Chapters My Name is Samantha... Sam for Short
My name is Samantha Holt, Sam for short and I’m a unicorn. I’m 16 years old and I live in a town called Ponyville. I go to a school called Celestia's School for Talented Unicorns.
I have a really hard time in, well, just about everything! Academically, socially, emotionally, you name it! I’m not dumb, I’m actually one of the best unicorns in my class, it’s just that I’m made fun of because of my family.
My little sister, Dina, is only in second grade. She’s also a unicorn. She’s always running into things, though. I think she could be a great wizard if she just believed in herself. My mom is Dawn Holt. She’s a winged mail carrier. She’s on thin ice with her boss because she has a terrible eye condition that prevents her from seeing well. Therefore, she can’t deliver mail as well as the other mail carriers. I have a stepdad named August Breen. He’s pretty cool. My mom met him at work. They hung out a lot and eventually a relationship developed and they got married. I like August. He may not be Dad, but he’s close enough. Like my mom, he has wings so he can fly.
I never met my dad and I never will. He died in a battle when I was too young to remember. I still have Dina and Mom, though, so I’m happy.
My name is Sam Holt, and this is the story of my life.
My Name is Samantha... Sam for Short
“Hey there, ‘walleyes’! What’s your sister been running into now?”
“Hey, Sam! How’s your dad? Oh wait, you don’t have one!”
“NERD!”
A chorus of mean comments came from the surrounding students.
“Come on, Sam,” said one of my best friends, Lila Harrings.
Bella Blanche walked up next to us, “Yeah, you don’t need to listen to them. They’re just being mean because they have nothing better to do with their life.”
I looked at her, “I know that, but everybody is mean to me! Why don’t they pick on Forest? He’s really nerdy, too!” I said in disappointment.
Lila and Bella both exchanged glances.
“You’re pretty likable. I mean, you’re nice and all,” Lila said to me, trying to cheer me up.
I let out a sigh as we went over to our lunch table. I took an apple and started eating.
“Umm, excuse me. What are you doing at our table?” Diamond Ruiz asked as she walked over to us.
I looked up at her. “Last time I checked, you sat all the way over there,” I snapped, as I pointed to the other side of the courtyard.
Diamond’s brainless minion, Sara, looked at us like we were dirty socks. “Hahaha. I’m bursting with laughter,” she said sarcastically. “Now move before we make you.”
We got up as Sara and Diamond smirked at us.
“Yeah! And don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Sara yelled after us.
Bella, Lila, and I laughed because, well, there aren’t any doors outside! And, of course, Diamond thought that it was the best comeback that ever existed.
As we sat down, Lila started to get really mad. “Oh sweet Celestia! I hate them so much!” she yelled to no one in particular. “They’re mean! They’re stupid! They’re... they’re... really MEAN!”
“You said that already,” Bella replied calmly.
This just made Lila even more mad. “WHATEVER! THEY ARE! THEY TREAT US LIKE-”
I used my magic to mute her so she couldn’t say what I thought she was about to.
“Good idea,” Bella praised.
I looked at Lila and then back to Bella again. I smiled and said, “I really don’t want her suspended!”
We both laughed but were interrupted by the bell. With a touch of magic, Lila was ranting again.
“-IT!” she screamed finishing her very loud monologue. Everybody turned to look at her.
“Ummm...” Lila began, looking really embarrassed, “I-Oh look! Owls!” she yelled randomly pointing to the trees.
Everyone looked in the direction of the ‘owls’
“Come on! Let’s get out of here!” Lila shout-whispered to us.
We all ran inside, but the tardy bell rang as soon as we got to Magic History class.
“Uh-oh! This isn’t good,” Bella said tensely. We heard footsteps come up behind us.
“Why are you not you in class, girls?”
My Name is Samantha... Sam for Short
“Uhh... Well... You see...” We all searched for words.
Bella was the first one to actually talk, “You see Mrs. Celeste, we had a problem at lunch today. We got behind schedule, so now we’re late to class.”
Mrs. Moon, assistant Headmistress, and Mrs. Celeste’s sister, walked up to us. “What is going on here?” she asked.
Lila spoke up. “Hello, Mrs. Moon. We were late to class,” she said cautiously.
Mrs. Moon looked at us sternly but then a warm smile came across her face. “That is okay, girls. You are all good students and I think we can let this one slide,” she said. “But, do not let it happen again,” she whispered to us with a wink.
The two sisters walked away. As they turned the corner, we all let out a sigh.
“This isn’t going to happen again, is it?” I asked.
Bella and Lila laughed nervously.
“I hope not!” Lila said after a moment.
Before we were going to be really late, we walked into class.
My Name is Samantha... Sam for Short
After class we were stopped in the hall by Diamond and Sara.
“Yuck! Get out of our way, losers!” Sara said in disgust.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re the one that stopped us genius!” I exclaimed.
Diamond gave me a look of loathing, “What did you just say?” she asked, tersely.
I groaned, “I said, ‘you’re the one that stopped us’. Are you deaf or something?”
Diamond looked at me with daggers in her eyes. “Don’t you ever speak to me like that again!” she yelled, as used her magic to slam me against the balcony.
All of the students around us let out a gasp.
I started to pull out my wand, but Diamond was ready. She cast a spell that created a tiger out of thin air. I tried to move backwards, but couldn’t because I was on a balcony. The tiger scratched my face and I started to bleed. But I didn’t notice, I was more concerned with the fact that the tiger was about to lunge at me. All of the kids started to freak out. Even Diamond was trying to figure out a counter-spell.
“Sam!” Bella yelled, as the tiger reared up on his haunches.
I was expecting to be attacked by an orange and black ball of fury, but it didn’t come. I looked up to see that the Headmistress, Mrs. Celeste, had used a spell to make the tiger disappear.
She pulled me up to take me to the nurse. As we walked away, I could see Mrs. Moon talking to Diamond.
“I’ll deal with you later,“ Mrs. Moon said.
Lila and Bella ran over to me.
“Oh my gosh, Sam! Are you alright?” Lila asked.
“Yeah. I’m fine. At least I think so.”
Mrs. Celeste turned to face the three of us. “I will take Sam to the infirmary to see what Madame Cross says. I can not guarantee that she will be better by tomorrow though,” she explained, “But I am sure she will not die. Now run along. Sam will be fine.”
After they were out of sight, I turned to Mrs. Celeste. “Are you sure I’ll be alright?” I asked her.
The Headmistress looked at me with great sorrow in her eyes. “I do not know. That was an Everfar Forest tiger.”
I gulped.
“Everfar Forest animals are.... poisonous!” I said tearing up.
My Name is Samantha... Sam for Short
“So, you’re sure you’re going to be okay?” Lila asked me.
“Yeah, I’ll be okay. I’ll just have a scar for the next few days.”
“That’s good! Just don’t let your mom see that. She’ll sue Diamond’s family!” Bella noted.
“It’s not like they can’t afford it! Have you seen how rich they are?!?!” Lila exclaimed.
“I can’t let August see it either!” I said, thinking out loud.
Lila and Bella gave me a strange look.
“Wait-wait-wait. Who’s August?” Lila asked.
Now it was my turn to give them a strange look. That look slowly turned to understanding. “Oh yeah, I didn’t tell you! My mom got remarried.”
“That’s great, Sam!” Bella said to me, “Do you like him?”
“Yeah, he’s cool. It’s just kind of weird, you know, having somebody not related to you biologically living in the house, trying to be...?” I said uncertainly.
We all stood there in silence.
Awkward...
My Name is Samantha... Sam for Short
The next day at school was horrible. I had forgotten my Potions homework at home so now I have a detention.
In broom flying class, I fell off my broom and broke two fingers.
People are calling me “tiger girl” now.
Detention... Broken bones... Bullying
Yeah, it’s official. My life sucks
“Sam! Sam!” Lila and Bella yelled breathlessly.
I gave them a strange look, “What’s up guys?”
Lila ran up next to me with Bella not far behind.
“Your mom... is here... at school. Here!” Lila said out of breath.
“She’s here?!” I exclaimed.
My Name is Samantha... Sam for Short
We were sitting in the office with Diamond and her family.
“Mom? August? Dina? What are you doing here?” I whispered.
Dina looked at me, “Mommy and Daddy said that you’re having some troubles in school. So we came up to talk to these nice ladies here,” she said, pointing to Mrs. Celeste and Mrs. Moon.
“That’s right,” August said, jumping in.
“When you came home with that awful scar yesterday, well, you know I can’t leave something like that alone,” Mom said to me.
At the mention of the scar, Diamond slunk down in her chair. Her dad gave her a very disapproving look.
“Now, you all know why we are here. To discuss the problems between Sam Holt and Diamond Ruiz,” Mrs. Celeste began.
“We all know that there are some problems between these two girls,” Mrs. Moon stated, “Now it is time to discuss these problems.
“Diamond? Why do you think there are problems between you and Sam?” Mrs. Celeste asked.
“Well,” Diamond started, “I saw her grades, and they were really good. I didn’t want her to be the best unicorn in school. I wanted to be the best. And I guess things got out of hoof at some point, but I promise, I never meant to hurt her,” Diamond explained.
“Thank you Miss Ruiz,” Mrs. Moon said to Diamond. “Now, Sam. What do you think the problem is?” she asked.
I thought for a second. “Honestly, I didn’t know what it was! I thought it was just Diamond being mean. I never knew that she wanted to be like me!”
“See,” Mom said to all of the people in the room, “it was just an act of jealousy. All a big misunderstanding!” she said cheerfully.
“You’ve found out why you hate each other, now why don’t you guys hug?” Dina suggested.
“Hug!?!?” Diamond and I both yelled.
Dina smiled at us. “Yup!” she said a perky voice.
Darn, Dina is just too cute. Diamond and I both got up and hugged awkwardly.
“Awww! See you guys! That’s the perfect way to end a book!” Dina squeaked.
Sometimes, I just don’t get that kid.
My Name is Samantha... Sam for Short
“Hahaha!” Diamond laughed, “I can’t believe they fell for that! Did they really think that I was just going to be nice to Sam just because I attended a little conference?”
“Ummm... Yes?” Sara answered.
DIamond glared at her, “Of course not! I will never change!”
“Oh... Okay! You scared me for a minute there, boss!” Sara said in a relieved tone.
Diamond let out another evil laugh, “With Sam’s magic I can take over this school!”
Sara and Diamond started to laugh maniacally.
“And no one will be there to stop me!”
My Name is Samantha... Sam for Short
When I got home, the first person I saw was August. “Hey.... Dad,” I said slowly.
He looked at me with a smile. “Hey kiddo. How’s it going?”
“Great,” I responded, trying to keep August on the other side of me so he wouldn’t see my scar. “Hey, I have to go to my room. I have a LOT of homework to do!” I laughed nervously as I turned the corner.
I started to go up the stairs, but of course, Mom had to be coming down. We bumped into each other, sending me down the stairs while my mom was in the air, rubbing her head.
“Oh, Sam! I’m so sorry! It’s my eyes. I could’ve sworn I had at least 2 feet before I reached you!” she apologized while trying to lift me off the ground.
“Hey Mom, don’t sweat it! It was my fault. I should have seen you coming. I can’t blame you,” I reassured her.
“Thanks honey,” she replied. “Hey, What’s that?” she asked, pointing out my scar.
“Ummm... just a little accident at school. Nothing to worry about!” I said back to her, faking a smile.
She sighed as she got up. “It was that Diamond girl again, wasn’t it?”
“No, no, no! It wasn’t Mom! I told you, it was an accident!” I yelled, running up the stairs.
When I got in my room, I slammed the door and plopped onto my bed. I started to tear up.
August came into my room, and sat on my bed next to me.
“What do you want?” I asked.
He smiled warmly. “I came to make you feel better. So tell me what’s wrong.”
I looked at him and burst into tears. “I don’t know, August! My whole life is just... falling apart! I’m having a really hard time in school. People are trying to kill me! I just don’t know anymore.” I rested my head on his shoulder. He took his wing and wrapped it around me.
“I may not be your dad,” he started to say. “But I really do try.”
“I know you do, August. I know you do”
My Name is Samantha... Sam for Short
We walked into the infirmary to see Madame Cross tending to a different student, “Okay, you’ll be better after tonight. Just stay off that leg!” The other student nodded her head and flew out of the infirmary.
Madame Cross turned to look at us. “Oh hello Mrs. Celeste! Who do we have here?” Madame Cross let out cheerfully.
”It is Sam Holt, and she was scratched by an Everfar tiger,” Mrs. Celeste said gravely.
A dark look came across Madame Cross’s face. “Then you have brought her just in time. Come on Sam. Sit on this bed,” she told me.
I did as instructed and Madame Cross went over to get a purple liquid from her cupboard.
“Come now, drink this,” she said.
Let me tell you... it was not the most appetizing thing in the world! I could feel the medicine go through my body. It gave me chills when my cut started to heal.
“Just lay here and the scratch will recover. You’ll just have a temporary scar,” Madame Cross told me.
“What about the poison?” I asked, my voice a bit trembly.
“We caught it in time, don’t you worry. Now sit back and let the medicine do it’s work.”
I laid down and started to think about Diamond’s face. ‘Was that a look of... fear?’ I thought to myself. ‘Nah. Probably wasn’t’.’ I shook off the thought as Madame Cross came over to me.
“Alright, Sam! The scar should be gone in a few days. The only thing that will be wrong is the fact that you’ll have a red streak across your face!” she said with a smile.
I gave Madame Cross a sweet (but fake) smile as I left the infirmary. A red streak was all I needed. It was just another reason for everyone to make fun of me.