Skylar and Ellian have initially built their friendship on band-aids and kisses. How foolish were they to believe that was enough to hold what they had, when ultimately-it really was not.
Four years passed and Skylar returns, forcing both to face th...
It has always been new beginnings for me—a decade's worth of it. New landscapes, new houses, new faces, but through all that, it was always the same feeling of dread. It is the constant fear of losing familiarity and comfort; of leaving friendships and connections. All sense of structure ruined by the constant need for my parents to move, to chase bigger opportunities, to further their careers. And for the third time in all my ten years of living, we moved to a new place once more.
This time, we moved to a place called Milldew—a quaint town that was nestled between towering pine trees. It was a somewhat large community and, despite the several infrastructures and homes, it lacks the bustling aura of cities. I have never fallen in love with the place as immediately.
That's the reason I wanted to make my stay here worth it. This time it would be different—I will not leave, nor will I be left behind. I want to make happy memories and I want to make friends. And I will, starting here in White Meadow Middle School. Although, that seems to be a difficult task right now, seeing as there were no other students here yet. It was too early to even be, much less to be having conversations.
It has been hours since my mom dropped me off for my first day of class. No matter how much I tried to convince her, she could not drop me off any more later, said she was too busy and I'll just have to make do. She told me to see this as an opportunity to have more time to make new friends. I tried not to be mad at my mom about it. But the past few hours have amounted to the most boring and dreadful hours of my life.
My boredom has led me to amuse myself by watching a squirrel try to find for nuts. I don't think it was a very smart squirrel seeing as, for the past hour, it has been trying to crack open a rock by biting on it and throwing it to the ground. Maybe squirrels like to collect geodes like Aunt Tilda does? I considered asking the squirrel that when, finally, a group of students arrived.
In my excitement, I stood up from the bench I sat on, already making my way towards them, but stopped when the girl leading the group gave me a look of disgust and turned her nose away from me.
I wish squirrel threw the rock on her head instead.
The scenario in my head played better than what happened. I was about to go get the rock myself when I saw the familiar face of the cute boy I crashed into two days ago. It was Elli from the park. Finally, I can force someone to be my friend.
I called his name, but he continued walking... as though running away from me. Well, chase him it is.
"Hey!" I scrambled for my things and ran after him. After catching up with him, I tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't even stop in his stride. And because I haven't already learned from before, I decided it would be a smart idea to stop him by standing in his way—directly in front of him.
Ellian caught himself just before he could crash into me... again. He snapped his attention to me, with eyes burning with anger, then confusion and finally... relief?
"Oh, um... Hi," I said, fidgeting my fingers.
"Is this normal for you?" He gestured between the space between us. His tone light and forest green eye glowed with amusement. "Do you crash into every person you meet?"
"Well, no. Most times it's poles, walls and doors too."
And to my shock, Elli let out a surprised laughed. I liked it—it was light, and laced with the hum of amusement.
"Anyway, I called you, but you ran away from me. So, here I am now, forcing you to be my first friend."
"I wasn't running away from y—"
"If I were you, new girl, I wouldn't befriend lonely, ugly Elli," said a voice from behind me.
With a sneer, I turned to face a pale boy. He had blonde hair, eyes that gleamed with malice, and a sharp face that twisted with a look of haughty disdain. Upon seeing me, he gave me a smile—one that made me distrust him more.
"He's not worth befriending," said a girl from beside the pale boy. It was the same girl who gave me a dirty look a while ago. "My dad said he was... dirty."
The world stopped as I tried to process what she said. Now I wanted to throw an entire boulder at her. I didn't truly understand what that meant, but by the way Elli flinched behind me, I knew it was not good. His head hung low as he tried to leave, but I stopped him by holding his wrist. "Well, my mother said that, 'people who butt in into other people's conversations only do so because they try to compensate for their lack of self-worth.'"
Both pale boy and big mouth stared at me, probably not understanding what I just said. To be honest, I didn't understand what I just said either, but the blank looks on both their faces made me feel good. They shared a look, sneered at us, and left us alone.
I looked back at Elli and gave him a reassuring smile. "By the way do you know what 'compensate' mean? "
"You shouldn't have done that. They'll go after you too," Elli whispered.
"What they did was wrong, Elli. I'm not gonna let them do that. Don't worry, from now on, we're gonna deal with those bullies together."
"But—"
"Hm," I said. "I hate children."
"But aren't you also—"
"Doesn't matter, new friend. I think you owe me a tour."
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Author's Note
Please know that I did not proofread or edit this chapter. Anyway, sorry this chapter seems uneventful but it's essential to the overall plot and I promise, the next chapter is where ✨things✨ finally start happening.
Btw, just want to make my intentions clear, I do not take the matter of bullying or racism lightly. Please understand that I'm trying to frame the situation in the head of a ten year old. Of course, Skylar knows that it's bad, but she wouldn't understand (not yet, at least) the magnitude of such comments.
Other than that, do let me know what you think of the chapter, I'm open to comments and (constructive) criticisms.
Thoughts on bullying?
I hope you like this chapter. It would be appreciated if you were to comment, vote and share this as to help put that story out there. Thank you.
