Ms. Diane gathered up my plate and carried it to the sink. "Are you ready for a nap, Lyla?"

"I'm not tired." I said, putting the sippy cup to my lips.

She glanced over her shoulder at me. "You always take a nap after lunch. Are you feeling okay?"

I nodded.

"I still want you to try and get some sleep. I don't want your parents mad that you're cranky when you go home today."

"I don't get cranky."

She laughed and walked back over to me, a wet towel in her hand to clean up the table. "Yes, you do."

"Can I just color or something for a while?"

"After you take a nap."

I sighed. I knew I wasn't going to get far. I couldn't change her mind once it was set.

"Go get your bunny and I'll tuck you in."

"I don't need to be tucked in."

She looked up from the table and held my gaze.

Finally, I sighed and headed for my cubby. Damn, she was good.

I reached under my backpack and pulled out my bunny. Only it was tattered and ripped and its head was barely attached to its body. It hadn't looked anything like that when I'd put it away earlier. Someone had to have messed with it.

Confused and a bit upset, I carried it over to Ms. Diane and held it out for her.

"Lyla, honey, I told you-" She paused as her eyes fell on the bunny. "Oh, sweetie. I'm so sorry. I'll find out who did this, okay? Why don't you go lay down for a little while?"

I stared at the piece of fabric and cotton and a wave of sadness washed over me. It was just a damn stuffed animal. Nothing special. So why was I getting upset over it?

I set the tattered stuffed animal on the table and went to the only cut that was left. Everyone else was asleep. Except for one.

A boy whose name I didn't know was lying in the cot across from mine. He had short brown hair and a pacifier clipped to the collar of his shirt though he wasn't using it. He watched me as I laid down and it left an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

I pulled the blanket over my shoulders and had finally had enough of the boy's staring. "Why do you keep staring at me?"

"You haven't been here long, have you?"

"No." It'd been about two weeks since the move. I was still adjusting to everything and trying to understand my new life. It was so strange and new that I figured it would take time.

He nodded. "I can tell. You'll get used to things here soon."

"What does that mean?"

He glanced behind me and I assumed he was looking at one of the teachers. "Things here aren't normal and you'll start to notice it. You can either fight it or let it take over."

"What are you talking about?"

He laughed. "You really think all of this is normal? I grew up here but even I know this isn't how our life is supposed to be."

"It's what we're stuck with."

"It doesn't have to be."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "How much do you know?"

"Enough." He said as he rolled onto his other side, facing away from me. "I'm the one that ruined your rabbit, by the way."

---

Mom took my hand as we walked out of the classroom and headed down the hall. "Do you want to talk about what happened with your bunny?"

I couldn't stop thinking about what the boy had said to me. I was confused about what he meant but it felt like he wasn't going to give me the answers I wanted. At least, not for a while.

I stared down at my feet as we walked. "Someone ripped him up."

"Do you know who it was?"

"No, but there are only four other kids in the room who could have done it."

"I'm sorry, sweetie."

I didn't want it to be a big deal. It was just a stupid stuffed animal, after all. It wasn't like it meant anything to me. But that wasn't the point. Someone ruined what was mine and I should have been more upset about it. If I was going to get answers and learn more about the new town I was living in, I was going to have to try to fit in it. Which meant I was going to have to cry over stupid stuff.

I leaned into her side. "I don't think they like me."

"What do you mean, Lyla?"

"The other kids. No one ever wants to play with me and now my bunny is gone."

"You're new here. From what I understand, that doesn't happen often. So they might just be scared of having someone knew around."

"So they're scared of me?" That really wasn't making me feel any better.

She opened the door and we stepped out in the warm air. "Not of you but of having a new person in their class. Make them see that they have nothing to be afraid of."

"I don't know if I want to now that they're picking on me."

"Maybe it's because one of the boys likes you." It was such a dumb thing to say but it almost made me think she might have been right. That boy wouldn't have told me what he did if he didn't like me to some degree. He could have just let me believe what I did and get used to things without being suspicious.

I rolled my eyes and pulled my backpack off as we got to the car. I climbed into my car seat and let her buckle me in.

"Tomorrow will be better."