Malus Story 6. Loner GirlMany years ago.

  A bell rang, signaling the end of the lessons and the start of the recreational period.

  "Have fun kids, and remember: restrain yourselves or you'll end up hurting each other."

  After a female teacher issued her warning, the kids left the cssroom swiftly, ready to py, with only a bunch of them taking things slower. One of them was a girl with long indago hair. She was sitting at one of the desk in the back row. She extracted a book from her backpack. It was a novel called: "How to steal from the till and setting up scapegoats to ensure a comfortable life and no repercussions." She resumed reading the book from around the half of it and almost immediately she ughed. The teacher, seeing the girl alone, as she did many other times, approached her.

  "Vionte, dear... I already talked to your mother about your... Lack of sociality but i also wanted to ask you before taking any kind of decision about you so... Why are you always alone? Don't you have any friend?"

  The girl looked up at her teacher.

  "Oh... I'm fine teacher. I know how to entertain myself."

  The girl then returned reading her book. The teacher kept her warm attitude after hearing such response.

  "Vionte dear... While friendship may be born from a need of entertainment, they are way more than just a form of entertainment."

  Vionte's expression changed to one of confusion. Then she returned reading the book, ignoring her own questions. The teacher however still pressed her.

  "Vionte dear... What is it that you have not understood about my statement?"

  The girl still looked at the book.

  "What's a friend then, if it's not a jester that makes you ugh when you need it?"

  The teacher sighed, with a perplexed expression on her face.

  "You see, Vionte. Having fun is just one of the perks of having friends. There are other ones other than that. For example... If you need any help, a friend is willing to help you."

  Vionte was perplexed.

  "And what does a friend gains from helping another friend?"

  The teacher scratched her cheek with her index finger.

  "Well... Those acts are acts born from the willingness to maintain the retionship. And once the retionship becomes close enough, you'll start feeling bad for your friends should they have a bad experience, so you'll start operating out of a... An altruistic selfishness."

  Vionte looked at her teacher.

  "Altruistic selfishness? It sounds weird... Still... Friends seem too difficult to maneuver around... Also... How should i choose who's worthy enough to become my friend?"

  The teacher put a hand on her forehead in exhasperation.

  "Friendships develop organically. There's no 'being worthy enough'. If you feel that being together with someone is a good experience for you, then such someone is friendship material."

  Vionte tilted her head in confusion.

  "Does a preemptive way to discern who can become a good friend to me exist?"

  "No, it does not."

  The young girl frowned, still reading her book.

  "I don't like risks."

  The teacher resigned herself, keeping however her warm tone.

  "I understand Vionte. You're still young, i'm sure you're going to change your views as you'll grow up.

  She then left the child to read her book.

  Days ter.

  Still at school, Vionte was tending to the cssroom pnts, consisting in an estic fig and a couple of dandelions which sprouted on their own on an otherwise empty pot. She was minding her own business, ignoring all the noise from her cssmates pying nearby. She had a smile on her face. At the same time, another young girl was pying alone with a rather old and simple console. As she was pying, however, another kid approached her with not-so-good intentions.

  "Hey cat-girl! Let me py!"

  The cat-girl paused her game and put the console in a pocket.

  "No. The game is mine. And i don't like you. You always pick me on."

  The other kid was not amused.

  "Listen cat-girl: you give me your game and i, maybe, will stop picking on you."

  The girl frowned.

  "I know you. You won't stop if i do that. Yours are just lies."

  The other kid got angry

  "I'm not a liar, cat-girl. You've insulted me, so give me your game as compensation."

  "No!"

  "If you don't comply, then i'll take it by force!"

  "Just try it!"

  Things were escating rapidly. However, before a fight could start, the kid was hit by a stream of water. It was Vionte, pouring water on him with the watering can. The other kid was furious.

  "Hey! What's your matter in here!?"

  Vionte ignored his question, returning to her matters, her face rather inexpressive. Meanwhile the catgirl ughed at the other kid now drenched in water.

  "That's what you deserve. Sadly you've not been washed away though."

  The kid was furious.

  "SHUT UP!"

  He then ran away. Meanwhile the catgirl put the videogame away and went towards the other girl. She approached such girl with a smile.

  "Thanks for helping me now."

  The other girl, who returned tending to the pnts, was not that interested in the conversation.

  "Huh... If you say so..."

  The cat-girl was confused by such reaction. She however decided to come even nearer to the girl, until she was in front of her, causing Vionte to become a bit annoyed.

  "I'm Timotea, by the way, nice to meet you."

  Timotea extended her hand to the girl, who turned towards her schoolmate and reluctantly shook her hand.

  "I'm a bit busy at the moment..."

  Vionte showed the other girl the pnts she was looking at, but Timotea waved her finger, reprimanding the girl.

  "You have to introduce yourself when someone else does it to you."

  Vionte smiled awkwardly. She looked away, showing clear signs of annoyance.

  "I'm Vionte..."

  The catgirl smiled.

  "Great! Let's become friends!"

  The other girl turned around.

  "I don't really need friends... I already know how to entertain myself."

  Timotea didn't flinch.

  "You may not need them, but you can still have them!"

  Vionte reflected for a moment.

  "Maybe you're right. Just because i don't need them it doesn't mean i can't have them..."

  She then turned again towards Timotea.

  "Ok... Let's be friends then... Whatever it means... Just... don't disturb me if i'm doing something else."

  The catgirl, despite some confusion on her part, accepted the terms.

  "Ok. I'll give you your space. But i expect some interactions too."

  "Ok..."

  Vionte was still not convinced of what she was doing. At that moment, however, the drenched kid arrived together with the teacher, who was angry.

  "Vionte! Did you really pour water on another student?"

  "Uh? Ah, yeah. He was being hostile."

  Vionte wasn't really interested in her own situation, preferring to look at the couple of pnts near her cssroom. The other kid, meanwhile, attempted to gain as much sympathy as possible.

  "It's not true! She drenched me unprovoked!"

  Timotea then intervened in defense of her new friend.

  "He demanded my game! She just put him in his pce!"

  The teacher looked at all of them with a disappointed look.

  "Well, next time such arguments happen, tell me and i'll solve them for you. You must not solve them yourselves. I'll let it slide this time, but there i hope there's not a next time. Understood?"

  The three kids nodded.

  "Now we're going to dry you."

  The teacher then left together with the drenched kid. Timotea stuck her tongue out at the kid.

  "That guy can't act to save his life..."

  The bell rang again. Timotea then faced her new friend.

  "I'm looking forward to pass some time together in the future. Bye!"

  "Bye..."

  The catgirl then left, returning to her css. Vionte sighed as she returned in her own css.

  'Friends are indeed difficult to manage... Maybe i should have refused her offer...'