The new kid looked like a giraffe. Well that's at least what Reiner thought.
Then again anyone looking as tall and lanky as the new kid in school Reiner would make the same comparison.
Lucky for the new kid, giraffes were 8-year-old Reiner's favorite animal.
"So why don't you introduce yourself" his teacher said.
All eyes were on the new kid. He was tall for his age, with dark brown hair, a nose that didn't quite fit his face, and glasses that sat upon that nose.
"Um my name is Bertholdt Hoover"
"Everyone say high to Bertholdt"
"Hi Bertholdt" the class said with a hint of sleepiness in their voices.
"Where are you from Bertholdt?"
"Austin, Texas" he said.
"Can you show us on the map where that is?"
Bertholdt walked to the map and pointed to the city in Texas.
Reiner didn't know much about Texas except that it was big.
"Well we are so excited to have you and I hope you like snow...you can take the seat next to Reiner Braun"
Bertholdt slid the chair out and plopped down in the seat. He looked at Reiner.
"Guess we are desk buddies now"
"You look like a giraffe!"
******************************************** Bertholdt sat against a tree at recess. He was engrossed in a Hardy Boys book. Aside from the few questions, no one really spoke to him.
He missed Texas, missed his friends, his school. But with his grandmother's failing health, and his mom having a work from home job, the move to Charlotte, NC had been a necessity.
Bertholdt was trying to focus on the mystery that the Hardy Boys were trying to solve but he was still confused by what his desk buddy has said to him.
"Was it his way of saying high? Or maybe he is the mean kid of the class" he thought. "If that's true, he has found someone else to be mean too."
"Wow you can read chapter books already?"
Bertholdt looked around. There stood his desk buddy.
"Um, yeah...I like to read" he mumbled. His grip on his book tightened, scared that Reiner would yank the book out of his hand.
To Bertholdt's surprise he sat down next to him.
"My mom reads me chapter books, but Mrs. Dok says I'm not ready to read them yet"
"What books do you read?" Bertholdt asked, hoping to make a new friend.
"Well I really like Franklin, turtles are my second favorite animal"
"What's your first?"
"Giraffes" Reiner said with a toothy grin.
Suddenly his first sentence made some sense to Bertholdt.
"Why are you named Bertholdt?"
"I dunno, my mom and dad picked it"
"Well Bertholdt is hard to spell so I'm gonna call you Bert".
Bertholdt smiled, glad he was making a new friend.
To be continued
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
