Chapter 3, Finding Friends in Unusual Places: Parakylie awoke feeling refreshed. Ever since she moved to Toad Town, she didn't have to hear her parents fighting. She didn't have her mom waking her up to do a ridiculous request, like to give her dad medicine because he got drunk, food poisoning, or whatever dumb thing he did that caused him to get in a predicament. She didn't have to hear her dad yelling at her and calling her names. She didn't have to hear her mom complaining to her about her dad. Living with her uncle has been blissful.

She looked over at the clock. 5 am. She had to be at school by 8. She stood up and made herself a bowl of cereal. After eating she decided to go wash her face before getting ready to leave. She went back to her room, brushed her hair, and put on makeup. After she was done with her makeup she saw something against the wall next to the tv. She didn't know why she hadn't seen that when she saw her new room for the first time. Curious, Parakylie picked it up to inspect it closer. It was a small electronic camera. It appeared to be an older model. Parakylie turned it on. The first image to display was her dad and uncle as young paratroopas her dad was smiling while her uncle was crying.

"Wow, even dad was a bully then." Parakylie thought as she recalled what her uncle said when she arrived at his home.

"I know what your father is like. I grew up with him after all." Now she's really curious about what made them fall apart. Maybe Parakarry will tell her someday. Or if she gets the guts to ask. Whichever came first. She placed the camera back where she found it. Then left her room and headed downstairs. She made her way to her uncle's room. He wasn't there. He must be still on his paper route. She looked at the calendar in his room. Today was Friday. Her uncle should be coming home today. Or tomorrow.

The room didn't have anything special. Just a plain bedroom. The comforter was light blue with white lilies covered on top. The lilies made her feel sad. They reminded her when a relative gave her mother lilies at her brother's funeral. Parakylie went outside; the view of Toad Town was very nice. She flapped her wings and started flying to school. She landed at the school entrance.

Inside, the halls were decorated with colorful ribbons and balloons. Parakylie guessed it was some sort of school dance coming up. It probably wasn't worth going. The school dances she went to at her old school weren't. She only went to them as an attempt to be more social, but sometimes she ended up getting mocked. She had enough experience with bullying already. Parakylie pushed those thoughts aside for now. Right now she has to attend class.

As she entered the classroom she took a seat near the teacher's desk. Mr. Sushi is a nice-looking koopa that teaches science. He's nice as well. Parakylie instantly fell in love with him on the first day of class. He wore black clothes and a purple shell on his back, like a dark koopa. Parakylie wondered where he got his name from. Was he raised by Cheep Cheeps? Mr. Sushi walked into class and started taking attendance. After getting everyone's names, he walked up to the podium. Parakylie watched with fascination.

"Morning everyone!" He spoke in his usual cheery tone. "Today we have our next science lesson!"

Most of the students groaned at the mention of science. Parakylie was too engrossed in the lesson to hear them groan. All throughout class she observed Mr. Sushi. He talked about many topics. Some subjects she was interested in. She loved hearing his voice. It calmed her nerves. After the lesson, Parakylie stayed behind in her seat, as she put her notebook back in her backpack. Mr. Sushi smiled at Parakylie.

"Hello, little Parakylie." He said.

"Hello, Mr. Sushi." Parakylie said. She felt comfortable talking to him. He didn't seem to judge her, unlike her classmates. Sometimes she wondered if he was bullied when he was in high school.

"What are you reading?" He asked, pointing to the book on her desk.

"Just a book I borrowed from the library. It's about spiders." She replied.

"You like spiders?"

"I think tarantulas are cute."

"I suppose they are. I have a few tarantulas. They were quite tame at first. I'd let them roam the house whenever I was there. Eventually, though, they became rather wild. I'd have to lock them up in the shed. I haven't gotten rid of them yet." Mr. Sushi said. Parakylie giggled a little unsure if he was joking or not.

"You're quite the giggler." Mr. Sushi said.

Pararkylie blushed lightly and messed with the jeweled spider on her choker. "Sorry, sir." She said shyly.

"Don't worry, you won't get bullied by me." He told her. He reached out and patted the side of her head. She looked up at him confused.

"I've seen it. Tell me if it ever gets worse. I'll have the principal talk to them." He said.

"Thank you, Mr. Sushi."

"No problem."

He sat down at his desk as the bell rang signaling the end of class. Parakylie packed up her backpack and placed it on her shoulder before heading out of the classroom. Before leaving, Mr. Sushi called her. Parakylie turned around.

"Parakylie, I hope you enjoyed your lesson today." He said. Parakylie nodded with a polite smile.

"Yes. Thank you." She bid farewell to him before going to the next class. This class was a math class. She would rather be in art class. It was easier compared to math. She enjoyed working with her hands. She liked how the clay felt. She found it to be stress relieving. She thought about asking her uncle if he could get some clay for her when he came back from delivering mail. She also liked painting. Her paintings never come out how she wanted them to. But she still thought they were beautiful. Parakylie decided to make little drawings in her notebook while the teacher explained different problems on the board. As soon as the lunch hour rolled around, Parakylie flew to the back of the school where Bobert was sitting. His face lit up when he saw her.

"Hey! Parakylie!" He exclaimed.

"Hey, Bobert." She sat next to him.

"What did you bring this time?" He asked.

"Same old. Sandwich and carrot sticks." She bites on one. "How are you?" She asked.

"I'm fine." He said. They continued their conversation as Parakylie ate. Parakylie always looked forward to going to the back of the school and spend some time with Bobert. Bobert and Mr. Sushi were always kind and friendly toward her. Whenever the kids would call Parakylie a freak (which was often), Bobert or Mr. Sushi would step up to say something about Parakylie being a person. Whenever Mr. Sushi said, 'don't listen to those kids,' she knew he meant everything he said. If someone threw something at her, Bobert would defend her. In return, Parakylie defended him. Bobert noticed that she had finished her sandwich. He grabbed the container and handed it to her. Parakylie thanked him before putting it back in her backpack.

Parakylie heard someone calling her name. When she looked to her right she saw who it was. It was Kooprina. She walked towards them. She had her strawberry blonde hair up in a ponytail, wore a pink shell and green boots with pink soles. Parakylie always felt weird around her. Kooprina would ask questions about her and Bobert. She also talked about how her makeup makes her look like a raccoon with the other students. Parakylie is sure she's the reason why other students call her "Parakoon".

"Hey, Bobert. What are you doing here?" She greeted.

"Nothing much. I've been hanging out with Parakylie today." He responded. "She's nice."

"Aw. You're too sweet Bobert." Parakylie said teasingly.

"Oh. Well I'll leave you two alone. Nice talking with you." She left. Parakylie was quiet thinking to herself. She just came to say "hi" and that's it? Something is up.

"Are you okay Parakylie?" Bobert asked. He sounded concerned. "What's up?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Nothing." She answered. She was probably overthinking. She thought about going to the bathroom to calm her nerves. That that would mean re applying her makeup. She was soon going to find out she wasn't overthinking. A goomba, paratroopa, and shy guy approached them. Bobert got in front of Parakylie.

"Leave her alone!" He said.

"Or what you'll explode?" The paratroopa said.

"Oh wait, you can't. You have no fuse. How can you explode with a fuse?" The goomba said. Bobert turned red. He really wished he could. He could feel it, but without a fuse he couldn't.

"Look at him. He's a little red berry." The Shy guy taunted.

"Must be easy to bully others behind a mask." Parakylie said.

"Says the one makes her eye shadow look like a mask, Parakoon." The paratroopa said.

"It's true. She wears make up every chance she can get. She even has lipstick on her teeth." The Shy Guy added. Parakylie thought that comment didn't make sense. Paratroopas didn't have teeth. They have beaks.

"Well you're lucky I don't have a fuse. Because I would blow all three of you up." Bobert threatened. The Shy Guy laughed.

"Yeah. But you can't." He said. Parakylie was getting annoyed with all three boys.

"Just shut up. Don't you have anything better to do than insult people?"

"We want to help you, Parakylie." The paratroopa said. "If you would stop making yourself look ugly then we wouldn't have to insult you."

That did it for Bobert. He body slammed himself against the goomba. The goomba was sent flying hitting his head against the tree. Parakylie was a little taken aback at the attack. That was the first time she saw Bobert hit someone. Before he could hit the Shy Guy; the Shy Guy jumped up and ran away as fast as he could. The paratroopa wasn't done yet however. He quickly flew behind Parakylie and grabbed her by the wings carrying her up in the air as he did so. Parakylie screamed as she tries pulling away, but the paratroopa only grabbed on to her wings tighter. Bobert was jumping up and down calling for her. He wished he could stop him, but he was small and had no wings. The paratroopa held Parakylie out in the air. Bobert yelled once more trying to get to Parakylie.

"Put her down, you creep!" Bobert shouted at the paratroopa. The paratroopa smirks and carries her away. Parakylie felt her wings beginning to ache. Bobert followed them watching helplessly as Parakylie struggled harder and tried kicking him. The paratroopa held onto her wings tighter. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Parakylie managed to kick him in the stomach causing him to lose his grip and drop her. Parakylie was unfortunately dropped in the school dumpster; but found something that put her in awe. It was a chain chomp. It wasn't just any chain chomp. It was a small white chain chomp. (Or as least she thought it might be white. It was hard to tell because it looked so dirty.) and had pretty blue eyes. Parakylie never saw such unusual chain chomp.

"Hello. You're so cute." Parakylie said. The chain chomp liked her cheek. Parakylie giggled as the pets the creature. The chain chomp licked her hand.

"I'm going to call you Sugar. Because you're sweet like sugar. You're white like sugar too." Parakylie said. The chain chomp seemed to like it's new name. Parakylie looked at her clothes. She was going to have to take them off. She could probably wash her shell and keep wearing that the rest of the day. But her hair was still going to smell like garbage and so was her shoes. It doesn't help that she had green hair. The students were probably going to say that her hair was made of literal sewage. Parakylie opens up her backpack.

"Now you're going to have to be quiet until I let you out Sugar. You must also try to be as still as possible." Sugar seemed to understand was Parakylie was saying. It jumped in her backpack. Parakylie zipped the backpack leaving a small space open so the creature could have air.

"Parakylie!" Bobert shouts jumping up and down in front of the dumpster.

"I'm coming." Parakylie carefully climbs out. Her wings were still a little sore. She flapped them a bit to ease the pain.

"Are you okay? That looks bad." He said.

"It's just dirt and grime. I'll just was my shell and wear that until I can wash my clothes at home."

"I know. But your wings. That looked like that hurt."

"It'll probably go away after a bit of stretching. Not like they're broken or anything." Bobert looked guilty. He wished he could have protected Parakylie. He didn't like the thought of her getting hurt because of him. The bell rang and the class began to fill up the room. Parakylie went straight to her desk without looking at anyone. Kooprina was sitting in a row adjacent to her.

"Where are your clothes Parakylie?" The paratroopa did not answer the koopa. She had a feeling she was behind what happened to her, if it's her fault, well she'd probably blame it on the goomba. Although she did get a cool pet because of her. So there's that. She hoped her uncle will let her keep it. She wondered if the chain chomp really was white. What if it was a light brown? It should be called something else. Oh! Like 'Cinnamon'. Cinnamon was the only thing that tasted the best, even better than sugar. Parakylie will just have to wash him to find out. The rest of the day went by like usual. Bobert and Parakylie stayed together the whole period, mostly talking. Parakylie was happy her friend was there with her. She knew she'd be alone if Bobert wasn't there. At the end of the period they left school together.

"Hey Parakylie. Want to come over to my house?" Bobert asked.

"Not today. I have to wash my clothes remember?" Plus she had to take Sugar/Cinnamon home. She was also hoping her uncle would be home so she could ask if she could keep it. Bobert looked disappointed.

"Oh. Right." He said.

"But maybe some other time?" She suggested.

"Sure, tomorrow maybe? You can stay for dinner."

"Maybe. If my uncle wants me to, I mean. We'll see."

"Promise you won't be weirded out, when you see my parents if he does let you come?" Bobert asked.

"Why would I be weirded out?"

"Just promise you won't."

"I promise." Parakylie said. Bobert nodded and leaves. Parakylie wondered what would make him ask that. When the paratroopa arrived home, she placed her clothes and shoes in the washer. Then went to the bathroom to shower. After showering she washed her shell more thoroughly and blew dry her hair. She went to open her backpack and out bounced the little chain chomp. She was going to have to put her backpack in the wash once her clothes were done.

"Let's see. Are you going to be Sugar or Cinnamon?" Parakylie turns on the bath water and began scrubbing the chain chomp.