Chapter 2

"Ursula, my grandma died," Nina said to her best friend over the house handline.

 "Oh, that's so sad to hear," she answered. 

"My parents are going to be out for three days and I'm going with them," she said. 

"Well, of course you are. She was a part of your family," she answered. 

"Oh, so Nina's gonna be absent from school till Thursday. Well, we can't do anything about it since it's important for her to be there," Mabel said to Ursula, while they were walking home from school, the next day. 

"I didn't mean to say that it's not fun with you around. It's just that the swimming club feels kinda incomplete without her," Ursula said. 

"Of course, it does. I didn't even interpret it in a bad way. I'm at the judo club so you definitely feel weird without your best friend," Mabel said. 

"Mr. Redmond is gonna kill me," Ursula said, sighing. 

"What? Why? What did you do?!," Mabel asked. 

"I've been getting worse at physics every day. Even Nina isn't that good enough at it to explain stuff to me. Or else I would've been able to understand," she said. 

"Nina fails physics, too?," Mabel asked. 

"No, she doesn't fail. She gets only average marks. But mine are below average. I suck!," she said. 

"Why don't you ask someone else to help you study?," she asked. 

"Can you do it?," Ursula asked. 

"What? Me?! No, I'm in the same boat as Nina. So, I'm really sorry," Mabel said, laughing. Ursula sighed.

"Oh, I remember! Mr. Redmond told me to study with Amy McDonald. He said she's the best at every subject," Ursula said. 

"Do you know her?," Mabel asked. 

"That's the problem. People say she's mean 'cause she's so good at everything. I don't know. I guess I'd have to see her myself," she answered. 

"Umm, excuse me. Are you Amy McDonald?," Ursula asked. 

"Yes, I am. Do you need me for something?," said Amy McDonald, a girl with short, blonde hair that reached her neck, and blue eyes, as she lifted her head from the book she was reading at the library. She wore a red pencil skirt with a white cropped jacket and a sweetheart neckline top. 

"H-hi, I'm Ursula Toliver. Mr. Redmond, the physics teacher, told me to study with you to improve in physics," she answered. 

"Oh, I see. Sit down, then," she said. 

"Man, this is fun!," Ursula said. 

"Of course, physics is quite interesting," Amy said. 

They had been sitting at the library for two hours, studying. 

"Amy, aren't you in a club? Don't you have club activities to attend?," Ursula asked her. 

"I'm on the basketball team. We practice every day. I'm gonna go now. Thank you for studying with me, Ursula," she answered, as she got up. 

"What? Thank YOU, Amy! You studied with me. I'm thankful to you!," she answered.

 Amy blushed. 

"T-thank you!," she answered and ran outside. 

Ursula laughed at her cute behavior. 

"So, you studied with her?," Mabel asked, as they walked home. 

"Yeah, she's really good at physics," Ursula answered. 

"She wasn't like the way everyone describes her, right? Mean, arrogant, rude?," she asked. 

"What? No! Not at all. She's so sweet and kind. Though, there's something about her I didn't understand," she answered. 

"What? What didn't you understand?," Mabel asked. 

"I... I just think that she's too hard on herself and she shouldn't be. It's just that I don't want her to overwork herself," Ursula answered. 

"That's thoughtful. You should be friends with her then, Ursula!," Mabel said. 

"I know, right?! I'll definitely talk to her tomorrow!," she said. 

"You can ask her to study with you again. I'll join you, too," she said. Ursula nodded.