"Mommy, I don't want to go." the little girl whined. Her cinnamon-colored hair hanged loosely into two pigtails.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but you must. Don't you want to make some new friends?" her mother said.

"No. I wanna stay home with you, mommy." she replied.

"I know you do, but you're a big girl, aren't you? Big girls go to school. Now are you a big girl, Courtney?"

"YES!" she cried.

"Then you have to prove yourself. The only way you can prove to me that you're a big girl is if you go to school."

"MOMMY! TAKE ME TO SCHOOL! TAKE ME!" Courtney shouted. "I'LL SHOW YOU! I'M A BIG GIRL! I'M A BIG GIRL!

"Alright, alright!" her mother laughed. "I'll take you to school, Court. Just give me a minute to grab my purse." Mrs. Harrington snatched her pink leather bag off the counter and they left in the black Lexus for kindergarten. She parked the Lexus in between the yellow lines and got out to give Courtney a hug and kiss.

"Bye, sweetie. Have a great day at kindergarten."

"Goodbye, mommy. I'll miss you." Courtney called. She walked over to the playground and saw a boy with dark hair and aqua blue eyes.

"Hello." She greeted him.

"Hi."

"My name is Courtney."

"I'm Duncan."

"Nice to meet you, Duncan."

"You too, Courtney."

"Your eyes are pretty." she said.

"Don't you mean handsome, I thought only girls were pretty."

"Oh, I suppose. Well then, they are very handsome eyes."

"Thanks. I like your freckles." he replied. She instantly hid her nose. Her mother had told her no one would notice.

"Are you kidding around?" she stammered.

"No, why would I?"

"I don't like my freckles. I don't think anyone could like them."

"Well I do, don't I count for something?"

"Yes, I just don't know how."

"How what?"

"How you can like them."

Rrrrrring. The two ran inside until they were far enough ahead of traffic.

"What teacher do you have?" Courtney asked.

"Mrs. Webster."

"Me too!" she exclaimed.

"Cool. We can sit by each other at lunch."

Lunch came and the two friends decided on which table to sit at. Duncan suggested they stay at the table farthest away, but then Courtney spotted it, the perfect table. The table was next to a big window with a great view. There were lots of trees and rays sunshine poured through.

"Move, I wanna sit at this table!" a girl with raven black hair cried.

"Hey, you're in our class. Your name is Heather right?" Courtney asked. The girl nodded.

"You can sit with us if you like."

"NO! I wanna sit here with my friends, so move!"

"No way! We were here first, you move!"

"Whatever." She walked away, and then a chorus broke out.

"Duncan and Courtney sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" The whole lunch room joined in. As they kept singing it, tears streamed down Courtney's face. After a teacher stopped them, Courtney sat wailing.

"Hey, you can have my apple juice if you want." He said hopefully. She smiled as she took the juice box from him, and silently sipped its contents.