Α/Ν:I don't like this chapter because it's more of a filler but it was unfortunately necessary. I just can't wait to write Michael's chapter!

"Because never in my entire childhood did I feel like a child. I felt like a person all along.
The same person that I am today."

– Orson Scott Card

Mallory II

The wicked witch

That term is what she has been known as for quite awhile now.

8th grade sucks! Mallory thinks as she starts swinging her legs back and forth

"Mallory"

She looks up to find Scarlet Johnson waving her from afar. Mallory ignores her and looks up at the sky; it was cloudy and grey. Perhaps it'll rain.

"Hey" Scarlet greets with a sympathetic smile as she seats on the right swing. "Are you okay?"

"How did you find me?" Mallory asks instead

Scarlet shrugged, "You always come in the playground when you're upset"

An eyebrow is raised at that, and Scarlet adds, "I heard your mom bitching about it to mine"

That makes sense

"Look, I don't want to be rude or anything but I'd like to be alone right now"

"Too bad the playground is a public place" Scarlet smirks, stretching her legs. Mallory frowns but remains silent, then she picks up her school back and starts leaving.

"Wow wait" Scarlet jumps and grabs her by the arm. "I was joking, okay? Jeez, you're sensitive one aren't ya?"

"Would you not be the same?" Mallory shots back. "Everyone calls me the wicked witch now. It's humiliating"

"Look, I can relate to being an outcast, okay?"

Mallory doubted that. Scarlet was one of the pretty girls in class, ginger, pale, skinny, and with green eyes… She looked like a fairy who escaped from a book.

Scarlet points her right eye, "I'm blind on this one, and people suddenly think I'm made of glass. I'd take nasty comments any day over pity."

Mallory looks down on her lap and can't help but guiltily recall how she had always felt pity for Scarlet. Looking at the other girl right now, Mallory wishes she could be half as confident as she appeared to be.

"You wanna hang out to my house? My parents are not home."

Mallory thinks of her grams who has been keeping her distance from her for two weeks, she thinks of her mom who complains about the new problems that arose in her relationship with Will Drake, and then she thinks how she'll have to deal with all of that as soon as she enters her house, so she nods.

"Lead the way"

Conveniently, Scarlet lives only few blocks away from her home but that's not something she hadn't known.

When they arrive, they go straight up to her bedroom and Mallory is a bit shocked at the Christian home decor that seemed to exist around the house.

Scarlet throws her backpack on the floor and jumps onto the bed carelessly. "My dad works at the department of theology and religious studies and my mom is… devout, in case you're wondering about the whole…." She waves a hand, indicating the decoration of her room.

Mallory stands awkwardly before she joins her on the bed, opting to sit at the edge of it.

"So, how did the whole witch thing started?" Scarlet asks from behind her

"My grandma always said our ancestors were actually related to the Salem witches." She says with a shrug, trying to play it cool. "Mom hates the whole thing. Her older sister, my aunt, believed it and got into some sort of…cult and died because of it"

"Sounds like an episode of Criminal Minds. Was she murdered?"

She feels a bit surprised at the cool tone in Scarlet's voice but Mallory, nevertheless replies. "Yeah, in our lake house, in Georgia"

"You have a lake house? Lucky!" Crossing her legs, she leans closer. "I'm honestly surprised our moms started going to pilates together given her family history, no offence."

Mom does pilates?

"Mom wouldn't even let me watch Harry Potter because she thought it was about influencing kids through Satanism."

"That's ridiculous"

"I know!" Scarlet exclaims with a pout. "This week she caught me watching Sabrina: the teenage witch and now she's forcing me to go to some church school. I was half hoping you mom would to the same thing with you so I could have some company."

Mallory frowns; her mother had never mentioned anything. "I doubt she'll do that. My mom rarely goes to church herself since she's so busy, plus I'm not a believer."

Scarlet tilts her head, puzzled by her response. "Then what's your religion?"

"Atheism?"

Scarlet lets out a sceptical hum, considering her answer. "So when we die where do you think we'll go…?"

"Honestly? I think we'll just cease to exist. It's bit horrifying if you think about it but yeah, that's how I think we'll go."

Scarlet wanted to ask more about it but was afraid that she might offend her. Her friendships with girls never lasted too long, and so far, Mallory seemed different, good. "Well, I'm orthodox so obviously I believe in heaven. But it's fine that you have different perspective."

"Thanks" Mallory replies, looking around the room. The room was pink and lilac with some pastel colours highlighting it – it was making it almost bearable to ignore all the pictures with saints on the wall.

"So!" Scarlet says suddenly, clapping her hands together "Can I see your drawings?"

"I-I don't know" she stuttered. "I don't really show them to anyone."

Scarlet places her hand above her chest, "I would never make fun of it. I mean I can barely sketch a tree I don't think I have any right to judge. Don't you want to hear someone's opinion about it?"

"A different perspective would be nice," Mallory admits. It still felt odd though, the only people she had openly shared her art had been her mother and grams, and all she had received was a negative response.

As far as she knew Scarlet, she was a nice girl, withdrawn and most of the time hanging around boys, which didn't help her reputation. But Mallory was afraid; she poured her heart in those pieces of paper and she didn't want to face rejection again.

Feeling a tight knot in her stomach, Mallory decides to ignore her insecurities – the worst case scenario was that she'd probably end up eating launches at school alone.

Bending down to get her backpack, Mallory pulls out a blue folder where she kept her recent drawings – the old ones were safety locked inside her drawer, away from unwanted hands.

"Here. These were made this week." She hates how her hands tremble as she gives her the papers. If only the earth could open and swallow her now.

Scarlet takes a long look of them, which doesn't help Mallory's nervousness.

Calm down, she's just a girl, not a critic

"These are fucking amazing," she blurts with a grin.

"R-really?"

"Hell yeah!"She gushes and confesses, "When I heard the unbreakable duo mocking you I kinda expected to see less."

The duo Scarlet was referring was Serena and her brother. Mallory couldn't really call them bullies – more stuck up and cocky if she was honest.

"I wish I could wear these clothes," Scarlet said, her eyes flickering from the drawing back to Mallory. "Are you interested in cloth design?"

Mallory nods, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "My dream is to study fashion design in Paris."

"Fancy!" She beams giving her back the drawing. "It's a tough industry though, so you shouldn't be so sensitive."

"I know" She did, but Mallory was naturally a people pleaser. It was hard to get rid of the habit.

"What about this one?" Scarlet pauses, laying down two different pieces of paper.

Mallory looks down at the dreams that had been hunting her for so many nights. She had convinced herself that she only drew her dreams out of boredom, but it wasn't entirely true.

Most of her nights were sleepless; Mallory always ended up waking in the middle of the night panting and sweating from what she had seen. She had looked up online on how to fall back to sleep and so far only drinking hot cocoa had somewhat helped. Yet, most of the time her thoughts had travelled back to her dreams, to the boy in the rotten field, to the damn seven-headed dragon she couldn't stop dreaming about almost every night.

"It's based on my dreams – or what I end up remembering anyway."

"You're good with realism" Scarlet praises her again with a nod, without looking away. "The boy's cute, but I like the dragon one better. Is it based on Game of Thrones?"

Mallory chuckles, "Not really"

Scarlet brings the drawing closer, inspecting it carefully. "Why does it have seven heads?"

"I don't know," Mallory lies. "My head is a weird place."

Scarlet purses her lips and hints, "If we're talking about interpretation, I've read that dragons can either symbolise hard work and patience or fear and trouble depending on whether you were afraid of them or not."

"You actually believe these things?"

"I'm open minded" Scarlet explains as she puts everything back inside the folder. "And if you want an advice, you should actually look into your ancestry and ignore what everyone says at school. Next year, we'll be freshmen and Serena and her brother will be far too busy with maintaining their image and popularity to bully."

Mallory finally laughs, ignoring the serious look she received "Is that what they teach you in church school?"

"No" Scarlet sighs and seems ready to drop the subject before she adds, "But let's just say the world is bigger than you can imagine. Trust me"

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed it although, it wasn't much. Also, if you're a reader of "The Right Thing", then I want you to know that I will continue that story as well. I'm currently planning the chapters