𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗜 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗜𝗘 | the boys

ii. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐇

~𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩, 𝙄 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩~

T. FIELDS

"Tee, I'll be fine. Just let me do this already!" She flailed her arms out and sighed exhaustedly.

"I know you'll be fine, but that's what scares me, Ro." I told her outside of the classroom doors. Rowan shot me a puzzled look and I explained while resting my hands on her shoulders, crouching to her height range. "The sooner you realise you don't need me, the sooner you just won't."

Before I'd finished speaking, she had rushed into me and was squeezing me so tight I knew just how red her face was turning. "Hey,"

"I promise to always need you!" she shouted into my ear, calling out amongst the squeals of children her age from next door. 

"Kudos, kiddo." I pulled away to make sure she wouldn't get too worked up before such a big day and playfully said, "Take this," I held out a packet of Reese's Pieces and smirked at her.

"I-I already have some chocolate in my lunch," she said and held up her minuscule hand, which clasped the handles of a dinosaur lunch bag.

"I know, I made it," I began, "But - if there's someone by themselves at lunch time you can offer some and maybe make a new friend, huh?" I suggested while unzipping the bag and hiding them under her sandwiches. 

"But what if they're allergic? Will they rash up and choke and die on the playground?" Rowan asked with amazing speed, her eyes widened incredibly and the tiniest smile beginning to form on her shocked face.

I hesitated before answering her, "Maybe just check if they're allergic first."

We both took a deep breath, peering through the door and letting our eyes scan over the colourful classroom. "You ready?" 

"Are you?" She teased and hugged me tight one last time before turning on her heel to enter her new world.

"Hey! Don't get any boyfriends!"

Just like that, my world was gone and replaced with a horrible feeling of guilt and worry brewing stirred in my stomach.

N. PEREZ

I sat right at the side of the front row as we were called to gather for registration. So many new faces and voices - they made me wonder if I could find some kind of place of belonging here. I surveyed class for ideas of who to try to make friends with and saw a girl a few spaces away from me who perfectly mirrored my insides. Hopeful but equally scared. Her long hair was almost black and tucked behind her ears - it must've taken a while to fully brush out. She was wearing a striped, dark blue and white sleeved top under her carky green t-shirt and her brown leggings were riled half-way up her thighs. But her clothes practically hung off her, like she was actually quite skinny beneath them. Like Harry Potter.

I think I wanted to be friends with her. I had a feeling I wouldn't fit in with the other boys all dressed in Homelander and The Deep costumes, she was just what I wanted. That being said, I waited for our day to begin and planned how I was going to approach her as our teacher stood at the front of the class and smiled, "Okay, kids! As I'm sure you know, this is your first day of kindergarten meaning your first day of school. The first thing we do is registration, so we know everyone's here. When I call your name, shout out as loud as you can: 'Here Miss!' Everyone get that?" I stayed quiet to see if she would yell with the rest of our class , but as the some 30 children behind us erupted,