"Do you guys remember when we first met and I told you about how I skipped a bunch of grades"?

"Yeah, back when you started in August last year. What about that?"Grizz responded almost clueless.

Chloe continued "Well it is true that I did skip a lot of grades, but it didn't happen all at once. You see: It all started back in Kindergarten when I was 5." The Bears leaned in some in for her story.

"While most kids there were playing dress up or running around with cars, I was often reading. I don't know why, but I enjoyed it. Just opening a book and tuning all the noise out seemed peaceful and serene, but of all the books I read, my favorite was The Giving Tree. I loved reading it so much that I started breaking it down into symbolism about the tree being a parent and the kid is just asking so much of it that the child eventually ruins it. When my teachers found out about this, they were impressed by my interpretation of the book."Grizz decided to take a bite of his sandwich as he continued listening to Chloe's tale. He took normal sized bites however to be respectful to her.

"Eventually," continued Chloe "when my parents were told about this, I was taken to a testing center to see how advanced my intellectual skills were. I swear, I must have taken, like, 50 tests over the course of a few weeks. When it was all done with, my parents were told by the testing facility that I was 'gifted'. They said I had the intellect of a middle schooler, and recommended that I advance onto 6th grade."

The bear's were confused by this and didn't understand the gap between K-to-6. Chloe could tell they were lost however, so she quickly broke it down to them. "See, in the school system, there are 12 grades, plus Kindergarten, so 13 kind of. K-5 is Elementary, 6-8 is Middle, and 9-12 is High school, usually. I basically skipped 5 grades after being in Kindergarten for only a couple months." The Bear's were a little surprised by this, silently applauding Chloe for her talent, but she went on, though this time, her voice seemed a little more upsetting.

"Anyway, so after I turned 6, I went on to the same grade #, completely skipping all of elementary school, but I kind of didn't want to".

Grizz ended up asking her after finishing some of his sandwich "Then why did you?"

Panda followed asking "Yeah, why?"

"I felt like it was what my parents wanted. The moment they realized how intelligent I was, they were so proud and amazed by me that it seemed like they wanted me to go through with it. They were just so happy and all-for-me that I felt like saying no might disappoint them." Chloe frowned a little, showing this was clearly bothering her, but before the Bears could intervene, she continued. "After arriving there, I kind of, well…got made fun of." At that moment, the bears were stunned to hear this; Grizz even dropped his sandwich from his grasp and back onto the plate in a heaping mess.

Panda reacted and asked "Like, like how?"

Chloe looked away from Panda, almost like he was interrogating her, but she took another deep breath and persevered, looking back towards the group. "At first, it was only verbal stuff. They would make fun of my age and height and stuff like that, but I just let it roll over me. Eventually though, some of the guys started doing more…physical things, like dumping milk over my head at the cafeteria and knocking my books and papers out of my hands in the hall. The girls were especially meaner, supporting the actions the others did and calling out to all my classmates about how I was like a baby to them in their eyes."

The Bears were shocked to hear all this and Ice Bear said "Ice Bear will hunt down enemies." Grizz decided to act in before Ice Bear actually stood up to get his hatchet. "WO, WO, WO now dude, take it easy. Chloe, you were…bullied?"

Chloe looked away again and closed her eyes this time, unable to stare at Grizz. She was silent, but responded, still unable to look at them "Yeah, but middle school wasn't even the worst of it; that was high school." The Bears all looked at each other in discomfort over Chloe, who looked like a giant ball of sadness just waiting to explode, and her blue hoody only made it look more real. Ice Bear, who was still standing up, walked over to Chloe, leaned in, and gave her a hug. It was that big of an emergency.

She looked a little happier as she rose her arms to hug Ice Bear's. Her head rested on his white, furry arms as he tried to comfort her, and Panda and Grizz just watched in both awe and sorrowfulness. After a while of this, she pulled her head up, opened her eyes, and made a small, but dim smile. Ice bear backed off, happy to have relieved her sadness, but also a little happy to no longer be in his position. Ice Bear cared for his brothers and Chloe, but he has his limits at times. He turned to face his brothers and walked back to the couch to sit back down with them as they patiently waited for Chloe to continue. Grizz and Panda looked at their younger brother; a little surprised he was so open like that. Clearly he had a soft spot for Chloe, or maybe he felt guilty for not changing the subject earlier in the kitchen.

She continued from where she left off, a little more happy than when she first began (, but this would not last very long). "Anyways," she said trying to recap where her last thoughts. "Umm… so… I was in middle school for only a year. I aced so many tests and quizzes that the school recommended I try some high school leveled practice exams. At first, I was hesitant, but when the teasing wouldn't stop, I reluctantly agreed. I was hoping high school would be a bit better." She stopped for a second to think of what to say next.

"So I went along with the tests and, no surprise, I was pretty advanced in the school's eyes. They said middle school was too basic for me and that I should go off to high school. They told me it was a more mature place with open-minded people and I-". She froze and raised one of her hands up to her mouth after closing her eyes, forming a fist of suppression. The Bears felt a little awkward to see her just suddenly stop, but said nothing out of fear of how she would react. She was silent again; the whole room feeling like it was collapsing in on her, crushing her with every second of silence.

She snapped out of it and finished what she was trying to say, but there was a choking and tone of sadness in what she said next. "I was…actually gullible enough *sniffle* to believe them." She started to forms tears in her eyes and quickly wiped them away, wanting to prove she was still somehow strong to them.

The Bears could no longer see her in such pain and Panda broke out towards her, saying "Chloe, don't! You don't have to tell us if this is hurting you so much. We feel horrible for making you feel like this, just please stop if you want to".

Grizz quickly interjected along with Panda. "Yeah, we want you to be happy, not…this". He never saw Chloe so sad and couldn't tell what she was experiencing. Was it pain? Sorrow? Sadness? Anger? Narcissistically, the Bears felt as sad as she was right now.