The bell for recess struck and Jack was the last one out as usual. He peered around the room and noticed even the toothy girl with the pigtails was out before him. Walking over to the toy box, he frowned. The bag of building blocks were missing. Nobody ever plays with them, where could they be? Could he have perhaps left them somewhere and didn't put them back? He sighed. Gathering his things, he made his way outside.

As much as Jack loved lesson time, he also loved Recess. Perhaps a little bit more than learning, because he had the whole half hour to himself without the other children around. Well, of course there were children around, but nobody ever played where Jack did.

He had his own special place, hidden away from all the other noisy children. It was a bush at the back of the playground, where nobody dared to play because it was forbidden. The bush had a little burrow-like entering around the side, almost like a cave. Jack knew he could get in to trouble if he ever got caught, but he never has no far. He was invisible. The children never asked him to play and the teachers never spoke to him. It was fine though, he liked it that way. Sometimes he felt lonely and left out, but he had gotten used to it. It was fine. All he needed was himself.

Like a ninja, he began edging his way over to his secret hideout. He checked to see if anyone was looking. The coast was clear. He ran as fast as he could. He didn't have all the time in the world. He had just half an hour. In his world, half an hour felt like a year. It was great.

He peered into the bush, grinning to himself. Then his face dropped. The feeling of horror flooded his body. Someone was in here. Someone was sitting in his place. He blinked several times and saw a toothy grin. It was the new girl.

"Hi!" She squeaked innocently, fluttering her eyelashes. She sat crossed legged in front of the building blocks Jack played with every day when he come here. They were built into what looked like a building. She was building it higher and higher.

"W-what..." Jack couldn't get his words out. How dare she come in here and wreck everything! "You... this is my-"

"It's great isn't it?" Vicky interrupted, building the blocks into some kind of tower.

"How did you get here?"

"I was exploring and I just found it! I love building blocks, they're my fav-"

"-You didn't findit!" Jack snapped, making her jump so the tower collapsed in a heap on her lap. "This is mine! All of it! The secret place, the blocks, everything!" He snatched a handful of the blocks and threw them in all angles. Some hit Vicky, making her eyes become watery.

"Ouch! Hey! Why are you being so mean to me?"

"Go away! I HATE YOU!"

With that, Vicky burst into tears. Jack stood there, breathing in and out, not knowing what to do next. He regretted straight away what he had done. Suddenly, he heard something. There were footsteps coming in this directions.

"Hello, kids? You're not supposed to be in there! I'm counting to three and you'd better come out!" Said a voice. Jack made a peep hole through the bushes and felt angrier than ever. It was a teacher, she must of heard all the noise. He had been caught.

"One..." She counted, tapping her foot. Jack still stood in the same place. He looked at Vicky, who was still sobbing into her hands.

"Two..."

He saw Vicky getting up at this point, rubbing her eyes and exiting the hideout.

"Vicky? I'm suprised at you. You're first day aswell!" Jack heard the teacher say. "Is there anyone else in there?" Jack waited, dreading the thought of being told off. He had never been told off before. He knew that that girl was going to rat him out for yelling at her.

"Right, good. Why are you crying? You're in a lot of trouble, missy. Come on now, the bell is about to go." The teacher told Vicky. Jack breathed out, relieved. He also felt guilty. Maybe he should of come out and told the teacher it was all him, and that he was just showing her his special place where he played. He peered through the bush again, watching them walk away. Vicky turned her head and spotted him looking. She smiled.

Jack quickly tumbled backwards. He was very confused. Why was she smiling? Did she want to get in trouble? Jack scratched his head, not able to figure it out. He screamed in her face, he told her he hated her in a fit of rage, he threw the blocks at her and all she could do was smile at him? This girl was weird.

All Jack could do in lesson time was fidget. He felt so uncomfortable sitting next to Vicky. He wanted to ask her all kinds of questions, but all he could do was wait. From the corner of his eye, he saw her staring at him. He swallowed and felt himself go incredibly hot.

The teacher had finally told them to draw a picture of their families and where they lived. Jack exhaled. He reached over for his pencil case, but as he did so, so did Vicky. He quickly drew his hand back.

"Can I borrow some crayons?" She asked him, fluttering her eyelashes sweetly. Why does she keep doing that?Jack thought, wondering whether she had something in her eye.

"Helloooo? Do you even talk?"

Jack flew back from space and looked at her. "Yes." He replied in a small voice, pushing the pencil case closer to her. She unzipped it and chose the black crayon for outlining. The one Jack was going to use.

Jack cleared his throat. "H-How much trouble did you get in?"

"I has to be watched in case I wonder off again." She replied, drawing. Her tongue stuck out as she did so.

"Sorry for yelling." Jack mumbled, also picking out a color. He chose the navy blue for outlining, closest to black. He felt really weird talking normally to someone his age, like he was dreaming. He decided she wasn't so bad after all. Besides, she had the same kind of direction as him AND she likes building blocks. She was different, and he liked different.

"It's okay... why did you get so angry? Did I do something wrong?" Jack shook his head. He peered over to Vicky's drawing and saw that she had drew a really big house with lots of windows. He looked at his own drawing and compared. His house wasn't very big. It was just a normal sized house.

"It that where you live?" Jack asked her curiously, she stopped drawing. She had added just one person.

"Yeah. I live in it all by myself with my butler." Vicky replied, then added, "Mummy and Daddy go away a lot, so I'm not really sure what they look like anymore. So I've just drawn Edgar because he's the only family I got." Jack looked puzzled. He wasn't so sure what a Butler was.

"Your house is nice." Vicky complimented, glancing at his drawing. He had just drew his house and his Mum and Dad.

"Thank you." Jack said, feeling quite proud. It was the first compliment he had ever gotten from someone who wasn't his mother.

"I like you." Vicky told him, coloring in her picture. "You're strange, but I like you."

Jack felt a very warm feeling inside. He wasn't sure what it was exactly, but he liked it. He liked it even more than spending time alone at play time. He looked over to her and she smiled. He gave a little smile right back.

He suddenly realized.

He had made his first ever friend.