"Did you hear about Dara?"

"Dara? Whose that?"

"She's the kid that sits at the back of class, and like, never speaks."

"So what about her?"

"Aparently her Dad comitted suicide!"

"Damn, sucks for her I guess."

"That's not even the craziest part! I heard that her dad was loaded but was about to divorce. But then he kills himself out of nowhere? I totally think it was staged, definitely a murder by her mom..."

"Holy shit... that's kinda creepy."

"Maybe you should stay away from her, no matter how pitiful she is, who wants to be friends with a murderer's daughter?"

I rolls my eyes, do these flamingos not realize I'm still in the classroom? Also what kinda rumour is that? A murder? My mom was the sweetest thing alive, she was the only thing I could really lean on. And divorce? Dad and mom were deeply in love, they were even planning to get another kid! I simply click my tongue and the two chattering girls flinch and look at me.

Their faces turn red from shame. "O-Oh Dara... I didn't see you there! haha..."

I look at them blankly and get up from my seat.

"Look I'm really sorry! We really didn't know... we didn't mean it either, we'd t-totally be your friend!" One of them says nervously. I ignore them and leave the room, not before hearing something along the lines of 'What a bitch'.

It's not unusual though, for me to outright ignore my peers. These days I'm only really talking to mom. Maybe in instances like to my teacher, but I kept talking to a minimum. To be honest, I've always been a quiet person, someone ignored. The 'quiet kid' or 'kid at the back of the classroom', but as of late, it's been more of a 'that girl's dad commited suicide!'.

It happened four months ago, but it still feels fresh. I took a month off of school, none of the teachers reprimanded me or anything, but I went from invisible to pitiful very quickly. I stopped talking after I realized all the friends "I made" all looked down on me. And I found it wasn't worth speaking to idiots that think that their dead dog is comparable to my dad.

Sure they might've been sad, but it didn't make me feel fuck-all better. At first, the very mention of suicide or death brought me terrible flashbacks and physical stress. But now, I can hear it just fine, save for the looming sense of discomfort and unease.

I walk home by myself, the wind gently pulling my hair away from my face. I hear a small 'meow' and pause, I see a small black kitten peaking out behind a dumpster. I approach the alley and reach out to the kitten, not before it hisses and bites my hand. I shriek in surprise and quickly flinch back.

My hand throbs and I see blood dripping down my wrist. I really hope that kitten isn't diseased, also, how can a small cut sting so bad?

When I get home, I call out to my mom. "Mom! I'm home!" I exclaim, I hear some clanging (presumably kitchen utensils) before my mother rushes over.

"Welcome home sweetie!" Mom smiled, pulling me into a hug. She had her green hair tied up in a bun above her head and still wore an apron, I wonder what she was making. When she hugs me I visibly flinch and she notices me clutching my hand. "My goodness! What happened?"

"A cat bit me on the way home." I say bluntly. Mom grabs my arms and pulls me into the living room and sits me down. "I'll be right back" She says, before heading to get a first aid kit.

After she disinfects my bite mark she whispers a spell under her breath and patches up the wound. Usually commoners don't have magic but because our family were fairly wealthy (nearly as wealthy as a low ranking noble), we were able to learn a few spells.

Dad, before he died, was a notorious merchant, he was even on the merchant council, but after he died we moved to a smaller house and dismissed all of our personnel. Mom was a housewife so we're just living on Dad's inheirtance, which is by no means small, but we're cautious about spending nonetheless.

We head to the kitchen. "Dara, there's something I need to tell you..." She says, and I look in her direction. I see her visibly nervous and I can tell it's important. Mom gives me a small smile and tells me to sit down again, to which I oblige.

"I know since Dad died it's been really hard." An understatment. "And teachers have been telling me about how you haven't been talking much."

"Yeah, and?" I scoff. This situtation is annoying.

"I want you to enjoy your youth, but I don't want you to throw away your studies either. That's why I took the intiative to enroll you into Greendale-"

"What?!" I shout, getting up from my seat. "You aren't exactly enrolled yet, but I'm going to have you take the entrance exam. The official exams happened awhile ago, but I was able to book a private session." Mom says.

"What happened to asking me first?!" I say, seriously shocked. I wasn't incredibly upset with a change of pace though, with the weird rumours at my school and constantly being treated like shit. But it'd likely be even worse in a school filled with entitled aristocrats and pompous teachers.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but I really want you to do you best on the exam. Both written and physical. I have it schedueled for next week." Mom says.

"So I have a week to prepare, huh?"