"What's wrong with Chrysolite?" Michael whispered to Sardius.
Sardius looked towards Chrysolite, Mary was looking at her like she was crazy. He chuckled looking away. "She's silly as well as stupid." He dabbed into his porridge using his fork.
"Why will you say that?"
"She's clearly going back to the thorn that once tore her flesh." He stated the obvious.
Michael was trying not to laugh, Sardius had really transformed. Why was he now talking in parables? It was only the "three musketeers" that talked like that. "You're way different from the Sardius of yesterday." Michael grinned.
"People change, remember?" Sardius said trying on a smirk to which his friend smiled to.
*******
"What are you doing here?" Mary Chrysolite the glare, afterall Chrysolite was the cause of her misfortune.
"I'm here to be your friend Mary. You're lonely and I see it, I understand it perfectly. I was once in that shoe." Chrysolite placed her tray of mashed eggs with Irish potatoes.
"Can I sit with you?"
"I don't need you, I can survive this." Mary glanced around, they were now the center of attraction.
"Really, can you?"
Mary dropped her spoon angrily into her tray. "I said I don't need you. We're no longer friends."
"I can help Mary." Chrysolite was hell-bent to help her one time friend.
"What can you do?" Mary questioned eyeing her new enemy.
"Just apologize to Ashley, she's a good friend. She will listen to you......,"
Mary stood up irritatedly, picked up her tray of beans and poured it over Chrysolite's head. "Happy now?" Mary smirked to her satisfaction.
The whole hall was buzzing, Ashley stood up at once when she saw that. Ashley was furious? How dare she? She came over to Mary's table, slightly pushing Chrysolite out of her way then she slapped Mary's face.
Mary grabbed Ashley's hair and a fight ensued.
Michael stood up at once in anger, he have to stop his sister. But he couldn't even get to her, their table had been surrounded by other pupils who were excited about the fight, most wanted to see who will win. Chrysolite dived in between them, she was their referee. Mary kept punching Chrysolite out of their way, the more she did that, the more Mary received more slaps from Ashley.
"You!!!! You deserve the beating of a life time!" Ashley pulled at Mary's hair.
"What about you? You think you hold the universe?!" Mary tried to hit Mary on her hit but Chrysolite took the blow. Chrysolite's mashed eggs had even fallen to the floor.
"Excuse me!!" Michael was trying to get across to his sister, delving into the crowd surrounding the fight.
"What's going on here?"
The hall was suddenly dead with silence, most of the pupils began to disperse, others to their food. Mr. Humphrey, form four class teacher stood not too far away. He had heard the rumbling in the cafeteria and he was promoted to check out what was happening. Mr. Humphrey was a feared disciplinarian, he was strongly against the fact that form three to five were to be treated as middle schoolers. "Let children be children. Let them be under the care of their class teacher for now. When they are in the middle school, they can grow accustomed to that lifestyle." He said to everyone who cared to listen.
He was whiffed-thin man, with scrawny arms, wore huge eyes glasses and had a pimple below his nose. He came towards the girls, looked down on them and asked again. "What's going on here?"
Ashley tried to talk but someone shouted quickly. "They were fighting."
"And none of you could feel the need to report?" He turned around with a stern face then he turned back to face the two girls. "I see you're both blessed with strengths that would prove useful in other ways." He said to them.
Ashley and Mary shot themselves fires in their head as they looked at each other angrily.
"I'm talking to both of you!" He interrupted their stares. "I'll see to it that this gets to the head of the school. Your parents would be called and you two will be disciplined.
"Follow me."
The two girls began to follow him out. Michael was so angry that as soon as the teacher was out, he pulled Chrysolite to him. "Why didn't you stop the fight?"
"I tried." She jerked her hand away from his grip.
"You're the cause of this for being so kind." He snapped.
"I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I'm so sorry."
"Indeed you are." He shoved her out of his way, walking out if the cafeteria.
"Best friends for forever!" Mary-Jane shouted for all to hear trying to mock Chrysolite for being so nice.
Chrysolite looked down at herself pathetic about her white shirt being stained.
"What do you call this friendship of yours towards Mary?" Sardius asked as he walked towards Chrysolite as he has lost his appetite.
Chrysolite looked at Sardius. "Please don't start yours too." She begged.
"I'm not trying to mock you Chrysolite. But what were you trying to prove? She betrayed you in the first place." He said.
"I know. I was only trying to help her."
"That didn't look like helping. See where it got you too."
She sighed. "You should be helping me Sardius, not just stand there."
"Nope. You should think of helping yourself first then Ashley, remember?" He said to her.
Chrysolite was surprised at Sardius. This was unlike him, Sardius she knew would definitely be helping her. This was that Sardius she once knew.
******
Later, Chrysolite met Ashley while she was bring punished. And she had to voice her dissatisfaction about the fight. "Ashley, you didn't have to fight for me." Chrysolite voiced.
"And watch as Mary insult and beat you?" Ashley was clearly irked about the memory.

"I was only trying to help her."
"You shouldn't have done that." Ashley looked down at her friend's shirt and surprised that she was wearing a brand new shirt. "How did you get this? What about the previous one?"
"I had to report the case to Mr. Humphrey. He took me to the head's office, there, I was given another shirt. I told him about the fight, he wouldn't budge. I begged him that you weren't at first. But, he said your brother and Sardius had begged on your behalf but he didn't budge, so why should he listen to my pleas?"
Ashley laughed dryly. "He took us to the head master's office, and we were given our punishment. I was told to wash the dishes in the kitchen."
"What about Mary?"
"I don't know about her and I don't care." Ashley said.
"Your brother is so angry at me. He believes I'm the cause of all these." Chrysolite's shoulders sagged.
"He'll be over this, I promise you."
"Your brother cares about you Ash, you know that?"
"Yeah, I do." She smiled.
Chrysolite looked at the heap of plates Ashley was washing and wondered why no one was helping her. "Will you wash all this?" Chrysolite asked surprised.
"Can you believe this? Mr. Humphrey told the cooks not to help me, "this is her punishment" ." Ashley demonstrated, suds were flying around her hand which she stretched out.
Chrysolite laughed. "Mr. Humphrey is quite a funny man. But you shouldn't be given this kind of punishment."
"He said we need to be disciplined."
Chrysolite then had to help her friend with the dishes. As they worked together, Ashley told Chrysolite about their coming exam which will take them to middle school. They told about the various schools which they had in mind. They finally concluded they things had definitely changed and so they will.