the start
When I was seven, there was nothing that could stand in my way. Nothing.
Well, between me and the cookies on top of the refrigerator. Driving a car was a path that had too many obstacles to go down just then. And plus, it wasn’t worth the trouble getting Mom mad.
But also, when I was seven, I moved to a new school. This new school was a far cry from my previously tiny, private charter in Chicago. With only about two hundred kids, kindergarten through sixth grade, Louis Sullivan Private Charter was like a tightly knit community; siblings cycled through, and if a last name seemed familiar, chances were that you had met them or their brother. But Newton Elementary was a giant. With one of the largest enrollment numbers in its district, with about a thousand, from first grade to fifth, it was like I had moved into a different city.
At first, I didn’t fit in. I was the awkward girl from the private school, and no one really wanted to talk to me, in the whole of Mr. LaMar’s class of thirty five. But that didn’t matter. On the first day there, for me, when asked to introduce myself, I remember being incredibly blunt.
“So, Katelyn-”
“It’s Kate.”
“So… Kate, would you like to tell us anything about yourself?” I looked around the class from where I was sitting, my eyes briefly catching sight of an empty desk.
“Not really. But I don’t know why no one will talk to me. It’s not like I’m gonna bite you or anything.” I glared accusingly at one of the boys who had continuously snubbed me earlier that morning when I had tried to ask him where room fourteen was. I ended up having to rely on my older brother to lead me to the classroom, which, in my eyes, was frankly embarrassing.
“Oh, well, the class is more than happy to help you with anything you need, Kate,” Mr. LaMar tried. I smiled, triumphant, and returned to my seat. Shortly later, after Mr. LaMar had gotten the class situated, he called roll.
“Sam?”
“Here.”
“Missy?”
“Present!”
“Jessy?”
“Here!”
“Allia?” For a minute or so, no one spoke, and Mr. LaMar looked up from his role sheet, frowning. “Is Allia not here?”
“She’s at her aunt’s funeral,” one of my classmates, a small girl with blonde hair, said. “She told me that she’ll be here tomorrow.” Mr. LaMar frowned again.
“Well, she should have told me first.” I glanced over at the empty desk, the only empty desk in the classroom. That must be Allia’s seat. Maybe she’ll be nicer.
Throughout the day, a few members of the class talked to me, including the small blonde, who told me that her name was Kells.
“Not Kelly or Kills or anything else that it might sound like. Kells,” she told me, nodding to emphasis her point. We were the first and only on the monkey bars, and chatted and acted like four year olds do even after they’ve known each other for only an hour. During those conversations, I learned that most of the boys in our class had cooties (but I could already tell that) and that a few of the girls had them as well (that surprised me).
After school, my brother came and got me from my classroom, and my first day at Newton Elementary was over. But the rest of the year had just begun.
Mr. LaMar seemed to always take roll out loud, unlike the teacher at Louis Sullivan, who would just silently mark down who was there and who wasn’t.
“Sam?”
“Here.”
“Missy?”
“Present!”
“Jessy?”
“Here!”
“Allia?”
“Here.” I looked up to see the empty desk from the previous day filled. It was a brown haired girl I had seen before school had started that morning. She was drawing absentmindedly on a piece of paper, a few markers and pencils already on her desk. While Mr. LaMar continued on with calling roll, and the boy next to me, Sam, kept flicking bits of paper at me. I resolutely ignored him.
When the bell rang for recess, most my classmates darted out through the door, and I was going to follow when I noticed that Kells was going to stand by Allia’s desk. Seeing as how Kells was my only friend there, I went and stood next to her.
“Hi Kate. This is Allie. Allie, this is Kate,” Kells introduced us, and Allia smiled at me. “She’s new!”
“Whatcha drawing?” I asked, pointing to the paper that was spread out in front of her. Allie shrugged.
“Nothing much, really. Just a cat.”
“It looks really, really good.” That was the truth. At seven years old, Allie was already skilled in art.
“You want me to draw you one?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I have to draw a few for my art class, but after it’s over I can give you one. You too, Kells.” Kells smiled, and sat on one of the desks next to Allia’s. I mimicked her actions, and swung my feet back and forth.
“Thanks!” Allie smiled.
“No problem. I know what it’s like to have to move.” I smiled back.
❝So take me back to the start.❞
-The Scientist by Coldplay
أنت تقرأ
Little Talks
قصص المراهقين❝tell her that i miss our little talks.❞ katelyn leary and allia williams met when they were seven, and had been inseparable since. nicknamed "the two musketeers" in middle school, they have been there for each other through bad break ups, dysfuncti...
