A Friend (or a Dozen) For Life

I Made a New Friend! (First Day of School)

The first day of first-grade is over and done with. The girls have met, and they each go home and tell about their day.

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*September 8th, 1996 – 3:15 p.m. – Rosewood Elementary*

At exactly 3:15 p.m. Monday afternoon, six first-graders, – three brunette and three blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls – sat with the rest of the group of children in the Car Riders group.

It has been a busy and hectic day, with getting the kids settled, learning new names, getting the extra classroom supplies put away, and making sure everyone was all set.

The kids are currently playing hopscotch with a few spare pieces of chalk that the duty teacher gave them.

After a while, the groups start to thin out from kids leaving, until everyone but Hanna, Luke, and few other 2nd and 4th graders are left.

Finally, Hanna and Luke's mom and dad pull up and they jump up, grabbing their bags before skipping to the car.

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*Marin Residence*

Later that night, at dinner Tom and Ashley sit and listen as Lucas tells all about his first day of third grade. Then it's Hanna's turn.

She beams as she remembers meeting the girls. She smiles as she remembers how her new friend Emily helped her tie her shoes at recess and shared her crayons during free time, and how Spencer knew how to count all the way up to 25 in French and 15 in Spanish, and how Aria could draw really pretty pictures.

"Mommy, guess what happened today!"

"What happened today, baby?"

"I made five new friends!" Hanna answers excitedly while Lucas rolls his eyes.

"Really, Hannie? Five friends? I bet four of them are imaginary." Lucas teases, remembering all Hanna's imaginary friends and their names from the year before.

Hanna did everything with her friends; they had their own dinner plate, their own seat in the car, they played games with her.

Hanna frowns at him as does Tom.

"Lucas, don't tease your sister." Tom chides his son. "You've made more than one friend on the first day before, and it isn't nice to tease her about imaginary friends. If I remember correctly, you had one when you were Hanna's age."

He turns to Ashley. "What was his name, honey? Barbie? Bunny?"

Lucas scowls. "His name was Bobby, and I don't believe in him anymore. Imaginary friends are for babies, anyways. And I'm not a baby. I'm eight years old and I can almost do all the grown up stuff you can do."

"Well, then, Hanna is still young enough for an imaginary friend. And there is nothing wrong with it. If I hear of you teasing again, you'll have no Gameboy for one month."

"Dad! That's not fair! A whole month just 'cause I teased Hanna about being a baby? That's so dumb!" Lucas scowls even more, upset, and Tom opens his mouth to give him a piece of his mind.

Ashley sighs and holds up a hand.

"Boys, please! Let's have a nice, calm, family dinner, and let Hanna finish telling us about her day. Hanna, you may continue."