"Kind of a cute meet."
Sasha idly picked at the brownie Boo had brought to her, thinking of when the two had first met.
It was the first day of kindergarten and the two were waiting in line outside of the classroom. Sasha had barely turned five the week before and was wearing a new outfit her dad had picked out. Completing her ensemble was a purple parasol she'd had to throw a tantrum to get her parents to let her bring. She was excited to finally start school, but was trying not to show it. Only babies got excited about things.
"Ow!"
Little Sasha turned around to scrutinize the complainer behind her. She was a bit taller than Sasha, with blonde hair and wearing a black skirt and a pink T-shirt with the silhouette of a ballerina on the front. The girl was rubbing her right eye.
"What?"
"You poked me in the eye."
"No I didn't."
"Yes you did."
"No I didn't!" Sasha's cheeks flushed and she stomped her foot.
"Yes you did." The girl didn't raise her voice, merely stated it as a fact. "You hit me with your umbrella. Why do you have an umbrella anyway? It's not raining."
"It's a parasol, stupid. It keeps the sun off me."
"It's not that sunny." The girl squinted at the sky.
"Yes it is!" Sasha insisted and turned back around.
"Are you going to say sorry?" came the frank question from over her shoulder.
"No."
"I'm Boo."
"That's a dumb name."
"I like your par-parasol. It's pretty."
Sasha huffed. She actually wanted to talk to the nice girl behind her, but she didn't want to admit that she was in the wrong. Plus she was mad that this "Boo" wasn't bothered by her rudeness. Normally her mom and dad made a huge fuss when she stomped her foot and yelled. How could she feel happy about getting her way if the girl didn't give her the satisfaction of a fight?
The rest of the week Sasha avoided Boo, but kept a wary eye on her. It turned out that "Boo" was a nickname and that her real name was Bettina. The girl was gentle and cheerful, quick to please, and nice to everyone. At recess, she was the one who imagined up new games for the other girls to play. Sasha liked making everyone do what she wanted to do, but people listened to Boo's ideas naturally. They did what she wanted because they genuinely liked her. Sasha found herself liking Boo, too, despite her resolve to hate her.
After school on Friday while the kindergarteners were waiting for their parents to pick them up, Sasha marched up to Boo.
"Hi, Sasha." Boo greeted Sasha with a smile, one of her front teeth missing.
Sasha tried to keep a stern expression. In her head, this was the part where she commanded Boo to be her friend and then walked off without another word. Sasha Torres did not ask politely. She did not apologize. She always got what she wanted on her terms.
But Boo's cheerfulness was infectious and a grin spread across Sasha's face unbidden. She forgot to be her normal difficult self.
"I'm sorry I poked you in the eye," she said sheepishly. "Friends?"
"Of course!" Boo beamed and hugged her.
That was Boo, through and through. Ever since their meet cute, Boo had been nothing but forgiving and understanding of Sasha no matter how stubborn Sasha had been. Sasha took another bite of the brownie.
Chocolate and Tabasco. Who would've thought they would go so well together?