Brady comes to stand in the spot Miss Landry has left, but he doesn’t put his arm around me. I’m glad for that, because that would be weird, but I wouldn’t mind being hugged today. Today is hard. Being the new kid in school, and new to my own house, is hard.
“Hi,” Brady says, sticking out his hand. I’ve only seen adults do that, and people in movies.
I place my hand in his, and he shakes so strongly that I’m certain he’s shaking my hand for me.
“Let’s go play.” He pulls me to the back of the line and releases me once we get there. In front of us, a boy with blondish-brown hair steps out of line and looks back at us. He puts his fisted hands on his hips and shakes his head at me. The nerves rush back, but then I realize he’s looking at Brady, not me.
Behind me, Brady says, “That’s Finn. He’s not mean, but he acts like it sometimes.”
I nod, but Brady’s words don’t make me feel any better. I don’t think Finn likes that Brady has volunteered to be my friend.
We march through the halls to the playground, and when the concrete becomes grass, everyone scatters. Brady takes my hand again.
“Come on,” he says, leading the way to the monkey bars. Finn sits on the top rung of the ladder, watching us approach.
“Hi,” I say when we get there. Brady drops my hand again.
Finn eyes me from his perch but doesn’t say anything.
“Say hi, Finn.” Brady’s voice sounds like an adult.
“Hi,” Finn says in a bored tone, and something tells me that although he did what Brady said, he doesn’t usually listen when people tell him what to do.
Finn hops off the ladder and drops down onto his knees. He paws through the sand, pushing it right and left, lifting his fingers and letting the grains slip through like one of those things people use to look for gold.
Brady does the same, so I do too.
“Why are we doing this?” I ask, watching as the sand I’ve gathered falls through my fingers.
Finn glances at me like I’m hopeless, the stupidest girl he has ever met. Brady says, “The teachers bury treasure in the sand. Gems and pirate coins. Sometimes little toys.”
Finn looks up. His hair is tan like the sand we’re digging in and his eyes are dark, like the bark of the rain-soaked mesquite tree in front of my old apartment. He looks hard at Brady. “Violet says there’s money buried here too.”
Brady shakes his head. “My mom says the teachers don’t make enough to offer their money for us to find.”
Finn ignores this and keeps sifting. “If there’s money, I’m going to find it.”
Brady looks at me and rolls his eyes, and I giggle. Finn looks up sharply, and I know immediately that was the wrong thing to do.
“We need to have a meeting,” Finn announces to Brady. He stands and strides off to the boy’s bathroom.
Brady looks at me and I can tell he feels bad. “I’ll be right back.”
I watch him go. I like the way he walks slowly, like he’s not in a hurry to hear whatever it is Finn has to say.
Looking around, I see girls climbing on the play area, flying down slides, and some older kids playing tetherball. Nobody looks my way. I get up, brush off my knees, and walk with my head down to the girl’s bathroom. I don’t want to keep sitting alone in the sand, and I don’t know what else to do. When I get closer, I hear voices, so I pause with my palms flattened on the bathroom door, then slide against the brick wall until I’m closer to the corner where the voices are coming from.
“Why are you inviting a girl to play with us?”
“It’s her first day. And she looked scared.”
“She’s agirl.”
If there’s a response, I can’t hear it. Suddenly they appear around the corner. Brady looks surprised to see me, and Finn’s face hardens, like he’s mad. I hurry into the girl’s bathroom, and I stay there until I hear a whistle. Brady is waiting for me when I emerge, and silently I join him in line.
* * *
Today,I’m ready. I have a plan.
