STARLIGHT

5.Change

"Hey guys!," Neori called out to Keya and Saomi, who happened to be standing nearby, as she entered the school campus.

"Oh hi!" "Hey!" Keya and Saomi simultaneously said, looking rather unamused.

Neori just walked past them after faking a smile and headed straight for her classroom.

"What's with them?" she mumbled to herself as she settled down at a seat near the window.

The three girls were from the same class but three different sections. So, none of them knew the other so well, actually, they never knew the other two existed!

"Huhhhh..." Neori sighed, looking out the window.

The bell rang and it was time for class. The first period, history; boring as ever! Neori either stared at her history teacher's face or at Adolf Hitler's face.

"Wait a minute!" she whispered to herself, as she picked up her book and looked at it closely, "Hmmm...They look alike. Haha!!!" she thought, peering over at her teacher's face and looking down at Hitler's!

Yep. She knew how to make a class 'less boring' for herself.

This was then followed by Math, English, Biology and Economics.

"Huh!!! Boring day," she mumbled.

Finally, the bell rang for lunch time. She went straight to the cafeteria, all alone, walking right past her 'ex- friends'.

Why 'ex' you ask? Well, it all goes back to what happened a day ago:

Flashback:

"Friendship?" Neori asked, confused, 'with whom?"

"With five 'crazy' people who brought light to my life," Ms. Hirasawa said, getting a bit emotional.

"But Sensei, why are you telling us this?" Saomi finally asked.

"...Because all three of you," she said, sitting at the edge of her seat, "all three of you have at least one thing in common with me."

"Huh?" "How?" "What's that?" they asked simultaneously.

"I was very distant from my parents," she said, pointing to Keya, "Until I met my new friends, I was never serious with my life," she said, pointing to Neori, "and like you," she said, pointing to Saomi, "I had an unforgettable past, so I couldn't open up."

"And....everything was solved meeting your new friends?" Keya asked expectantly.

"Well, it took some time. I didn't even realize when my problems got solved. They just did. I just kept moving forward," she explained.

"So, Sensei, who do 'we' make friends with?" Neori asked.

"The three of you.....with the three of you," Ms. Hirasawa said with a smile.

They looked surprised.

"Is this why she called all three of us together?" they thought.

"Look girls, the best way to get past your problems is to fight them by facing them and right now, I see something in all of you that would push you to the top but......you'll have to do it together."

"So, we ditch our present friends?" Keya asked.

"No, you don't. You just let yourselves get to know each other and in this way, maybe you'll leave them eventually. Destiny will play its part, you have to play yours."

They nodded.

"So then, Sensei, what now?" Neori asked.

"Now, I'll leave you here till lunch time. When it's time, you can go. Until then, time's all yours," she said, standing up to leave.