Help me understand
The war you're fighting

We'll never have a chance
If you fire blindly

Chloe looked up at the sound of the classroom door opening to see a tiny little girl with blue eyes and brown hair enter. She must have been the same age as Chloe and the other kids, but she was smaller somehow; although Chloe could see a look in her eyes that said the girl would probably fight anyone who dared to mention her size.

Ms. Asher led the new girl up to the front of the class, and Chloe smiled as she saw the girl clutching her Spiderman lunch box. Chloe loved Spiderman.

"Class, this is Beca!"

"Hi, Beca!" The group of first graders chorused back.

"She's going to be in our class now, so I want you all to give her a nice warm welcome, ok?"

"Yes, Ms Asher!"

Chloe stared at Beca until the other girl's eyes met hers. As soon as they did, she gave her biggest toothless smile. Chloe Beale may have only been 7 years old, but even she could see the look of terror that passed over Beca's face before it was quickly swallowed by a half smile, chin tilting out trying to show confidence.

"Alright Beca, let's see where we can get you a seat!"

"Ms Asher!"

"Raise your hand please, Chloe."

Chloe's hand shot up, waving frantically.

"Yes, Chloe?"

"Beca can sit by me! I have an empty seat!"

"That's very nice of you, Chloe! Beca, why don't you go put your lunch box in your cubby and come sit next to Chloe?"

The small girl nodded before walking over to the cubbies and stretching on her tiptoes to stick the Spiderman lunch box in her small square. Grabbing a purple pencil box, she walked over and took the seat next to Chloe.

"We're working on writing our spelling words! You can share my list!" She pushed the piece of paper that she had been copying words off of into the middle of the desk so Beca could see it.

"Thanks." Beca frowned and she couldn't help but feel confused. She was being nice! She was smiling! Why was this new girl being so weird? She quickly brushed it off though and went back to her spelling words, pencil carefully tracing out the letters.

Eventually, it was time for lunch; and Chloe took extra time getting her lunch box out so that she could stand in line with Beca. She drug the other girl through the milk line and towards the tables.

"Come on, you can sit with me!"

Beca didn't say anything, but she followed Chloe anyway; settling in on the bench across from her. Chloe found herself staring as the Spiderman lunch box was opened and a sandwich was pulled out.

"Nice lunchbox!"

"Thanks."

Chloe rolled her eyes and took out a bag of apple slices.

"You're supposed to say that mine looks nice, too!" she gestured to her own Little Mermaid box.

"Why?"

"Because it's polite!"

The girl appeared to think about that for a moment, dark eyebrows pulling together.

"Her hair matches yours," Beca spoke around a mouthful of sandhich. "It's pretty."

She wasn't a hundred percent sure whether the girl was referring to Ariel's hair or hers, but she chose to take it as a compliment anyway.

"I'm 7! How old are you?"

"6. And a half."

"What kind of sandwich do you have?"

"Ham and cheese."

"I love ham and cheese!"

"Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite, but mom says I can't bring that to school because some kids are allergic."

Chloe wasn't sure what exactly she was supposed to do with that information, but she pressed forward anyway.

"Well I have chicken salad! I'll trade you half for half?"

Beca didn't answer, but she did hand Chloe half of her sandwich and took the offered chicken salad. The silence made Chloe feel jittery and she allowed her legs to swing from the chair. She tried to start a conversation a few more times, but the brunette only gave short answers. Eventually, she gave up on trying to engage Beca in any sort of discussion and settled instead for telling the new girl everything she would possibly need to know about being a part of Ms. Asher's first grade class. The other girl listened quietly, nodding occasionally and asking the rare question. By the end of lunch period, Chloe felt like she had made a new friend, even if Beca didn't say as much.

Recess was not Chloe's favorite part of the day. Her class shared the playground with one of the third grade classes, and one of the third grade boys liked to make fun of Chloe's hair.

"Red, Red, Red." He would chant incessantly.

It wasn't so much that he called her Red, because she knew she had red hair, she loved her red hair! It was the way he yelled it, so taunting and mean. And he never stopped, no matter how many times she asked him nicely to stop.

She followed Beca out to the swing set, keeping up a nice steady pace as she watched Beca swing higher and higher.

"Red! Red! Red!"

She looked to the side to Tommy the third grader, yelling at her just as he always did. Her eyes dropped and her swinging slowed until she came to a stop, feet dragging in the tiny gravel. What she didn't see though was that Beca also stopped swinging and was watching her interaction with Tommy.

"Tommy, please stop."

"Why should I? Your hair's red isn't it? Red! Red! Red!"

Chloe could feel her eyes stinging with tears.

"Hey, Tommy! She asked you to stop!"

She looked up to see Beca standing in front of the boy, arms crossed over her chest and stretched out to her full height.

"Why should I? Who are you?"

"I'm Beca, and you should stop because she asked you nicely!"

"I don't think so, Shortie!" He turned back to Chloe. "Red! Red! R-yeooowwww!"

Beca's fist made contact with his nose and his hands flew to his face.

"Wh-why'd you hit me for?"

"You were making her cry!"

Tommy pulled his hands away from his nose, and Chloe's eyes widened at the sight of blood dripping down his face. Apparently, Tommy was also freaked out, because he immediately started screaming, tears quickly joining the blood. Even Beca looked a little shocked at the sight, although she quickly covered it with a smug expression. Before Chloe had a chance to thank her new friend, the teachers had come over and were tugging Beca and Tommy back into the school.

The next day when she thanked Beca for standing up for her, the brunette simply shrugged.

"He deserved it."

"Did you get in trouble?"

"I have to stay inside for recess for a week. Totally worth it."

So when recess came, Chloe stayed inside too; and the next day, she made sure to pack her Spiderman coloring book and an extra pack of crayons.