in time // h.s.

ii. janet

Nine years old...

I wasn't very happy when mom and dad said we were moving "to the sticks," even if they said it was for a "better way of life." In my head I imagined we were going to be living in a wooden shack with no one else around for miles and miles, surrounded by fields of hay and smelly chicken, like something from Little House On The Prairie. But actually, it wasn't so bad in Holmes Chapel. Our house was made of brick for a start, we had neighbors, and there wasn't a chicken in sight. There was a bustling High Street, which was within walking distance no matter where you lived in the village, filled with shops and pubs (there were four pubs, which was extremely low compared to how many bars there are in Vegas), and a big community centre at one end. The local church stood in the middle of the busy street, flanked by the florist and the baker's, the smell of freshly baked bread and cakes making tummies rumble as people knelt and prayed.

I had been nervous about starting a new school and making new friends. Knowing the fact that I was a half Mexican and half Cuban girl from Las Vegas, Nevada wasn't really ordinary. I mean, it wasn't like I was a complete outcast in my previous school, but I wasn't popular either. I did have a nice bunch of friends who I was sad to say goodbye to when we moved though.

On my first day I was feeling nervous and flustered as Miss Val brought me to everyone's attention in class. It's mind-boggling that teachers don't realize how stressful and awkward that moment is for a kid, knowing that everyone's sizing you up and deciding whether they're interested in making you their new BFF or whether you'll be doomed as class loser for ever more. It's excruciating. I felt my face redden and my bladder weaken in seconds. It took every ounce of self-control to stop myself from peeing on the spot. That would have been a great start.

Spotting Harry and Matty, after I'd plucked up enough courage to look up from the clean sheet of paper on my desk, both sending the cheesiest smiles in my direction, had made me feel much more relaxed. My inner turmoil momentarily gave way, enabling me to flash them a smile before, once again, looking down at the still clean paper in front of me.

Even though we'd exchanged smiles, I was still surprised they were the first to come over to talk to me. I thought the girls of the class would be. I assumed one of them would be happy to have someone new to hang out with, but it appeared not. None of them bothered with me at all on my first day. Instead, it was the two boys who took an interest.

I can remember thinking they were a funny pair, Harry and Matty. Matty, who I noticed was clearly the more confident of the two, wore his ginger hair in straight silky curtains that ran either side of his face, down to his cheekbones. His sparkly blue eyes, splattered with flecks of green, never seemed too alert (it was like he was half asleep). Harry was painfully shy, but reminded me of Bambi. His chestnut hair was a mess of curls atop his head and he had these humongous bright green eyes, which seemed to glow whenever the sun hit them.

Thanks to their ridiculously big smiles and kind manners when taking me to lunch, I quickly felt my worry at being in a new school melt away.

Although, saying that, I was more than surprised when the pair turned up at my door that night, asking if I could go out to play as they both sat on their matching black BMX bikes, using the tips of their sneakers to rock forwards and backwards in their wheels. I couldn't help but smile back excitedly at them. It was the first time anybody had ever stood at my door asking for me. I'd felt wanted and included.

Unfortunately, mom decided it was too soon for me to be wandering the streets of Cheshire with two boys she didn't know. So as a compromise she invited them inside to play instead (once they'd called their moms and told them of their whereabouts, of course). The boys gleefully accepted the offer and discarded their bikes in our front garden without a moment's hesitation.

My relationship with the boys kickstarted with great gusto and enthusiasm, whereas trying to strike up a friendship with the girls in my class was much more problematic. They were a tight bunch (Lizzy the leader, Mikaela, Bethany and Nicole) and it seemed the friendship I'd already sparked up with the boys were going to put my chances of any friendship with the girls in jeopardy.

They hated the fact that I hung around with the boys and would tell me so while asking if I liked one of them or had kissed them. It was horrible to feel so interrogated and like such an outsider. But like any girl at that age, all I'd wanted was for my new classmates to like me, so unfortunately, when my brain was taken over by some crazy acceptance-needing twerp, I decided to cut all ties with Harry and Matty. I'm ashamed to say I ignored them, sat away from them at lunchtimes, and ran away from them at break times. I figured it was the only way to make the girls want me to be a part of their group. And I thought I'd succeeded at one point.

One day at lunch I was called over by Lizzy to join the girls. At last, I thought, I'm in.

Oh what a foolish girl I was.

The whole thing was a set-up. I sat on a spare plastic white chair, ready to enjoy my first lunch with my new BFFs, only to feel the chair give way beneath me. I flew backwards through the air with an all mighty screech and landed on my back with my legs in the air, white cotton panties on display, my dignity splattered alongside me on the floor. I'd never felt so humiliated.

Off I ran to the toilets, riddled with humiliation, only to be followed by Harry and Matty. Bless them, they even came into the girls' restroom to see if I was okay. Not many little boys would venture into such formidable territory, without caring whether they were caught by our peers or not.

In that little restroom our friendship was restored. We pinkie promised that I'd never be such a loser again and that the three of us would stick together as a threesome until the end of time. It was an incredibly cute moment and one that firmly cemented us as a united force.

I had my boys, I needed nothing more.