Ahh... okay. Here we go.

So, uhm, after a long mystery of what happened just now- I'm back.

Cherri Kusuri here, and I was called to the principal's office to talk to the guidance counselor. A direct chat with the counselor with the principal's supervision, just- sitting in the office the whole time. Principal Goodman seemed really- upset and stressed after calling me here, staying in his chair with his angry walrus eyebrows as he sat in for the entire conversation.

I knew from the start that there had to be more to this. It's pretty weird that he directly called me and the counselor to his office. These things are usually confidential in the counselor's office, with mostly everything kept secret between the student and the counselor. If it was just me opening up to the counselor and dealing with my rough transition into high school, then why did the principal need to be there?

Obviously... it was because he needed to listen in for anything Makeup Weasel related.

If I had to guess, the school's really shaken up about what happened between me and her, and... y'know what? I'm gonna give them credit. If I'm being brought to a counselor for what's been going on today, means that the principal's now learning about all the bad crap happening to me. I'm very much a special case, something to deal with before it becomes an even worse problem.

Since Makeup Weasel's mom was really, REALLY insistent on taking action against me, I wouldn't put it past her to getting a lawyer to sue me or the school. Whichever one gets more money. So, the principal's totally listening in, just in case any legal crap come up. Any reason why I should be kicked out of the school and stuff.

Should be as easy as just saying I should be kicked out for hurting a girl and hospitalizing her. This school's, like, one of the "good ones" that prides itself on its good eggs and all, so taking out one bad Cherri is a lot more efficient than letting the school go down.

Yet, there's some... issues to expelling a girl who's completely innocent and did nothing wrong whatsoever.

Maybe I'd end up all innocent for what happened to Makeup Weasel and then the school will now have to deal with a law suit from me and Hippo Dad. The case could be broadcasted to local news, maybe even national if people catch wind of the girl who burned someone's hands through mysterious and impossible to prove ways, school would be in hot water for a whiiiiiile after all that.

So, Principal Goodman had to be very, very certain about me being expellable and all, and uh... yeah, with how uncomfortable he looks, he's really grasping at straws trying to figure out how to deal with me.

Anyway, enough about him, now... let's... uh... discuss the guidance counselor, Mrs. Sullivan. The person hired to do all that counseling stuff for this school.

If counselors had pictures, then this one would be the textbook definition of what an okay one is. I could get a hang on her entire niceness. She's paid to care about students and help them work through their stuff and all. Kind of the same as your typical, normal counselor on paper- she's- nice and caring and whatever... a good improvement, and, uhm...

...

... okay, I'm gonna be real with you, Mr. California, I'm only describing her personality because I'm unsure if I want to describe what she looks like. The words are like... they're right on the tip of my tongue, and I'm just struggling to explain her whole- Post EFD season look without freaking you out. Honestly, I think she looks really creepy, and I don't- I really don't know if you're ready, ready for what I'm about to tell you.

Like... okay. I'll- I guess I should warn you if you're, like, very terrified of- eyes?

Eyes. It's an eye description. All about eyes, and uhm... yeah.

I should probably say, I don't think you'd want to be eating right now. The counselor's- okay, but this is a big thing that might ruin your appetite or make you throw up or whatever at the thought of what this person turned into. It's a little bit horrifying and...

Ugh, y'know what, I'm not beating around the bush anymore. Ready?

Okay. Here goes.

So, imagine, Mr. California, that you're face to face with some human woman with like- some cozy blue shirt and white pants or whatever. Kind of nice, it gives off a whole "nice, sky vibe" that helps out with getting people to open up and all. A common outfit to wear, formal yet casual in a way?

You're expected to come to her office and have a chat about your feelings and how school's been and all, a confidential person that you're expected to trust with all your personal secrets and junk, someone who should look as welcoming and comforting as possible.

... and then imagine the rest of her is like one thousand eyeballs jumbled together into the shape of a person.

Eyeballs.

I'll give you a moment to process that.

One thousand eyeballs jumbled together into one person shape.

It's not like someone painted their skin completely white and then put a ton of eyeball tattoos- no, these are actual eyes. The eyes are round and have a shape, like- like she's just a walking, talking bunch of grapes... but they're eyes.

No eyelids, no skin, none of that. Her face, her arms, her legs, her- her whole body is just a ton of eyeballs. Her head's one BIG eye and the rest of it's all floating jumbled messes of eyes. Blue, brown, green, some mixed bags of black and red and yellow and orange and- it's all EYES. Eyes of all shapes, eyes of all species, even some cheap plastic or marble or glass eyes.

With like- about a thousand to cover, some of them are squished and some of them are- veiny and- eugh.

Still gives me shivers... I might have even thrown up myself, if I had anything to. Like... she puts the eye in guidance counselor... well, more like, more like- eyedance counselor!

Hehe. Eyedance counselor!

...

Anyway, uh, yeeeeeah. Moving on from that line, she's just all eyes.

So, for the entire time, I had to take the lesser of evils and stare at her right in the large eyeball head. Direct eye contact or whatever, the whole time as she spoke with me. While you're imagining her being made up of a ton of eyes, also imagine yourself having like, a staring contest but you blinked a long time ago and your one eyed contest opponent's just very overcompetitive. Yeah, that's- that's how it felt.

I pretty much- had to. If I stared at any of her other eyes, I'd be weird. If I stared at her clothes, I'd- also be weird. And if I didn't stare at her during the conversation by staring at the walls or the principal, I'd look like I was trying to ignore her and tune out everything she's saying (which I kind of was? But y'know, they don't need to know that), leading to more trouble than it's worth.

Oh, and I'd be weird as well, I guess.

Yeah. After that talk, it was- a bunch of nonsense I don't care about, how I'd be welcome to chat with her whenever, and that was it. I don't really feel like word for word sharing anything of what was said. Lot of it seems too personal and uninteresting for just some random person. Stuff I shouldn't share with you.

But to tell you the truth, probably doesn't matter anyway. I didn't bother to take it any more seriously than just "protecting me and Gumi", to be honest. No emotional moment or progress whatsoever. Just an unimportant chat, nothing I cared about or could care about whatsoever.

Why?

Well, to be real with you... counselors don't do anything for me.

They're explained to be a "safe space" for students, a place where a student could talk about anything. How gross some guy is, how much they don't like being at school, how unsafe it is to be around their dad- buncha stuff like that. Anyone who isn't me can get a lot out of having an ear to listen to them.

But I just don't like sharing anything - especially not after post EFD Season - with a creature of eyes that I have to see walking in the hallways- no, that's what you're for, Mr. California. I like it better when if I'm opening up to a complete stranger with no involvement in my life whatsoever. It feels so much safer to talk to random people (oh, and Gumi) than it is to actual people.

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Plus, y'know, counselors are often, like, not... professional. Anyone, any rando can be a counselor, even without all that doctor qualification. YOU could even be a counselor, too, if you wanted to, Mr. California! Schools don't really hire professional therapists and psychologists and junk. Too expensive just for some snot nosed brats or whatever.

I think it's been the same way throughout time, a constant bleh of counselors throughout elementary and middle school, and- made worse in high school. Back then, people cared about a child's development and needed a counselor gentle enough to not do anything awful to the child's psyche. Now these people in high school are just hired for the sake of "oh, here's what you gotta do to get a good job after this" and "oh, if you're feeling bad, let's talk about this".

There's no problem with me other than the whole bullying situation, and... y'know, I'm only in trouble because I want to protect Gumi. If I told the truth about anything, it would be easy to figure everything out and then Gumi'd be sitting in this chair instead of me. The counselor's not professional, but she's not an idiot either, she'll KNOW if I was honest.

I've told the truth plenty in Middle School and the crappy people there decided to throw me under the bus when I opened up to them. Told those people "I didn't feel like doing anything because" blah blah blah and then I flat out got in trouble with detentions and junk for some of the crap I said. Students, teachers- even that garbage bag of a middle school counselor.

Oh, no, no, I should probably specify: he is both figuratively and literally a plastic garbage bag. A walking, talking garbage bag with scribbled marker on his bag face. Had empty cans of soda, greasy paper plates, and scraps of newspaper in his garbage bag body. Spouted on and on about needless crap and more or less is just a pathetic excuse for a "human being" in this entire world.

So I went into this with a more... "careful, protective" mindset, ready to lie right through my teeth. Counselor was asking a ton of personal questions sprinkled in between small talk, and I answered with the completely wrong information just to get this whole thing over with.

Nothing outlandish, don't worry, it's just all normal human stuff. Told them stuff that a normal human would be going through if they were in a world of also normal humans. I'm just a modest girl that had a really bad first day, was bullied relentlessly by some bad classmates, and.... yeah.

That was it. Just needed to have some chat with two adults. Nothing was learned from it whatsoever, and it was a complete waste of my time.

It's whatever, though. Been doing all of this while spacing out and just thinking a I'm out of the office after that whole, entire bit of nonsense. Class is almost over and I might as well go back and join Gumi again, before.

...

Ugh...

You know what, I'm just... I'm not going back to French.

I've already missed a good half of French, it's not like I need to be there for the last few minutes of it or so. Gumi could always catch me up on what I'm missing, so it's whatever. No difference to me heading back now or me heading back later.

No, I'm just... I don't really want to. I'm still a little unsettled.

I wasn't just creeped out by the guidance counselor being a ton of eyeballs, I was bothered by the way she just kept- trying to get me to talk about personal crap. Things about, like, my sister, my dad- my mom... what I want to do with my life, how I'm doing at school and feeling so far- oh, and y'know, the part where I got kicked the crap out of and came into the office with bruised faces.

Mrs. Sullivan just- she kept asking and asking and it took up so much time to dodge her questions. She knew way more than she was letting on

I stuck to my story and pretended everything was fine. That I was just trying my best to enjoy school, to learn and all that crap. Told her nothing about the fact my sister's phone was taken, nothing about how I was looking around for who took it, and definitely nothing about me completely screwing over everyone around me until I find who took it.

That's what I really- what I really want to do right now, the thing that would make all of this so much better. I don't want to get along with people and do better at school, I just want to find that phone, to find Gumi's phone so she can have the good school life. I desperately want it back, and need to figure out who did it, and... well, when I do, I'll just take it back by force if I have to.

Time is of the essence, and I only have a short amount of time before they get wise and...

...

Wait.

Wait a minute, I'm an idiot.

Gumi was with Lizard Nerd the whole day yesterday.

Lizard Nerd definitely knows something about the whole thing- and I'm pretty sure he and Gumi are just new friends rather than whatever she is with Soleil and Elena. I just gotta get to Lizard Nerd and interrogate the crap out of him.

Okay. Okay. I know what classes he has today. Some advanced biology, a Spanish class, and a computer science class. Gumi doesn't know enough to remember what his third period is, but if I gamble with one of these classes and listen for a room talking about either of these three topics... I'll find him. Find him before lunch starts and all.

Instead of heading back to French, I'm on my happy little way to search for LIzard Nerd. Roaming the halls in a way to avoid having a teacher notice me, just peeking into doors every so often to see what's going on in each one. I got about ten minutes before the bell rings, after all.

Right away, I can ignore any classrooms that are empty, those are just the students that were eating the second lunch or whatever. Lizard Nerd shares the same lunch period as I do.

From then on, I can ignore any classrooms that are like- reading books or talking about math crap... and- there we go, it's all narrowed to Lizard Nerd's classes. I just have to listen out for anyone speaking Spanish, any class that has people's computers out and doing nerd crap, or some science room that's being used for hard biology.

Search, search, blah blah blah, searching noises- okay, nothing down this hallway, none down here- ugh...

He's somewhere around here...

No, not in there... that's a cooking room...

Not here either, they're going on about U.S. History in here...

Nope- chemistry lab... nope- psychology... oh, definitely not this, this is just another math class.

Math. Math. More math. There is a comedically high amount of math classes in this hallway.

Uhhh- English class, not in there either.

Hmm- uhm...

I'm still looking for him and junk, he's totally somewhere.

I can't really- wait for lunch for him. Solid chance he's going to join Gumi and the others anyway, and if I talked with him while Gumi's around- yeah, gonna be a little bit of a disaster, I just got to find Lizard Nerd and-

Ugh. Dang it. Bell rang, and I have no idea where he is. He's got to be somewhere in this dang building-

Ugh, if I had known how complicated it would be to find a singular lizard nerd, I would have asked him stuff. I saw him at the beginning of the day, the beginning of class even...! Why didn't I ask him then?! Now I'm just going on a wild goose chase for some wandering lizard that's probably on his merry little way to lunch, and-

"Oh, look, it's the bubblegum b----!"

Bubblegum b- oh. Oh, okay. They're talking about me.

My search for Lizard Nerd's a fruitless effort, but at least I found more people to be pissed at me, people to just target me and all. I stared in the direction of whoever said that, and- saw, like, I wanna say- 3 people together. It seems to be some of Makeup Weasel's lunch friend group just leaving with their stuff, coming out of the same hallway that I was searching and all.

Is that really all they cam come up with, though? Like, out of all things they could say about me, they just landed on "bubblegum b----" to start?

Censored, obviously, because family friendly telepathic diaries sell better than-

...

I...

I just heard them speak to each other.

I heard one of their names. "Charlotte."

Charlotte.

The name that the phone thief called me by accident.

The "Charlotte" being spoken to seems to be a small mousey girl- like, a mouse girl, maybe a rat, incredibly short and has a blonde wig of hair reaching down to her waist (and other people's knees). Dressed in some pink leather jacket over a white t-shirt, with a dark red skirt and black boots on.

Mr. California, hear me out, I think this person could lead me to whoever took Gumi's phone.

"... so, you're headed to lunch too?" I asked those three, following right after them as they walk through the hallways.

"Yeah? What's it to you, bubblegum b----?" asked the taller creature, the jumbled pile of orange leaves. Like, leaves-leaves, maple leaves shaped to be a five foot eight tall guy dressed in some beige shirt and blue jeans. "What crap you bothering us with?"

Mm. Okay, Cherri, how should I word this?

Eh, let's play nice. "Well, I was thinking we could walk together to lunch. What do you think?"

"What do we- ... oh my gosh, you're joking!" exclaimed the walking, talking teddy bear with pure brown hair atop a bright blonde teddy bear fabric. Covering her mouth and letting out a prissy little laugh, scoffing at the idea for obvious Makeup Weasel related reasons. "You, wanting to walk with us? What makes you think that we would ever want to go to lunch with you?"

Following this, Charlotte and the pile of man leaves laugh along at me, all three of them sharing joy and amusement at the foolish thought, the dumb thought that I could ever come with them to lunch.

So I hit them with an ominously vague statement. "Oh, because you know what happens if you say no," I tell them, then contently begin walking further ahead, walking away from them.

"What? Is that a threat? You're threatening us?!" exclaims the teddy bear. "Charlotte, the bubblegum b... brat is threatening us!"

"Yeah, sounds like it!" exclaims Charlotte, glaring at me harshly.

Ah, before I start being accused of threats, I'm just gonna drop a bombshell of truth, spilling a bit of my plans directly. "No, no, it's not a threat. I'm just saying, you know that I'll be unseen, then spontaneously find myself just sitting wherever Brittany's sitting. Kind of like what happened in Math and Biology. Just thought you three'd like to actually keep me in check so that I don't do that, but so be it. I'll leave you alone."

Alright. That probably struck a nerve with them. I hear them mumbling and whispering as I walk further ahead, starting to speed walk and maybe even sprint.

I'm just gonna guess they're going to stop me in three... two... one-

"Fine! Fine. You can... you can walk with us," the teddy bear tells me.

Ah, I love it when I'm right. "Good, good~!" I exclaim, looking over my shoulder at them with a grin, slowing down as they walk close to me. "Let's go, then."

And with that...

... I'm walking with the friends of that weasel I really hate. Casually, ever so casually just heading to lunch with walking, talking creatures, happily noting how cautious and careful they are around me.

I think I have a good profile on who it is that I'm exactly looking for, though. If they were "sneaky" and took the phone from Gumi's backpack, then they wouldn't have answered the phone when I called in the middle of the night. Gumi would have also not kept her phone completely unattended to, I know her to keep her phone close to her at all times- even when changing in gym class.

No, I'm looking for someone who could intimidate Gumi, someone rude and mean enough to just flat out take her phone from her in broad daylight. That's why I was looking for Lizard Nerd, because he'd definitely know someone who could just threaten Gumi like that.

Hang in there, Gumi, I'm getting your phone back.

...

Until then, talk to you again later, Mr. California! I'll keep you updated on whatever it is that happens!

And don't worry, it's not like I'm gonna be taken somewhere that isn't the lunch room, only to get jumped and attacked and all!

Anyway, byesies, buhbye, ciaooooo~!