𝓑𝓻𝓾𝓽𝓪𝓵 | 𝙴𝚕𝚒 𝙼𝚘𝚜𝚔𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚣

𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚞𝚎

"Sweetheart, go ask those boys if they'd like to play." 

Young Eli Moskowitz only squeezed his mother's hand tighter at the suggestion. Eyes staring wantonly at the group of boys his age kicking a soccer ball back and forth, laughing and talking.

He wanted that. Friends.

And his mother knew that, which is why she continuously nudged her son towards the kids. "Would you like me to ask them for you?" She questioned, knowing fully well that her son would reject the idea. "No? Then why don't you ask. They seem nice." Petting her son's head soothingly, she watched as Eli mustered up as much confidence as he could before slipping his clammy hand out of her grasp.

Mrs. Moskowitz patted his back as he made his way towards them. Senses now feeling quite overwhelmed without his mother's comforting presence, Eli started messing with the ends of his long sleeves, creating sweater paws. The fabric between his fingers gave him the feeling of control, something he knew he lacked.

The crunching of the playground pebbles underneath his brand new sneakers came to a halt as he now stood in front of four slightly taller boys. Eli's bright blue eyes, which had been glued to the ground on his way over, lifted up to meet the gazes of the intimidating group. He lifted up a sweater paw in greeting.

"H-hi, m-my name's Eli." The young boy squeaked. His social anxiety had gotten the better of him, causing a stutter to appear in his speech. "I was w-wonder-"

"Gross, what happened to your lip?" One had interrupted, disgust written on his face as he cringed away from the small boy. 

The little Moskowitz immediately covered the scar he had on his lip.

"What happened? You fall off a scooter or something?" Another had annoyingly piped up. His question was asked with a mocking tone, showing he and his friends were not genuinely curious.

"I think he was born that way."

"Why?"

"I'm just glad it doesn't infect others, that'd be terrible."

"It'd be disgusting. Like cooties."

"Is that what he has?"

A collective 'ew' had completed the banter.

Eli was now on the verge of tears, lips quivering as the world began to blur. He turned towards his mother for comfort, only to see that she was happily talking with another mother. The two of them haven't gone out of the house much, so he didn't want to ruin this for her.

"Sorry, were actually playing a four person game, five would totally ruin it." The tallest boy informed him. But he could easily see through the lie. He knew they didn't want him around. And he knew once he left they would continue to talk about his scar.

"More like the cooties would ruin it." One had whispered not so quietly. This was what had pushed the poor boy over the edge. Sobs now wracked his body, snot dribbling down his nose. He hastily wiped it away with his sleeve before running away towards the empty swing set. Away from them. Away from the judgement.

Plopping down on a swing, he pitifully leaned his body weight back and forth, focusing on the smell of the rusty metal chains as he continued to cry. This became his pastime for the next two minutes, before he heard the swing next to him creak due to weight being put on it.

"Hello, what's your name?" A soft but high pitched voice asked.

Wiping his eyes rather harshly, Eli tilted his head to see who had occupied the swing next to him, and was shocked to see a girl his age. She had two pigtails on her head, wrapped in pink ribbon, and wore a grey shirt with a unicorn shooting sparkles out of its horn. She simply radiated happiness.