Angeline Meets Fenny

Chapter one: Stumbled Through Time

True, she’s a genius, but like they say, it’s lonely at the top.

Angeline sat at her table, pensively gazing at her finished homework. She looked out at the beautiful and mesmerizing scenery, yet she still felt sad and depressed. She didn’t know why.

Sure, she’d won tons of medals, came on as top of her school and was admired because of her intelligence. And it wasn’t like she was extremely hideous or something. She was actually quite pretty. She just felt like she had lost something, a past that rightfully belonged to her.

Now that she was Miss Perfect, she didn’t know what to do. Even though she hated to admit, she was stuck.

Nobody ever truly understood her. Her parents only cared about her grades, and she was living amongst people who would betray her any minute. She felt like she was living in danger. Every day she worried, about her grades, her reputation and her destiny.

She wanted to relax—in fact, she was desperate to do so, if only she wasn’t strangled in this situation. She would have loved to do silly things. But she couldn’t. And she didn’t know why.

“Perhaps I’ve lost something,” she wondered aloud to herself. “A memory.” And here I am, talking to myself. How pathetic.

Reluctantly, she took out her books. She stared at the mini time machine she created in a competition, which got her the gold medal as usual. What happens if I enter it? Would I travel through time? She thought.

She knew immediately that it was a ridiculous thought. Of course, if you meet a girl who claims that time travel is possible, you wouldn’t believe her because you have common sense. According to science nowadays, time travel is impossible.

“Because if you go back in time and kill your great-great-great granddad, he would die, causing your entire family to be extinct, which would mean that you’d die, and if you die you wouldn’t be able to kill your great-great-great granddad in the first place,” she repeated every word her dad told her. He said that so many times that she could actually memorize it.

It’s catchy, she thought. But not what I want to remember. I want to remember my past! I want to remember what is important.

Whatever. She has to find out. So with doubt she went into her mini time machine and pretended to press all sorts of buttons.

This is ridiculous. Of course I’m not gonna travel in time. Hello, common sense?

But she was secretly hoping that the gods would take pity on her and help her travel in time, which was apparently impossible. Because no matter how long she waited, how long she sat in that time machine, it didn’t happen. The lights didn’t flicker or anything. There weren’t constellations everywhere.

No time traveling... nothing.

Angeline sighed. Suppose she was just being crazy, and none of it made sense. Sighing, she walked back to her study desk. But just when she got to the first page of her textbook, she fell asleep.

Now, this is probably rare for straight-A students. But come on. Give that girl a break. She was just minding her own business and traveling through time.

When she woke up, she realized that she was in a different place. She wasn’t in her room anymore. And no, it wasn’t like she was kidnapped or abducted. She was walking... in a school.

She was wearing a T-shirt and stylish jeans, and her hair was parted into a side ponytail. (Even nerds have style. But please don’t tell her that I called her that)

And there they were, students.

Students who walked straight past her like she was invisible, instead of jeering and making the letter L (which stands for “loser”) with their fingers at her. She figured that it was an improvement.

She was indeed invisible.

She wasn’t horrified or anything. More like amazed. She had never been through this before. It was actually quite interesting.

Just then a girl who had dark-chocolate brown hair and black eyes approached her. They looked freakishly alike, except that girl was wearing a uniform and her hair was done in pigtails.

“Hey, it’s Free Clothes Day!” A kid reminded her. “Why are you wearing your uniforms?”

The girl looked down at her grey skirt and school shoes in horror. She had this down-to-earth look that made Angeline warm to her immediately. She went up to the girl and put her arm around her. “Don’t worry, girl. I’ve done this when I was as old as you.”

“What do you mean?” The girl said, confused. “As old as me?” She could see her all right even though the others couldn’t.

“Hey, who are you talking to?” A boy said. “The air?” The boys hooted in laughters. Tears sprang from the girl’s eyes like endless pearls.

“Probably because she has no friends,” a girl with straight blond hair sneered. She looked surprisingly like Angeline’s mortal enemy Melodie. Oh wait... Angeline figured out. She is Melodie.

Then who’s that girl being teased and mocked?

Oh wait. That’s me. Or that was me. When my name was Fenny. She is Fenny. I was Fenny. I am her. She is me.

If Angeline wasn’t invisible, she would sock that girl’s guts. Only except she is a good girl, and good girls don’t mess with bad girls.

“Shut your pie hole,” Angeline said anyway. “I am her friend, and friends don’t let each other down.”

“Did you hear something?” Someone asked.

“The wind, perhaps.”

“This is so creepy. Let’s get the heck out of here,” Melodie said. Her entourage followed her all the way into the school gates.

The girl (or you can say Fenny) looked at her, frightened, “Who are you? And why are you invisible?”

“Hi,” Angeline introduced herself. “My name is Angeline. I know it’s hard to say because we’ve just met, but, um, I’m the future you.”

“WHAT?” Fenny shrieked.

Angeline mumbled, “That was the reaction I was expecting.”

“This is not a prank, right?” Fenny’s eyebrows darted suspiciously. “I have an imaginary friend named Angeline. She is in my pencil case. My former best friend dumped me.”

“Leah?” Angeline asked.

“How do you know her name?”

“I don’t know,” She said. “Memories just started flooding back. Like a toy train.”

Fenny said, amazed, “Then this must be true. You are me. I mean, I am you. I mean, whatever.”

The bell for the first class rang.

“Um, bye,” Fenny said worriedly. “I should go now. I’m late already.” She hurried off.

“Don’t go!” Angeline cried. Then seeing the alarmed look on Fenny’s face, she changed her tone into a calmer one. “I mean, can I go with you?”

Fenny said, “Sure, but you have to sit on the floor. My teacher would think I’m cuckoo if I ask for another chair.”

Chapter two: She Takes a Stand

“So let me get this straight,” Fenny said on the way. “You’re me?”

“Yep, I’m you,” Angeline replied for about the millionth time. “I used to have the name Fenny, but then I changed it.”

“That’s so cool,” exclaimed Fenny. “How’s your life? I really want to know about my future.”

Angeline hesitated. “It’s quite boring. You win a bunch of gold medals, be top of your school and the biggest nerd in history,” she said. “People look up to you but never understand you because you’re pessimistic.”

“Pessimistic?”

“It means negative and sad,” she explained. “Don’t mind me, I like using long words.”

“You’re lucky,” Fenny gushed. “At least you’re not unpopular or clumsy like me.” She hung her head.

Angeline comforted her, “Don’t worry. At least you have that inner dork.”

“Yeah, and that inner dork made me do silly things,” Fenny muttered. “Like send a text message to a girl saying You’re stupid.”

“That was funny. The whole school made me remember.”

“At least you’ve been through it,” Fenny said. “Now the whole school is mad at me. My reputation is seared, and I’m the school criminal. Could it possibly get worse?”

Angeline nodded sympathetically. “Nope. According to past experiences, this will only last for a while.”

“A while? Like how long, a million years?”

Angeline continued, “But at least you have that inner dork. Deep down you’re wonderful. You just don’t recognize it.” She wasn’t sure where she learned to say this. It just slipped out of her mouth. She so wanted to help that girl—who happens to be the fifth-grade version of her.

“Angeline.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Thank you. For everything.”

She felt like smiling. For once she felt truly happy. Finally there was someone who could understand her. And by “she” I meant the both of them.

“I have a question,” Angeline said. “How do you be a dork?”

Fenny looked at her skeptically. “Really? You seriously wanna be one?”

“The thing is, without being dorky, my life feels incomplete. It’s like something has been withered and faltered away. Sure, even though I’m smart, I feel empty. I need that part of me. I have to be a dork. I’m desperate.”

Fenny opened her mouth. “No one ever said that before. When I mentioned to my best friend Leah that I love being a dork, she simply looked at me like I had a booger dangling out of my nose.”

Angeline chuckled. “Yeah, Leah,” she started remembering things again. “I remember her.”

“Did she contact you when you transferred to another school?”

“Nah,” she shook her head sadly. “She did for a year or two, but then I became too nerdy for my own good. All we talked about was mathematics, and then she shut me out and stopped contacting me.”

“But you weren’t talking to me in mathematics.”

“I’ve learnt my lesson.”

There was a silence between them—the easiest and lightest silence. You didn’t have to praise each other to please them. You could say whatever you wanted, without caring about your reputation.

Angeline cleared her throat. “I really want to be a dork,” she said. “How do you do that so easily?”

“Well, the thing is, I—”

Before they knew it, they were chatting and walking into the classroom, where a teacher and about twenty students looked at them (or specifically, Fenny), annoyed.

“Young lady,” began the teacher, who didn’t even know Fenny’s name. “How dare you be late and disrupt the English class? Get your late slip.”

“Who you talking to? You’re imaginary BFF?” Someone called out.

“I bet even her imaginary BFF resents her,” called out Melodie. The class howled and hooted in laughters.

“No I don’t!” Angeline shouted. She wanted to rip apart Melodee’s throat.

Tears circled around in Fenny’s eyes as she hurried for the late slip.

Everybody hates me. I don’t have the right to live in this world. I shouldn’t have sent that text message. I have to apologize.

She felt really bad about sending that message, and have wanted to apologize weeks ago. But every time she tried to find that girl, either that girl walked away from her or she herself got locked into a bathroom by Melodie.

I hate Melodie, she thought bitterly, even though it’s wrong to hate someone no matter how vicious they are.

“Hey,” Angeline said. “Hello? It’s me, the nerd without glasses.”

Even though Fenny was in a bad mood, she still laughed. “Good one. I like that. The nerd without glasses.”

The joke almost made her forget about how the class laughed at her. Almost.

When she went back, the class was doing an activity called The Creative Sentences, which is a game where you write a sentence—any sentence that’s good—raise your hand and read it to the class.

Nuh-uh, Fenny thought. I ain’t taking any chances.

But the sentence she wrote was surprisingly good. It said: The society is as cold as ice and as dark as the never-falling night. It wouldn’t be as good as Angeline’s (if she were a student in this class), but it was something.

“See, this is how I become smart,” Angeline whispered to Fenny. Fenny smiled, actually proud of herself, but not proud enough to read it to the entire class.

“You have to! It’s so good. You’re a genius.”

Fenny wrote something on a slip of paper: I can’t. I’m too unpopular. The class will laugh at me.

“They won’t. Trust me,” Angeline said. “They haven’t seen the true you, but I have! And it’s amazingly fantastic. And they are going to see it eventually, so please, for God’s sake, take a stand. I cannot watch it any longer.”

But won’t that change the future? When you were me, you didn’t stand up, did you? Fenny wrote.

“Yeah, and I regretted it,” replied Angeline.

Fenny’s eyes darted around. She was about to raise her hand when she saw the glare in Leah’s eyes that said, Don’t stand up. Don’t make a fool out of yourself. She put her hand down.

“Oh please,” Angeline rolled her eyes. “What could Leah do? She doesn’t know a thing. It’s your life, your ship. You steer it. Nobody can take away the persistence and light inside of you.”

“I listened to Leah when I was you. I backed down. And I regretted it. Please don’t follow my footsteps.”

Fenny looked from Leah (her former best friend) to Angeline—or you could say her future self. Then with dignity she raised her hand and stood up.

The whole class gawked at her. The teacher held his glasses skeptically. The truth is, Fenny did feel nervous. Her knees were buckling and her shoulders were shaking. Actually, even her hair was trembling. She was about to sit down when Angeline looked at her with determination and willpower. She stood back up.

“The society is as cold as ice and as dark as the never-falling night,” she read.

“Okay, you may sit down now,” said the teacher.

Fenny did feel like sitting down. In fact, she wanted to grab the nearest trash can and puke. But she swallowed up the nervousness and said, “It’s okay, I can continue.”

“You might be thinking, what does that have to do with anything?” She continued. “Well, let me tell you, life in school isn’t as easy as it seems for girls like me. Girls that are resented, isolated and don’t belong.”

“Nobody understood me. Sure, I had some friends,” she looked at Leah sadly. “But they were sometimes warm to me and sometimes icy.” Leah glared at her.

“Sometimes I just want a hug,” Fenny admitted. “Even though it might be too immature for some of you. I want the world to accept me for me.”

“And sure, I made lots of mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. You just have to give me some time to overcome it. To understand what I did wrong. So please. Give me another chance, and I swear I’ll apologize to the girl for cyberbullying her.

“Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong. In this school there are clothes that are so complicated they form a web.”

Angeline said to herself, “Like the food chain in biology.”

“Cliques only allow people they like and shut out everybody else. Some people aren’t in any of the cliques, because they made a mistake or got in the way of the Queen Bee,” she cast a look at Melodie. “But the truth is, we don’t deserve this. We don’t hate each other around here.”

“I’m Chinese. When I was in grade two I struggled to read a sentence. But now look at me, and look at you. We’ve all changed,” she said. “The point is, the whole school is a big family. We accept each other even when they’ve really changed. Because trust me, there is a reason to everything.”

“Just because I’m foreign doesn’t mean you should shut me out. Remember this Chinese song?”

She sang. At first her voice shook, but then it got louder and clearer. Even though she didn’t think so herself, she had a beautiful voice.

You and me, from one world,

We are family.

Travel fast a thousand miles,

Meeting in Beijing.

Come, together.

Put your hand in mine.

You and me, from one world,

We are family.

The whole class (except for Melodie) sang along and gaped at her when she finished. Then one by one they started clapping. It wasn’t fast clapping. It was slow at first but then it started speeding up, just like the scenes in the movies.

“Like this song says, we are family,” Fenny said. “So cut it out with the cliques and queen bees. It’s getting old-fashioned. Society isn’t cold and dark. It’s just numb.” She sat down to even more clapping. Even Leah clapped.

“Wow, girl, you rocked,” gushed Angeline.

Fenny blushed. “I wasn’t that good.”

“You’re gonna be so popular,” Angeline said.

“Maybe,” Fenny shrugged. “All I have to do is apologize to that girl I sent the message to. Then it would be over.”

The teacher yelled, “Okay, everybody! Stop clapping and get back to your seats. Moving on.”

After class, Melodie sauntered up to Fenny. “Nice speech,” she said in a high-pitched voice.

“Do you really mean it?” Fenny’s eyes glimmered.

“Aw, look at you with such hope,” Melodie smiled. “Of course not.” She rolled her eyes. Fenny looked at her, disappointed. Some things will never change.

“Trust me, even though you are popular now, things will still be the same. You will still be that unpopular girl you are, so don’t get your hopes up.” She swirled around and sashayed away.

Fenny whispered, “Man, I hate it when that girl sashays.”

“Some people will never change. She’s gonna stay green with envy until she turns into a witch,” Angeline commented.

“A witch with a green face,” Fenny said, laughing.

Suddenly a guy walked up to her. “Hey, Fenny.” He has tousled brown hair and dreamy green eyes.

“OMFG, he knows my name!” Fenny squealed.

Angeline frowned, thinking. Isn’t that...

Oh. My. God. That guy was Adam, Fenny’s crush. Angeline’s former crush.

In Angeline’s story, it used to be awkward between them. She stalked Adam and his locker. He didn’t know her that well. She was just another girl to help him with math.

But will it change in Fenny’s story?

“I just think what you did in class was cool,” he blew his hair out of his face.

“He’s so cute when he does that,” Fenny whispered.

“Huh?” He asked.

“Nothing. I can’t believe you think I’m cool. EEEEP!” Fenny was blushing hard. Her face was boiling hot.

“Hey, Adam,” said a guy. “Let’s—”

And just before he said the word “go”, Angeline walked up to him and socked him in the stomach. She wasn’t sure if it would do anything. But it did. The boy staggered to the bathroom saying, “Ouch, my stomach.” She felt bad for doing that, but she figured she had to do everything to get them together, for Fenny’s sake.

“You’re cute,” Fenny sighed. Then her eyes widened in horror. “I mean, uh, um, what am I saying?”

“And so are you,” said Adam.

The guy came staggering back. “Hey, dude, we should go now. We’re late for lunch.”

“Well, I’ll see you later, okay?” He said gently. Then he walked away, with Fenny gazing behind him.

Angeline poked Fenny playfully. “Can someone get me a bag of popcorn?” She giggled.

“Hey!”

“Sorry. It was like watching the best romance movie ever. Except it wasn’t just a movie. It was real.”

“So we should head to the cafeteria now,” said Fenny. “I’ll share my food with you.”

“But what if they see the food floating in mid-air? You know, because I’m invisible.”

Fenny sighed, “Then you’ll have to eat secretly. Mind if you have to sit under the table?”

Chapter three: Apologizing isn’t easy

It was pretty sunny in the cafeteria. The wind brushed by gently. The sky was blue without a single cloud and the sun was shooting through the soft clouds. Angeline and Fenny both felt that way. They were happy.

The peace shattered like glass when Leah decided to sit with Fenny again. After all, she’s popular now. What harm can it do? Leah thought.

“Hi, Fenny,” Leah greeted her with a smile. “Mind if I sit down?”

Angeline glared at her.

“No problem,” said Fenny. “Where’s your BFF Stella?” She asked with sarcasm.

Angeline winced at the painful memory. She and Leah used to be best friends, until Stella broke up with her best friend. Leah felt sorry for her and went to comfort Stella. From this day on, they were inseparable. They did everything together.

She tried to form a triplet with them. But unfortunately it didn’t work. There she was again, isolated. It was painful, bitter and depressing. Her long-time best friend, gone. Withered away by Stella, cliques and so-called popularity.

Maybe that—feeling sorry for Stella—was an excuse for Leah to break up with her, Angeline thought. To run off with Stella and forget all about her.

Now that Fenny made that cool speech, Leah came slithering back like a snake. No way will she allow that. No way will Leah continue hurting Fenny, like the way she hurt her.

“She’s with Anita,” Leah sighed.

“So,” Fenny said awkwardly. “You wanna be friends again?”

Leah nodded solemnly. “I’m so, so sorry for abandoning you. Before you made that speech, I had no idea that you felt that way,” she apologized. “You see, there are some things that ought to be kept secrets in a triplet. Just because I’m friends with both of you doesn’t mean you’d be automatically friends. It’s too much to ask.”

“Funny you apologize now,” Angeline glared at Leah and crossed her arms.

Leah looked like something—some invisible force—knocked her backwards. “What the—” she looked pained.

“What’s wrong?” Fenny asked. She looked at me.

“Nothing. Just the wind.”

“Stop it, Angeline,” Fenny mouthed, a pleading look in her eyes.

Angeline ignored her and continued, “You’re only apologizing, Leah, because everybody thinks Fenny is cool. You’re only saying that to achieve popularity. You’re using her as a puppet, controlling her life with puppet strings. It’s her life, like everybody says. She steers it, not you, so back off! You’re nothing but a manipulating, vicious she-snake!”

“What—why am I hearing those voices? They’re so piercing,” Leah trembled with fear.

“You’re not the only one,” Fenny muttered. “Angeline, stop!” She didn’t care if anybody else heard her. She wanted to make sure Leah was okay.

Angeline’s voice faded. She herself was shocked by the way she talked. It was piercing and unlike her. “Sorry,” her voice changed back into normal.

The cafeteria fell to a stunned silence. Pretty impressive, considering how it was pandemonium a second ago. Everybody’s eyes were on Fenny. Leah opened her mouth in shock.

“Who are you talking to?” Leah questioned.

“Yeah,” Melodie chimed in. “I’ve never heard of anyone named Angeline in our school. Are you sneaking someone in?”

A girl gasped. “A criminal?”

“Whoever’s hiding there, show yourself,” Melodie demanded.

Angeline realized that she couldn’t hide for any longer. She had to show herself, even though she wasn’t sure how to do it. So she stood up from under the table—that’s a relief, because you’d have no idea how many gums and wrappers were stuck on the table—holding a piece of paper she found. Then she grabbed Fenny’s pen and wrote on the paper, Hi, guys, I’m Angeline. Did I tell you that I’m invisible?

Good thinking, girl. Way to confess.

Noises erupted in the cafeteria. It was complete chaos and havoc. Angeline felt dizzy, and her brain couldn’t function for the first time. Usually when she was doing test papers, her brain was on fire. But in reality she had no idea what to do. She felt like a prey being hunted by a bunch of wild animals who snickered and jeered at her. She suddenly felt small.

Fenny, on the other hand, also looked quite flustered and embarrassed. “We need to talk.” She grabbed Angeline’s arm and dragged her away.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Angeline said. “I was just angry at how Leah came crawling back to you.”

“And then you revealed yourself?” Fenny shouted.

“Calm down,” Angeline breathed. “Leah isn’t your friend. She’s using you. Can’t you see that?”

“She is my friend. But you’re not.” Fenny started walking away.

“Don’t go!”

“Bye.” Fenny said, her eyes glassy and cold.

Angeline felt broken. She sat down on the grass and forced herself not to cry. What’s happening? She asked herself. I never cry. She blinked back blurry tears.

“You know I wouldn’t go.”

Angeline stood up and turned around. “Fenny?” They hugged. More tears crushed down.

“Well, you know I couldn’t stay mad at you.”

“I’m so sorry. I’ll figure it out. I swear on the River Styx.”

“What’s the River Styx?” Fenny asked curiously.

Angeline said, “Oh, it’s a river in Greek mythology. I’ll explain that later when we finish dealing with this. You’ll love it.”

She tapped her chin. “Now, I can’t pretend that I didn’t exist, can I?” She thought for a while. “Oh my god I am a genius.”

“Huh?” asked Fenny.

“We can pretend that you were playing a trick,” she said. “The invisible rope trick. Pretend a rope was dangling mid-air, connecting then paper and pen, and someone with really good skills was helping you control the rope. That someone must have really good handwriting.”

“Christie,” Fenny gasped.

“Who?”

“The girl whose diary I stolen. She’s two years younger and a total brat.”

“Oh come on!” Angeline cried. “Oh wait, I remember her. I, I mean you, I mean we were pretty mean to her.”

“There’s no way we can convince her.”

Angeline paused. “You could always apologize to her for being mean.”

“But see, that’s the problem,” Fenny said. “I don’t know how to apologize.”

“What? Why? How?”

“You know, when the teacher told me to apologize to that girl who I sent the text message to (a.k.a. Kayla), I chickened our because I was so nervous. Whenever I apologize, my knees tremble and I can’t say a word. So how do you think I can apologize to Christie?”

“Besides, even if she’s good with tricks, she’s still a brat, and I don’t like her,” sighed Fenny. “But I have to, if I want this plan to work.”

Suddenly a bucket of water landed on their heads. They looked up to see Christie. She was standing at the window of the building, holding a water bucket, and looking as smug as ever.

“On second thought, I don’t wanna apologize to her anymore,” Fenny said, irritated, while squeezing water out of her hair.

“Me neither.” Angeline gritted her teeth.

“Hey, are you two twins?” Christie shouted. “You look so alike.”

To help you understand, here were the thoughts going through Angeline and Fenny’s heads:

Angeline: WHAT THE WHAT OH SWEET NIBLETS HAKUNA MATATA HOW COME SHE CAN SEE ME?

Fenny: OMFG WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?

Angeline was like, “Wait a minute. You can see me?”

“Took you long enough, dunderhead,” Christie cackled.

“Excuse me, Miss Brat,” Fenny spat. “Angeline here is not a dunderhead. She won tons of medals and is top of her school. She was so awesome that she traveled through time. She’s my future self, which makes me smart.”

Christie laughed like it was the most hilarious joke she’s ever heard. “Oh yeah?” She said, hand on hip. “Prove it.” She came down the building.

Angeline started spewing a bunch of math that neither Christie nor Fenny could understand. Then she spewed some English, some Chinese, some French, some Greek. Then it escalated into biology, geography, politics, physics, chemistry and history. “Happy?” She said skeptically. She wasn’t even out of breath after having said all that.

That even made Christie open her mouth. So did Fenny.

“But that’s not important,” Angeline said. “The thing is, you can see me. I thought only Fenny could see me.”

Christie sighed. “Angeline, Angeline, Angeline. You just don’t understand,” she said. “You see, you were traveling through time before you came here. People with common sense think it’s impossible, but I don’t know. Somehow you two look alike, so you must have traveled back to meet your past self. Only people with creativity and not much logic can see you. Because this is illogical but possible. Fenny and I are those people, that’s why we can see you.”

“Woah,” Angeline said in shock. “You’re smart, Christie.” According to anthropology, humans like it better when you praise them and say their name. It would make them feel important. So she was willing to give it a try.

“I know you’re trying to get on my good side,” Christie sneered. “To convince me to help you. Well, Angeline—or should I say Fenny—that would never happen.” With that she strutted away.

“Well, that was annoying,” Fenny blew her hair.

Angeline was still worried. “And she might even tell the others about seeing me. That way I’ll never be able to hide my identity, and your life would never be normal.”

“Wow, thanks a lot,” mumbled Fenny with sarcasm. “I feel so much better now.”

“We need to talk to her,” Angeline said. A look of determination crossed her face.

They jogged up to her. “Christie,” called out Angeline desperately. “We really need to talk.”

Christie spun around, her air almost whipping their faces. “So talk.” She crossed her arms casually.

“The thing is, when I was younger, I thought you were a brat,” Angeline said. “But just then when we talked about time travel, I realized that you are so much more. People worshipped me because I was smart, but you didn’t. You were showing me your true color and being the honest person you are. Because that’s what makes you you.”

“When I was younger, I didn’t understand that good quality deep down inside of you. That’s what hurt you. I sincerely regret having done all this stuff to you.”

Christie’s face burned red with fury. “Oh yeah? You apologize now?”

Yeah. Kind of like how Angeline yelled at Leah.

“Do you know how much you’ve hurt me?” Then she went up in Fenny’s face. Literally. “You stole my diary and jeered at my illustrations. Then you ripped it to pieces right in my face. It contained all my beautiful memories. Do you know how pained I was?” She was practically yelling now.

Fenny stood in silence. Angeline stared at Fenny.

“Wait a minute,” Christie said. “You’re not gonna say anything back? You’re just gonna stand there and take it all in?”

Angeline looked at Fenny. Everything was up to her now.

“No,” Fenny said. “Because I’m truly sorry. Not because I want you to help me, it’s that after hearing what you said, it’s like... I don’t know. One minute I disliked you, and the next I sincerely regretted it. Sorry isn’t enough, but that’s the only word I have in my vocabulary. I’m so, so sorry. For everything.”

Christie blinked. A well of tears crushed her heart.

“Th-thank you.”

“Really? You’re thanking me for apologizing?” Fenny raised an eyebrow. “Okay, seriously, what’s the catch?”

“No catch,” said Christie. “It’s just that no one’s ever apologized to me for being mean. You’re the first in line.”

“So will you help us?” Fenny asked.

“Playing tricks is fun, I guess,” shrugged Christie.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” chuckled Fenny.

In the distance, Angeline watched, proud of her past self. Christie has agreed to help. Now all she has to do is convince the whole school. Easy-peasy.

Chapter four: Kayla Crying

Convincing the whole school to believe something isn’t easy. But when you’re as smart as Angeline it is.

Basically Christie has to do more tricks with a pen and paper with some invisible strings, and Angeline and Fenny has to sit at a table.

They redid that scene again, when Angeline was writing on a piece of paper—a floating pen and paper. But this time it wasn’t Angeline. It was Christie.

It attracted tons of attention like they suspected.

“Hey, look,” Melodie shouted. “It’s the floating paper again.” Everybody turned around to watch.

“But look,” Fenny said. “It’s Christie doing it.”

“How can you lay the blame on her? She’s innocent,” Melodie blinked. “Besides, you’re just putting on a show to cover it up. Angeline does exist, it’s just that we can’t see her.”

Angeline looked like she wanted to choke Melodie, but stopped just in time and gritted her teeth.

“It is me doing it,” Christie said with dignity. “I just wanted to have fun. I wanted to mess Fenny up and make everyone think she has an imaginary friend.”

“But how were you doing it?” Another girl asked.

Christie rolled her eyes. “It’s just invisible string,” she scoffed. “Can’t you see, people?”

“And why were you doing it?” Fenny pretended to be mad.

“Because I don’t like you!”

Silence. More silence. The clock ticked. Tension spread.

“If you don’t like me just say it!” Fenny was screaming now. That girl is as good as acting as me, thought Angeline. “Why do you have to play those petty tricks on me?”

Christie smirked. “I like doing things the way I want. I think what I did was right.” And with that she stomped away. Fenny and Christie winked secretly.

So that did the trick. The cafeteria went back to eating and chatting. Everything went back to normal. But one thing still wasn’t cleared up. Fenny haven’t apologized to Kayla yet for sending that message. The school wasn’t going to let her off easy if she didn’t apologize.

You might be thinking, she’s already apologized to Christie. How hard is it to do it again? But see, there are differences between apologizing to someone you know and someone you don’t really know.

You might be wondering why she sent Kayla that message. You might also ask who Kayla is.

Those questions you are thinking were asked by Angeline all in one sentence.

“Uh, um,” Fenny stammered. “Do you really want to know?”

“Yeah,” said Angeline eagerly.

“But don’t you remember? Considering that I’m you.”

“No.”

“Okay, fine,” said Fenny. “Kayla is the girl from my drama ASA. You do know what ASA means, right?”

“No.”

“After-School Activities. One time when we were performing the show, she and her friends wouldn’t stop talking, so I very politely told her to be quiet.”

“You did?” Angeline widened her eyes in disbelief and felt like laughing. “How come I don’t remember that?”

Fenny continued, “And then she mimicked my voice in a totally high-pitched tone and her friends were laughing. I couldn’t forget it.” She shook her head and sighed.

“When I went back home, I felt so angry that I sent her, You’re stupid. But straight afterwards I regretted doing that, but there was no delete button in the school email system. And the next day the teacher told me off. I tried to explain that it was an accident, and that I intended on deleting it, but he wouldn’t listen. So now I have to apologize to that girl in one week or I’d be suspended for two days.”

“When’s the deadline?” Angeline wanted to know.

“Tomorrow.”

“Oh great,” she said with sarcasm.

“I have to find her,” Fenny said. “Hey, why don’t we check the girls’ toilet? She might be crying.”

Angeline said, “She has too many friends to count. Why would she be crying?”

But when they searched the toilet, they did see Kayla, and she was indeed crying. Her eyes were red and puffed up, and she was dabbing her eyes ferociously, hoping that nobody would see her like that. When the toilet door opened, she jumped, startled.

“Um, hello,” said Fenny. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Kayla croaked.

“Then why are you crying?” Fenny said bluntly.

Kayla spun around. It was shocking that she didn’t recognize Fenny straight away. “Who are you?” She asked.

Fenny took a deep breath. She had to be truthful if she wanted Kayla to forgive her. “I’m Fenny.”

It was even more shocking how Kayla’s face could change from paper-pale to flaming red. Her eyebrows twitched, her nose scrunched up and her eyes glinted dangerously. “You!” She lunged at Fenny, who ducked in the nick of time. “You... bully!” She couldn’t find a word bad enough to call her.

“Woah,” said Fenny, alarmed. “Violence is not the answer.” She had to duck again because Kayla was attacking her with her nails. “Trust me, you do not want to get caught,” she knew that she had to talk fast. “It would end up with us both in the principal’s office, and we’d get grounded for a lifetime.” She was talking as fast as a bullet.

Kayla stopped. “Fine,” she tossed her hair. “What do you want?”

“I just want to say sorry,” Fenny said calmly.

“Why did you send me that text message?” Kayla asked. Tears were dripping from her eyes.

Fenny pondered for a moment. Why did she send that message? And what consequences did it have? She searched through her memories. That afternoon when she got home after the drama performance, she felt sore, bitter and humiliated. And not just because of Kayla.

It was also because her best friend Leah ditched her.

Well, not exactly ditched her. But Leah gave her small hints. Like when Fenny wanted to walk with her after school, she went, “Oh, sorry. See, I have this group project with Stella.”

And the next day when Fenny wanted to talk to her, she said dismissively, “I’m talking to Stella. Can’t you see?” Of course, Fenny was too trusting to believe that Leah would break up with her for some other girl.

But that night when she was texting with Leah, she had an epiphany. Trouble was brewing between her and Leah.

Fenny: Hi!

Leah: Hi.

Fenny: Are we still friends?

Leah: Why?

Fenny: Huh?

Leah: Why did you ask if we are friends?

Fenny: Just wanna make sure...?

Leah: I didn’t say yeah, I said why. I never said we are still friends.

Fenny: So are we friends?

Leah: Are we? What if we aren’t?

Fenny: How come?

Leah: I don’t like you whispering in my ear all the time.

Fenny: Oh...

Leah: Yeah. Plus I get annoyed when you hang your head and sulk.

Fenny: Well at least you were being honest.

Leah: The teachers knew we were close, so when they see you like that they’ll think I’m a bad friend.

Fenny: So are we friends?

Leah: Maybe? Yeah, whatever. I’m not sure about that.

Fenny: So what’s the answer?

Leah: Only sometimes.

Those hurtful messages stung in Fenny’s heart. She could never, ever forget about it. And to top it off, Kayla ridiculed her in front of everybody in that performance, including her mortal enemy Melodie. She felt hurt and angry. So before she knew what she was doing, she sent that message.

Right after she sent it, she started worrying. She’d already been hurt by Leah’s messages. She couldn’t let herself become Leah the Second. And besides those messages would hurt Kayla’s feelings, even though Kayla was mean to her. Also, she’d be dead meat if the teachers found out. So she looked everywhere for a delete button but there was none. Once you do something foolish and hurtful, there’s no turning back. There’s no delete button in real life.

That night she couldn’t sleep at all. She was so worried that the next day she overslept and was late for school. That’s when the teacher informed her, “Kayla received a message from you saying ‘You’re stupid’. Do you know anything about it?”

Suddenly she became unpopular (even more than before which was a shock). She was so unpopular that Leah wouldn’t let her sit at her table. Even worse, the tables were full, so she had to sit by the trash can, all by herself. Every time some kid threw his leftovers in it, some food would “accidentally” fall onto her. She couldn’t get the horrible image out of her head.

Melodie and her cronies jeered at her and called her “the school criminal”. She cast a desperate look at Leah, who instantly looked away.

“How’s it sitting by the trash can, school criminal?” A girl jeered.

“Last time you stole Selina’s textbook and hid it in your locker,” smirked Melodie. “No wonder why you’re always doing petty tricks.”

Fenny cried in tears, “But I didn’t steal it. I swear! Someone put it in my locker. I wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave it in my locker.” Secretly she knew that “someone” was Melodie. So did Melodie herself.

“Stop covering for yourself, school criminal,” sneered Melodie. “We know it was you. And this time what you did is no excuse.” She knocked over Fenny’s food tray and sauntered away.

It was painful. Fenny never knew that her actions had consequences. Now she did. And right then, she was looking into Kayla’s teary eyes.

“Hello?” Kayla said, irritated.

“Oh, um,” Fenny stuttered. “I don’t know how to put this.” Uh-oh, she thought. “Just... um... I was mad at you for mimicking my voice after I politely told you to—”

“You politely,” Kayla cut me off and wagged her fingers sarcastically, “told me to shut up.”

Fenny opened her mouth. “I did?”

“Ugh!” Kayla screamed. She went back to crying, covering her eyes with her hands.

“Um, so...” said Fenny awkwardly. “Where are your friends?”

“Where are my friends? Isn’t that obvious? They left me hanging. They ditched me when I was in need, when I was traumatized by you, the meanie!”

Fenny tried to ignore that fact that Kayla called her a meanie. She breathed. “The point is, I was mad. And not just at you.” Then she told her all about Leah.

“And what does that have to do with me?” Kayla raised her eyebrows skeptically.

“See,” Fenny went on. “Something else, something bigger was bothering me, but instead of doing what strong people do, I took it out on you and convinced myself that everything was your fault. I was weak and pathetic.”

Kayla shrugged. “So? That doesn’t change how you’ve hurt my feelings.”

“I know,” nodded Fenny. “But I’m sorry. I really am. I know that doesn’t change anything. In fact, feel free to tell everyone how jerky I am. I deserve it.”

Kayla said, “I don’t have to tell them. They know already. News travel fast.”

“Oh, yeah,” Fenny said in dismay.

“I’ll tell everybody that you apologized,” whispered Kayla.

Fenny’s eyes widened. “You will?” She said incredulously.

“At least you apologized,” Kayla’s voice was soft, unlike the past minute when she lunged at Fenny. “That’s something.” After saying that she walked away, out of the bathroom door. Her shadow illuminated sadly, then faded.

“So,” Angeline said. “That worked out, didn’t it?”

Fenny shook her head. “I still feel bad though.”

“We can work this out some other time,” Angeline comforted her. “Wanna hear about the River Styx?”

“Sure!” Fenny said enthusiastically.

The whole way to the school gate, they were deep in discussion. It almost made Fenny forget about Kayla. Almost. But secretly she knew that something else was bothering the girl—something she didn’t want to tell.

“Oh, and by the way,” said Fenny. “You can sleep over at my house.”

“Okay.” Angeline also knew that something was bothering Fenny. It was bothering her too.

Chapter five: Sisters Forever

“So this is your house?” asked Angeline.

“Well,” Fenny shrugged. “You can’t say it’s mine. I mean, it’s also yours, because you’re me. Hey, I think I’m getting better at the logic thingy.”

Angeline pointed at some My Little Pony toys. “You actually have those?” She said incredulously.

“Yeah, call me immature,” mumbled Fenny.

“No no no,” said Angeline quickly. “They’re adorable. I haven’t played with mine for a long time. Who would call you immature? I call those people boring.”

Fenny replied, “Leah calls me immature. Last time I brought my toys to school, Leah made me promise to never take them out, otherwise Melodie would—”

“Come on,” Angeline rolled her eyes at the thought of Leah. “Who cares about Leah? It’s your life anyways. Like I said, it’s your ship, you steer it.”

Fenny looked around nervously. “But still. Leah told me that if I don’t listen to her, my reputation will hit rock bottom. Last time I told everybody I was a witch, and they believed me. After a while, this brief spell of popularity was over. Leah still scolded me about it.”

“Friends don’t scold each other. Trust me,” said Angeline. “You’re way better off without her. I swear on the River Styx.”

“Or just a quick pinkie promise?” Fenny asked.

“Sure,” smiled Angeline. They linked pinkies. Both of them felt a connection, a really strong one. It was like nothing, not even time, could tear them apart. They closed their eyes for a brief moment.

Fenny’s cheeks glowed a warm, rosy color. “You’re like a big sister,” she whispered. And that was the best thing that Angeline ever heard.

“Fenny, who are you talking to?” came Fenny’s mother’s voice.

“Myself,” smiled Fenny. She looked at Angeline. “We should go to bed now, bestie.”

Angeline felt so happy. She’s never been as joyous. It was as if she was soaring through the sky and bouncing on the soft pillowy clouds, like she was sliding on a rainbow. Even though that was a childish and imaginative thought, she still had that feeling. Because sometimes you need to let go of that so-called common sense and follow your heart. That’s exactly what Angeline did by accidentally traveling through time.

She and Fenny were true sisters.

Chapter six: Facing Evil

The next morning, when they were waiting for the school gate to open, they spotted something that gave them a shock.

Kayla and Melodie were talking very loudly. In fact, so loud that Angeline and Fenny could hear them.

“Hey, check this out,” said Fenny, pointing at them.

Angeline looked alarmed. “Woah.”

Leah came from the distance. “Hey, Fenny. Wanna know what’s happening over there?” She said, amused.

“Sure,” said Fenny. Angeline resisted herself from choking Leah to death.

“I’m not sure either, but I heard that girl say to Melodie, ‘Why won’t you let me be your friend?’ That girl is so pathetic. I can’t believe everyone wants to be Melodie’s friend. She’s not even nice.”

Fenny suddenly understood how Angeline felt. Leah was cruel, cold-hearted and took pleasure in others’ misfortunes. She bit down her retort and said, “I’ll check.” Then she walked towards them.

“What are you doing?” shouted Leah. “You can’t do that. Melodie’s gonna terminate you.”

“I don’t care,” Fenny shot her an over-the-shoulder look. “What’s going on?” She called out to the two girls.

“Oh god,” Leah whispered faintly.

Melodie ignored her. “Kayla, I told you to leave me alone. I don’t want to be your friend.” She hissed.

“But why?”

“Didn’t I tell you already?” Melodie said impatiently. “It’s because you have the same color hair as Fenny does.”

Angeline mouthed, Seriously? and exchanged glances with Fenny.

“Oh wow,” Fenny said. “I’m flattered, Melodie.

Leah looked like she was about to faint. “Oh no, oh no, oh no.” She kept muttering.

Melodie spun around. Her flawless blond hair slammed into Fenny’s face. “What does this have to do with you, school criminal?” She sneered and crossed her arms.

Fenny’s cheeks burned, as if she had been slapped in the face. Everyone turned to stare at her. She was ready to sink into the ground. But she swallowed her fear and said, “Of course it has to do with me. I made the speech about how cliques don’t matter, and that we are a big family. You’re breaking the rules by being harsh to Kayla.”

“What rules?” Melodie blinked innocently.

“My rules,” said Fenny determinedly.

Melodie looked around, laughing like it was the funniest joke. “Your rules? Who cares about them?” She giggled. “It’s not like you’re popular.”

“Who cares about popularity?” Fenny said. “Everybody, sing with me.” She sang again in a shaky voice. But she was the only one singing. Nobody seemed to care anymore. They went back to doing their own things. Kayla stood and fidgeted with her fingers.

Melodie stared at her triumphantly. “See? No one cares. Your little speech was worthless. You can go back to slinking and moping with your little friends now.” She glanced at Leah in distaste.

“Um, Melodie?” Leah squeaked. “We’re not friends. You’re mistaken.”

“Very well,” she smiled. “Then you’re my friend.”

“Yay!” smiled Leah. “I’m so grateful.” She shot Fenny a “sorry I’m not sorry” look.

Angeline glared at Leah so hard that she was afraid her eyes would pop. Fenny stared at Leah like the time when Leah broke up with her and went with Stella. But this time with less sadness and more fury. “And you, Leah,” her face hardened. “You don’t even realize that Melodie’s using you. She befriended you just to annoy me.”

“Melodie isn’t like that,” said Leah indignantly. Melodie smiled.

Fenny was about to launch into a great retaliation when Angeline rested her hand on her shoulder. “Slow down,” she whispered. “They’re not worth it.” It was a hard attempt for her not to say, Ha! Told you that Leah isn’t your friend.

“You know what, Leah?” Fenny said, way calmer than before. “Get out of my life. I don’t need to explain anything to you. You suck.” Horrid turncoat, she thought. She walked away.

Leah was using me. She was afraid if I went up to confront Melodie her reputation would be ruined. So she tried to stop me. But instead Melodie befriended her. She is nothing but a turncoat. She isn’t my friend. She never was!

She turned around to realize that Kayla was behind her. “What’s the deal?” Fenny muttered.

“I’m here to thank you,” said Kayla. “That was really brave of you. And cool.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And to make up, I want to tell you something.”

“Then tell.”

Kayla took a deep breath. “I was taking it out on you. When you apologized you told me that you were taking out your anger on me, and I was doing the same.”

“Because Melodie said you had the same color hair as I did?” Fenny raised an eyebrow skeptically.

She nodded. “Yeah. I convinced myself that it was your fault. But deep down I knew it was mine. I wanted to be Melodie’s friend even though she was so mean. I mistook Melodie for a nice person. I realized she was mean when she said all those horrid things about you.” Fenny didn’t even want to know what was said about her.

“So that was why you were crying yesterday,” Fenny tapped her chin like she were Sherlock Holmes.

Kayla nodded silently. “I guess I was taking it out on you. And I’m sorry that I didn’t sing with you. I should have been on your side.”

“It’s okay,” shrugged Fenny. “You didn’t want to get on Melodie’s bad side. I get it.”

“So...” stuttered Kayla.

“Um...” said Fenny.

Kayla breathed. “Wanna walk to class together? The gate is open now.”

“Sure.” Fenny smiled.

They walked to their classroom, shoulder-by-shoulder, under the bright, glimmering sun. Angeline walked behind them, smiling.

Chapter seven: Cliques don’t Matter!

“Not debate class,” groaned Fenny. “I was hoping for math.”

“Believe me, so was I,” Angeline said. “I suck at debating.”

Fenny rolled her eyes with sarcasm. “Yeah, right.”

“Okay, class, stop jabbering now,” said the teacher. “Today’s topic is ‘Cliques or no cliques’. It’s free-style, which means you get to choose your side.”

“Excuse me, sir,” a boy raised his hands. “What does the word cliques mean?”

“It means a small group of people who share interests but don’t allow others into their group. Don’t allow others. That’s the point of this debate. Now divide into groups, everybody. Pro side and con side.”

Of course, Melodie and her entourage were on the pro side, and people like Fenny, Angeline (even though she’s invisible so she can’t participate) and Kayla were on the con side.

“Ready, set, go.”

Melodie stood up. “I think cliques matter, because you can’t expect everyone to share the same interests and be a big family.” She shot a look at Fenny.

“Well, I for one,” Fenny stood up to her level, “think that cliques don’t matter, because they push out certain people, and that’s sort of mean, don’t you think?”

“Well, not everyone can be friends,” Melodie shot back.

“But at least they can try,” Fenny shouted.

“Girls,” reprimanded the teacher. “Rules are rules. Only one turn at a time. Give the others a chance.”

They both sat down. Melodie glared at Fenny.

A girl from Melodie’s entourage stood up. “Cliques matter, because you can be with people you like. If everybody was a big family then there would be people you disliked.”

“If everybody was a big family then you wouldn’t be disliking anybody,” Kayla said. Fenny gave her a thumbs-up—what she said really had a point.

Leah from the pro side said, “But that’s certainly too much to ask. Besides, cliques got me the best friend anybody could ask for.” She looked sweetly at Melodie, who smiled.

“Not anybody,” said Fenny. “And besides, you and I aren’t friends anymore because of cliques. All you care about now is popularity, because of cliques. And you’ve fallen into the Queen Bee’s trap because of cliques!”

Melodie stomped up. “What Queen Bee’s trap?” She said, hand on hip.

“Your trap,” Fenny said.

And soon everybody in the room was yelling at one another. It was basically a version of popular versus unpopular, and it was absolute chaos.

“Just like the food chain,” mumbled Angeline. “Animals at the top of it and ones at the bottom.”

The teacher finally had some sense to stop it. “Okay, okay, simmer down, everybody. Let’s hear what Melodie has to say.” Playing favorites was typical for the teachers in school. They adored and worshipped Melodie because of her rich and wealthy family. So did the students. Melodie was the daughter of a famous man (who shall be kept anonymous).

“I’m telling you, Fenny,” Melodie said. “You’re on the con side because you’re jealous. You want to be popular so bad but don’t know how. You don’t belong in any group. That’s why.”

“No,” Kayla said firmly. “She belongs in my group. She’s my friend.” Fenny looked at her gratefully.

“So?” Melodie pressed her hands on her hips.

Another girl stood up. Fenny recognized her. The girl’s name was Allie and she was from her math class. “So you are wrong. She does belong.”

Melodie looked like she wanted to strangle someone. She gritted her teeth. “Why are you on her side? She’s the school criminal. She cyber bullied someone.”

“Yeah, and she apologized,” pointed out Kayla.

“Stay out of it, brown nose,” Melodie hissed snottily.

Angeline really wanted to strangle that girl and give her a piece of her mind.

(You might be thinking, Where’s the teacher when you need him? Too bad that teachers loved to favor certain rich, pretty and popular students, like I said earlier.)

That’s when Fenny couldn’t stand it. It was one thing to call her names. But it was another thing to insult her friends and innocent people who weren’t involved. “How dare you say that?” She heard a piercing voice, only to realize that it came from herself.

Now the teacher finally say something. “Young lady, do not be rude to your classmates.”

“No, you don’t understand,” said Kayla. “Melodie was being rude. Can’t you see?”

“All I can see is this young lady being rude,” the teacher pointed at Fenny. “You do not misbehave in my class. Get out of my classroom.”

“But—”

“No buts. Now, out!” The boys snickered when he said “buts” because it sounded familiar to “butts”.

Fenny was about to leave. She wanted to storm out of the room. She was sick and tired of debating. But when she turned around and saw the eager faces of the people on her side, she changed her mind instantly, as if a switch turned open in her heart. “Sir, before I go, can you hear me out?”

The teacher nodded, exasperated. “Okay. But make it quick.”

Fenny glanced around and saw the faces of her classmates. Some were sympathetic, some were gleeful and some were eager—none of them had ever had the courage to stood up to Melodie before. Fenny herself had never done that before either. Her whole body was trembling. “Society is as cold as ice and as dark as the never-falling night.”

“Not again,” groaned someone.

“And this time I’m serious. It is just like that.”

The room instantly dropped to a level of silence.

“So I’m not gonna hesitate. Here’s the truth—sometimes life is unfair.”

Students muttered among themselves. Fenny didn’t care what they said. She wasn’t going to let some so-called reputation keep her from showing her true colors. Looking from Leah’s pitying look to Melodie’s smug expression, something inside of her snapped.

She closed her eyes, then opened them. “People who are popular and pretty get all the friends. They seem to be living a glamorous life with fancy mansions and fancy limos. But I’ve walked in their shoes before and I tell you, it’s not as good as you think.”

“You’ve walked in our shoes? Please!” A girl said.

“A month ago, I told everybody I am a witch and could cast spells on anybody I hate, just so somebody could stop making me miserable,” said Fenny, staring daggers at Melodie, who shrank back a little.

“That got me the popularity. People feared me. You feared me. Even you, Melodie. You made out your way to be nice to me. And believe me, even though that might seem awesome, it isn’t. Because no matter how popular I was, you weren’t looking at the true me.

“The teachers were nice to me because of it. News travel fast. Soon you all found out I was lying. But here’s the thing—people with popularity get everything. They win everything. While people stuck at the so-called bottom get nothing.

“And I’m just curious, but what did we do to deserve this? People like me never said a thing or complained. And fine, maybe I cyber bullied a girl and apologized and we made up and became friends, but that doesn’t mean teachers get to play favorites.

“And yeah, I don’t know what I’m talking about right now. My point is, this school needs to be fair. Rich and flawless people don’t get to win everything.”

Melodie called out, “You’re just jealous.”

“You don’t deserve to be loved,” spat Fenny.

“Okay, young lady. Out!” The teacher shouted. “You’re just being rude.”

Fenny shrugged. “Yeah, whatever,” she muttered. Then she staggered out of the room with Angeline behind her. When they passed Kayla, she said, “That was cool, Fenny.”

“Thanks.” Fenny smiled.

When they got out, Angeline patted Fenny like she was a warrior that had won a battle. “Kayla’s right. It was cool of you. I never thought you’d do it.”

“This is so unfair,” Fenny paced back and forth. “Melodie gets everything. Every single freaking time she says something mean, the teachers assume it’s my fault. They think she’s a perfect little angel. Well, I’ll show her.”

Angeline raised an eyebrow. “Okay. Oh no. What’s your plan now?”

“I am going to fight her after school,” said Fenny, barreling her teeth.

“Ha!” laughed Angeline. Then it suddenly dawned on her, and she looked at Fenny gravely. “Oh sweet niblets.” She looked up at the ceiling.

Fenny nodded earnestly. “You heard me right.”

“But that will get you into so much trouble,” Angeline said. “Are you sure about this?”

Fenny clenched her fists. “I hate that girl.”

“Woah,” Angeline widened her eyes. “Hate is such a strong word. It’s wrong to hate people, even though I hate her too.”

“See? You hate her and I hate her,” said Fenny. “Let’s take her down.”

“I couldn’t agree better,” Angeline said sarcastically. She knew that someday, sometime this would happen.

Suddenly, the bell for lunch rang and Fenny felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around to see Melodie smiling. “Hi, Fenny,” she said.

“Uh... hi,” said Fenny awkwardly.

“Holy Hades,” Angeline squirmed.

“I heard you say you wanted a fight. Well, you’re about to get one.” Melodie tilted her head and smirked.

Fenny protested, “I never said I wanted a fight.” Angeline stared at her with sarcasm and mouthed, You say this now?

“I heard you talking to yourself that you wanted a fight,” Melodie stared daggers at her. “Seriously, who the heck talks to herself?” She threw back her head and laughed like it was the most ridiculous thing ever.

“Um... I do,” Angeline raised her hand.

Fenny said, her knees shaking. “Melodie. I told you. I don’t want a fight. We can go back to ignoring each other.”

“So now you’re backing down?” Melodie smirked.

Fenny pondered for a while. “No,” she said after what seemed like forever.

“Okay,” Melodie said snottily. “See you at the peace garden after school.” She made a duck face and walked away. (Peace garden. Ironic, isn’t it?)

Fenny finally let out a breath. “I hate that girl. Now I want to fight her even more.”

“Sure,” said Angeline. “Let’s do this.”

Chapter eight: Crush Crisis

Even though there was a fight coming up between Fenny and the evilest girl in the school, her math skills were still on point.

“Pop quiz today, everybody,” said the teacher as she handed out the test papers.

“No!” The entire class except for Fenny and Angeline groaned. Fenny smiled. I can do this, she thought. I’m good at math.

It only took her about five minutes to finish it. She was so overjoyed to get this done that she did her “happy dance” inside her head.

“No mistakes,” said Angeline. “My intelligence takes after you. You are on fire.”

Fenny checked her black-and-white skirt. “Really?” She said nervously.

Angeline chuckled. “Nope. ‘You are on fire’ means ‘You are doing really well’. It’s a phrase, meaning a kind of expression.”

“You’re a dictionary. Hey, could you help me out in English class?”

“No talking, please,” the teacher walked up to Fenny. “Have you finished your paper?”

Fenny nodded with a smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

The teacher looked at her incredulously, feeling like she had been tricked. Her eyes widened so large that they were about to pop. “All are correct,” she said, trying to sooth her feelings. “Well done.”

Fenny was basking in the glow when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She swished around to see Adam smiling goofily. “Um, hello,” he said nervously. “Can you, um, like maybe give me the answers? This is so hard.”

“Ooooh,” Angeline went, her eyes huge. “Can someone bring me a bag of popcorn?” Fenny had to fiercely control herself from laughing in Adam’s face.

Fenny blushed crimson. “Um, sure,” her eyes darted around. “But won’t that be cheating?”

“Please,” Adam looked at her desperately. Fenny suddenly understood what the phrase “puppy eyes” meant.

“Okay,” she whispered. “But make it quick.” She swiftly handed her paper to him.

He smiled. “Thank you. I owe you big time.” To Fenny, his smile was as beautiful as the sun.

“Aww.” Fenny felt like she could melt into a puddle of water. She felt like she could dance on the clouds. She felt like she could sail across the rainbow riding a unicorn.

She just won the attention of her crush. She didn’t care if she has to battle the most popular girl in school. She didn’t care if she got into trouble because of it.

Chapter nine: Girl to Girl

It was three in the afternoon and school was over. Angeline knew what would happen—the fight. Many people came to talk to Fenny, and soon she got all the attention.

But Fenny herself didn’t know. More like she forgot. She was still skipping happily with Angeline, obviously not recovering from the Adam-itis in math class. She was still sliding down the rainbow and playing in the pot-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow and not knowing a thing. So was Angeline.

“So, how are you feeling?” asked a girl.

“What do you mean, how am I feeling?” Fenny said curiously. “I’m just glad school is over.”

The girl widened her eyes. “Don’t you remember?” She whispered. “You have a fight with Melodie.”

Suddenly, everything started coming back to both Fenny and Angeline. “Oh dang,” squealed Fenny at the same time Angeline said, “Oh sweet niblets.”

“So,” Melodie grinned like a shark. “Ready to die, loser?” A crowd formed around them.

Fenny’s heart was pounding like a bass drum inside her chest. Nice knowing you, Angeline, thoughts were running through her mind. And you, Adam. And you, Kayla. And everybody else on my side.

“Um, can I not die?” Fenny asked, even though she knew that was a stupid question. Just then she thought of an ingenious plan. “Oh my gosh, Melodie. I love your hair.” It was risky and shameless, but there was a chance it would work.

“Go, girl,” Angeline cheered. “You can do this. Say whatever you can and stall for time.”

Melodie squinted her eyes suspiciously. “Uh, thanks,” she crossed her arms snootily. “But you’re still gonna die.”

“And you have such pretty nails,” went on Fenny. “Think about it, scratching me to death can damage your gorgeous nails. And the color of it... man, you have such good taste in nail polish. Maybe we could sit down and, um, chat about nail polish. You love nail polish, right? I do too.” Her voice was wobbling uncontrollably.

“Shut up, loser!” yelled Melodie. “I‘ll still give you the beatdown you deserve.” She clenched her fists.

Fenny’s heart was about to jump out of her throat. She couldn’t believe what was happening. She looked around for a friendly face, but there was none. The students were jeering at her and chanting, “Melodie! Melodie! Melodie!” in unison. She wanted to bury herself in a hole and die.

“You said you hated me, didn’t you?” Melodie’s voice was at screaming rate now. It was so piercing that it could probably break any glass that comes near. “Well, you’re gonna get it.” She hissed like a witch.

Fenny decided to give one last try. “Your hair is amazing. You’re so pretty and flawless. I wish I were you.”

“Not,” called out Angeline. “Hey, stop stepping on my foot, people. Ow, ow, ow.”

Melodie sneered, “Nice try, trollop. You’re just faking it. You’re still gonna die.” Then she pounced onto Fenny.

Fenny struggled. “Help!” She cried desperately to the laughing crowd.

“I’m trying to,” shouted Angeline. “But I’m squashed up here. You have it way better.”

“No!” shrieked Fenny. She was either answering to Angeline or being tossed around by Melodie or both.

Melodie was snarling like a three-headed dragon. “You’re gonna get it.” She threw a punch, to which Fenny ducked in the nick of time.

Suddenly, they heard a loud voice. “Stop!”

They stopped and turned around. Fenny felt her heart melt when she saw Adam standing there, panting after pushing his way through the crowd. “You have to stop,” he said frantically, like he was running out of breath.

“Why?” teased Melodie. “You like her, don’t you? Aw, nerds in love.” Then she started making kissy faces. The students doubled over in hysterical laughters.

Adam looked embarrassed, but he still continued, “Whatever you say. If you fight her, then I’ll fight by her.”

Silence. More silence. Then a big fat “OOOOOH”.

“Stop stepping on me, people,” shouted Angeline. “Ow, ow, ow. Does anyone have a bag of popcorn?”

Fenny gazed into his dreamy eyes. “Thanks,” she said. “I think I’m getting seizures.”

Melodie looked pained. She tried to cover it up by saying, “I’m gonna kill you” to Fenny. And just when she was about to pound Fenny on the floor, a teacher came along with Kayla behind, saying, “What is this nonsense about?”

Melodie looked horrified. She dropped Fenny, who staggered backwards and bumped into Adam, and the two lovebirds gazed at each other. “What?” Her tone changed back to normal. She looked like any normal girl at that moment. It almost made Fenny and Angeline feel sorry for her. Almost.

“Thank you, teacher,” Angeline heaved a sigh of relief. “I would have been trampled to death if not for you.”

“Melodie was about to throw Fenny on the floor,” said Adam, his face straight.

“And he tried to stop her,” gushed Fenny, still not recovering from her trance. “Also, thanks, Kayla, for bringing the teacher.”

“No problem,” Kayla said.

The teacher turned to Melodie. “Young lady, do I see you beating up an innocent student?” She questioned. “You have deceived and disappointed me. Go to the principal’s office and explain your actions.” Then she went up to Fenny. “Are you okay? Are there any injuries?”

“Nope, ma’am,” said Fenny politely.

“Yes!” cried Angeline, who still hadn’t recovered.

“You can’t do that,” protested Melodie, while tears streamed down her cheeks. “My daddy is—”

The teacher looked irritated. “We know who your father is. Now go.”

“But—”

“No buts,” said the teacher. The students snickered. “Now, go!”

Melodie trudged away sadly, her face stained in tears. She swirled around and shot daggers with her eyes at Fenny, who stared at her with a mixture of fury and pity. A bunch of students came up to congratulate Fenny.

Angeline said to Fenny, “Well, that was lucky. No injuries for you or me.”

“Pretty scary, huh?” Fenny joked. “You should have seen that look on your face.

“Hey,” chuckled Angeline. “Yours was way more hilarious.” She gave her a playful punch on the arm. “I love your hair, Melodie,” she said in a falsetto voice. They both laughed, clutching their stomachs.

“Hey, Fenny.”

Fenny spun around. She blushed like the sunset when she saw Adam. “Uh... hi.” She hoped she wasn’t grinning goofily.

“I don’t know how to say this, and if I do, you’ll think I’m a creepy stalker.” Adam fidgeted with his fingers.

“So talk,” said Fenny. But what she was really thinking was, Please say you like me back.

“You’re a cool girl, Fenny,” Adam blushed. “You totally nailed Melodie. You’re the first one in line.”

Angeline was running around in circles. “Oh my freaking god,” she said. “Hang on, am I being too illogical?”

Fenny tilted her head. “So you like cool girls?” She tried to sound breezy. “Do I have to be all ‘goth cool’ for you?”

Adam chuckled. “No,” he said softly. “Just be yourself. Then you could win my heart.”

“Does that mean I don’t have to be cool and goth-like?” Fenny asked, her voice still casual and cool.

“You don’t.”

“Then,” Fenny cleared her throat. “Oh my gosh!” She squealed, smiling at Adam. “You like that better?”

Adam nodded. “And one last thing,” he whispered, glancing around to make sure no one’s watching. “I have feelings for you.” Then he hurried away, embarrassed in a good way.

“See, I told you,” said Angeline, putting on a triumphant face. “Ever since you made that speech in Creative Sentences class, you became true to yourself. After that, every single time you followed your heart. I told you you wouldn’t regret standing up like that.”

Fenny said, “You look like a balloon with too much air. But still, thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” replied Angeline.

You would think that Leah wouldn’t have the face to come slithering back to the “new” Fenny. But she still had. “Hi,” Leah said, her face red. “That was brave of you. I wouldn’t have had the guts.”

Indeed, coward, Angeline thought, gritting her teeth.

Fenny inhaled. Her face darkened and crumpled up. This time she wouldn’t forgive Leah so easily. Unlike last time, she wouldn’t be so ready to be friends with Leah. “No, you wouldn’t. Because you’re nothing but a traitor.”

“But,” Leah looked at her with big puppy-eyes. “I’m sorry. I’ve learned from the past. Can we please be friends again?” People bumped into her, this way and that.

“No.” Fenny turned away.

“Remember how we played Truth or Dare and made pinkie promises? Remember—” before she could finish her sentence, the crowd swallowed her up and she vanished into it.

That’s how she would always be, thought both Angeline and Fenny, going where the crowd goes and then getting lost.

Chapter ten: Evil or Misunderstood?

When Angeline and Fenny were walking back to class, they spotted Melodie shouting into her phone, “But mom. You can’t take away my computer privileges. It’s not fair. She started it.”

“Mom!” She cried. “Hey, don’t hang up.” But her mother still did.

She caught Fenny looking at her. “What are you looking at, freak?” She pressed her hands on her hips snottily.

“N-nothing,” stammered Fenny, running away.

“It’s your fault, freak,” said Melodie. Fenny turned around. “Everything is. I’m grounded for a week, freak.” She looked like she was in a lot of distress.

Fenny was tempted to say something like Ha, You deserved it. But looking at the tears in Melodie’s eyes, she asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Isn’t it obvious, freak?” Melodie spat furiously. “Everything’s the matter. My daddy will be so disappointed. I’m grounded. I’m not popular anymore. Could it possibly get worse? And it’s all your fault.”

“Woah, girlfriend,” Angeline retaliated. “Give her a break. You made the mess, now you clean the sheets.”

Melodie looked pensive for a second, as if she could hear her. “Why do you hate me so much?” She suddenly asked.

“Why do I hate you?” Fenny questioned. “You called me freak four times. And you’re asking why I hate you?”

“I called you that,” hissed Melodie. “Because you hate me.”

“Melodie,” Fenny said sincerely. “You know I don’t hate you. I would never hate anybody, not even you.”

Melodie looked straight into Fenny’s eyes. “Oh, I know you do. You gossip with Leah about me constantly. You call me shallow. Everybody does behind my back. I don’t understand.” A tear slid down her cheeks and crashed on the floor. “A girl knows when someone hates her. I’ve never done anything.”

Angeline pointed out, “Grammar, girl. It’s ‘gossiped’, not ‘gossip’. Leah and her aren’t friends anymore. She has better taste in friends. Also, it’s ‘called’, not ‘call’. Fenny isn’t as mean as you think.”

“Well, neither have I,” said Fenny. “But you’re always mean to me. You called me ‘freak’ four times. ‘Loser’ too. And you called me ‘school criminal’. It made me sad.”

Melodie shrugged. “Sometimes I say hurtful things. But I was convinced you really hate me. I was afraid everybody would.”

“Well, maybe they wouldn’t hate you, if you could be nice for a change.”

She glared at Fenny. “Are you calling me mean?” She demanded, her face crimson.

Fenny shook her head. “No,” she said. “I just wish you could stop saying mean things. No one was born mean. Neither were you.”

Melodie smiled for a millisecond. Then her face hardened. “Whatever, fr— I mean, fine, I’ll try.” She wiped her tears with her sleeve and went away. Angeline and Fenny both smiled at her attempt to not say the word “freak”.

“Surprising how a fight could solve everything, huh?” Angeline said lightly. Fenny nodded silently.

This day has just got weirder.

Chapter eleven: Sisters at Heart

Everything happened so fast that Angeline felt sort of dizzy. She didn’t have a clue about what was happening. And now she wasn’t sure how to travel forward in time, back to her own house. And even though she didn’t want to admit it, she felt homesick and missed her parents.

She tried to think of ways to get back, but her mind was a blank. “It’s like every piece of my mind had withered away. What is wrong with me?” She exclaimed.

“Well, how did you get here, to this time?” asked Fenny.

“That doesn’t help—” she paused. Then she said, “Oh, Fenny, you’re a genius.”

“Oh yeah, I am,” said Fenny. “Huh?” She looked confused. “I don’t get it.”

Angeline paced around. “When I came here, I was pressing the buttons of my faux time machine. Then I opened a textbook and fell asleep. I could try this now,” she tapped her chin. “Ingenious. Do you have a textbook?”

“You can use my science textbook,” Fenny handed it to her. “This thing can really send you to sleep.”

“But we’ll have to build a faux time machine, with buttons and things,” said Angeline. “We can do this together. This will be so fun.”

“Yipee!” cheered Fenny.

It took them a whole afternoon to finish building it, but it was totally worth it. When they looked at it, they couldn’t believe their eyes. The time machine looked like any real one. It was magnificent and had all those professional buttons and switches.

“Holy matata,” gasped Angeline.

“Yay!” squealed Fenny.

They hugged each other. An invisible force formed around them. Even time couldn’t tear them apart. They were true sisters and they would never ever forget each other.

Angeline saw the tears in Fenny’s eyes and comforted her, “Don’t worry, I can come back any time.”

“Bye,” Fenny croaked.

Angeline pressed every single button and switch. Then she opened the science textbook and felt herself drifting to sleep (even though she could understand it). “Goodbye, bestie. See you some other time.” Her eyes closed gently and her eyelashes fluttered like butterflies. It was as if time itself had stopped.

Constellations were circling around her. The bright stars glimmered. Angeline could see the whole earth. She thought it was so cool. It would help her with her researches, perhaps.

Before she knew it, she was back in her own house, holding her textbook. The birds tweeted merrily and the sun sparkled on her face. She looked at the timer and thought, Phew, thank god time hasn’t passed.

She heard her parents arguing. That’s what they always do, she thought. But nothing would take away my beautiful experience.

Indeed, she was right. Nothing could take it away. Nothing could tear her and Fenny apart. Nothing could make their connection disappear.

At heart, they were true sisters.