Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: The Trip to School**

The bus was big with white curtains and soft, beagle-looking seats. It was almost empty, which made it feel kind of weird. The black seatbelts were cold and tight, almost like they were squeezing your chest.

“Go on!” Mum shouted, snapping Sophia out of her thoughts.

She quickly climbed onto the bus and waved at Mum through the window. Then she walked down the aisle and sat at the back in a single seat. It wasn’t the best, but it was better than nothing.

She buckled her seatbelt and looked out the window.

I hope today is different, she thought.

But it never was.

At school, people would laugh at her. She didn’t even know why. She would walk in with her white overalls and knitted scarf, and people would just start whispering and giggling

So she ignored them.

She would just sit quietly or pretend to sleep.

Even worse, her brother joined in. Billy was the horrible . Once, Sophia wrote a book about Candyland and the tooth fairy, but Billy ripped it apart and threw it into the fire.

She cried until there were no tears left.

After that, she started writing in her diary instead, but he still ruined it.

She never really asked why. She just thought it was normal.

Her friends didn’t think so, though. That’s why they left her.

“It’s okay,” she told herself. “I don’t need friends anyway.”

So she stayed alone, reading or knitting.

Soon, she fell asleep on the bus, dreaming about fairies and Santa.

Then suddenly—

“Last stop! Get off!” the driver shouted, honking loudly.

Sophia woke up with a jump, grabbed her bag, and ran out.

But when she looked around… something was wrong.

She wasn’t at school.