Mama told me to blow on my fingernails so the nail polish would finish drying faster. "You look lovely. Like out of a magazine." She said, as she examined me.

"Thank you mother." I said, bowing.

"Good girl Mimi. You remembered. A true lady needs to be beautiful and polite, and you're doing both wonderfully."

I didn't say anything. She was right; I looked great. I was wearing a cowgirl outfit, complete with the boots. And all in pink to! My little skirt was pink, and my shirt was a light, faded pink. Even my nail polish was pink! I loved dressing up, but today, I didn't understand what I was dressing up for.

"Well, come on honey. Your going to school for the first time today." She said.

"Is school fun?" I asked. I didn't know what school was, but I hoped it was another kind of party.

"Sometimes. Sometimes it gets boring, but no ones going to take you seriously if you don't get an education at least up to high school."

"Oh. Where is Seriously?"

Mama started to laugh. "Seriously isn't a place sweetie! I'll explain some other time. Lets go."

We weren't rich, but we had money. Mama said a limousine would drive me to and from school today, and then a taxi for the rest of the year. She hustled me towards the limo, and waved goodbye, as it drove off. I don't want to go in this big black car. I want Daddy to drive me in our old station wagon!

But this driver wasn't my daddy and he didn't talk to me at all. He drove in silence until we got to a big building. I saw a yellow bus with a lot of kids getting off. One was a girl with a funny hat. Another was a boy who looked younger then everyone else, who had red hair. He should wear a green shirt. Then he'd look like an upsidown carrot! Another was a boy with blue hair and really big glasses. And there was a boy with blond hair, talking to a boy with big bushy brown hair. Then a lot of other kids got out, all of them comparing slips of paper.

I was let out of the car. A lady walked out of the bus and gave me a piece of paper. It said, 'Ms. Schuyler.'

I followed the kids into the building. I went to the third floor, because no one on the bus went anywhere else. I held out my piece of paper, hoping someone would tell me where to go.

One kid stopped and said, "Why are you holding out your paper?"

"I don't know where to go."
"Your in Ms. Schuyler's class. It's that room." He pointed to the room I was in front of.

"Oh…thanks…" I walked into the classroom. "Are you Tachinawa Mimi?" The teacher said.

"Yes." I said, bowing.

"No need to be that polite Mimi. We're all going to the computer lab for the next two periods. Would everyone please line up?"
We all lined up, and I was next to a girl with black hair. "Whats your name?" I asked.

"Paige." She said, "Whats yours?"

"Mimi."

"Hi Mimi. Want to be friends?"

"Sure."

I found out Paige was really rich, and went in a limo everyday. Everyone said she was a snot, but she seemed nice enough to me.

We walked into a room with a lot of computers. I had my own computer at home, but I only knew how to get onto Barbie.com, and it was getting old. Computers were boring as far as I was concerned.

The teacher was a big scary man. Soon another class came in and he began to talk about how use the computers. We were assigned computers to work on.

I logged onto my Internet account, and went to Barbie.com. Paige said, she really liked Barbies, and so I showed her the site. I showed her how to get to it on her own computer. "Could someone help me fix the computer?" Someone said.

It was the carrot-boy who I'd seen on the bus. "It's not broken. You just went on the In-ter-net." I said.

"Whats the Internet?"

"It's where you go to…uh…stuff. I don't know much. I only know how to look at this website, and I don't like it very much anymore." He was looking at my computer, then at my clothes. Mama told me not to talk to boys, who looked at me like that, but my friendly side took over, so when he asked my name, I answered.

"Whats your name?" He asked.

"Mimi. Yours?"

"Koushiro."

"Okay." I took out my nail polish and began to re-paint my nails, which were now chipped. The carrot-boy didn't bother me anymore.

Computer class was over soon enough. That was good, because Paige was getting annoying, asking me how to do everything on the computer, even though I didn't know how.

I walked back to class and Ms. Schuyler read us a book called 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears.' Mama had already read me the story, and told me how bad the characters were, how Goldilocks was a trespasser and should be 'rested. I don't know what 'rested is, but I know it's not taking a nap!

When the story was done, Ms. Schuyler asked if we liked it. I raised my hand and said what my mama had told me.

"Well, Mimi." Ms. Schuyler said. "Your mother is right, in a way. Goldilocks did trespass on the bears house, but remember, she's a little girl like you, and children don't always know right from wrong."

"My mama said age is no excuse for bad behavior."
"Sometimes it isn't. But in some cases, it is."

"She says that Goldilocks should've been punished. The story will make kids think they can get away with anything."

"Well-" Ms. Schuyler didn't know what to say. Paige raised her hand. "I liked the story."

Ms. Schuyler smiled at her. "Well, good! I liked it to. Who else liked this story?"
Everyone raised their hands.

"I think it's time for math class." Ms. Schuyler said. She got out a big blue chart with numbers on it, and starting teaching us how to count. Everyone picked up on that quickly, so she moved on to simple addition, like 1+1.

It was time for recess. I'd already eaten lunch. I had a nummy bowl of strawberries, and a puff of cotton candy afterwards. I think I saw Paige drool. Sure, she had her Cornish Hen, but Cornish Hen is icky, and not too popular in Japan. But her parents love foreign things. Paige didn't mind them, but she likes to eat rice balls and miso soup.

I was playing hopscotch with Paige, and a friend of hers, Chrissy. It was my turn to throw the rock. It landed on nine. I hopped, but on square number four, there was a little rock. I tripped over it and fell on the ground. I started to cry. "Owww! Ooo, owww!" I shrieked. My knee was all red and bloody. It was scary to look at. My knee never looked like this before. And I'd torn my brand new tights!
"Mimi are you okay?" Paige asked. "Chrissy?" She turned to her other friend. "Get the teacher."

"Okay." Chrissy ran off to get Ms. Schuyler. They both came running back.

"Whats going on?" Ms. Schuyler asked.

"Mimi fell!" Paige and Chrissy said at the same time.

"Let me see. Mimi, give me your leg." She took me leg and looked at my knee. "Why it's just a scrape Mimi. You'll be fine."

"But it hurts!" I whined, crying.

"Alright, why don't you go down to the nurse and get a Band-Aid, okay?"

I nodded miserably. I walked into the building, and to the nurse's office, with an overly dramatic limp. Paige and Chrissy were looking at me very scared-like. They thought I was hurt a lot worse then I was.

I went into the hall with a bench you sat on, while you waited for the nurse. There was someone sitting there already. I plopped down next to him. The kid was covered in ugly bruises and drying blood. I think I'd seen him before. Oh yeah! He was that kid who got off the bus. The one with the funny hair and the big glasses. He didn't talk to me. At first I thought he didn't notice me, but he was looking right at me. Finally, my friendly instincts kicked in. I can't stand being with a person and not talking. "Hi!" I said. "My names Tachinawa Mimi, what's yours?"

"Kido Jyou." He said quietly."

"Hi Jyou!"

"Um…hi Mimi."

I guess I was being overly friendly. "Why are you going to the nurses office?" I don't know why I asked him. It was painfully obvious.

"I got beat up."

"Who beat you up?"
"I don't know. Doesn't matter anymore. I don't bother to look. I'll find out the next day in the school newspaper."

I didn't know there was a school newspaper, so I asked him about it. He didn't tell me much, but he said there was a column for fights, and he was always in it, because he was beaten up everyday. "Why?" I demanded.

"How should I know?" He said in an annoyed voice. "They don't like me, they beat me up. That's the way it works. Although I think now it's just to make an interesting story."
"That's so mean!"
"What's your point?" I couldn't believe it. This guy actually expected people to be mean to him. That was beyond my realm of reasoning. I hoped that Jyou was very old. I was scared that when I got to be the same age, people would treat me like that to.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Seven. How old are you?" Seven! That was only two years older then me!
"I'm five."

"So you're just starting out?"

"Yeah. Today's my first day."
"Why are you here?"

"I hurt my knee." Jyou looked down at my torn-up knee.

"That's not so bad. I was here on the first day to. It was because I got beaten up so bad I was knocked un-conscious." This could happen in kindergarten to? All of a sudden I was very scared. He must've seen the look of fear on my face, because he said, "Don't worry. You look like you fit in perfectly. People are going to like you. You have nothing to worry about."

I was so relieved! I didn't understand why I was spared from this torture, but this boy appeared very smart, and he was older then me, so I believed him.

A girl came out of the nurse's office. Jyou stood up. "Well, see you around sometime Mimi. Maybe we could…" He trailed off, thinking it was too much to hope for.

"Be friends?" I asked, smiling.

"Well…"

"Great! I'd love to be friends with you!" I hugged him, and he hugged me back, and went into the nurse's office.

During the afternoon, I couldn't think of much else but Jyou. He was so nice to me. It was scary to be around him, because now I knew that school wasn't as safe as I once thought it was. But I wanted to be with him more, and I really hoped to see him again.

The end of the day rolled around. We were dismissed into the playground. The limousine was waiting for me. I climbed into the back seat sadly. But as I slid towards the window, I bumped into someone. I turned around. It was Mommy! I hugged her hard. I asked her where Daddy was. She pointed to the front seat. "Daddy!"

"Hi Princess." He said, blowing me a kiss.

"Where's the chuffer?" I asked.

"It's pronounced 'show-fur' darling." Mama said. "And he was going to pick you up, but we decided to surprise you and come ourselves. So tell us all about your day."
"I told her everything that had happened. From meeting my new pals, Chrissy and Paige, to that weird carrot-boy, to my knee injury, and last of all, meeting Jyou. I had so much to tell, and I couldn't stop talking, even after we got home.