Daydream Believer

ii. buses and best friends

The sky was light grey today. The clouds were more like big blankets covering the sky than cotton balls.

"Stay on the sidewalk McKenna," Mommy said.

"Why can't Daddy walk me to the bus stop?" I asked.

"Daddy has to work today," Mommy said.

I nodded and tried to stay close to Mommy. The backpack felt heavy on my shoulders. I still didn't want to go to school. Too many people.

We reached the bus stop. There were a lot of other kids there. Most of them were huge. I found a tree nearby and leaned against it.

"Hi!" a boy around my age said. He had brown, curly hair and big, brown eyes and he was a few inches taller than me.

"Hi," I said quietly.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"McKenna," I said. I inched away from him. I wished Bronto was here, but Mommy wouldn't let me take him to school.

"My name's Aaron," the boy said. "Are you in kindergarten too?"

"No," I lied. "I'm in first grade."

"Wow," Aaron said. "That's really cool. What class are you in?"

"I don't know," I said.

"McKenna, you're in Mrs. Stumph's class," Mommy said.

"I hear she's really nice," Aaron's mommy added.

"You're in the same class as me!" Aaron said. "But I thought you said you were in first grade."

I hid behind the tree. Aaron was no fun to talk to. I could see a big yellow car coming towards us.

"McKenna!" Mommy shouted. "Get on the bus!"

"Okay," I said. I headed towards the bus.

"Now McKenna, this is school. I want you to work hard," Mommy said. "When you graduate from high school, I want you to be at the top of your class."

"But Mommy!" I said. "High school is so far away!"

"Bye McKenna!" Mommy shouted as I climbed on the bus.

I found an empty seat and stared out the window at all of the waving parents. Aaron sat next to me.

"Hi McKenna," he said.

"Hi Aaron," I replied. I kept looking out the window. We were passing by all of the places we saw on our way here. I saw the houses and the little shops.

"Do you want to be my best friend?" Aaron asked me.

"No," I said.

"You're no fun to talk to," Aaron said.

"I don't want to talk."

"Fine," Aaron said as he started talking to the girl sitting across from us. Finally, we arrived at school. I didn't know what to expect, but I knew it was going to be interesting.