Alice was trying her best to focus on her French teacher's words. The warmth of the May sun gently enveloped the classroom, while the leaves of the poplar trees were whispering softly in the wind through the window. The little girl felt distracted by this enchanting atmosphere. Certainly, she loved the story of "Little Red Riding Hood" that Marina Victorovna was reading, but she couldn't wait for classes to end so that her mother could come pick her up.

That morning, her mother had promised to take her to the amusement park after school and maybe even buy her a new beautiful book, as long as she behaved well. The first grade pupils did not yet receive marks; but for excellent answers and good behavior, they were given prizes: stickers of Russian fairy tale heroes.

At the beginning of the school year, Alice's mother bought her a beautiful lavander box for her awards, and on that day, her already large collection would be completed by two new images: one for math and one for the environment. That's why the little girl had no doubt that she would get a new book and was already thinking about the imminent choice - a game from the 'Winx' series or one from the 'Barbie' series.

At that moment, when Alice, with a dreamy smile on her lips, was imagining the incredibly delicious chicken soup with croutons, which she and her mother traditionally ordered in the cafe, something distracted her from the pleasant thoughts. Seeing the giant hairy spider, the little girl screamed in horror and jumped to the window.
- What's going on, Alice? - Vasilisa Viktorovna asked sternly, picking up a toy insect from the floor.
The class immediately perked up. The children already felt that the performance would be interesting. It was a new prank from Nikita, the first troublemaker in the class!
Alice turned to her desk neighbor. Nikita was sitting there, looking satisfied, trying to contain his laughter. He enjoyed doing naughty things, especially to her - sometimes he would discreetly slip a banana peel into her backpack, other times he would hide her textbook behind the wardrobe, and the last time he locked her in the bathroom. And all of this had happened during the last week since they had been made to sit at the same desk.
"I'm fed up with your stupid games!" Alice exclaimed indignantly.
"I have nothing to do with it, Vasilisa Victorovna!" the boy objected, widening his eyes. "She brought that spider to school herself to disrupt the lesson. And now she wants to blame me."
"You're lying!" the girl cried. "Idiot!"
The teacher shook her head.
"Alice, a young lady cannot behave like this. Please tell me, at what moment did I stop reading?" she asked.
The girl bit her lips. How could she remember it, if she was daydreaming about a new game instead of listening to the teacher.
Alice turned desperately to her friend Belka, who, from the neighboring row behind Vasilisa Victorovna's back, was trying to give her a hint by waving her hands vigorously and moving her lips comically, but it did not help.
A minute later, Alice and Nikita found themselves behind the classroom door. The little girl's cheeks were turning red. It was the first time she had been expelled from class. What a shame ! So, what to do now?
"It's all your fault!" she said to her desk neighbor.
"No, it's yours! How am I going to find another story by Charles Perrault by tomorrow, read it in French, and tell it? Because of you, I'm going to get a bad grade!"
"Are you really that stupid? You don't know any more Perrault tales?" Alice couldn't help but laugh. "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty"? Don't tell me you've never heard of "Puss in Boots"!"
"Of course, I know those tales!" growled Nikita, showing by his reaction that he simply didn't know that these tales were written by Charles Perrault. "But, we have to read them in French and then retell them!"
The girl shook her head.
"You surprise me with your lack of ingenuity! What's stopping you from reading the book in Russian and then telling it in French?"
"I was going to do it myself without your advice! I just wanted to test your intelligence!" the boy retorted, trying to save face.
Alice responded with a smile.
"Oh, of course!"
"Stop grinning! Who do you think you are, a queen?" he snapped.
"Actually, at the moment, I'm more of a princess. That's what my mom calls me, and she's never wrong," Alice replied.
"Princess!" Nikita laughed. "You're just a silly girl, not a princess!"
Alice grew tired of the pointless conversation.
"Today I will ask to change desks. I no longer want to sit next to you!"
"Do you think I want to?" the boy said, laughing. "You always think of stupid things during lessons!"
"I don't want to talk to you anymore!"
Alice looked out the window and saw a large furry dog near the stairs. He had been coming to see her quite often lately. The first time she saw him was last week when a thug from high school tried to take her phone. She was waiting for Belka in the backyard where teenagers were smoking; judging by their clothes, they were not from her school. And, as if on purpose, at that moment her phone had the imprudence to ring (it was Belka), and the Swarovski crystal-encrusted cell phone caught the attention of the boys.
"Oh, just look at her, a midget already has a cell phone!" - one of them suddenly ran up to Alice and tried to snatch the phone from her hands.
And it was at that moment, from out of nowhere, that a big white dog appeared near the girl. He bared his teeth menacingly and was going to pounce on the teenager with a cigarette in his mouth, ready to rip his throat out.
"Hey, I just wanted to look!" - he stammered, terrified to the point of almost soiling his pants out of fear. - "Girl, get your dog off me!"
A few minutes later, Alice and her savior left the courtyard in front of astonished teenagers.
"Thank you so much for defending me! Let's be friends!" she said, hugging the dog.
He had such intelligent and expressive eyes that the little girl immediately gave him a name: Umka*. The dog was as big, cute, and white as the little bear from the cartoon of the same name.
"Umka, come tomorrow! I will bring something tasty especially for you!"

*derived from the word "intelligent" in Russian.

The end of a free sample of the book.