The small brunette girl bounced over to him as he climbed off the bus. Her pigtails swung in every direction as she drew closer to him. She smiled widely at him, causing him to smile back. She alone in the school could make him smile. He waved, but the distraction caused him to trip on the bottom step of the bus and land face first on the ground. The boys behind him sniggered and stepped on him as they climbed off. Once they were gone, she helped him off the ground.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Good." She grabbed his arm and pulled him along after her, continuing to bounce with each step.
They sat next to each other during class, but tried not to speak so they wouldn't get in trouble. At recess, she pulled him along after her and they sat down in the grass to talk and watch the clouds pass. They talked about school, home, books, and everything else that popped into their heads. A few minutes before recess ended, the same boys from the bus stood over the pair and began teasing them.
"Come on Twinkle Toes," the apparent leader taunted, "why don't you race us across the playground? Weren't you saying yesterday how you could outrun anyone? How about you prove it now, in front of your little girlfriend here? I'm sure you'd like to see that, wouldn't you Lisa?"
"Come on James, we should get to class," Lisa said, pulling James towards the school building. He kept his head down, trying to hide the blush on his face left over from the comment about Lisa being his girlfriend. The bell rang, forcing the boys to let them go, as they had to return to class themselves.
"Next time, Twinkle Toes, you won't be so lucky," they shouted as they left.
James said nothing as they walked back to class, and remained silent for the rest of the day. Only after school ended and he was walking to Lisa's house did he speak again.
"You know they only wanted you to embarrass yourself," Lisa said.
"I know that, I just wish they'd stop teasing me." Lisa slipped her hand inside his, ignoring his feeble attempt to pull his hand away. "What if someone sees?"
"No one's going to see," she reassured him. "Are you sure your grandparents won't mind you staying for dinner?" James shook his head.
"Grandpa works late and Grandma just sits in front of the TV watching game shows."
"I thought you were going to try and spend time with them. Did you ask them to come to school next week to watch your presentation?"
"I tried, but they don't care. Only my mom ever cared . . ." James trailed off, choked by sudden emotion over thoughts of his mother. Lisa had already started to cross the street, but stopped when she realized he wasn't with her anymore.
"Come on James, my mom's making your favorite tonight, meatloaf."
James shook his head, with tears rolling down his face, trying to tell her he couldn't go with her anymore. His mother used to make him meatloaf whenever he had a bad day at school. He reached in his pocket, feeling the letter he always kept there, for the man who caused his parents' death.
Lisa started to walk back towards him, but a sudden car horn stopped her. They both turned to see a black car speeding around the corner, heading straight for Lisa. She froze in the street, immobilized by fear. James tried to push her out of the way, but he was too late. The car hit her. The car stopped and a man got out. He ran up to the nearest house to ask the woman to call 911. James just stood there, looking at Lisa's body lying on the ground at a strange angle.
James' grandparents took him to see Lisa in the hospital that night. When they arrived, the doctors informed them that Lisa died shortly after arriving at the hospital. James sank into the nearest chair and started crying. His grandmother sat down next to him, but made no move to comfort him. After thanking the doctor, his grandfather walked over and stood in front of him.
"Suck it up," he told James. "Men don't cry. I know you're sad, but she's dead, and there's nothing you can do about that now." James quickly wiped his eyes and stopped his tears. "You're almost old enough to be a man, so it's time to start acting like one." James nodded, and decided the only way to act like a man was to forget about Lisa. He hated to do it, but he had to if he wanted to be a man in his grandfather's eyes.