Chapter Fifteen

The time with the yellow crayon

A/N Yeah sorry that the last one was so depressing but you know, I kinda like it. This chapter is the whole day of the yellow crayon story, because we all wanna know the end of that story. Lil' ol Xander.

Sunnydale, the world without shrimp 1986

The first day of kindergarten, you cried because you broke the yellow crayon and you were too afraid to tell anyone. Now, that was a long time ago, you've come pretty far since then you know. Broken a blue crayon too.

Her first day would always be Willow's most nervous, she didn't know anyone, she didn't know when lunch was but she did know how to spell her last name so that was a start. Her mother had picked out pink tights, a brown skirt and a questionable cheery yellow t-shirt. But Willow was happy, it had a smiley face on it and that was really all that mattered to the five year-old. Half of her red hair had been pulled up into a clasp and her bag obviously packed the night before. Containing anything she could possibly wish to use the next day.

Xander woke up slowly, wiping the sleepy dust from his eyes, he got dressed himself. Putting his shoes on the wrong feet, and making the Velcro wonky. "Oh there you are." His mother said as he was handed some toast to munch on. Getting sticky strawberry jam all over his hands. "What are you like?" His mother said wiping it away with a cloth. His messy hair looked like it had been made into a mop than put back on, he looked scruffy, but then that was his usual style. He was five, not exactly a fashion icon.

"Come on, move it." He heard as he was pushed out of the door, handed a bag and walked quickly down the street. His mother grappling for his hand she lead him inside the gates before telling him to behave for the final time. He was still licking at his fingers when he arrived inside the classroom, not paying attention to where he was going, he landed on the floor in a big pile of books with some girl. "Oh, sorry." Willow said, clambering to her feet as she picked up the rest of her belongings, stuffing them into her bag, brushing past him quickly to get to her space on the carpet in front of an already aggravated looking teacher.

"Today class, we're going to be doing some colouring..." The teacher said, to match the raucous of the Sunnydale kindergarten for 1986-7. She put half a dozen little baskets of crayons all over the carpet, Willow immediately reaching for the yellow, she had a great idea for a picture.

A little later Willow was colouring rather neatly a pretty picture of the park, with a bright yellow sun. She always stuck her tongue out when she was colouring, hair draping around her shoulders, yellow converse sticking high up in the air. Xander was sitting a little way across from her, he would occasionally glance up at her because he thought the way she coloured was so funny. Each glance to check her tongue was still sticking out would make him chuckle before picking his own crayon back up. Then it happened...

DUN! DUN! DUUHHHH!

It was awful, truly the worst moment of Willow's young life as she looked down at her hands. Suddenly the crayon had snapped in her hands, one end splintering into a cracked misshapen mess and the other clinging waxy to her fingers. Oh no. Ohh not the crayon. Willow's face splayed out into a sad mess. Xander looked up from his drawing of a truck to see tears pouring down the girl's face and her eyes reach of a state of puffiness. He walked over and sat next to her, picking up both ends of the crayon and holding them together.

"Don't cry, look its all better." He began to finish colouring her sun with the bigger piece. Adding lines around the edges to give off the effect of sun rays coming out towards the park scene.

Willow pulled a tissue out from one of her pockets and dried her eyes, "I'm Willow." She said quietly rubbing the tears away, this strange boy seemed nice enough, maybe he would want to be her friend. She always kept tissues as an emergency, her mother said it was always a good idea to carry band-aids too. In case she fell over, and she wanted to be prepared, there was a small fear in Willow's mind that she wouldn't be able to fix something one day, so she always prepared for the eventualities.

"My name is Alexander but I don't like the A so call me Xander." He said proudly, lifting his head up and nodding profusely. Willow smiled, she had a cheeky sort of grin at that age that just made her freckles stand out. "I never heard of anyone being called Willow before." Xander said, looking down at her now finished picture, holding it up to show her.

"Its funny, I'm like a tree." She replied, taking her picture from him and writing her name in broken crayon at the bottom. Picking out a green and a brown from the crayon basket she began to draw a droopy tree in her park. A park with a sun and a bridge and a stream. And little sparks of magic.

"Do you want to be my friend?" Xander said, he was still a bit shy around girls and anyone new really, but this girl seemed really nice.

"Yeah ok." Willow replied, finally smiling fully through her tears and felt happy, like the first day had panned out quite well really.

"So, mum that's how I made my first friend." Willow stated proudly as she dug her fork into a big pile of peas, shovelling them into her mouth. Her mother barely registered that her daughter had uttered a word and just gave one of her classic responses, not even looking up from the book perched in the hands, glasses on the end of her nose.

"That's nice dear." Willow didn't really look up either, somehow she was fixed on the peas, a strange child for her liking of green vegetables. But then Willow would always be that little bit different wouldn't she?