Where It Ends

10 | niko

eleven years ago, third person pov

THE LITTLE GIRL WAS ECSTATIC THAT IT WAS FINALLY RECESS. She wasn't the biggest fan of Kindergarten, not because she didn't like learning but because of the other kids in her class. Even from a young age she had a clear dislike for most people, not without good reason though. They were always too loud or mean or bothered her too much. Or they called her that name she hated, no matter how many times she asked them to stop.

She was on her way to her favorite spot, her little hideaway behind one of the trees when something caught her attention.

"Hey! Stop!" a voice cried. She looked to where it came from and saw a few boys that looked to be about seven.

There was a smaller boy among the group that she recognized right away. She was pretty sure he was just a year above her. They had both arrived during the middle of the school year, so it was harder for them to make friends. They usually sat alone during lunch, and they had a silent agreement to always sit at the same table — always at opposite sides and three seats down.

The larger boys were pushing the smaller first grader, taunting him while holding his Toy Story lunchbox too high for him to reach. They were supposed to put their lunchboxes on the picnic table at the start of recess, but she guessed that they took it from him. "So he does talk," the biggest one of them, a second-grader named Miles Kingston who was notorious for bullying, laughed and threw the lunchbox down into a particularly muddy area of dirt. By this point the small boy was on the verge of tears, trying to reach his lunchbox but they pushed him onto the ground before he even had a chance.

The young girl felt hurt inside that they would do such a thing to someone so innocent, but she was much more angry than sad. She stormed up to Miles and his minions and yelled, "Leave him alone!"

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?" Miles teased and high-fived one of his minions, and afterward they all said, "Yeah, what are you gonna do?" right after him like the morons they were.

Now she was really angry.

She thought about it for a moment, unsure of what she actually would do. But then she remembered that she saw her mom do something to one of her old boyfriends once, and he finally left her alone afterward, so she just went for it.

That day, she kicked Miles Kingston in the balls.

And damn it was worth it.

Of course, a teacher saw and she got in trouble for it. A few minutes later she was sitting in the principal's office with Miles, his minions, and the smaller boy. But the principal suspected that Miles was up to something, so he and his friends were talking to him first.

"Sorry you got in trouble," the boy said quietly, looking down at his Toy Story lunchbox that now had dirt covering one of its sides.

"It's okay. He deserved it anyway. Sorry about your lunchbox," the girl said, trying to wipe off some of the dirt. "What's your name?" she finally asked.

"I'm Niko. What about you?" he asked.

"My name's Genevieve. But I don't really like it," she admitted, thinking of her mom's last boyfriend. Before him she never minded it, but he was a meanie. Sometimes he'd hurt her, just a little hit now and then, but still. Since he called her that, now she absolutely despised hearing it from other people.

"What about..." Niko thought for a moment. "Gen. Or Vie. Or... Evie!"

She tilted her head then smiled. No one had ever called her that before, but it immediately stuck. "Evie. I like it." They grinned at each other before they both remembered where they were, and once again they were dreading seeing the principal. Every once in a while they'd take a peek at the other, instantly looking away. But Evie was tired of waiting, and for the first time she honestly thought he was an okay person compared to everyone else at that school.