A N D I E
Have you ever had an instant connection with somebody? Like, you meet them, and you can tell they're going to be in your life for a long time?
Well, that's how it was for me, with my friend David. It all started in kindergarten:
The first day of school can be frightening for anyone, but I wasn't very phased by it. I was always quite an independent kid. I mean, I had been in daycare since I was one, so my mom leaving me somewhere with other kids didn't really bother me. My mother had already explained to me the concept of school, and although I wasn't entirely ready for it, I was excited to learn new stuff.
When it came time for my mother to leave, she gave me a kiss on the cheek, and told me she'd come pick me up after school. As she left, I began exploring the classroom. Until I heard screaming:
"Mommy! Mommy no!" I looked around the classroom, spotting a little boy clinging onto his mom as she tried to leave. I walked over, tapping him on the shoulder. He quickly stopped crying, turning around to face me as his mother snuck out of the class.
"Why are you crying?" I ask the boy, he sniffles. The boy looked around the classroom, realizing his mother was no longer there as he began crying again.
"My mommy left me here." He whimpers, beginning to sob, and making five year old me cringe. Even as a child, I didn't like children.
"She's gonna come back!" I roll my eyes as he sniffles, and wipes his nose.
"She is?"
"Well, duh."
The kid soon calms down as the teacher says to sit down in a certain area of the floor. The boy and I sit next to each other on the carpet. As the teacher begins talking, the boy leans over to me before whispering:
"My name is David, I'm five." David reaches his hand out for me to shake. I shake his hand.
"I'm Andrea, don't call me that, though."
"What am I supposed to call you, then?"
"Andie, or Drea, okay?" I speak as quietly as possible, trying not to gain the attention of the teacher. He nods.
"We should be friends." He smiles, I smile back, nodding in agreement.
"You should come over to my house to play."
And he did. My mother was a little surprised that my first friend was a boy, but our parents were both cool with us playing together. He was my first real friend, and we've been friends ever since.
