doubt that. You sure sound like you're talking from experience about that."
"I am, actually," Sasha began. "Believe it or not, I actually started attending this school not too long ago myself."
"Really?" Mia asked, to which Sasha responded with a nod. "Huh. ...Let me guess? You were homeschooled?"
"Yes. My dad decided that I got old enough to start coming to normal school, so he enrolled me here."
"That was pretty nice of him to do."
"Yeah. Yeah, it was," Sasha smiled as she thought back to when Dean first told her the news of her enrollment in school.
The talking between the pair went on for a bit longer before they finally reached their destination, that being the library. Heading inside, the pair were treated to the sight of a few other students browsing the shelves. Deciding to follow suit, the girls made their way to where the fiction books were.
"So, is there anything in particular you're looking for?" Sasha asked.
"No, not really. But, I'm sure I'll figure something out to read. You got anything in mind?"
Her gaze combing the shelves, the magenta-haired teen almost responded with a similar answer before the title on a book's spine caught her eye. "I think I know what I'm going to do my book report on."
"Oh yeah? That's good. What book did you decide on?"
Pulling the book off the shelf, Sasha showed Mia the cover. "'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'. I have to say the title sure sounds interesting."
"Nice find with that. My friend Leva read that, and she said it was pretty good."
"Really?" Sasha asked to which Mia responded with a nod. "Well, I guess I have a good read here."
Laughing a bit, Mia returned her attention to the bookshelves in search of a book she could use for her own report. 'No. No. ...I've read this one already. ...Twilight? No way, I couldn't even finish this one no matter how much Leva and Marti told me to try to finish it. ...Huh. This one seems interesting.'
Watching as Mia reached forward and pulled a book from the shelf, Sasha happened to catch a glimpse of the book's cover and title. "'Speak'. That sounds interesting."
"I've heard about this one, but I haven't read it yet."
"You should check it out then. I'm sure you can write a great book report about the book."
"Huh. You know what? I think I will. Besides, if it ends up being something that I'm not liking, I'll just return it and choose another book," Mia said.
"That sounds like a good idea to me," Sasha said with a smile.
Making their way to the front desk where they checked out their literary finds, the pair then made their way out of the libra-
"Ouch! Hey, watch where you're going!" a female voice could be heard saying.
Picking her fallen book up from the floor, Mia said "Whoops. Sorry, Lana. Didn't know you were heading this way."
"It's no problem, Mia. Just make sure to keep an eye on where you're walking. It isn't smart to just bump into people," the other girl, Lana, said before walking around the pair.
Her gaze lingering on the other girl, Sasha said "Well, she didn't seem too nice. Just who was she?"
"She was Lana Perry. Don't pay her any mind, she's just one of our upperclassmen," Mia said, trying to hide the slight irritation that seemed to creep over her.
Only giving a nod in response, Sasha walked away from the library with Mia as the pair tried to find somewhere they could go for her impromptu Korean lesson before deciding to go take a seat at one of the benches that was near the front offi-
"Well, well. Would you look who found her way to our neck of the woods?" a voice could b heard to the pair's left.
Trying to hide her slight shudder, Mia turned to the source of the voice and said "Hey, Shayna. Hey, Nia. Didn't expect to see you guys around this part of the school."
"Yeah, well, we got bored after we finished eating. Thanks again for spotting us some cash, Mimi. That was so nice of you," the girl Shayna said.
"N-no problem, Shayna. Anything to help a friend," Mia said, forcing a smile.
Something didn't seem right here. Sasha could tell that Mia didn't like talking to these other girls. And, in a way, she could begin to see why. Be it the way the shorter of the two was talking to how imposing the slightly taller of the two seemed, there was just something about the pair that didn't seem good.
"So, if that's all you two wanted, I have to help out with showing Sasha here around the school building," Mia lied.
"If you say so. See you again tomorrow, Mimi," Shayna said. "Don't make us wait."
"D-Don't worry, Shayna. I w-won't," Mia said around a bit of stammering. "Come on, Sasha, let's go."
"Just a moment," Sasha said, not having liked how she heard Mia talking. Stepping forward, the magenta-haired teen said "Excuse me. Shayna, was it? I'd like it if you didn't talk to Mia the way you just did."
"And what's it to you how I talk to a friend of mine, new kid?" Shayna said, not quite liking how this girl was talking to her.
"I don't like it when people talk like that to my friends. It isn't very nice and sounds quite unfriendly to me."
A scoff of a laugh escaping her, Shayna said "You're talking crazy. I'm just having a nice talk with my good friend Mia here. That's all. Nothing wrong with that, is it, Nia?"
All the other girl, Nia, did was shake her head No in response.
"See? Now, why don't you two cute kids run along somewhere? I wouldn't want to do anything to hurt either of you two," Shayna said, the last part coming out lowly as she moved closer to this new kid at school.
That sounded like a threat. For this girl Shayna this ...this human to say something like this almost seemed laughable to her. 'This child dares to say such things to me? Someone who is many years her elder and stronger than she could ever hope to be? ...No, no. Stay calm. Humans her age haven't developed fair amounts of strength yet. Don't goad her on. Just turn and leave. No sense in playing into her hands,' the magenta-haired Gem thought in a bid to calm herself down. Not saying anything, Sasha simply turned and walked away from the other two girls with Mia turning to follow behind her.
The pair had walked along in silence for a few minutes until they could hear the bell ring to end lunch.
"So. I guess I'll see you during Free Period?" Mia asked, still in surprise after their confrontation with Shayna and Nia.
"Sure, Mia, I'd like that. I'm looking forward to learning some more Korean," Sasha responded with a smile.
"OK," Mia nodded. "And, ...thanks for that back there." That was the last thing she said to Sasha before, after a quick hug-something that caught the magenta-haired teen by surprise-joining the steady stream of students making their way to their fourth period classes.
She was surprised. Sasha never would've thought that being passive in the face of a possible threat would work as well as it did. So, the fact that Mia seemed so relieved by what she did had the magenta-haired Gem feeling pretty pleased with herself. 'I did it. I did my job as a Gem warrior. I helped Mia with her bully problem. ...But, for how long?'
Zoinks! Looks like Sasha and Mia dodged a bit of a bullet of the bully variety. At least Sasha did the smart thing and left when it seemed like Shayna threatened her (which wouldn't be smart to do AT ALL). So, it's looking like things have been dealt with on the bully front. ...Or have they (*insert slightly dramatic music sting here*)? We shall find that out...next time. Until then, don't forget to RR please. =)
(Make sure to stay safe, warm, and healthy out there, lovelies. *sends love and positive vibes out to you all*)
