Jade fidgeted in her chair. She glanced over at Cat, who was looking at her. Cat smiled at her. Jade wished they could have sat next to each other, but they had to sit with their respective classes. "Caterina Valentine," called the woman at the front of the room.
Cat got up, a paper in her hand, and walked to the front of the room. The woman moved over to let Cat have the floor. Cat looked up. Her eyes met Jade's and smiled. "I'm Cat Valentine and these are my favorite things," Cat started. She looked down at her paper and read as fast as a little girl could read, helped by the memory of what she had written, "My favorite color is green. My mom has a necklace of a pretty rock, she says it's called emerald. That's my favorite kind of green. But sometimes gray is my favorite color. And sometimes blue."
She looked up at the audience smiling. She looked back down at her paper. "My favorite animals are cats," she giggled, "Like me. Sometimes they don't like to be touched, sometimes they're a little mean but they're furry and sweet inside."
Cat glanced at Jade then back at her paper. "My favorite food is sour patch candies. Cause they're two flavors in one." She looked up and continued without having to read from her paper, "My favorite place is Jade's backyard cause it's big and there's a big tree and sometimes her mom brings us chocolate chip cookies!"
Cat smiled, thinking about the delicious cookies. She looked at Jade, who was now smiling too. Cat looked back at her paper and continued, "This summer I am looking forward to going to Disneyland with Jade!"
Cat finished and bowed. The kids and teachers applauded her. She went back to her seat. She looked at Jade and gave her a reassuring smile. Jade was back to being nervous. She held Cat's gaze as the teacher at the front talked then introduced her. She took a deep breath and got up. Crumpled paper in hand. She stood in front of the room. She looked at Cat as she started, "I'm Jade West. These are my favorite things." She looked down at her paper, which she tightly held onto, "My favorite color is red. It's the color of fire."
She looked up at Cat, who remained smiling. Looking back at her paper, she said, "My favorite animals are cats. Specially the little ones. They're fuzzy, they have big eyes and they're cute. My favorite food is spaghetti cause it tastes good and I like how it sounds when I slurp it."
She looked up and demonstrated slurping. Some of the kids giggled, some nodded and others slurped along with her. Jade smiled, feeling a lot better. She looked back at her paper. "My favorite place is Cat's room. It's pretty and she has nice toys and a big imagination. Anything can happen."
She looked up again. "This summer I'm looking forward to going to Disneyland with Cat."
Jade was really excited to go to Disneyland. The Valentines had invited her along and she was looking forward to meeting Donald Duck, who was her favorite Disney character. She bowed too and went down to sit. She locked gazes with Cat and they both smiled at each other.