Two Worlds

In the Beginning

"TRAVIS MILLER!" The teachers loud voice rang throughout the second grade
classroom. Children are impatiently sitting in their seats, waiting for
when their parents ( or nannies ) come and take them home. These children
are oblivious to the fact that their teacher is counting down the days
until summer vacation, when all these privileged childrens parents provide
her pay check and she can go to Mexico with her boyfriend.  At the call of
his name, a boy with playful green eyes and hair that looked like sand
crawled out from underneath a desk, his hair ruffled, his brand new shirt
cut in odd shapes.
The teacher sighed in exasperation. "Travis, how many times must I tell
you? Don't make paper frogs out of your shirt.  Your mother nearly fainted
last time,"
The boy grinned mischievously and sat down in his seat. "Yes ma'am."
The teacher shook her head. The door opened and in walked a girl. A girl
with troubled, brown eyes. The boy's eyes looked towards the girl. Travis
could tell she was different. She wasn't like him. She wasn't from his
privileged world where everything was handed to him on a silver platter.
Her hair looked like someone had electrocuted her, her clothes were dirty,
and worn. A skinny woman walked in behind her, her eyes exactly like the
girl's. the woman seemed to have trouble standing, and when she whispered
to the teacher, she hiccuped. The girl seemed to be terrified of the woman,
after she left, the girl's troubled eyes turned friendly, and she shyly
smiled at the children sitting before her.
All around the classroom, children were whispering, " Look at her dress. It
looks so dirty!", "My mom would killed me if my hair looked like that."
"Whats wrong with her?", "Why is she here?"
The teacher stood up, and put a hand on her shoulder, the girl flinched-it
was like no one had ever touched her before. The teacher took her hand
away, and the girl 's cheeks turned pink. Clearing her voice, the teacher
said, "Class, I want you to meet our new student! This is Rita Thomas. Say
hello."
The children were hesitant, but managed to mutter a greeting. The teacher
sighed, and said sternly, "I want you all to make Rita feel welcome.. She's
not from this side of town, and doesn't know many people. Rita dear, why
don't you introduce yourself. Say your name, and erm... what you like to
do." The girl paused, her face turning red. She reached up and tugged on a
girl of hers, and began twirling it around her finger. After thinking for a
moment, the girl said in a soft voice, "My name is Rita. I'm eight years
old... and I like to read and I like music... In the summer time, I like to
go swimming. I really want to see the ocean. I've never seen it before."
The teacher had Rita take her seat, and class resumed. When they were asked
to partner up, no one wanted to be her partner. That is until Travis
Miller, the boy with playful green eyes and hair that looked like sand, got
up and said, "I'm Travis. Do you want to be my friend?"
Rita, looked up, and said "what'd you do to shirt?"
Travis grinned, and proudly displayed his sleeves. "I was making cut out
frogs out of the fabric."

Rita raised her eyebrows and scrunched her nose. "Your weird."
Offended, Travis replied, "Your weirder."
And then came the classic duel, where the two contestants argue over who is
more weird. Eventually, Rita reached out and smacked his arm, and soon
enough in turned into a battle. The teacher, finally noticed, and forced
them to sit next to eachother. Travis looked at Rita, amazed at how hot
headed and strong she was. Rita looked at Travis, in awe of how he could
come back with insults at the top of his head. A slow smile spread across
their faces, and soon enough, they laughed.
The two became fast friends, never wanting to spend more than a minute
apart. While he lived in a mansion, she lived in an apartment. While he
never knew what it was like to want something, she rarely
knew the feeling of satisfaction, and love.