Lost Time

1

Victoria Mathews

October, 2012

When I was in 3rd grade, I was new to George Mason Elementary in Richmond, Virginia. I had just moved from Missouri. It was the middle of October. I had no friends, no idea how to get around, I didn't even know the teacher's name for a while. Everything was so new. I was all alone. 1,040 miles from home. It was my first day and I was playing on the swing set all by myself. I was just sitting, alone. I was staring at the gravel and my little hot pink converse high top shoes. I was hearing everything around me, when this little boy came up to me. He had wavy, brown hair and hazel eyes. He looked at me for a while before smiling. He walked slowly and bashfully over to the swing next to me. I was nervous. Nobody had really approached me for my first few days. Sitting down, he pulled out two Kit Kats with two each inside the wrapping. He looked up at me- staring at him. He reached his hand out to offer me one .

"Would you like one?" he said grinning. I looked at him for a second and thinking he could be a friend. I didn't know who to trust, but he seemed nice.
"Sure!" I said smiling too. He handed me one and we ate them together.
"I'm Zachary Parker," he smiled. I smiled back. "Some people call me Zach." he finished.
"I'm Victoria." I smiled. He pointed "That's my friend Mark," at a little blonde haired boy playing with his friends across the playground. He later told me about them too.

"We've been friends since we were babies." He explained. I smiled softly. "Who are your friends?" He asked. I scanned the playground and shrugged my shoulders. He stared at me, waiting for me to respond.
"I don't... really have any friends right now." I told him. "Oh-" he said sadly.
It was silent for a while. "You have me." Zach said with delight. I didn't really say anything for a while. He told me about everyone he knew and his favorite teachers and all the things he liked.

"We have to be quiet because... I don't want anyone to know we're talking about him-" he said whispering. "Him?" I asked. "Look-" He pointed. "Can you see those three guys over there by that tree?" he asked. "Yeah? Are they your friends too?" I said tilting my head slightly. "No! They are my enemies. They're bullies and I don't like them!" he told me. "The one with the darkest hair is my nemesis." he said angry. "He almost beats me up every day, he's been to the principal's office 6 times." I felt sad for him. "Come on." he said, grabbing my hand. "I don't want to be here anymore." he said taking me with him.
He wanted to hide. I followed Zach to the back of the playground where nobody could see us. "I don't think they can get us here. Jack saw me look at him." He said. "Who's Jack?" I asked, frightened that they might find us.

Jack was the taller dark haired boy who had rich parents and got everything he wanted, Nicholas was the redheaded kid with braces and hated everyone and Alex was the dirty fat kid who wore the same shirt 3 days in a row. They were all 4th graders and they were the meanest bullies toward the younger kids. They had found us. In the back of the playground where we thought we were safe.

"Well, well, well. Who do we have here? A new kid... who's friends with this loser?" Jack said laughing. Zach stood up from behind the tree. "Leave her alone, Jack!" He said standing up for me. "And what are you going to do about it, Squirt?" Jack said. He pushed Zach to the ground, laughing. "Stop!" I squeaked. I shouldn't have said anything. "Oh, it talks!" Alex said sarcastically.
I got heated up very quickly. I walked up to Jack making a fist. "What? Got something else to say?" He antagonised me. I pulled my arm back and punched him square in the nose. He backed away and groaned. Zach, stunned on the ground, watched them scramble around to run away.

"Yeah, you better run, losers!" I yelled as they ran.
"H... How did you do that?" Zach asked. I reached my hand out to help him up. "I don't like bullies." I said with a quick smile. "Are you okay though?" I asked him. "Yeah." he quietly said back. "I don't think they'll be bothering us anymore." I smiled. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I promise." I said putting my pinkie up to swear. "Promise." he repeated as we locked pinkies. We both smiled and went back to the swings.

Little did I realize, you aren't really allowed to punch someone in the face on your first day as a new student without having all the kids in your class talk about you. Zach and I were close buddies for the rest of the year. Then they years kept getting longer and longer.