Courage

Chapter One: The Enemy

-Run! Run! Faster! Faster! 

"Way to be supportive," I tell myself sarcastically, as I dash across the field to complete my mile with my best time yet: 7:13. 

I ask the teacher what my time was. He gives a slight smile and tells me. I grin when I see it but think that I can do a lot better if I were just a little lighter. 

"Hello Cora!" My friend yelled across the quad at lunch. Being the shy seventh grader that I am, I try to hide, but unfortunately for me, there is no way to hide. 

"Hello Liz," I tell her in a half-angry, half-happy tone. 

She has unmistakable black eyes. The kind of eyes that are disarming at first sight, the kind that tell you that the person is not hurtful, mischievous, and abusive with other people. That is what caught my eye the first time I saw her... 

. . . 

...I observed as she walked into Mr. Bender's sixth grade class. She smiled at the floor and went to take her seat without bringing too much attention to herself. I stared at her and saw those eyes that automatically told me she was different than anyone else. I gave her a welcoming smile, not sure whether she noticed me or not. That same day I tried to talk to her and invite her to my group. It wasn't much of a group it only consisted of me and my best friend Jason, also my crush. 

"I dare you to ask her to come with us?" He suggested demandingly. 

"No! You do it!" I responded to his demand. 

"Ugh. Pleeaasee," and then came the puppy eyes. Those eyes I can't resist. The ones that tell you, "I will love you forever if you do it." 

"Ok, fine," I told him and headed towards the tree she was sitting at writing in a note book, he followed right behind me. 

"Hey you wanna come hang out with us?" 

"No, I'm fine. Thanks," she said and went right back to what she was doing. A bright red color flushed through my face as I turned, embarrassed, to Jason's happy smile and tell him, "I told you so!" 

. . . 

That is the rough start of my unbroken friendship with Liz. Her real name is Lisa, but I call her Liz for short. We've best friends since the middle of sixth grade, but we were never "close" until the middle of seventh grade. Now, we hang out non-stop and to be honest, I enjoy it. 

"How'd it go at P.E.?" She asks with a smile. 

We get in the lunch line. I sigh at the sight of its length. 

"Great! I got my best time," I tell her, returning her smile. 

"Nice!" 

"I think I can do better though." 

"I think you can, you are really good! Are we joining Cross Country?" 

-Ugh! More distractions from school! Don't do it! 

-Oh, stop it! I can do whatever I want! 

"Yeah, together!" I respond quickly so she won't see through my thoughts. 

We finally get to the front of the line, it is time to choose. I remember the thought I had finishing the mile so I pick the salad instead of pizza. Liz looks at me strange because no one ever picks the healthy food and she perfectly knows I hate salad. 

As we walk towards the table she asks, "Why salad?" 

I had no idea how to respond. I didn't want her to think that I was trying to watch what I eat, so I just said, "To try something new." She gave me a skeptical look and we left the subject alone.