A New Town with New Hope

A true friend is perhaps all you need to help ease the scars of the past.

Aaron gently shook the fast asleep child awake, whispering, "Time for school, kiddo," in his ear.
Jumping up from the warmth of his bed, dodging the bony chin of his dad, James cheered, "I'm ready!"

Aaron couldn't help but admire his son's enthusiasm for his first day at a brand new school. When he was attending Shatter Glass, sometimes he had to practically yank James from his bed and force him into the classroom. He sighed at those not so joyful memories flooding in his mind once more. Thankfully, they didn't last; Aaron smiled with having them all in the past. "Huh?" Aaron gasped, noticing the empty bed beside him. He scanned the tiny bedroom for a fluffy ball of orange and spotted the young child shuffling into the bathroom.

James wanted to hog as much time as he could in there since most of Derrick's kids were still asleep. That meant he had, at least, five minutes to get dressed in peace. Quickly stepping into the cold porcelain tub, he welcomed the warm droplets of water as they dripped down his bare body. He relished the warmth, remembering that he had never been this fortunate enough to have it back then. The scent of sweet lavender filled the small tub as he coated his body with millions of bubbles. One more time, he stepped under the warm waterfall, allowing the bubbles to pop as they washed off his body and down into the big silver drain. He shut off the warmth with a whimper, knowing he only had a couple minutes left. He, then, dried off his moist skin quickly because he did not want to get sick on his first day. After grabbing his favorite T-shirt from the counter, he slipped it on, revealing Sticker Man's heroic face. Completing his outfit was an old pair of one of Derrick's older kids' hand-me-down cargo pants. He made sure to tie the drawstring tightly to avoid an embarrassment incident in front of his new classmates. With a big grin, James quickly grabbed his mother's old baseball hat and slipped it over his limp orange hair. As he cleared away the rest of the steam off the mirror, he noticed something was wrong. His broken arm was much more visible than he would have liked for it to be. Thinking quickly, James yanked a blue hoodie over his head, in an effort to cover up the past. I wonder what they are going to be like, he thought, smiling to himself. I hope they are nice. At that thought, he grinned even wiser.

 “Maybe I will make my very first true friend,” he cheered a little too loudly.

“Knock.”

James nearly jumped out of his skin, when he heard the unexpected faint thump from behind the bathroom door.

“Knock… Knock”

He hesitated a moment before turning the silver knob. He could feel his fear rising with the thought of either Skip or Max waking up and banging on the door for him to get out.  Taking a deep breath in, before pushing the door open, revealing a rather tired Kenny, who was Derrick's oldest son, standing in the hall. His fear instantly melted away as Kenny had been very kind to him and his dad since they moved in.

"Are you done, kiddo?" he groaned with a smile, not wanting to scare James with his not-so-pleasing morning face. While nodding his head, James stepped aside, so Kenny could walk past. "Have fun on your first day of school," Kenny sluggishly groaned with a hint of excitement in his voice.

James felt great because he was ready, and he had not awakened the other two kids, Max and Skip, who were not as joyful about sharing the bathroom with him and his dad. But they both didn't mind picking on him and dressing him up in girly clothes when they played tea party or house. Sticking his tongue out with disgust, he shivered from all that pink they forced him to wear. However, when he got hurt yesterday, they helped him out, and Kenny was good at first aid, which didn't surprise him, since he was an intern at the local clinic on the edge of town.

"Are you ready, kiddo? I made a special lunch for you." Aaron's voice quietly hollered from his temporary bedroom. 

"Coming," James chirped as he rushed back to his room for his bag and shoes. He spotted the grinning old man waiting patiently with his Sticker Man book bag and a brown bag of unknown edible objects in his hands. James quickly pulled the bag away from his dad's hands and swung it over his thin shoulders, letting it fall along his spine. Then, he turned around, so his dad could stuff his lunch safely inside before zipping it.

"Are you ready?" James asked, jumping up and down, eager to leave. He pulled his dad's big hairy arm with all his might to the front door, James had to stop several times to catch his breath before he got there.

"Are you sure you are ready? It looks like you are ready to hit the hay rather than go to class," Aaron joked with a goofy grin on his lips, allowing his dimples to show. He interlaced his overgrown fingers in his child's hand, before heading out for the short walk to Silver Blue Elementary.

***

After ten minutes of walking nervously down the concrete pavement, James's eyes widened with excitement, yet worry filled his stomach with fear of this school being the same as his last. Squeezing his dad's fingers tighter, he felt sick, but he didn't want to drop out of this once in a lifetime moment to make a new friend. Bravely, he followed his dad through the crooked pathway and up several flights of steps before stopping in front of the main door.

"Are you ready, son?" Aaron asked nervously, as if he was not sure about this place himself. James looked up with slight fear glimmering in his eyes. However, that wasn't going to stop him. He nodded his head, reassuring his dad that he was going to be fine. "Okay, let's find Mrs. Wongson, your new second-grade teacher."

As they passed number after number engraved on each of the small wooden doors, James began to get worried. He tugged on his dad's flannel shirt to get his attention.

Kneeling down to his son's level, Aaron quietly whispered, "What's the matter, James? Do you feel sick?"

While shaking his head, James asked, "Do we know her room number, or are we lost?"

Aaron stared at his son, dumbfounded. "Huh" escape from his lips. "No," he muttered in a higher pitched voice. Coughing slightly, he tried his best to remember where they were supposed to go. Then, he shrugged his shoulders and, while chuckling, admitted, "Um...I have an idea. Let's find the main office instead."

"Or maybe we can ask a kid where the classroom is," James interrupted as he ran to catch up with a blond-headed boy who was walking down the hall. James's action surprised Aaron. "Um... excuse me. Do you know where Mrs. Wongson's classroom is?" James asked politely.

Putting his finger on his chin, the boy replied with a smile, "Um... yeah. She is my teacher. Come on." He interlaced his fingers in James's sweaty ones and dragged him down the hall to Classroom 24. "Here we are," he smiled nervously, not knowing if James was angry at him for being dragged down the hall.

"Um...," James gulped, quickly unlatching his sweaty fingers from the unknown boy's hand, waiting awkwardly in front of the classroom’s door.

"Um...I am Sam. It's kind of short for Samuel. But I like Sam better... if you don't mind," the boy said quickly, fidgeting around, with panic written all over his face.

James felt guilty for being quiet after his courageous moment of speaking to a random stranger. Wiping away the remaining sweaty droplets off his clammy flesh, he raised his fist in front of the boy's eyes and calmly said, "My name is James Misluck. It is nice to meet you."

While waiting for Sam to reply, James noticed the small boy beginning to tremble. Fear dripped down his crystal blue eyes. He thought, Way to go, James. You made him cry. He cursed at his stupid action. Lowering his fist, letting his head drop in disappointment, James apologized in a hushed voice, "Sorry for scaring you."

Blinking the moisture from his eyes, Sam answered, "No, James. I just thought you were going to punch me." He hesitated with each one of his words as he spoke to the stranger named James.

Clutching the trembling boy's shoulder, James apologized, "Sorry. I wasn't going to hit you. It's just... I was trying to act cool by giving you a fist bump." Scratching the back of his head, James admit, "It's something my dad and I do to help cheer me up." He looked up as Sam's face lightened up with joy.

"Oh, sorry. I...  just... thought... never...  mind... um, do... you, want... to... be... my... friend... because... I...  don't have... any, and... you are... new and... all?" Sam stuttered, scratching his head, looking embarrassed. "I mean, you don't know anyone here, so... um... You... don't have to, if you don't want to," Sam stuttered more nervously.

"Yeah," James screeched with joy. My first friend ever, he thought, offering a hand to his new friend, "Let's be best friends. It'll be fun. Thank you," he said ecstatically.

Sam clasped his hand with James's. "Yeah, let's be best friends. You can be my partner for projects, but only if you want," he cheered nervously.

"You don't need to be afraid; I am not a scary kid. Let's go inside for my first day of class. I am ready," James said, trying to comfort the nervous boy. He turned the silver handle that led into the classroom and walked inside the small, colorful room with Sam by his side. “He goes nothing,” he mumbled.

Author's Note

A new starts is not always a bad thing.