A Marina OneShot Collection

Playground Days

Maya stood quietly as the kids around her played without a care in the world. It was the first day of the new school year. Maya had just started kindergarten and had been forced to attend a new school, leaving all of the familiar faces behind. The playground around her rang with screams of joy and laughter. The blonde had always had trouble making friends, not being one to socialize much with those her age, a consequence of her turbulent home life. She liked to watch. Watch as everyone else enjoyed what she wished so much she could experience herself, always being too scared to dive in. Watching was safe. She couldn't get into any trouble that way. If you didn't do anything, it meant that you weren't doing something you aren't supposed to.

"Hi there," Maya spoke as a small red ladybug landed on her shoulder. She stuck out her little finger and placed it in front of the insect, allowing it to crawl onto her hand. The blonde observed the tiny bug's movements as it crawled up and down all of her fingers. She was so mesmerised by the creature that she failed to notice the small brunette that was making her way over to her.

"What are you looking at?" asked the little girl, causing Maya to jump.

"Is just a-" started Maya as the ladybug suddenly took flight, landing on the brunette's pink sweater.

"Mio dio! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" she yelled, flailing her arms all over the place. Maya couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Never had she seen someone so afraid of such a harmless insect.

"Stop moving!" Maya laughed as she placed a hand on the little girl's shoulder. She looked for the insect all across the brunette's clothes before finding it once again on her shoulder.

"Is just a ladybug, see?" asked Maya, sticking her hand out for the girl to observe the bug.

"Gross," she mumbled, taking a step back. Maya laughed as she lightly blew over her hand, causing the red insect to take flight once again. They smiled at each other for a minute, both of them unsure of what to say next. The brunette could feel Maya's uneasiness as she watched her kick the pebbles on the ground back and forth.

"Umm-" started Maya before she was interrupted.

"My name's Carina. What's your's?" said the little girl.

"I'm Maya," responded the blonde, a red tint taking over her cheeks.

"Hi Maya, will you be my friend?" smiled Carina, a hopeful tone in her voice as she waited for Maya's response. Maya was unsure of how to answer. She wanted so badly to say yes but her father had forever drilled 'champions don't have time for friends' into her head. The man had just started preparing Maya for her future in cross country running, taking her on jogs with him before school every morning to work on her conditioning. He had tried to start working on that earlier, as soon as Maya had started to show her ability to run, but her mother Katherine had managed to convince him to wait a few more years.

"I can't," sighed Maya, looking back down at her shoes.

"Oh, um, why?" asked Carina, a little hurt at what the girl had just responded.

"Dad won't let me. He thinks friends are a waste of time," answered Maya, now fiddling with the strings on her jacket.

"He's here?" questioned Carina.

"No," responded Maya.

"Then he won't know," shrugged Carina. She had brought up a good point. Maya's dad would never find out about her new friend as long as they kept their interactions on the playground.

"Best friends?" smiled Maya. She felt a strange pull toward the girl. Something she couldn't quite understand at such a young age. It was as if they were meant to be friends. They were meant to be a part of each other's lives and that's all she knew.