Unforgotten Love

Chapter 1

~Kathrin's POV~
2nd grade. I'm in 2nd grade now. I'm lonely, and nervous, and scared, and shy. So shy. I can barely breathe.

I don't know anyone here. They're all bigger than me. I'm an ant compared to all of these grasshoppers. They're so loud, and I'm so quiet. My silence is covered up by the volume at which they're screaming. I'm sure they can be heard from a mile across town. Maybe even across the entire county.

I see a boy looking at me, and I immediately glance away. I don't want to be noticed. I'm so scared. I want to go home.

Home, where my books are. Where the play-set in my back yard allows me to swing, swing, swing, for hours on end. Just like the pendulum of the clock on the mantle, swinging, swinging, swinging. Home, where I can stay in my room and have a tea party with my stuffed animals. Where I know I'm safe.

"Katie! Katie Thereon!"

My name. Oh god. I don't want to be noticed. I'm scared. I want to go home. The boy is looking at me again, but so is everybody else here. The teacher looks at me expectantly, waiting for an answer. But I can't speak. My throat is a cactus, my mouth a desert, my tongue an oversized tumbleweed that got stuck on a journey to an unknown destination. I stare as the teacher speaks again.

"Katie, answer me when I call you," The teacher says, staring at me. I still can't speak, so I nod my head for her to see. She sees, but she isn't happy. Oh no. "Katie, you answer me by speaking back. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am," I whisper, the only noise my throat allows me to make. I see the teacher's eyes narrow, and I know I'm in trouble. I can't speak any louder though. I'm so scared.

"Katie? I didn't hear you," she says tersely.

"Yes ma'am," I manage to squeak out, and the other kids laugh.

Oh god. They're so mean. They're so big, and mean, and scary, and loud, and they're laughing. At me. They're all laughing at me. I want to disappear so badly. I hear a girl on my left, blonde and skinny, say my name.

"Katie-cat, what's the matter? Are you a fraidy-cat?" She teases. Oh no, oh no, please no. "Katie-cat, Katie-cat, Katie-cat's a fraidy-cat!" All the other kids join in, making that small chant into their new scream. Oh god. I want to go home.

"Boys and girls, stop that! It's not nice, at all. Now, turn around and pay attention," The teacher all but yells above the tiny roar of the children. "Today is our first day, and I want you all to..."

I tune the teacher out, mainly because I only hear the voices of my classmates in my head. I glance around the room, never looking at one thing for more than 3 seconds. As I look over to my right, I accidentally lock my eyes with those belonging to that boy. I'm frozen still. I can't move my eyes, or my body for that matter. He stares back at me, eyes wide, and smiles to me. I smile back. I feel slightly better, but not by much. I still want to go home.

Oh well. The day's almost over. And who knows? I might be close to making a friend for the first time in my life.

~Spencer's POV~
There's a girl. She's tiny and shy, her eyes flickering over the room, going five miles a minute. Poor thing. A blind person could see her nervousness from a mile away. I've never seen her at school before, so I think she's new. She must have moved here from a different school.

The teacher calls on her, rather sharply, and I wince. "Katie, answer me when I call you," the teacher says. The girl - Katie - nods her head, eyes wide in terror. "Katie, you answer me by speaking back. Do you understand?"

I see Katie's mouth open, watch her form a "yes ma'am" that the teacher is looking for. The teacher tells Katie that she can't hear her, and I finally hear a small squeak. "Yes ma'am."

The rest of the 2nd graders in the room start laughing at her. I watch Katie sink into herself as the other 2nd graders start chanting, "Katie-cat, Katie-cat, Katie-cat's a fraidy-cat!" I won't join with the other students. Not for laughing at her, or calling her a fraidy-cat. Kids really are cruel sometimes. The teacher yells for everyone to stop and pay attention to her.

As the other kids turn around and reluctantly pay attention to the teacher, I watch Katie's eyes flicker over everything, never staying on something for more than 3 seconds at a time. As she's doing this, I pay attention to the way her braided hair flips about her shoulders, how her toes rhythmically tap against the floor, how her tiny shoulders curl forward as if to hide her. Eventually, her eyes meet mine.

I can't look away. Not from those clear blue eyes. She isn't looking away either. I guess she's as frozen in time as I am right now. I smile at her, hoping that she will take it as a friendly smile, and not as me being mean. I see Katie smile back at me. I watch as some of the tension lifts out of her shoulders, and her eyes flit back to the teacher.

I've finally decided that Katie must be shy. I should introduce her to Trixa, my across-the-street neighbor. I think she and Trixa would get along well.

I want to be friends with Katie.