They'll Never Hear a Word We Say: Part One

A yellow Usul stood in front of the bathroom mirror, carefully brushing her fur with her very own brand new Pink Sparkly Brush. She would brush her soft fur for at least five minutes every morning so it shone and made her look her best. Not to mention she loved the feeling of the warm softness of freshly brushed hair in the morning. She would cuddle up in her yellow mane and rub her face in the silkiness of it for hours at a time while she sat curled up in front of the fire on cold nights while reading a good book.

    She smiled at herself, admiring her pearly white teeth. She carefully tied the yellow ribbon on her ears into a cute knot. She then untied the bow that the ribbon around her tail was in, and redid it daintily. She fluffed it a couple of times with her hands and then looked one last time in the mirror at herself, when she realized that she had forgotten to brush her teeth. She gasped, grabbing the tube of the extra whitening toothpaste, and quickly scrubbed them with her worn out toothbrush for exactly two minutes. She put the brush back into its holder, and smiled at herself in the mirror.

    She had to look her best, because it was a very important day. She had to make a good first impression to the other Neopets at the place she was going. Nervous, but excited at the same time, she hoped that the others would like her.

    She had just moved from Meridell to Terror Mountain. She had hated the idea, but her owner wanted to go somewhere new and exciting. So she was forced to move up to the very top of the snow kissed mountain with her owner and three younger siblings. And with moving to a new place comes going to a new school, and that was where Melanie was going. It was her first day of the first grade.

    She made her way downstairs after making sure she looked perfect. It was not every day you went to school for the first time. Melanie was very excited to learn, but terrified of the challenges that were to come. She didn't know what to expect, since her owner didn't know what to tell her about school. All she knew that there would be other pets her age there, and that it would be a very fun experience, according to her owner.

    Stepping into the kitchen, the tiny little Usul saw her younger brother, a blue Zafara named Koru, stuffing a spoonful of cereal into his mouth as he sat at the dining table. The young Melanie grimaced in disgust at her sibling as milk dribbled down his mouth and his lips smacked as he chewed. She couldn't believe she had a brother who was so grotesquely mannered. The Zafara glared over at her as he slurped the milk and leftovers out of his bowl.

    "What're you lookin' at?" Koru snapped, spitting chunks of cereal all over the table. Melanie stuck her tongue out at her brother and walked off to try and find her owner. The Neohome was brand new and the scent of fresh paint on the walls could still be smelled. The shiny wooden floors were slippery and perfect for pretending to ice skate on. And the chandelier's lights were glowing and as bright as they could be.

    Melanie found her owner, a tall and black-haired teenage girl, in the lounge reading an old issue of the Neopian Times. The girl looked up at her Neopet and smiled. She folded the paper up and set it on the ground, and then she stood up and started to walk towards Melanie. "Are you all ready for your first day of Neoschool?" she questioned eagerly, picking the little Usul up and placing her up on her shoulders. "Don't be scared. You'll have tons of fun, Mel."

    Mel nodded, and a weak smile spread out upon her face. "I'll miss you when I'm at school, Kim," she told her owner, who then grinned warmly and hugged her. Kim carried Mel to the door and bent down to help her put on a cute and fuzzy Hasee Backpack. She patted her on the head as she called out to her other pets in the house.

    "Koru! Ashli! Keely! Time to go to school!"

    A green Kacheek and Koru ran towards her savagely, pushing each other into the walls and onto the floor. A red Flotsam slowly flopped towards them as well. One-by-one, they grabbed their backpacks, coats and scarves before setting off on the cold and blustery walk to school. Kim watched them proudly as all four of her pets walked off into the snowy valleys.

    Koru threw snowballs at his sisters the whole way to Snow Creek Neoschool, and Ashli, the green Kacheek, nearly cried. Kelly, the red Flotsam, flopped angrily after him when he stuck a snowball down her coat, and Ashli and Mel laughed happily as she tried to slap him in the head with her fin. When they finally reached the school, Mel's siblings left her by herself when they went to find their classes.

    She stood in the middle of the hallway while other pets nearly trampled all over her as she looked around curiously for where she was supposed to go. A kind yellow Kacheek came up to her and showed her the way to her class, after Mel had been wandering through what seemed like the whole school. She didn't see how anyone could manage to find his or her way around the place. It was so huge and had so many long hallways, not to mention lots and lots of students.

    "Here you are," the yellow Kacheek said as she opened up a large wooden door. She gently pushed Melanie inside. "This is your classroom. You'll be in here every single day, so don't forget where it is. Now good luck! Go and talk to your teacher, Mrs. Rosh." She pointed to a tall rainbow Kougra standing at the front of the room. "I need to go now, so goodbye!"

Sam

    Mel wandered over to the center of the room, where other pets were playing merrily with their plushies and Fuzzles. She went up to a green Gelert, who was combing a Usuki Doll's hair, and sat next to her. The green Gelert didn't seem to mind, so Mel grabbed another Usuki, which was lying on the floor next to her. The green Gelert gasped and snatched the doll away from Mel.

    "That's mine, don't go touching it!" she exclaimed, setting the Usuki down on the other side of her, away from Mel. Mel frowned and decided to find another playmate, but was interrupted.

    "Hello class," Mrs. Rosh said sweetly. "As you know, I'm your teacher, Mrs. Rosh. Now, since this is your first day, I want you all to sit around in a circle so we can learn everybody's name. Yes, a circle. That's good." The students obediently formed a circle in the center of the room. Mrs. Rosh walked into the center of it. "I want you to all go around and say your name, and something you like to do. We'll start with you." She pointed to a chunky red Skeith.

    "Well, my name is Albert. And I like... I like... I like to, well, eat."

    "Okay, then," Mrs. Rosh said, chuckling a bit. Mel and the others laughed too, even though they didn't exactly know what they were laughing about. A blue Uni who was sitting right next to Mel smiled at her.

    "My name's Sam," she whispered, and then looked quickly back at the teacher, as if she was afraid she would get caught talking. Mel smiled back at her, and told her that her name was Melanie.

    From then on, Sam and Melanie started to hang out with each other, and Mel quickly found out that Sam was quite a friendly and talkative little Uni. They would tell stories about their owners and older siblings to each other, and spend free time and recesses just chatting. They had better things to do than run around on the play structures and chase boys around.

    "So, you moved here from Meridell, huh?" Sam asked one day at recess, quite interested.

    Mel nodded.

    "Well, I'm sure you'll fit in just great here, Melanie. How about I introduce you to everyone? We were in Kindergarten together, so I already know all of them," she said, leading Mel across the playground and over to a group of boys. "The first thing you've got to know is, these are the best friends you could ever have. There's Chad, and then Mikey, and Garret. Guys, this is Mel."

    A red Lupe, green Shoyru, and a yellow Eyrie all waved at her, then resumed playing their game of wall ball.

    "They're all you really need to know. All you need to get through school are these guys and me. Trust me. I know."

    "But how do you know all of this?" asked a curious Melanie, as the two of them strolled over to a gigantic snowman a group of pets had just built. Sam picked up a stick from the ground and stuck it into the snowman's side, smiling at the newly limbed sculpture. She turned around with rosy cheeks.

    "My sister tells me. She's really pretty, really nice, and really smart. I think she's the most popular eighth grader in this Neoschool," Sam explained.

    "Wow, she's an eighth-grader?" Mel asked in awe.

    Sam nodded. "Maybe one day if you come over to my house, you can meet her!" she suggested. Suddenly, the bell rang, which signaled the end of recess, and the two friends started to head back to their classes. The sound of squeaky snow boots and sniffling noses filled the small class. Mrs. Rosh instructed the students to color in their drawing pads.

    Mel and Sam sat next to each other at a table by themselves. Sam drew a picture of the snowman she had given an arm to. Mel grinned as she looked down at a picture that she was illustrating. There were two blob-like figures; one was blue and one was yellow. She tapped Sam on the shoulder and showed the drawing to her.

    "It's you and me... do you think we'll be best friends until eighth grade?" she asked hopefully.

    Sam smiled at her friend. "I don't think, Mel. I know."

To be continued...