The boys and I snuggled down together on my bed. Julien still had a stuffy nose, but they sounded and looked much better than they did earlier that day.Jayson doubled a pillow over and laid on his stomach beside me, propping his head up on top of his folded arms. I reclined back against my headboard and Julien sat next to me before laying his head on my lap. I knew he must be tired from being sick, so I started to rub his head by sliding my fingers through his thick, soft brown hair.
“Would you rather... ” Jayson began. We loved playing this game.
Jayson continued. “Would you rather eat a bowl full of maggots or three spiders?”
“So gross!” I threw my stuffed dog at him.
“I’d eat the spiders because they’re small and there’s only three of them. I don’t think I could eat an entire bowl of wriggly maggots,” Julien stated after considering the question seriously.
“Still gross,” I said pretending to fake vomit, “but I see your point. I agree. Ok. My turn. Hmm.” I spent a second thinking and then it hit me. “Would you rather... kiss a girl or kiss a toad?”
Jayson slid his eyes to Julien as Julien tilted his head up at me. Jayson then looked at me and said, “We’d kiss the girl but only if she were you.”
I knew I was only nine years old, but after first grade when Jayson, Julien, and I became the best of friends, I discovered that boys were not as icky as I once thought they were. I also saw Samantha kissing boys all the time behind the jungle gym on the playground at recess and it made me start thinking about whether I wanted to kiss a boy. Or have a boy kiss me. My mom and dad kissed all the time. Mom said that people kissed when they really liked each other. Samantha must have really liked a whole bunch of boys then.
I liked Jayson and Julien and they were boys. Would I want a boy to kiss me? I don’t think I would. But then I would see Julien racing across the playground after Jayson, or I would think about the color of their eyes that had always fascinated me, and I would change my mind. Yes. Yes, I did want to kiss a boy. Well, two boys. And yes, I wanted them to kiss me back. I actually talked to Hailey about it one night. She still thought boys were super gross and that I should keep my feelings a secret. Most boys in my class thought girls had cooties, and I’m afraid if I tried to kiss Jayson or Julien, they would stop being my friends.
Hearing Jayson say what he just said made my tummy feel like worms were crawling all in it. Before I could say anything back, Hailey came back into my bedroom and told the twins it was time for them to skedaddle back home before we all got caught and got in big, big trouble.
Before getting off my bed, Julien pecked my cheek quickly, followed by Jayson, and they both climbed out of my window.
Jayson poked his head back in. “Samantha tried to kiss us on the playground but we told her no.” Then he smiled at me and pulled his head back out.
Seconds later, I heard their voices from the darkness say, “Good night, princess.”
I touched my cheek where they kissed it and it was Hailey’s turn to make fake vomit sounds.
Coming out of my daydream, I pick at some fluff on the reading rug while waiting for class to begin. It's day three of no Jayson or Julien at school. The rest of the kids arrive to class and sit down as well. Samantha and Jacinda Blanchard, her best friend, start giggling and talking about some boy they saw in the hallway. I hear them snicker about how his clothes look dirty and he must be poor. I really hate when they talk about people behind their backs. My mom says it’s bad to gossip about others, and I have to agree. So I just ignore them and start talking to Maria who's sitting next to me.
Our teacher, Ms. Pauling, steps into the classroom, her hand resting atop the shoulder of a dark-haired boy. His head hangs down looking at the ground like he’s nervous to be in here. He’s wearing a light blue long-sleeved button-up shirt and jeans. I do notice that he has some brownish-black stains on the front of his shirt. Samantha and Jacinda start to giggle loudly and the boy’s head snaps up, a scowl on his face. He knows they are laughing at him.
“One, two, three, eyes on me,” our teacher chants the familiar words she uses to get our attention and our focus.
“One and two, eyes on you,” we all repeat back to her.
“Good morning class. I would like to introduce our new classmate, Ryder Cutton. Ryder is from Virginia and will be joining us for the rest of the school year.”
Choruses or “Hi, Ryder,” and “Welcome, Ryder,” sing out from our reading rug.
“Since it’s November and Ryder has not been here for the past three months, who would like to be his class buddy? As class buddy, you will help show him our class policies, lunchroom procedures, where the bathrooms and water fountains are located, and help introduce him to all of the other students at recess. Any volunteers?" Ms. Pauling looks at us expectantly.
I immediately raise my hand. “I can be his class buddy Ms. Pauling.”
“Excellent, Elizabeth. Thank you.”
She instructs Ryder to sit next to me on the reading rug. I try to scooch over to make room for him but Jacinda and Samantha refuse to move. Ms. Pauling doesn’t notice because she has turned around to get the box of our assigned reading books.
“Please move over and make room for Ryder,” I tell Jacinda.
She ignores me, and she and Samantha continue to giggle and point at Ryder’s stained shirt. Ryder frowns at them but doesn’t say a word.
I huff out an annoyed breath and decide to take matters into my own hands while Ms. Pauling’s back is still turned. I swivel around towards the girls, bend my legs, and then push them out like a plow, forcing Jacinda and Samantha to slide across the rug.
Before they even get a chance to say, “Ow!” I grab Ryder’s hand and pull him down next to me in the empty space I cleared for him. The half-smirk he gives me tells me that he appreciates what I just did for him, and he sits down cross-legged next to me. Ryder has really pretty eyes. They’re this light color of brown. They remind me of sunsets in the autumn when the sun sinks behind the forests in our backyard making the red, orange, and yellow leaves glow.
Ms. Pauling turns around after hearing Jacinda’s loud “Ow!” “Is there something wrong Jacinda?” she asks in her stern teacher voice that says she won’t be happy if she finds any of us messing around on the rug and not sitting quietly.
“No ma’am,” Jacinda replies, and when Ms. Pauling turns her back once again, Samantha sticks her tongue out at me.
