Dan smiled jovially as he entered the room, which was covered in bright colours and posters. He placed his large backpack on the hook with his name, and his lunch in his cubby. He took a look around at everyone else, bouncing as his eyes fell upon two boys and a girl playing with blocks of varying colours. Dan approached, watching as one of the boys began knocking the blocks everywhere, much to the displeasure of the girl.
"Caspar! That's not fair!" The girl screamed, hitting him.
Dan watched everything, not so much as noticed by the three other kids. He was about to ask if he could play with them when a movement caught his eye. He found a boy with curly hair chasing another boy with long messy hair. The boy with the longer hair laughed as he ran, and Dan noticed he was clutching on to a piece of paper.
"Chris! That's my drawing! Give it back!"
The boy with the messy hair stopped, turning to smile at the boy with the curls.
"I'll give it back to you Peej... If you give me a kiss."
The boy with the curly hair tried to grab for his drawing, but his attempts were useless.
"A kiss-?" The boy with the long messy hair puckered his lips and the other boy wrinkled his nose, before walking back to his seat.
Dan approached the boy with the curls- Peej, as the other boy called him- when a boy with caramel hair approached him with a toy camera.
"Do you mind if I take your photo-?"
Dan didn't have the chance to reply when the boy held up the camera and it clicked, indicating that the boy had taken his photo.
"Thank you! I'm going to show this to my friend Troye at recess. He's in the next class over..."
The caramel haired boy made his way up to the girl playing blocks. Dan was about to follow the boy over and become friends, when the bell rang. In came the teacher, who instructed that everyone sit on the train rug at the front of the room. Dan found himself sitting by himself towards the back of the group, curling up in a ball as he listened to the teacher.
"Hello class! My name is Mister John Green. I am your teacher this year, and I will be teaching you valuable life skills this year that will help you later in life but probably go right over your tiny insignificant heads. But that's okay!" He smiled and leaned over to his official-looking teacher desk and grabbed a clipboard. "Listen up, because I'm going to assign you seats based on your last name, and it's going to be in alphabetical order. Do know your alphabet-? Probably or probably not! I don't even know what you kindergarteners already have knowledge of walking into my class, but that's all okay!"
He cleared his throat and waltzed over to the first table, which was red. He then moved to the yellow table, when he called more names.
"Connor Franta, Mitchell Grassi, Daniel Howell, Scott Hoying."
Dan stood and hesitantly made his way over to the yellow table, sitting across from the caramel haired boy who had taken his photo earlier. The boy who sat next to him had blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and Dan was about to introduce himself when the last boy sat at their table.
"MITCHY!" The blonde haired boy's face lit up and he grabbed hands across the table with the black haired boy.
"SCOTTY!" The black haired boy beamed back.
"Alright, settle down. These will be your seats for the next few weeks until I can learn all of your names. Now, we're going to do an activity that requires pairing up-"
Mister Green hadn't finished before suddenly everyone had a partner. Dan glanced around to scan the room. Of course. There were an odd number of students.
"I'm going to give you the activity, and you tell me you and your partner's name as I come by."
Dan watched as Mister Green handed out sheets of paper, and everyone began announcing their names.
"Chris Kendall and Peej Liguori!"
"Connor Franta and Hannah Hart!"
"Caspar Lee and-!"
"Hold on a moment." Mister Green lifted his head. "Sam Pepper! Hands to yourself!"
A boy with black hair in the back of the class turned scarlet.
"But it was a joke!"
"I don't want to hear your excuses." Mister Green gave him a look and continued taking down partners' names.
Eventually he came to Dan, and he gave him a sad smile.
"You don't have a partner?"
Dan shook his head, and Mister Green gave him a sheet.
"You can be my partner."
Dan heard a few kids snicker, and Mister Green gave them the instructions before letting everyone work. Mister Green sat down at the table next to Dan, and handed him a black crayon.
"Here. Now fill in the blanks." Mister Green smiled before leaning in closely to whisper quietly. "The only reason why I made this partner work is because not everyone can spell and may have to ask their partner for help. I think you're smart enough, though. You don't need help."
Mister Green left to observe other tables, and Dan got to work.
My name is: _Dan_
My favourite colour is: _black_
My favourite animal is: _lamas_
My favourite activity is: _vidio gams_
My best friend is: _winni the poo_
My favourite food is: _yes_
I really want to go to: _pokman land_
When I grow up, I want to be a: _pokman traner_
Dan smiled at his work, and Mister Green came back to him at the table. Dan handed him the paper and Mister Green smiled. Dan sat and watched as Mister Green went around and collected everyones' sheets. Mister Green placed the papers in a stack on his desk and smiled at the class.
"I'll share those after lunch time, but now, grab your stuffed animal that you were told to bring to school and then sit on the rug for story time."
Cheers erupted from everyone and a stampede of children headed over to their designated cubbies and backpack hooks. After much pushing and shoving, many had grabbed their stuffed animals already and sat on the rug. Dan waited until the area was less crowded to get his stuffed animal. He unzipped his backpack and pulled out his favourite yellow articulate bear, before joining the other kids on the rug for story time.
"Now that we're all settled and have acquired your things, the story we're reading the book 'The Abridged Version of AP World History- The Mongols' by me."
There came gasps, and suddenly everyone became intrigued. Mister Green began handing out instruments, and giving instructions.
"If I point to you, you play your instruments, okay?"
Mister Green finished handing out instruments, and everyone seemed to get one... except Dan. Mister Green didn't seem to notice, and headed back to his desk, pulling out his chair and placing it in front of everyone.
"Alright, once upon a time a long long time ago in a far away land, there was this group of people called the Mongols." Mister Green pointed to everyone, and there came a cacophony of noise. Drums banging, rain sticks tilting, maracas shaking, feet pounding, sticks slapping.
"Now, the Mongols," Mister Green pointed and the chaotic playing of instruments was heard again, "were this massive group of people. We're talking thousands upon thousands of people! And they were-"
The bell rang, and Mister Green was cut off.
"Everyone, hand in your instruments and line up! The faster you do it, the faster we can get to recess!"
There was a frenzy, including pushing and shoving in the line that was forming, before all calmed down. Dan became the unofficial caboose with his Pooh bear, and Mister Green led them out of the room to the playground. The line dissipated the moment the first boy's shoe stepped out of the door to the playground. There came cheers and shouts as suddenly two doors over to the side opened and more kids came spilling out.
Dan watched as everyone reunited with their friends, clutching Winnie the Pooh tightly. He approached the girl with the short blonde hair from his class, Hannah, and her friend with short brown hair.
"Hi I'm Dan, can I play with-?"
"Ingrid, come on! Grace and Mame are going to marry us! And then Vince Cyr and Grace are going to marry!"
"Really-?" The brown haired girl smiled and Hannah took her hand, leading her off to the slide.
Dan watched them leave, before turning to find the caramel haired boy Connor and another boy who was quite thin with brown hair that was rather wavy. Connor showed the boy the pictures on the toy camera, and the other boy was smiling softly.
"They're beautiful, Con."
"Come on, Troye! Let's take some photos together!"
"Come with me to get my camera." The other boy took Connor's hand and dragged him back into the school.
Dan turned to approach the smaller play set where the two boys Peej and Chris from his class were playing with another pair of boys- one had light brown hair and a crown and the other dark hair and relatively tan skin. Chris and Peej seemed to be guarding the tanner boy with the dark features, and the boy with the light brown hair climbed up to save him. Dan smiled. They must be playing an adventurous pretend game of some sort. Dan wanted to join.
"Hello, my name is Dan and I was wondering if I could-"
"I'll save you, Daniel!" The light brown haired boy declared heroically, and Dan felt his face light up. Their immediate ability to include Dan into their game made his heart soar. Dan watched, and the light brown haired boy ran up the slide to rescue the tan skinned boy.
"Joey!"
"I'll save you, Daniel-anya!"
Dan felt his heart sink. The tan boy with the dark features was Daniel. Dan watched as the light brown haired boy called Joey pretended to vanquish the boys Chris and Peej, before taking Daniel's hand and sliding down the slide. The Joey boy placed a soft kiss on Daniel's head and Daniel smiled blissfully, turning pink.
Dan trudged away, holding Winnie the Pooh tightly and watching the ground as he walked. He made his way to a short brick wall on the far side of the playground, sitting and watching the other kids laugh and play through his stinging blurry eyes. His bottom lip quivered as he heard the laughter of the other kindergarteners. Why did no one want to be friends with him? The other kids probably think he's a freak or ugly or that his voice was thick and articulate and stupid...
Dan felt hot tears begin to trickle from his eyes, and he sniffed, burying his face into his best and only friend- Winnie the Pooh. Pooh would always be there for him, no matter what.
Dan sniffed and hiccuped, before he let out a small whimper, beginning to sob bitterly. He dreaded going home. His mum would probably ask how his day was, and what friends he had made. He didn't want to disappoint her or make her call the school...
Dan felt a soft tap on his shoulder, but turned away from the person.
"Hey," the person whispered softly, and he heard them sit next to him, "are you okay?"
Dan turned further away from the person, burying his face further into Pooh's slightly weathered fur. It smelled like home. He wanted to be home.
"Hey... Did you know..." The other person spoke softly, a hint of a thick accent evident. "That male ostriches can roar like lions?"
Dan felt his brows furrow. Was that even possible?
"And did you know that an adult lion's roar is so loud that it can be heard up to five miles away?"
Dan lifted his head from where it had been buried in Pooh bear's fur, turning to see who was sitting next to him. He hesitantly looked up to find another boy smiling at him. The other boy had to be at least four years older than him, with jet black hair and a Pokémon tee shirt.
"Hello." Said the older boy to Dan, offering him a smile, showing his white, yet slightly crooked teeth. His tongue poked through his teeth a little, and his blue eyes crinkled at the edges with genuine kindness.
"H-hello." Dan replied softly, sniffling and rubbing his eyes that were still a bit pink and puffy from crying.
"My name is Phil. I'm in year five. Are you in kindergarten?"
Dan nodded, and Phil began to speak again.
"I noticed you were a bit sad..."
Dan bit his lip and felt his eyes sting again just thinking about what had happened.
"No one wants t-to be my friend or play with me."
"I'll be your friend."
Dan managed a small smile. "Really?"
Phil nodded. "Of course!"
For the whole rest of the time allotted for recess, Phil and Dan got to know each other better. They discussed Pokémon at great length (Phil was surprised at Dan's extensive knowledge upon the subject, especially given that Dan was only five), and Phil went on a long tangent on lions and how they were so amazing. Dan listened carefully to Phil, wishing he could be in Phil's grade so that he didn't have to return to class friend-less. Phil was just so... so... amazing.
"Phil!"
Dan looked over to find a short boy with lilac hair and chunky black glasses waving to Phil. Phil nodded to the lilac haired boy, before turning to Dan.
"I have to go to class, okay? I'll see you later."
Just as Phil finished speaking, the bell rang, signalling the end of recess.
"Ty! Hey, wait up!" Phil called to his friend.
Dan sat on the short brick wall and watched as Phil ran to catch up with his lilac haired friend. Phil smiled as he approached his friend, and his friend tugged on his arm, bouncing up and down. Dan watched as they disappeared through a set of doors leading back into the school.
Dan slid off the short brick wall and clutched his Pooh bear tightly as he trudged back into school, following his class loosely back into the classroom. Mister Green was giving instructions when he sat down, but he didn't hear a word. He stared down at his desk, stroking his Pooh bear's fur when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Hey."
Dan looked up to find Phil smiling at him, and Dan's lips twitched up into a smile.
"I'm your reading partner this year. I'm going to help you read, 'kay?"
"Mister Green?"
"Yes, Dan?"
Everyone had already gone to the buses and the car line, but Dan had stayed behind.
"M-may I change something on my paper?"
"Of course."
Mister Green took a moment to find and pull out Dan's paper. He handed Dan a black crayon, and Dan took it. Dan glanced down to the one blank toward the bottom that he had filled in.
My best friend is: _winni the poo_
Dan bit his lip before writing something else, and handing his paper back to Mister Green.
My best friend is: _winni the poo_and Fil_