Chapter 22: Alice
The next day, Sasha attended to her usual activities. She went to school and had experienced the usual bullying.
After the first 3 hours, the bell finally rang and it was lunch break. Most of the students went to the cafeteria. Some with their lunch and some with money. But, Sasha brought neither her lunch nor money. She totally forgot about it.
"I guess I'm too lightheaded today." She thought to herself and continued to sit alone and do nothing.
She would usually start drawing in that situation. But, she still didn't feel like doing it. That made it much more confusing for her. She looked out the window and saw the students who had finished their lunch playing. There, she suddenly noticed the girl she admired.
Her silky black hair and pale white skin made her look unique among her other friends. There was nobody there who hated her.
Sasha kept on staring at her as she forgot to look away. The girl noticed and looked back at her. Realising the awkwardness, she instantly looked down. She started to fell a bit embarrassed.
A little while later, some students came near her. She thought that they were there to bully her without even looking at them.
"You don't seem to have anything fun to do," she heard a very familiar voice,"Why don't you come and play with us?"
Finally, Sasha looked up. It was Alice, the girl she always secretly admired. With her were some of her friends who were playing with her.
Right when she invited her, her friends started to oppose her.
"Alice! What are you saying?" One said.
"Don't invite her. She's sick and will get you sick, too!" Another said.
"Let's just make fun of her like the others." One suggested.
"Sasha, do you want to play with us?" Alice finally said ignoring her other friends.
Sasha was stunned hearing her question. She didn't know how she should reply. Deep down, she really wanted to play. But, she was thinking about the consequences. She thought that it might destroy her(Alice's) reputation.
But, before she could answer, Alice's friends continued to oppose her.
"Why are you asking for her opinion?" One asked.
"If you take her side further, we won't play with you anymore!" Another said.
Sasha noticed that it was going out of hand. She stood up while looking down and said,"This is a useless argument. It's not like I want to play with you or anything. You all may go now." As thoughtful as she was, what she just had said hurt her the most. But, she believed that it was the only way.
"No, you are playing with us!" Said Alice after a moment of silence.
Sasha quickly looked up at her with eyes full of questions. Alice looked back at her and gave her a gentle smile.
Alice's friends got irritated.
"Let's go! Alice won't be playing with us. She has found a girlfriend." One of them said mockingly. Then, they went away. Alice was there standing before Sasha's desk. Judging by how she sacrificed, Sasha should've thanked her. But, instead, she was a bit irritated, too. Before Alice said anything, she said,
"Why would you go so far for me? What do you want?"
Actually, Sasha still couldn't believe her. She began to think that it was a part of their prank. Or, just that Alice was dared to do so. But, though Sasha seemed bit rude to her, she didn't mind that. Because she knew what she goes through at school. She was also ashamed for not standing up for her.
"It's not entirely for you. I was testing my friends and they proved wrong. You won't mind if I stayed with you, will you?"
Sasha thought that she shouldn't refuse. So, she accepted without letting her guard down.
"No... I don't mind. Be my guest."
Just like that, Alice started to hang out with Sasha. As she did so, her other friends started to move away from her little by little. But, she didn't care. She only realised just how fake her friends were. However, she didn't leave Sasha's side because she knew that she was someone real. What happened on the day she cut her ties with her friends made her realise so.
So, she chose to actually help her for real.
On the other hand, Sasha started to think that she was serious about their friendship. So, she was a bit ashamed to think so ill about her. But, she kept quiet about that.
Alice was a very strong girl. The other students who used to bully Sasha refrained from doing so eventually because of her. So, Sasha was grateful. Slowly, she started to open up to her. She told her about her life and her sorrows.
She felt little at ease, as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Though things didn't change at home, finding a friend for the first time was way more than she could've asked for.
But, it was a shame that she forgot about all the friends she had already succeed on making. Though she had lingering feelings, she could not recall. Not even the slightest fragments...
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
RamisaNR
RamisaNR Alice, what changes might you make? Sasha, what changes might you get?
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone