"Come on, Luca." The girl grabs his hand and pulls him forward. "It won't be so bad."
Luca groans. "I can't! The teacher doesn't like me. She told me to shut up yesterday."
The girl gasps. "My Mommy said that you shouldn't say that to anyone."
"Yeah. That's why I know she doesn't like me," Luca says solemnly. He looked on the verge of the tears and the girl feels anger rise up inside of her. How dare someone be so rude to her friend?
She glares at the teacher. "Maybe I can talk to her."
His eyes widen. "No. Don't. It might make it worse. You should just go outside with the rest of your friends."
"But I want you to be there," she says with a pout. The girl huffs and sits down. "This is so unfair. You should be out there. It's recess."
Luca smiles a little. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
"No." The girl shakes her head. An idea worms its way into her mind and Luca isn't sure whether he should be scared when he sees her eyes light up. He knew her well enough to know that many of her ideas weren't the safest.
"Whatever you're thinking, don't do it," he says.
The girl only grins. "If you can't go outside, then the rest of us will go in. No one likes Ms. Martin anyway. They'll understand."
Luca sighs. "I don't want to get them in trouble as well."
The girl pushes aside his concerns. "I'll be right back."
She runs out the door before he can get another word in. The rest of the students glance over at her.
"Guys! Luca is stuck inside because the teacher was being mean. We should all just play in there today."
Almost everyone looked uncertain. They all knew that her plans usually ended up with them all in trouble. However, all of them wanted to help her and their ideas were solidified when she said, "Ms. Martin told him to shut up."
Everyone gasps. "I thought that was a bad word," someone says. "She's so rude."
"We're going." The girl recognizes the voice and she sees her friend, Marie, launch herself off the top of the monkey bars. "I mean, come on guys. It's Luca."
Marie smiles at the girl and takes her hand. The two of them lead the rest of their classmates inside, one full of gratitude and the other with admiration.
Even back then, Marie knew that she would never meet someone like the girl ever again. She truly was one of a kind.