Annie returned home, feeling a bit down about her school life. She muttered to herself, "I guess my school life could be better..."

In her mind, she thought, Hey, Bell... What's your purpose?

Bell, her mystical companion, shrugged casually. "I honestly don't know... From what I remember, I'm supposed to be your guardian or source of magic power... whatever that means. But where is Rose, anyway?"

Annie glanced at the empty seat beside her, where Rose usually sat, always ready with a barrage of questions.

"She probably had something to do at school or ended up on a different flight," Annie murmured softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Checking her phone, Annie saw the group chat in absolute chaos, and she couldn't help but smile at the lively banter.

(GC)

Michael: UGH, OUR STUPID TEACHER WANTS US TO RAISE A PLANT 😫

Rose: A CARNIVORE FLOWER LITERALLY ATE ME 🤢

John: 🙄🙄🙄

Michael: 😳😲

Rose: HOW DARE YOU?!!!! 😡😡😡

John: I was gonna send this... (John replies to Rose's message: "A CARNIVORE FLOWER LITERALLY ATE ME 🤢") John: 😂🤣😂🤣

Rose: 😡 I'll kick your emo ass when I see you!!!

John: 🖕🖕🖕

Michael: 😂

John: 🤣

Rose: Just you wait!!! I'll fight your emo ass!!!

Clark: For god's sake... You guys are blowing up my notifications...

Rose: TELL THAT TO JOHN! HE STARTED THIS!

John: You're the one being a drama queen 😒😒

Tina: Actually, it's both of them—

Rose: SHUT UP, TINA 🤬

John: SHUT UP, TINA 🤬

Tina: 🙄🙄🙄

(Clark bans John and Rose from the group chat)

Tina: Finally 😁

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

(End of the group chat)

(END OF GC)

nnie laughed as she scrolled through her group's conversation. They were nice, fairly nice, but definitely weird in their own special way. Despite their flaws, she liked them.

Bell, her mystical companion, chimed in with a smug look, "Who's hotter? Michael or John?"

"Neither," Annie replied, smirking. "I'm not interested in boys, but Michael x John sounds interesting 😁."

Her mind wandered to a scene of John pinning Michael against the wall, but Bell interrupted with a groan, "Ewwwwww 🤢🤢🤢 Annie, stop thinking about that gay stuff..."

Annie shook off the thought just as the jet arrived at her home. She placed her stuff on the sofa and changed into her home clothes. Feeling curious, she decided to stalk her classmates' social media profiles.

Annie was particularly interested in two classmates: Glenn and Sophie. She initially thought Glenn was quiet and introverted, but found out she was actually very interactive and quite quirky. Glenn was smart but only used about 50% of her potential.

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Sophie, whom Annie thought was dumb and childish, turned out to be the second smartest in their class and very mature, like Annie. She often saw the two girls together, chatting for hours in the school library.

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As Annie scrolled through Facebook, she noticed a friend suggestion: Levi, the shortest guy in her class. Levi, despite his height, had a cocky and overconfident demeanor that Annie found irritating. In her distraction, she accidentally pressed the add friend button! To her horror, Levi accepted almost immediately. Annie hid her phone, panicking.

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"It's going to be so awkward when we see each other! This isn't good..." she muttered. After ten minutes, she calmed down and deleted the Facebook app from her phone.

Feeling hungry, she went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. There was no food, only some yogurt. Annie sighed heavily. It would be good to know the places in this new town, but she was still unfamiliar with it. She then spotted a folded piece of paper on top of the fridge. Curious, she grabbed it. The front was dusty, indicating it had been there for a few days. Excited and nervous, Annie opened the letter from her mother.

Hello dearest,

I put this letter here before I left because I knew the food would run out. Inside, you'll find $200 for this week's meals. You must be wondering where to find food in this new town without me. Well, don't worry. At the back of the cabin, there's a special motorcycle unique to this town. It's self-driving, so you need to tell it what to do! If it stops working, there are twenty gallons of gas in the shed. Take care, Annie. See you at the end of your first quarter!

Annie felt a mix of excitement and nerves as she pocketed the $200. She decided to explore the town after school tomorrow, especially since it was Friday. Feeling tired, she indulged in a relaxing hot bubble bath, letting the warm water wash away her stress. Afterward, she slipped into her pajamas and drifted off for a nap, ready for whatever the next day would bring.