"I don't want to go!" Rory halted in the middle of the grounds. He let go of his mother's grip to fold his arms tightly against his chest and scowl at the floor.

The frustrated woman sighed. She placed her hand on his back gently to slowly get him moving, but he was reluctant to do so.

"Come on Rory, we've been through this. I will be waiting outside, right here, when the end bell rings," Rory's mother assured him.

The small boy peered up at her with tears prickling his eyes, "I really don't want to go. I don't have any friends. Can't we just go home mummy?"

It was hard for the mother to see her boy upset like this, especially with those puppy dog eyes and massive school top that hung off him like a dress and hid his tiny hands.

"Now darling, it may seem daunting at first. I'm sure you'll make some lovely friends," his mother replied.

Rory dropped his head. "I'm scared," he mumbled.

The dark haired woman knelt down so that she was level with Rory and looked into his eyes with confidence. She took his chin into her loving hands and spoke with certainty, "Not my Rory. My Rory is brave; he drove out all the monsters that lived under his bed and even the ones that crept into his closet. He defeated the pirates with his mighty sword and slayed the fiercest dragon. He's not afraid of anything." Rory eyes lit up and he gave a smile. "And you know what else Rory can do? He can make friends just by being himself because my Rory, well he is one magnificent kid."

Rory wore a broad grin across his face as he flung his arms around his mother's neck and squeezed his eyes closed tight. She chuckled when she nearly lost her balance from the gratified child.

"Alright now," she said with a low chuckle when she pulled him away, "time for the little hero to face the battlefields."

Rory puffed up his chest in a comical fashion and put his enormous school bag onto his tiny back like it was his rifle. His mother pecked him on the cheek and he marched into the school courtyard. When he reached the building, he lost his professional manner and turned back to wave and say, "Bye mummy, I love you". With that, he vanished into the room.

xx

Rory hung his bag on the hook just outside of the classroom like everyone else before they went inside and sat down. As he was doing so he heard two boys behind him.

"Love you mummy," one said in a mimicking voice.

"Goodbye mummy," the other mocked.

Rory was sitting holding his bag by its end loop, resting it on the silver hook as he listened intently. The two boys sneered as they passed him and went into a room down the hall. The big brave boy suddenly felt so miniscule.

"Everybody, take a seat on the floor," Mr Brooke announced.

Rory dragged his feet over to the carpet floor where everyone was settling down.

As Rory looked around the classroom, he noticed that it was buzzing with life and excitement. Everyone wanted to be there, 'big school' was highly spoken of, but Rory was not utterly convinced, so he kept to himself whenever he could.

When recess came the children were out in the playground, running around and playing tips. It seemed that everyone had made friends instantly, so why couldn't he? He felt like he was different to other kids his age, in a sense he felt alienated.

So for the whole of recess he just walked on the pavement and occupied himself. He appeared to be inspecting the ground, in actual fact he was following an ant. It was carrying a piece of bread that was almost triple its size. He followed it, watching it closely and almost losing sight of the diligent creature when it went weaved in and out of the scribbles of grass. The ant lead him to its' home where it disappeared into a hole in the ground. Rory crouched and stared at this hole expectantly, waiting for the ant to come out again. He was thinking and bewildered as to how the small ant could carry such a heavy load.

Behind him, a few voices interrupted his thoughts, he could hear the laughter and chatter of the kids mucking about in the distance, but that wasn't it. Before Rory even looked up to see who it was, a big black shoe thumped onto the ant hole that he was thoughtfully looking at.

"Why you looking at the ground doufas?" A bulky young boy with short black hair stood in front of Rory.

"Maybe because it's your only friend," the tall lean boy standing slightly behind the bulky one remarked. Both boys laughed maliciously at that comment, they looked a lot older than Rory, at least by two years. Rory glared up at the two of them, tears welling up in his eyes. He didn't understand why they were talking to him like that. Innocent little Rory is quite oblivious to motives behind cruelty.

"Going to cry? Why don't you cry to mum-my about it," the first boy ridiculed.

A ball bounced a few feet away from the three boys and a girl went to chase it.

"Go cry to her that you don't have any friends."

Rory stood up, "I do too!"

"Ants don't count."

Rory curled his fingers up into fists.

"What do you mean, he hasn't got any friends? I'm his friend." A thick Scottish accent came from behind Rory. "He's my friend," the red headed girl paced towards Rory to put her arm around his shoulder, "so why don't you just go away and stop picking on little kids."

The boys snickered, "Oh you got a girlfriend doufas?" Rory looked down at his feet, embarrassed to look up. He felt the girls arm leave him and then a yelp in pain. He shot up to see one bully hopping on one leg holding his foot and the other with his eyes bugled out.

"Come on, let's go," was what Rory heard right before they scattered away.

"My friend taught me that trick, feet always work with those sort," the ginger-haired girl turned to Rory, "My names Amelia by the way, what's your name?"

"Rory," the confused boy replied.

"Rory," Amelia repeated, "I like that name. I think you're in my class. Mr Brooke?" Rory nodded.

"Do you want to come and play with us?" Amelia gestured towards the playground where a group of kids where playing a ball game. Without waiting for a response the two children starting walking in that direction.

"How to you play?" Rory spoke softly.

"Well basically when you're in, you have the ball and you have to try and hit other people with it so they are then in, "Amelia simply explained.

"Won't that hurt?" Rory asked astonished.

"Nah you'll be fine, the ball isn't that hard," Amelia hit the ball with a fist and it sunk into the rubber for a fraction of a second and rebounded. "See, it isn't that hard. Come on, let's play." Rory smiled and complied.

When they were in the midst of fooling around in the playground, Rory suddenly stopped. Something caught his eye. He saw a glimmer in the sky. The sky was completely blue, not a cloud in sight (which is quite lucky weather for Leadworth) but there looked like there was a star in broad daylight. It winked at him as it shimmered. It was a plane and the sun was reflecting off it, at least he thought it was. He couldn't help but stare at it for the sheer beauty of the small bright light that exploded in the blue sky.

Thump. Rory fell to the ground, his brain pounding against his skull. He brought his hands to his head to try and sooth the pain.

"I'm so sorry! I thought you would move," one of his classmates came running to him, explaining. "Are you alright?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine. Just a bit of a bang," Rory kindly replied taking his hands from his head so to not make his new friend feel bad. Rory was a kind kid, but absent-minded at times.

xx

"I want you to draw something that makes you happy, there are pencils on the desk and I'll come around with some paper. You can sit wherever you want for this activity," Mr Brooke announced to the class.

Rory stood up with the rest of the class and watched as everyone took their seat, not knowing where to sit. He spotted Amelia out the corner of his eye, "Rory!" she waved for him to come and sit next to her. Rory's face lit up and he walked over to her with a skip in his step.

"What are you going to draw?" Amelia asked Rory once they were seated and got their paper.

"I'm not sure yet, I'm still thinking about it," Rory politely responded.

The two started their artworks. After about 5 minutes Amelia peered over at Rory's work and gave a chuckle, "What are you drawing?"

"It's a flower, they make me happy," Rory replied defensively. The flower was shaded with several colours.

"Boys don't draw flowers," Amelia rudely commented. Rory faced his lap with his head down, ashamed of his work. "Why do they make you happy?"

"I just like the colours and how they grow, when they start really small and grow into something beautiful, "Rory was quite timid. Amelia cocked her head to side and stared at the picture.

"You're different," Amelia said facing Rory. Rory stood there silently, "But I like that about you."

Rory grinned and looked up, "Is different good?"

"It's perfect," Amelia spoke with confidence. Rory fiddled with his fingers and bit his lip, "What's wrong?"

Rory was rather insecure and had to ask for reassurance, "Are we really friends?"

Amelia furrowed her eyebrows together for a quick moment and then a small smile sneaked upon her face. She took Rory's little finger with her own and said softly, "Best friends." Rory beamed ear to ear.

First time actually publishing a fan-fiction! I hope you enjoyed it; I'm really excited about it. There will be another chapter up very soon, so do whatever pleases you, alert/favourite and review! If there is anything I can improve on, be sure to let me know, I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing :D