Starry finally woke up the next day. She saw her uncle and aunt sleeping on a couch.
"Uncle, aunt, what happened?" she asked, voice hoarse.
James and Fran woke up and rushed to her side.
"Kiddo, how you feeling?" James asked, still worried.
"I'm fine, but I'm thirsty," she replied.
"Here," said Fran as she gave Starry a cup of water.
Starry drank it in one go.
"Star, why didn't you tell us what you were facing in school?" Fran asked, tears starting.
"I didn't want you guys to worry. Plus, the Stunning Trio no longer bother me," Starry replied.
"If you face any difficulty in school, please tell us, kiddo," said James.
"Alright?" asked Fran.
"Alright," replied Starry.
Fran hugged her and kissed her on the head.
In the afternoon, some of Starry's classmates came to visit her with their form teacher.
Miss Simmons gave Starry a letter.
"What is this for, Miss Simmons?" Starry asked, confused.
"It's an apology letter written by the ones that offended you," replied Miss Simmons.
"Oh."
"Get well soon, Starry. Okay class, let's get going," said Miss Simmons.
"Bye Starry, get well soon," said the students as they left.
Starry opened the letter and read it.
_Hmph. I know they don't mean it,_ she thought and threw the letter in the dustbin.
She lay down and soon fell asleep. After some time, she was woken up by Fran.
"Star, it's time to eat and take your medicine," Fran said.
"Okay." Starry sat up. She saw a bouquet of yellow daisies in a vase.
"Um, aunt, where did this flower come from?" Starry asked.
"Oh, it's from one of your friends from school. He said yellow daisies mean get well soon. There's also a card," Fran replied as she gave her the card.
_It must be from Theodore. He's my only male friend… besides Hansel. No. Not him,_ she thought.
She opened the card and it read: _Get well soon, Star.
With love, Hansel_
"What?" she screamed.
"Star, what's wrong?" Fran asked, worried.
"I'm fine, aunt," she said, assuring her.
"Then don't scream like that again."
"Sorry."
_Why did Hansel send me these flowers?_
"Aunt, can you get rid of the flowers?"
"Why?"
"I'm allergic to daisies," she said, faking a cough.
"Really?"
"Yes, aunt."
"Ok, I'll get rid of them."
"Thank you."
Fran took the vase out of the hospital room. Starry crumpled the card and threw it in the dustbin.
She looked at her phone and checked for messages. Her friends sent her get well soon messages. Fran came back with the doctor and he checked if she was okay.
"Starry is fine now. She can go home today," said Dr. Benson.
"Thanks, Dr. Benson," said Fran with a smile.
Soon Starry was discharged. She and Fran went home. When she opened the door she saw her friends. They shot a confetti cannon at her and screamed, "Welcome Star!"
She smiled warmly and said, "Thanks, girls."
They hugged her and Anna said, "We were really worried."
"Yeah, Star, we were," said Stacy.
The girls had a sleepover that night.
The next day, Starry went to school even though Fran disagreed. When she got to school some of her classmates told her welcome back.
She sat down on her seat and, surprisingly, Theodore wasn't there. Soon class began and before she knew it, it was lunchtime.
The girls went to the cafeteria and ordered food with their meal cards.
They sat down at their regular table.
"Can you eat well, Star?" Stacy asked.
"Yes. Even though my right hand is in a cast, I'm ambidextrous." She reached for her fork with her left hand. Her right arm twinged in the sling.
"I didn't know you were ambidextrous," said Stacy.
"I knew," Anna said.
"Hey, stop doing that," said Stacy.
"Doing what?" Anna asked, pretending to be confused.
"You know what I mean," replied Stacy, annoyed.
The three other girls laughed. After their lunch, they were walking to their classroom when Hansel stopped them.
"Starry, can we talk for a sec?" asked Hansel.
"Where are your lackeys, Hansel?" Stacy asked in a mocking tone.
"I wasn't talking to you, Cuddles," he said, glaring at her.
She rolled her eyes at him and said, "Let's go, Star."
"Stacy, it's ok. I'll see you girls in class."
"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Gretel asked.
"I'm sure, Gret," she replied with a smile.
"Ok, see you in class," Gretel said as they left.
"What do you want, Hansel?"
"Are you ok?"
"Yes. Can I go now?"
"Why are you so hostile to me?"
"Hmmm, how do I put it. Maybe it's because the first day we met you tried to use my face as a handkerchief. Or maybe it's because your friend almost squeezed the life out of me and busted my elbow. You're nothing but a bully and you never apologized. So don't act like we're friends." She used her shoulder to bump into his as she left.
In class, their form teacher came after lunch.
"Good afternoon, Miss Simmons," the students greeted.
"Good afternoon, darlings. As you know, Danetelo is no longer our assistant class president and Theodore called in sick. So we have to elect a new assistant class president. Any nominees?" said Miss Simmons.
Starry raised her hand and Miss Simmons said, "Yes, Starry?"
"I nominate Gretel Peterson," she said as she stood up.
"Gretel, please step out," Miss Simmons said.
"Starry, what are you doing?" Gretel whispered to Starry as she went to the front of the class.
"Who else?" asked Miss Simmons.
"I nominate Sandra Salt," a girl said.
"Ok, come on out, Sandra. Anyone else?" Miss Simmons said.
The class was quiet and Miss Simmons said, "Ok, you girls should go out and wait while the rest of you cast your votes."
The two girls went outside and the rest of the students voted one by one. They wrote the name of the person that they wanted to win on a piece of paper. From the first row to the last, they placed the piece of paper in a box that was on the teacher's table.
When they were done, Miss Simmons checked the paper one by one and recorded the results. When she was done, she said, "Girls, please come in."
They came into the class and Miss Simmons said, "Our new assistant class president is Gretel Peterson. Congrats, Gretel. Do you have anything to say to the class?"
"No, Miss Simmons," said Gretel.
"Then you girls should please take your seat," said Miss Simmons, awkwardly.
They took their seats.
Two days later, Theodore finally came to school. When Starry came to school, she saw that he was resting his head on his desk.
_Thank God. He's better._ She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and sat down.
He raised his head and asked, "How's your shoulder now, dummy?"
"Hey, don't call me that. Anyway, it's better. The doctor said I can remove my cast soon," Starry replied.
"Good to hear. Do you know you weigh a lot? I guess the food that you have been shoving in your mouth paid off."
"Hey!" She hit him on the shoulder.
"How can you hit a sick person who helped you?"
"Thanks. And are you okay now, jerk? Wait, since you have the mouth to insult me I guess you are fine."
"Anyway, were you able to buy the watch for your uncle?"
"Yes, I've bought it. Thanks for the help, by the way." She smiled brightly at him.
His heart began beating fast and he brought his hand close to her. He turned her face the other way.
"Hey!"
"I told you to stop smiling like that."
"Hmph, you're just jealous because you have an ugly smile."
"Yeah, very jealous." He turned away from her.
Their chemistry teacher, Mrs. Smith, came and told them to go to the chemistry laboratory. She taught them the subtopic _flame test for metal_ under the topic _preparation of metals_.
The students were divided into groups of three. Starry, Anna, and a boy named Adam were in the same group. While Theodore, Gretel, and Stacy were in the same group. Both groups sat close to each other.
"We have already done the theoretical work and it's time to do the practical. As you all can see on your tables, we are going to do the flame test for potassium, copper, lead, sodium and calcium."
Mrs. Smith carried out each test and told them to do the same. They all did the test and soon the class was over. They went to their class.
Starry sat down smiling and Theodore asked, "Why are you smiling?"
"I really enjoyed today's chemistry class."
"Why? It's unlike you."
"Remember the flame test for potassium? It produced my favourite colour."
"So lilac is your favourite colour?"
"Yes." She smiled brightly.
It was James' birthday and the family went out for dinner. The girls gave him the wristwatch while Fran gave him a pair of silver cufflinks.
The day went by smoothly.
It was some days to Starry's parents' death anniversary. Starry checked her calendar and saw that it was a Saturday, so she could go to the town where her parents lived before.
The day finally came and Starry took a train to Sunny Town. The town they were in was Sunnyvale. It took her two hours to get to Sunny Town.
Meanwhile, Theodore also went to Sunny Town to visit his grandfather with his mother.
They got to his grandfather's mansion. The butler took them in and led them to Mr. White's study room.
When Mr. White saw them he asked, "What are you doing here, Celine?"
"Father, is it wrong that I visit once in a while?" Celine asked, heartbroken.
"You can, but don't bring him along," said Mr. White.
"Father, don't talk like that. Theodore is your grandson."
"He didn't even greet me."
"Well, if you weren't yapping since we came I would have," said Theodore.
"See, this is why I don't want him around. He has no respect for me," said Mr. White angrily.
"I didn't want to be here anyway. Bye, old man," Theodore said and left.
"Theodore! Theodore!" Celine called, but he didn't answer her.
He left the mansion and entered a cab. His phone rang and he answered it.
"Have you seen Star, Theodore?" Gretel asked.
"No, I'm not even in town. And why do you ask?"
"Starry is missing."
"What?"
"I thought she would be with you because I have already called Stacy and Anna."
"Well, I haven't seen her and I have other things to worry about."
He cut the call and looked out the window. The cab passed by a flower shop and there was an alley close to it. He saw two men cornering a girl and the girl looked like Starry.
"Stop the cab," he yelled.
The driver stopped, he paid and got off.
The girl was actually Starry and she said to the men, "What do you want from me?"
"What else but money?" one of the men laughed.
"I only have $20 with me, here," she said, shaking as she gave them the money.
"How do we know that you are not lying? Why don't we strip her down?" said the other man.
"What? I already gave you all my money. How dare you?" Starry said angrily.
"What? Like you can do anything about it," the first man said as they inched closer to her.
"Don't take a step closer or you will regret it."
"Hmph," the two men laughed hysterically as they inched even closer.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," she said.
She jumped up and kicked both of them in the face at the same time. She landed on her feet gracefully. The two men fell from the kick and two of their teeth fell out.
"Aah! My teeth!" one of the men screamed in pain.
"Mine too!" screamed the other one.
Starry quickly took her money and ran. She ran out of the alley and bumped into a boy. The bump made her trip but the boy caught her by the waist, before she could fall.
Starry saw the boy's face and asked, "Theodore?"
"Star, are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes, but can you let go?"
"Oh, sorry." He let go of her waist.
"Did you run away from home?"
The two men ran out of the alley and spotted them. Starry saw them and said, "Ask me that question later. We need to get out of here."
She held his hand unconsciously and dragged him along. They ran and boarded a cab.