The Trio

Chapter 2

Tori

Mother was always busy with work, but when she finally gets off she puts me to bed. "Hey mom?"
"Yah honey?"
"I got a golden star in class for making a new friend!" I try to keep a smile on her face but sometimes my efforts weren't enough. "Wow! That's great honey!*muah* goodnight!"

Morning would come and mother would leave a note for me to follow. Since my father was always gone, "serving the country", I really didn't have a father to teach me how to be a man or really anything.
This mornings note read:
Good morning sweet heart! I left some bacon and leftover potatoes in the fridge. I might be a little late picking you up from school today. I love you! *please don't forget your lunch in the pantry*
- love mom.

While I took off the foil covering my breakfast, I started to for a check list of things to do before I left for school. I would eat, brush my teeth, make my bed, then leave a nice card on mom's bed. Then I would head off to school. "When the clock chimes 7 times, that's when you have to leave for school ok honey?" That's what mom told me to make sure that I get to school on time. I had finished breakfast, brushed my teeth, and made my bed. The clock hadn't chimed 7 times yet, so I'll start on the card. I wanted my mother to smile when she read this, so I folded the paper in half and wrote: I love YOU MOM! As best as I could in cursive. I placed it on her pillow and left for school early. When I arrived, all the kids were outside running around on the play structure. "Hey!" Yari yelled as he approached me "I never got your name, what is it?"
"It's Tori..." I responded
"Tori huh? Well, my name is Yari, glad we're friends!" He shook my hand as the teacher called us in. "Ok class! Today we'll be learning about division and times tables. Who here knows how many letters there are in the alphabet?"

Almost immediately, Yari raised his hand. "Yes, Yari?"
"Eight!" he said with full confidence. "No, that's the word alphabet. Any other guesses?" Nobody else raised their hand, so I did. "Yes Tori?"
"Twenty Six?" I said unsure of my answer.
"That is correct!" After I gave the teacher my answer, Yari just kept on looking at me like he had something to tell me. But Yari's expression on his face was different than what I had expected. When I looked at him, he just smiled and said, "hey, uh...can you teach me?" I was shocked by his question. He wanted me to teach him about school. "Sure" I said mindlessly.
"Yay! Thank you!" and he gave me a huge hug. "Oh! I know a place where we can go to study! Are you free after school?" It must have been my imagination, but I swear that I saw stars appear in his eyes when I said that I could go. "Thank you!" he said as he hugged me again. "Yari! If you're going to talk during class, could you talk softer?" Said the teacher. The other kids in the room laughed, but that really didn't bother me. Cause I had made a new friend, and he wanted my help.