The unfamiliar dew on the grass startled Julianne. Her parents had dropped her off at this new building to her eyes only minutes ago, but it felt like ages to the young girl.

The back of her legs hit her big backpack resting on her back everytime she walked, making her frustrated. She hated how huge the bag was to her body. She felt tiny, small. Like a little girl. Words her mean older cousin would call her.

She looked around the playground after staying the same spot where her parents had left her. Kids were hugging their parents who would walk away moments later. She heard too many voices and she was alone. Alone and scared. She took a seat down on the grass. The wet dew beginning to slip through her dress her parents had force her to wear.

She took out her lunch box. It was a plain  purple one. She looked around at the setting again. Looking at the kids, jealous of the girls who didn't have plain lunchboxes in her hand. Instead they had barbie ones.

Julianne took out her sandwich her mom had made that morning, wrapped in wax paper with a cute pony tape sealing it. She carefully ripped the tape off and sticking it onto the lid of the box. She took a bite of her jelly sandwich. No peanut butter, she would throw a tantrum if any of her foods had any peanut butter. She hated the way the consistency of the spread would stick to the roof of her mouth she yelled to her parents. They hid all the peanut butter candies in a box on the top shelf of the pantry.

Julianne sat on the grass, her dress already wet from the dew, watching parents leave their crying kids behind. Some were crying hysterically, yelling for their mommy. Some were already playing on the playground behind Julianne, others just sat on a table talking to the other kids.

It wasn't until Julianne felt a nudge on her shoulder that she realized someone had sat next to her. She turned her head to see a boy. A boy, she thought, cooties.

Her old friends at the old building she went to school, said all boys have cooties and they are disgusting and smelly. She agreed because her older cousin was disgusting and smelly.

"Hi." The boy spoke. Julianne stared at him with wide eyes, her jelly sandwich near her mouth as she slowly chewed on the food in her mouth. "I'm Keith." Then he leaned in with his body. Julianne felt her brain screaming as she pushed his body away.

Kieth groaned as he rubbed the spot Julianne laid her hands on pushing him away. "What was that for?" His tiny, squeaky voice cried out.
She didn't respond. Instead she cried.

She cried and cried, making all the kids in the playground turn their heads towards the crying girl with a squished sandwich in her hands and a small confused boy by her side looking around lost.

"Okay, okay what happened here? Are you okay sweetie?" An older looking lady squatted in front of Julianne taking out her sandwich from her hands, clicking her tongue. "Honey you need to save this for lunch later, so you can eat." That made Julianne cry harder. She wanted to eat now.

The lady eyes widen at the loud noise coming from the small girl. "I'm Mrs. Gomez, may I ask your name?" Julianne quieted down a bit, sniffling as she read the name tag pinned on the lady's shirt.

"Julianne. I'm Julianne." She said, wiping her nose on her arm. Mrs. Gomez took out a paper from her pants, her eyes reading over it. "Oh great you're in my class. I'll be your teacher this year." Then she turned to the boy who was still sitting down next to them. "And what's your name?"

"Keith" He answered. The lady looked over the paper again and grinned. She stared at two confused kids in front of her, "You two are both in my class. You guys will be together this whole year. Great time to make friends okay?" And with that she walked away. Leaving two little, lost kids behind. One sniffling and the other just...lost.

Keith turned to her, "Do you want to be friends?" He asked, a little pep in his voice.

Julianne sat there thinking for a while. Did she really want to be friends with a boy? A boy who might have cooties. She looked around the playground in search of her girl friends she had made at the school before. They were nowhere to be found.

She sighed as she looked back at Keith who was still staring at her in awe. "Fine...we can be friends."

Keith's smile grew wider on his face when he took his pinky out and set it in front of Juliane's face, shocking her a bit. "Pinky promise me?" She looked at him confused. "What's that?"

"I had seen it on a show last night," Keith grabbed her hand and stuck her pinky out, interlocking it with his. "When we do this with our pinkies, it means we made a promise and we can't ever ever break it." Such seriousness in his voice.

"Ever?" She asked.

"Ever."

And their pinkies tightened around each other.

"Great we're best friends forever." He smiled at her.

She looked around, her eyes landing on a mini basketball hoop across the playground. He noticed her staring and turned his head.

"Do you want to play basketball with me?" He asked, starting to stand up, dusting his pants.

She looked up at him, "Okay." She got up, dusting her dress, Keith helping her wipe her dress. After setting their backpacks down by the pole, Keith grabbed a basketball from the closet.

"Let's play."