A/N: Hey, it's I've-Gotta-Be-Me again with a little idea that's been bouncing around in my mind for a while! I have to give credit for the title to The Lone Hufflepuff (that's her username here on ff) who was kind enough to think it up for me. That's all I have for you at the moment so happy reading!
-Reviews are greatly appreciated, my fellow Niff/Neff lovers (;
"Alright, do you have everything you need?"
Jeff's mom bent down to his eye level and asked the question for the quadjillionth time.
The blonde boy pulled off his backpack and opened it for inspection.
"Folders, paper, pencils, markers, crayons, and lunchbox," he recited, itching to disappear into the gates.
"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you in?" she asked, her hand clutching his.
"No, I know where the classroom is," the little boy assured her.
He was practically bouncing with excitement. For years he'd watched as his older siblings went off every day to school. Now it was finally his turn.
She patted down his hair and brought a finger to her mouth. She was wiping away a stain on his cheek when he stepped back.
"Mom, stop it! Not in front of other people."
He glanced around to see if any of the other kids had seen. Whew, it looked like he was safe.
"It's just…It's your first day of kindergarten." She pulled her son into an embrace.
"Mommy, please tell me you're not going to cry," Jeff asked, voice muffled by her blouse.
She pulled back. "No, no. I'm not going to cry." She wiped away the few tears that had already fallen.
"It's not even all day long. It's only half-day." He felt silly having to remind his mom about that rather than the other way around.
"But what if you need me?" she asked.
"Mom, I'm four and a half now." He puffed out his chest importantly. "I'll be okay."
"I guess you'll have to be. Okay, so have fun," she said, squeezing his shoulders one last time before standing up.
"I will." He gave her a smile so wide that she could see the gap where he'd lost his tooth.
She walked around the car and got in, getting ready to pull away from the curb. She waved at him one last time through the window before leaving.
He waved until she was out of sight.
With a sigh of relief, he pushed a few blonde strands out of his face and turned around to face the school. Just beyond the gates, he could see the door to his classroom with a large "3" painted on it.
He tugged on the bottom of his blue t-shirt that his mom bought insisting that the other kids would love it. That paired with jean shorts and lime green Converse made him look a little bit silly, but he liked the way he'd dressed himself.
He shouldered his pack again before skipping off towards the classroom.
The teacher was standing at the door greeting kids and some of the parents, too. Jeff impatiently waited his turn to walk through the door since it was currently being blocked by a small group of people.
He rocked back and forth on his heels while he waited. When it was finally his turn, he nearly ran through the door. Before he could he was stopped by his teacher.
"Hello there. And what's your name?" she asked kindly.
"Jeff," he replied.
"Hi, Jeff. It's nice to meet you. You can call me Mrs. Peters."
Well, she looked nice enough.
"Uh, Mrs. Peters?" he asked.
"Yes?"
"Can I go inside now?"
She laughed. "Yes, you can go inside now."
That was all he needed to hear before entering the room. There were name tags on the desks where a bunch of other kids were already sitting down and talking to each other.
Jeff looked on the open desks until he found his own name tag.
"Jeff Sterling" it read.
He smiled and ran his fingers over it before hanging his backpack on his chair and sitting down.
He knew some of the kids already since he played with them in the neighborhood sometimes. Sitting across from him was Wes.
"Hi, Wes," Jeff greeted him. "Isn't this awesome? We're starting school!"
"I know!" Wes replied, pounding the desk with his hands. "We're practically grown up now."
"Totally. I'll be driving next, just watch."
Just then, Jeff noticed a small boy sitting at a table all by himself. He had dark brown hair and his eyes were all puffy like he'd been crying or something. Well, the more Jeff looked at him, the more it seemed like he was still crying.
"Hey, Wes," Jeff turned back to face his friend. "Who's that kid over there? Why is he crying?"
"Oh, I don't know who he is," Wes said, openly staring at the new kid. "But he's being a crybaby. He didn't want his mom to leave him here alone."
"Why not?" Jeff couldn't understand. "Moms aren't supposed to come to school."
"I don't know," Wes shrugged. "It's kind of annoying. I think he should stop crying."
"I think it's kind of sad," Jeff replied, turning back to face the other boy. He just looked so lonely. "Maybe we should talk to him later," he suggested. "He looks nice."
Wes didn't look to sure about that. But before he could answer, Mrs. Peters was at the front of the room and talking to the whole class.
"Alright, class," she said, clapping her hands together twice. "We're going to play some games to get to know each other better."
She had Jeff at "games". He was going to like school, he could tell already.
The first half of the morning passed in a blur. There were a lot of activities and Jeff was getting to know a lot of kids he hadn't known before. He was sitting on the floor with Wes and David, but he was making lots of new friends with each passing game.
Mrs. Peters had them make some crafts and playing memory games all morning long. Still, Jeff noticed how that brown-haired boy didn't talk to anyone. He was sitting along the outside of the circle all the other kids had formed and his eyes were still all red. Didn't he know how to make friends?
When it was time to go to recess, all the kids were running out of the door and bumping to each other along the way.
Jeff unzipped his bag and got out a snack for himself. Through the window of the classroom, he could see that same boy sitting by himself at the lunch tables in the shade.
Wes poked his head back through the door.
"Jeff, are you coming? We're going to race on the bikes!"
Sure enough, Jeff could already see a bunch of his friends getting on the small tricycles and speeding off around the track painted on the cement.
"Sounds great," Jeff said. "I'll be there in a minute."
He zipped up his backpack again and walked out to the playground area. All the girls were grouped together and either playing hopscotch or singing weird rhymes that Jeff didn't understand while jumping rope.
As he passed them by, he heard his name.
"…H, I, J!" The girl who was jumping missed the rope. "J is for Jeff!" the girls screeched. "Eeeew! Laura, the means Jeff is your boyfriend now!"
They all giggled and pointed as Jeff walked past, but he wasn't bothered by them. Girls were icky and weird. His main concern was the boy sitting at the lunch tables.
When he reached the table, he sat on the bench right next to the boy. He was fiddling with something on his shirt and seemed more upset than he'd been in class.
"Hi," Jeff said. "What's that?" He pointed to what the boy was messing with.
"It's a button. Mrs. Peters gave it to me," the boy responded, still hiding the face of the button.
"Oh, that's neat," Jeff said, confused as to why the button was making the other boy unhappy. "Can I see it?"
"It's stupid," the brunette boy muttered before wiping away a tear. But he let his hands fall from the front of his shirt.
"I need a friend" it said.
Jeff stifled a giggle. The boy wasn't lying, that button was kind of embarrassing.
"You're right, that is bad," he offered. "So why are you so bummed?"
The boy sniffled. "I just miss my mom, I guess."
Jeff ripped open his pack of fruit snacks. "I bet if you made some friends, you'd miss her a lot less."
"Maybe…But I don't know to make friends," he said quietly. "I've never had to before."
"Here, I'll show you." Jeff shifted to face him. "Hi, my name's Jeff. What's yours?"
The other boy smiled shyly. "I'm Nick. Nick Duval."
"Nick," Jeff repeated. "I like you, Nick." He slung his arm around the other boy's shoulder.
"Thanks," Nick said. He looked much happier than he'd been all day. "I like you, too."
They laughed. Jeff took his arm back and grabbed a cherry flavored fruit snack.
"Do you want some?" he offered.
"Sure, those are my favorite!" Nick said.
"No way, they're my favorite too!"
"Who's your favorite superhero?" Nick asked as he popped a fruit snack into his mouth.
"Batman. He has the Batmobile!"
"He's my favorite too!" Nick was bouncing in his seat.
The two didn't get up from the table all recess long.
For the rest of the day, Jeff and Nick were inseparable and Mrs. Peters even let Nick move his desk next to Jeff's as long as they promised to behave.
When it was time to go home, they walked together to the drop-off area together. Nick's mom came to pick him up first and as he was walking to the car, something fell out of his pocket.
Jeff rushed to pick it up and called after him.
"Hey, Nick! You dropped your button!"
"What?" Nick spun around.
"Don't you want it back?" Jeff held it out.
"No, that's alright," Nick said. "I don't need it anymore."
"Shut up," Nick said, nearly falling over from laughing so hard. "That is not how we met."
Jeff came to sit down on the edge of Nick's bed.
"For the last time, yes it is!" Jeff shook his head. "Why don't you believe me? Would I lie to you?"
"Do you actually want me to answer that question?" Nick teased.
"I'm telling you," Jeff insisted, "I remember it like it was yesterday."
"Yeah, well, your memory must be impaired because you're rewriting history, pal."
"You're just embarrassing yourself," Jeff sing-songed. "I have proof."
"Well stop the presses – Jeff has proof. Oh I'm so scared."
"Fine, you asked for it," Jeff said, getting up to cross the dorm and rummage through his dresser.
"Let the record show that I didn't, in fact, ask for it. But go on."
Jeff walked back to Nick's bed and held out his hand.
"What's that?" Nick asked warily.
"Just take it."
He was still unsure if it was a trick or something, but Nick took the small round object that was lying in Jeff's palm.
"Wait…Is this what I think it is?"
Sure enough, it was. The button was worn and scratched on the surface, but it was there and intact. There were the words that were forever engrained in Nick's mind: "I need a friend".
"Oh man," Nick dropped the button on the bed and covered his face as he laughed. "How could I forget? That was like the single most embarrassing day of my life."
"I think you've had worse since then," Jeff taunted.
"Be quiet." Nick pushed Jeff's shoulder. "I can't believe you saved that stupid button of shame. And that you've been hoarding it in our dorm room nonetheless!"
"Hey, I kept it because it was important."
"Yeah, so important button that I'd like to throw in a fire," Nick scoffed.
"We're best friends," Jeff shrugged. "I just like to remember how far we've come, I guess."
"Don't worry," Nick smiled. "That's one thing that's never going to change."
Jeff returned with a grin of his own.
"I'm not worried about that."
"Yeah, me either."
