Getting to know you, getting to know all about you.
Getting to like you, getting to hope you like me.
Getting to know you, putting it my way but nicely,
You are precisely my cup of tea.

The sand was unusually easy to work with, and Sara was happily filling her bucket and turning it upside down to make towers in a corner of the sandbox. She looked up at her mother and smiled a bright three-year-old smile and waved back when her mother waved at her. Her mother pointed at a little girl and a boy who was clearly her older brother in another corner of the large sandbox, clearly intending that Sara should go and try to make friends, but Sara shook her head. She was still wary of the children in their new neighborhood, especially Bobby, who was sitting a few feet away from the girl and her brother. She didn't like Bobby. He was in her preschool class and always pulled her hair.

"Hey!" she heard a familiar voice yell. Sara turned around and her smile disappeared. Bobby was coming over. Sara instinctively moved in front of her sandcastle, which wasn't very big, but was still something she was proud of and didn't want Bobby to destroy. "Gimme your bucket," he said loudly, trying to grab the bucket from Sara's hands.

"You gotta say please!" Sara said, clutching the bucket to her. "Say please and I share, I promise!"

Bobby glared at her, then reached out and yanked a handful of Sara's red curls. "I said, gimme your bucket!"

Sara started crying. "That hurt!" she whimpered. "I gonna tell my mommy. MOMMY!"

Bobby was about to pull another handful of curls, when suddenly he was on the ground. Sara looked up and saw the little girl from the other side of the sandbox standing next to her and glaring at Bobby, who was on the ground holding the side of his face.

"You hit me!" he said, looking surprised.

"You leave her alone!" the other girl said. "Stop pulling her hair! You made her cry! Her mommy is gonna come over and beat you up. Now go away before I tell our teacher tomorrow!"

Bobby got up and ran away, looking terrified at the other girl. The other little girl sat down next to Sara and looked kindly at her. "Is your head OK?" she asked.

Sara nodded. "It hurts, but I am OK," she said. "Are you in the same class as me and Bobby?"

The girl nodded. "You just started, right? My name is Elizabeth. I'm three."

"My name is Sara. We're the same age!"

The older boy came over and shook his head at Elizabeth. "Lizzie, you aren't supposed to hit people," he said, looking disapprovingly at Elizabeth.

"But Trip, he was hurting her!" Elizabeth protested. "He tried to take her bucket and pulled her hair and made her cry! I had to stop him!" She turned to Sara and said "That's my brother Trip. He's eight."

"Hi," Sara said, looking at her shoes. She wasn't sure she wanted to be around older kids who weren't her own brother and sister, especially when she didn't know them.

"Are you OK?" Trip asked her. Sara nodded. "Are you sure?" Sara nodded again.

"I'm OK," she said in a small voice.

Trip studied the small girl sitting next to his sister for a moment. "This wasn't the first time he pulled your hair, was it?" he asked.

Sara shook her head. "He does it all the time because I'm the new kid."

Trip reached into his pocket and pulled out a tissue, then handed it to Sara. "Here," he said. "For your eyes."

Sara hesitated, then took the tissue and wiped her eyes with it. "Thank you," she said. She looked up and saw her mother coming over, followed by another woman who looked like Elizabeth. "Is that your mommy?" she asked.

"That's our mommy," Elizabeth said happily. "I think our mommies are friends now."

Trip, older and slightly wiser, read something different in his mother's expression. "Uh, Lizzie, I think you might be in trouble. Mom doesn't look happy."

"Well, I'll tell the truth. Then she won't be mad."

Their mothers reached them at the same time, and after getting the story from all three children, it was decreed that nobody was getting punished that day. It was also decided that since they lived right next door, Elizabeth and Trip were welcome to come over anytime they wanted.

"I think we are gonna be best friends, Sara," Elizabeth said as they toddled out of the park.

"I think so too," Sara said. And for the first time in forever, she wasn't shy.