Normally Ordinary

Estella Liberty Awinhumoroffski was an extraordinary girl.1

At the age of fifteen she was a year ahead of her peers in school. She got better than perfect grades in every subject, she was MVP on every sports team she played on, she was class president, and president of all of the school clubs that she joined as well. She was taller than most, had long blazing red hair, and had a presence that commanded the attention of whomever was in any room she entered. Her eyes were a startlingly light blue-green, with flashes and swirls of other colors that came and went with changes in mood or light. She was also genuinely kind and humble, never putting on airs and always wanting the best for humankind in general. She valued her friendships (which she had many of) and always went the extra mile to help out someone in need. In every decision, Stella was certain to always do the right thing in the right way at all of the right times.2

Naturally, the entire school secretly hated her.3

Not to say that they didn't admire and love her as well, she was so *nice* you see... it's just that people tend to be a little jealous of perfection when they see it. Jealousy is, unfortunately, a feeling that comes with being human.4

Stella was never jealous.5

Yes, indeed, Estella was an extraordinary girl.6

The girl who sat at the desk behind and to the right of Stella's was not. Sarah Marie Jones was just about average in every way; average grades, ordinary athletic ability, medium height, medium build, light brownish shoulder-length hair, nondescript color eyes, and a personality average enough to allow her to blend into the crowd and to avoid being singled out for anything. In fact, Sarah was so average that the only things keeping her from being extraordinarily normal were her lovely smile and her worse-than-normal luck.7

Which aforementioned luck came into play one grey afternoon at the end of their Literature class, as Stella's incredibly astute answers in class caused Sarah to ponder the younger girl's extraordinary-ness much along the same lines as set forth in the first paragraph of this story. Sarah had just reached the part about jealousy when the bell rang, and she realized she had completely missed hearing what their next test would be covering. Sarah tumbled her book and pencils haphazardly into her backpack (breaking two leads in the action) and rose to her feet with a sigh; Stella would have been paying attention, she'd just have ask her for the information.8

Stella flowed through the door of the classroom in the midst of all the other students, then broke away from the main wave of kids with a handful of others to head over to Advanced History. Sarah followed, slightly behind, still a little preoccupied with her own feelings of inadequacy. Sarah turned to a nearby water fountain, and was a little surprised to find Stella right behind her. Sarah motioned to the star-student to go ahead, 'Hi Stella, good answers in Lit today.' 9

'Thanks, Sarah!' Estella beamed, bending to take a sip from the fountain. 'That test's going to be hard though.'10

'Ummm... yeaah, about that -' Sarah began, only to be interrupted by the bell, which her watch showed to be five minutes earlier than usual.11

'Well, gotta get to class, see you later, Sarah!'12

'Wait...!'13

And with that, the girls parted ways.14

Now, although it may be interesting to follow the daily adventures of the young red-headed prodigy as she makes good grades, prepares for an unknown destiny, and tries to unravel the secrets behind the unusual pendant her late grandmother left her in her will, this story actually isn't about Estella Liberty Awinhumoroffski. In fact, it's all about Sarah Marie Jones. Estella really has nothing to do with anything (or anything to do with nothing, as things turn out), but since she was a factor in all of this starting, it seemed prudent to mention her.15

'Drat!' Sarah muttered as she, in turn, took her own drink from the fountain, 'I'll have to ask her lat- oops!'16

The interrupting 'oops' had been uttered because just then Sarah had caught sight of the unusual pendant that Stella had accidentally dropped on the fountain during her hasty drink.17

'She's going to want that back.' Sarah reached out her hand to grab the shiny bauble, but ended up slapping it to her right cheek instead.18

'Ow!'19

That problem molar of hers was acting up again. The one bad tooth in her lovely smile, Sarah had had it looked at, drilled, filled, and looked at again, and it still pained her at the oddest of times. 20

'Test... testing.. Zzzorrphh.. zzfz testzzfz.. broadcast..fzzz'21

Sarah looked around, startled.22

'(music) zzz....   Are we zzzffff... begin.?zzff'23

'Stupid filling!' Sarah exclaimed, ignoring the broadcast her tooth was receiving and reaching again for the pendant. Her hand was a mere hair's breadth away from the odd adornment when Sarah Marie Jones vanished into thin air.24

'Oops! I forgot my pendant!' Estella chirped as she rounded the corner and faced the now-vacant hallway. 'Ah, here it is!' With that, she scooped up her soggy silver necklace and hurried off to class, hoping her tardiness would not affect her hitherto perfect record.25