When we passed the barn I told them we had five minutes until we got to the bridge and then I could take my socks off. My toes were even colder. I hated the wet snow in my shoes.
Dania and Stu were talking to me. It felt good. Ellie wasn’t talking to me and that didn’t feel good. Why wasn’t she talking to me? She always talked to me while we walked to my house.
She usually smiled a lot and she was pretty when she laughed. Then she’d hold my hand for a while and that made my body feel weird in a good way.
She wasn’t smiling now.
“There’s the bridge,” I said, pointing to it. I was happy to see the bridge. I wanted to take my socks off. Dania said she’d help me. She was my friend.
I bent over and started to untie my laces when someone shoved me. I fell over. It hurt. I was on the ground and it was cold. I hadn’t taken my socks off yet.
I tried to stand up but Stu pushed me over again and this time I slid down the hill. Dania was laughing but it wasn’t a nice sound like Ellie’s. “Get him in the water!” she yelled and then Stu pushed me into the stream.
I yelled. The water was in my shoes. My pants were wet. It was really cold!
I tried to stand up but my foot caught on a rock and I fell down again. I started to cry. Dania and Stu were laughing.
“Let’s get out of here!” Dania said and then they were gone.
I was wet. I hated being wet.
I sat there.
I was sad.
They weren’t my friends.
They were mean.
They hurt me.
I was really cold. My fingers and toes were starting to ache.
My pants and shoes were wet.
I needed to take them off.
I sat there.
“Come on Flynn, let’s get you home.” Ellie had come back and she was pulling on my arm.
My teeth were chattering and I couldn’t talk. I hurt badly. I was wet. I wanted to get out of my clothes.
Ellie put her arm around me and it didn’t bother me when she did it. I liked when she touched me.
But she had hurt me before. She had been mean. Now she was being nice.
She was my friend again.
“Stu pushed me into the water,” I said, my teeth banging together.
“Yeah, he did. He’s a dick,” Ellie said and I tried to nod. But I couldn’t.
I was wet.
I was cold.
Ellie got me home. My mom was upset when she saw me. She yelled at Ellie to leave. But I wanted Ellie to stay. She helped me.
