It was finally break time, and the boys all ran outdoors despite the cold to eat and play in the snow, meanwhile the girls stayed indoors in the dining room. It was a small room with a fireplace. On the dining room's table is where they kept all their baskets.
The young ladies sat quietly and neatly to eat until one named Jade Chervinsky broke the silence.
" Ladies, I was rather curious as to eho in the boys row do you think is more agreeable and handsome?" Asked Jade, wiping away crumbs from her lips with her beige handkerchief with lilacs delicately embroidered on.
"I think Rei is more fun than any of them, he's a real gentleman and has an interesting personality. Let's not forget just how becoming he looks, imagine what he will look like as an adult! Tall, broad shoulders... Oh and the Miryakev teins comes right after Rei. That is my opinion." Said a girl with auburn wavy hair named Natalia. "What about you Daria?" Asked Jade with a snicker on her face.
"I do not know. After talking to some of them... I don't like aby of them, I especially dislike Rei and his flirtatious manners." Answered Daria, her cheeks turning red.
"Girls, I have an announcement." Said Katerina solemnly.
"What is it?" Asked Fatimah all concerned.
"I started my monthly flowering as mother calls it. That is why I was absent last week." Said Katerina.
"But the teacher said you called in sick. Oh my lord! How did it feel?" Asked Natalia
"Absolutely awful. I was not ready for this. I was sleeping peacefully and I suddenly felt something and saw my nightrobe and bedsheets drenched in blood and had to go wash them. Mother came down quickly and helped me. I was panicking and thought I caught a weird disease and I was about to die but then mother explained what it was to me, called it monthly flowering and said I am now a young woman. But I don't want to be a woman just yet!" Explained the distressed Katerina.
"Mine came in a similar manner, except that it came unexpectedly last year at school and my apron was bloodstained, had Natalia not told me I would have been humiliated in front of the boys and the teacher. I just ran home when it was break time." Said Jade. Jade was fourteen and looked more mature than the other girls. She had beautiful blond curly locks of hair, but she was a Mulberry and everyone knew how arrogant the Mulberries were. "I haven't had mine yet, though mother did tell me about it. I dread to even think about it." Said Daria a little confused.
"Trust me, you will absolutely hate it, the mood swings that comes with it, the frustrations, the hysterics, the oily skin and pimples, abd the horrifying pain in the tummy, absolute worst. When it comes every months, I wish I was born a biy instead, God forbids." Said Fatimah.
"Ladies, this conversation stays between us alright. The boys should never know if this, it's a taboo in society. Only your husband can know about our cycles but we are still too young to be taking husbands. This is our secret alright?" Said Jade with much authority. The other girls nodded their agreement and proceeded to sharing their lunches with each other.
"Where did you get your dress made Jade?" Asked a coquettish girl of ten named Rubina Aster. "Not anywhere your family can afford little one. Sorry was I mean? I mean you cannot wear this style until you are fourteen years of age. I cannot wait to wear my first corset once I am seventeen, and put my hair up, and my dress floor length. This is a very grown up colour and is rather becoming on me I must admit." Said Jade, twirling around in her maroon puffed sleeved frilly dress. She wore a beautiful maroon ribbon made of the same fabric as her dress in her hair. The little Rubina's face was sullen after Jade's remarks and Fatimah patted her head to comfort her, "do not take what she said at heart Rubi, she's one of those prideful and foule mouthed Mulberry afterall. Even her brother is an absolute mess."
"By the way, I heard she is to come back soon." Said Natalia amidst the laughter and suddenly the room fell silent. "Oh is she now?" Snickered Jade.
"Erm sorry to interrupt but who might you be talking about?" Asked the confused Daria.
"The one with the highest scores in school. The anti social pretty girl who came from an island, a British colony in the Indian Ocean or so heard the island was. She may be anti social but she is insanely cunning and adorable. An east Asian, her name is Wardah Xiao-Hua Wang. And Jade here feels greatly threatened by her, she's good at baking, cooking, embroidery, sewing, martial arts, knows quite a few languages and good at chess, also good at academics as long as she finds the subjects interesting." Explained Fatimah.
"Who said that she threatens me? We shall see once she's back. She went back to her homeland for winter break, who knows what weird diseases from the island she will bring us... Besides her tanned olive skin is rather disturbing, who says she was adorable." Saide Jade before storming out of the dining room, followed by her minions. "Anyone living on an island will be easily tanned but she's most fair, you shall understand once you see her. Her features are rather unique and fresh. If I had to compare her to objects... I must say she looks as delicate as a rose, smells as nice as a Jasmine, is as vibrant as a plum blossom, is as strong as a diamond. Anyway she may be anti social but once you talk to her and get to know her, you will find her to be most mysterious and interesting, she's fond of mysteries and would often drag us out to visit old abandoned houses in town. She's thirteen like us." Said Fatimah reassuringly.
The teacher rang the bell and it was time for class again. On the way home, Daria kept thinking about this mysterious island girl Fatimah was describing and was eager to meet her. "She should be much better to hang out with than Jade Mulberry." She thought before going to bed.