Chapter Two

Goldilocks was surprised, but pleased. It might be a chance for her to find some friends at last.

She felt excited when she said goodbye to her parents and walked into her school. But she was nervous, too.

“Settle down everybody,” said Miss Sweet, her new teacher. The children were silent. “I’d like to introduce you to Goldilocks, your new classmate. I’m sure you’ll do your best to make her feel welcome.”

Goldilocks smiled shyly. Thirty pairs of eyes stared back at her, but nobody spoke. Miss Sweet made the whole class say hello.

“Don’t worry, dear,” she whispered to Goldilocks. “Just be yourself, and I’m sure you’ll fit right in.”

At recess, Goldilocks stood in the playground watching everyone.

“Hi,” a smiling girl said. “I’m Little Red Riding Hood, and this is Baby Bear. We were wondering if you’d like to play with us.”

“Actually, we’ve met before — in my bedroom,” Baby Bear said. “It was all very confusing, so you probably don’t remember me.”

“We like to play pretending games, don’t we?” said Little Red Riding Hood. “Today we’re deadly ninja warriors on a special mission.”

“Thanks,” said Goldilocks. “But no thanks.”

Little Red Riding Hood and Baby Bear looked disappointed and walked off.

Little Red Riding Hood seems pretty cool, thought Goldilocks. But if she made friends with Baby Bear, she might have to meet scary Mrs. Bear again.

Besides, she had decided on the group for her — the Princesses. That’s what she called them, anyway.

Their names were Maisy, Daisy, Molly, Polly, and Scarlett. They were the prettiest, most fashionable girls in the class.

They spent every recess brushing each other’s hair and talking about clothes. Goldilocks thought they’d be just right.

And they were for a while. But after a couple of days she began to feel that something was wrong. She liked being girly, but now she realized she could get very bored with it too.

Then one morning it poured rain, and at lunchtime, the playground was covered with puddles. Goldilocks couldn’t resist jumping in them and getting wet and muddy, and soon she was having lots of fun. But the Princesses were not impressed.

“She’s not our kind of person after all. Let’s go, girls,” said Scarlett with her nose in the air, and the five of them turned their backs on Goldilocks.

Goldilocks was upset, but then she thought that maybe it was a good thing.