Roxanne heaved a sigh of relief. She could see that although Estella was a bit out of place, the other children approached her enthusiastically and played with her. Yet before she could feel totally at ease, she saw Estella letting out a yelp.
The children who were skipping around also halted their actions one by one. Feeling her heart tighten, Roxanne instinctively looked in Pamela’s direction.
Something was obviously wrong with Estella, and Pamela could probably see that from where she was standing.
However, there was a child who wouldn’t stop crying next to Pamela. Although she did notice a small commotion over here, she was occupied with coaxing the child beside her.
Left with no choice, Roxanne turned back to Estella and observed her worriedly. The girl hung her head low as she massaged her hand on her lap.
Roxanne could only see Estella’s actions vaguely from her spot, but she could guess that the latter was hurt.
Upon realizing that, Roxanne felt a little distressed. Nevertheless, she did not overthink it and assumed the other kids had just hurt Estella accidentally.
Sadly, the actual situation in the classroom was different from her assumption. An aggrieved Estella rubbed her injured hand with pursed lips, looking evidently upset.
Because of her behavior on the first day of school, her classmates deemed her a weirdo. Estella couldn’t be bothered to play with them as well, so she barely spoke in the past two days.
As a result, her classmates started calling her a mute and a weirdo. They tried all sorts of antics in an attempt to make her speak and regarded her as a joke.
The more they did that, the more resistant Estella felt toward them. She did not expect them to treat her even worse on this day.
Right after class ended, a group of children surrounded Estella and began singing a rhyme they made up while moving around her in circles, When Estella tried to cover her ears, a little girl stepped on her hand.
“Wow, she really is a mute!” exclaimed the girl upon seeing how Estella remained silent even when she was hurt. The other kids immediately chimed in in agreement.
Estella hung her head low and couldn’t help but feel sad. I miss Archie and Benny. If they were here, they would definitely protect me.
“Hey, say something. It’s not like we’re going to do anything bad to you,” another girl said, even giving Estella a shove. Caught off guard, Estella staggered and wobbled for a while before regaining her balance.
I don’t want to speak to these mean kids!
“Why did you transfer here if you don’t like this place? Do you think we like you?” “Go to a special needs kindergarten if you’re mute. Why did you even come here?”
“I heard she has no mommy. No wonder she’s so weird.”
The kids chattered on while standing around Estella, throwing insults at her.
Estella had ignored them with her lips tightly. pursed. Yet at the mention of her mother, she suddenly. lifted her head with anger written all over her face. “I have a mommy!”
Her sudden outburst stunned the children, but they soon regained their senses and retorted at her more aggressively. “That’s not your mommy. She’s your stepmom! I heard stepmoms are the meanest.”
“Your mommy probably abandoned you because you don’t speak. Who would like a mute?”
The topic of mother was a sensitive matter to Estella. When she heard the other kids claiming she was abandoned, her face started to turn sour.
