Chapter 2

THE BEGINNING

(Bakersville Elementary, 1999)

***

“I’d like us to welcome a very special guest into our class,” Miss Phoebe said, and those words were enough to attract the attention of all the kids. Life in Bakersville was boring, even for them, and so the thought of something, someone new made them excited.

“My name is Gabriel Ford,” the boy said and kept quiet. He must not have known just how excited the rest of the class was to see a new face.

“Where are you from?”

“How old are you?”

“Where do you live now?”

“Do you like soccer?”

“One question at a time, boys and girls,” Miss Phoebe said when she noticed how overwhelmed Gabriel looked. He was not used to having so much attention. The whole class fell quiet and waited for Gabriel to answer the questions. But he just stood there and stared blankly at everyone.

“It seems that Gabriel needs time to adjust to this new environment, so let’s let him off for today. He'll answer all your questions in due time.” 

The whole class groaned in disapproval, but Gabriel was already making his way to the back of the class. He was relieved that he didn’t have to answer any of those questions. He sat in the empty seat next to a girl who seemed disinterested in everything that was going on.

“I’m Gabriel,” he said to her.

“I heard you the first time,” she said in response.

Gabriel immediately regretted his choice. He could have sat anywhere else, given that the seat next to this girl was not the only empty one. But it was too late to change so he decided to just take her rudeness in stride.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

She looked over at him with an expression of more surprise than an annoyance, that he had chosen to continue talking to her even after she was rude to him. She softened at this.

“Emily,” she said and she turned red in the face. She was embarrassed. Why did she talk to him so rudely before? Why did she take it out on him, the fact that she was having a bad day?

“Nice to meet you, Emily,” Gabriel said, then looked ahead to the rest of the class.

Time flew by the same way it always did and soon enough it was time for recess. Gabriel was excited to go out and play but Emily had a few words of warning for him.

“They’re going to make fun of you for the next few days because you’re new. Try not to cry,” she said as she pointed over to a group of boys who Gabriel could immediately tell were trouble. But he didn’t want to take advice from a girl.

“I can take care of myself,” he said, “I bet I’ll be friends with them by the end of the day,” he added, walking towards them.

Emily could only scoff. He would just have to see for himself. They went to the playground and Emily couldn’t help but look over at where Gabriel was as she was playing. She was worried for him. She tried to ignore him and focus on having a good time but she just couldn’t.

Soon enough, she saw that she had a reason to worry after all because Gabriel was being shoved around in the circle that the group of boys had made. She wanted to go and help him immediately but she also wanted to see what would happen. Was Gabriel actually able to take care of himself?

They pushed him around for a few minutes and it was getting boring until Emily heard a scream coming from the circle. She immediately ran over, thinking it was Gabriel, only to find that he had punched one of the boys.

She looked at Troy, the boy who had been punched, and looked over at Gabriel. When they both saw that he had gotten a nosebleed they knew there was only one thing left to do.

“Run,” they both said as they ran towards the library.

They hid in the storage closet and after they caught their breath Emily noticed that Gabriel was scared.

“What’s going to happen to me? Will I get in trouble?” he asked.

“I highly doubt it. Troy gets into fights every day,” Emily said. Gabriel looked over at her hopefully.

“Do you think they’ll be my friends after this?” he asked. Emily shook her head. He hung his head in disappointment.

“I’ll be your friend, if that’s okay with you,” Emily said, smiling and revealing gaps in her teeth. He smiled back to reveal gaps in his own. They both laughed.

“Best friends?” he asked, stretching out his pinky finger. He wanted her to promise it.

She didn’t care that they had just met that day. It felt like the right choice to make. It felt like what she had been waiting for.

“Best friends,” she said and linked her finger with his.

***

“Emily! Come downstairs!” Emily’s mother shouted.

Emily was unhappy to leave her toys but she ran downstairs to hear what her mother had to say. She hoped she would make it quick so that she could go back to playing.

“Put your shoes on. We have new neighbors we have to go and say hi to,” her mother said without even looking at her.

Emily was upset that she’d been called by her toys for this. She didn’t want to go, but she knew she had no choice. Once Terry-Anne Harper said to do something, you had no choice but to do it.

She put on her shoes, but slower than usual so that her mother could know that she wasn’t happy with the fact that she was doing this. They walked over to the house next door. Emily’s mother rang the doorbell and they waited for a few minutes before someone came to the door. It was a tall woman with the most beautiful eyes Emily had ever seen. They looked like someone else’s eyes and she was trying to remember who.

“May I help you?” she said.

“My name is Terry and this is my daughter, Emily,” Emily’s mother said as she stretched out her hand.

“I’m Louise. It’s lovely to meet you,” she said as she shook her hand.

“We just wanted to come over and say hi. We’re the neighbors next door and I just wanted to let you know that I am here if you need anything. Also, I’m a really good baker if I do say so myself, so I made some cookies to welcome you,” Emily’s mother said as she handed over the wrapped jar that she had been carrying.

“I appreciate this so much, thank you,” the woman said. A little boy came to the door and stood timidly behind her.

“Emily, this is Gabriel. Gabriel, introduce yourself,” Gabriel’s mother said, ushering him forward.

“We've already met,” Emily said, and she smiled.