“Tommy needs his mommy!”
Every day. He’d had a rough time on the bus ride four years ago when his family had first moved to this town. He’d never had to ride the bus before, let alone be stuck on one for over an hour before classes even started. It was middle school, and so much was different about this place than the last place he’d called home, but not even moving up to merge the various districts into this high school seemed to allow him to leave that one incident behind. Four years and every single day he still had to listen to that line.
Closing his locker, Tommy taps his forehead against it. Another year, another chance to learn patience. That’s what his mother keeps reminding him. He keeps trying to see it as an opportunity for growth, but the only thing that grows is his frustration with the repetition. It wouldn’t be so bad if they at least made up some new material every once in a while, but these bullies don’t even bother with that.
He can’t help but miss his old life, his old school, his old friends. He still keeps in touch with them, but it’s not the same, and not just because of the many miles now separating them. So much had changed the day of the accident. There was just so much they couldn’t understand.
“Tommy looks like he’s gonna cry. Wah!” Looking up, he finds someone making big sobbing hands gestures with a goofily awkward whiney face. “Someone call his mommy!”
Watching them waltz away as the bell rings, Tommy shakes his head slowly, grabbing his bag off the floor and spinning away roughly to get to class before the attendance is taken.
“Ooof!”
“Oh, I am so, so sorry!”
He immediately drops and grabs the book and pencil she dropped, handing them to her without looking at her, swallowing hard.
“You’re a freshman, right?”
His eyes dart up. “Yes, and I am so, so sorry-“
“Hey,” she laughs, “it’s okay. The book is fine, and it’s the first day, so they’re not going to be bears about making it to class on time because people are still figuring out where to go.”
Blinking, he starts to actually see her. Is she smiling at him? No… “S-sorry for running into you.” He backs up two paces, extending the book toward her and dropping his eyes, waiting for her to take it.
After a few moments of silence and her not taking her book back, he looks up. Her arms are rolled around as she checks her elbows, then she looks over her sides, spinning to try to see her back. “Hmm. Nope, I still can’t find any damage.”
“I…”
Looking up at him, her eyes twinkle. “You’re fine, freshman. It’ll be okay.” She chuckles. “We’ve all been there before. Here,” she takes her book, also taking the opportunity to come close to him. She’s radiating … warmth … “I’ll even walk you to class. Where are you headed?”
“Chemistry.”
“Oh, chem! What fun! And for a freshman,” she grabs his bag with her spare hand and passes it to him, “you must be pretty smart to be taking chem as a freshmen. This way,” she nods down the hall, leading them off. “The teacher is fabulous; we all get Mr. Knowles at some point, and that man has a quirky sense of humor, so be prepared for some funky fun.”
“You really don’t have to show me the way. I know where it is.”
She smiles playfully. “Oh, you do? But I certainly want to make sure my new freshman friend gets where he needs to go.”
“Oh, okay… Thank – thank you.”
“Absolutely. I didn’t catch your name. What is it?”
His eyes fall. “Tommy.”
She pauses him with a light tap on his arm. “Tommy as in Thomas?”
He swallows. “Yeah, but everybody calls me Tommy.”
A grin spreads over her face, eyes glittering. “May I call you Thomas?”
Enraptured by her glow, he simply nods.
“Perfect!” She nods them forward. “Nice to meet you, Thomas. You may call me Anastasia, Ana for short, but the full name will garner the desired effect.”
“What effect?”
She winks at him. “Just be sure to thank me by name when I leave your classroom. Okay?”
Eyebrows furrowed, he nods.
“Good. Here we are. I’ll knock and introduce you.”
Clearing her throat, she knocks on the classroom door. A chair scuffs against the floor, and a few moments later, an upperclassman opens it, peering out.
“Hi. What’re you doing here?”
“Dropping off a student. May I pop my head in to say hello?”
He opens the door wide, waving his hand toward the front. “Just close the door on your way out, Ana.”
“Thanks, Adam.”
She waves Tommy forward, stepping inside herself. Tommy finds a mix of students – freshmen and upperclassmen alike – and his eyes fix on the one from the hallway earlier wagging his hands in his face; even now, he smirks darkly, mouthing crying noises.
“Mr. Knowles! I borrowed one of your pupils for a moment; I hope you can forgive me.” His eyes jolt back to her.
“Ana! What a pleasant surprise!”
“For me as well; any excuse to come say hello. I want to introduce you to my friend Thomas before I get out of your hair. Mr. Knowles, meet Thomas, a fantastic freshman I am so lucky to have stumbled across. And Thomas,” she waves him forward, “meet Mr. Knowles, the wittiest person to ever grace these grounds, not to mention one awesome soccer player.”
“You know I only ref now, Ana.”
“He’s a secret soccer-playing vigilante,” she stage whispers to Thomas. “His cover is that he quit playing, but he’s still a pro.”
Mr. Knowles laughs good-naturedly, shaking his head at her. “Thank you, Ana. You should come visit when you have time to share your wisdom with my class.”
She daintily clutches her heart. “You flatter me, sir, but I would be delighted to come spend some more time in your classroom. For now, however,” she smiles at Mr. Knowles, then at Tommy, “I shall leave you to your own devices. We’ll catch up soon,” she pivots to nod at the teacher. Spinning back, she smiles at Tommy. “Enjoy class! Thank you, Thomas!”
He nods back at her. “Thank you, Anastasia.”
She smiles, shrugging playfully. “Any time!” Spinning, she trots out, gently closing the door behind her.
Thomas can’t help but grin, turning back to the classroom. He sees a few open desks, and one of the upperclassmen beckons him to sit at one of them. The bully from earlier seems to fade from existence as Thomas slides into his new perch for chemistry class. The one who hailed him over nods. “Full name privileges, huh? You must’ve done something right. Ana’s pretty protective over her name.”
Grin broadening, he shrugs. “I don’t know what, but I’m glad she’s happy.”
“She’s good people,” another chimed in. “And she has good judgment, so if she likes you, you must be good people, too. Welcome to the fold.”
“Thank you,” he smiles, nodding. With a quick look at the door, he sees her smiling at him, clutching her book giddily. When he nods at her, she nods back, then skips off down the hall.
