Her Name

year six

The girl feels something hit on her on the back of the head. Annoyed, she turns around to find Luca grinning and pointing to something on the floor.

She sighs before picking up the paper airplane. "What am I supposed to do with this?" she whispers.

"Unfold it," he says, stiffening when the teacher's gaze passes over him. 

She does so, discreetly hiding it under her desk. It takes her a second to decipher his messy scrawl, but once she does, she feels proud.

Do you want to go talk to the new kid at lunch?

Turning, the girl nods eagerly, happy that Luca was finally reaching out to people on his own. Most people only knew him through her. She would have gone to talk to the new girl anyway. It was just the way that she worked. 

Maybe Luca could finally have another close friend. Then she wouldn't have to feel so guilty every time she stayed home when she got sick, which was pretty often.

She could barely wait for lunch to come, and when it did, she practically dragged Luca out the door.

"Slow down, or you might scare her," Luca says, laughing. 

The girl only grins and slows down a bit when they get near the new student's table. The other girl looks up at them in surprise. "Hey."

"Can we sit here?" Luca asks before his friend can say anything. "I'm Luca."

"I'm Alyvia, but you can just call me Via." Via smiles shyly up at them. "And you can sit here if you want to."

"Of course we want to," the girl says. "So, Via, what do you like to do?"

. . .

"Bye!"

The girl watches as Via disappears into a car. She was quite satisfied with how the day had gone. "I like her."

"Me too," Luca agrees. "Do you think she wants to be friends with us?"

"Maybe. I think she does." The girl eyes Luca, smiling at the hopeful look on his face. "Why wouldn't she want to be friends with you?"

Luca shrugs. "I haven't actually wanted to be friends with anyone since you. I don't really know how to talk to anyone other than you."

"Well, now you can learn," the girl replies. She spins in a circle before falling onto the soft grass, giggling. "I don't want to go home."

"Me neither." Luca pouts as he takes a seat next to her. "My Mama says I have to be home though or else she won't let me go to your house tomorrow."

The girl frowns as well, not wanting her time with Luca to get cut short. Although she had a lot of friends, she didn't know how to talk to anyone other than him either. He was just easier to be around. "I guess we have to go then."

"But I'll see you tomorrow," he promises.

Nodding, she allows him to pull her up. "The last one to the end of the street is a rotten egg!" she screams, running before he has a chance to process her words.

She laughs when she hears him yelling after her. Even after all the bad words that could possibly be uttered by Luca were out, she knew that he meant none of them. 

It was just how they worked.