"Rise and shine!" Elizabeth called into Dylan's room from the doorway.

"No," Dylan groaned. "No rising and no shining."

"It's the first day of school. Your first day of Middle School!"

"Exactly. That's why I'm staying here."

"Dylan Christopher, I'm giving you 5 minutes, then I want you up for breakfast."

"Yes, Mom." With that he pulled the covers over his head.

Elizabeth went down the short hallway and sat at the small kitchen table with her coffee while she waited. To pass the time she picked up her phone and began checking through her emails, noticing she had been asked to attend a district lunch meeting that afternoon.

"And so it begins," she rolled her eyes. She replied that she would attend and continued through her messages. The next one made her smile. It was from Abigail Stanton. Her son and daughter-in-law were old friends of Elizabeth's from childhood. As it turned out, Abigail was the one in charge of the cute little cottage that was for rent.

An older couple had been living there for decades but had recently decided to move south, closer to their grown kids and grandchildren. They asked Abigail to oversee the rental for the time being. So when Elizabeth called to inquire about the cottage, Abigail was happy to show her around. The cottage was even cuter on the inside. Two bedrooms, adorable kitchen, a back deck, and a grassy path that lead straight down to the beach. The best part, the price was just right. Enough for Elizabeth to even put some money away and grow her savings again.

In the email, Abigail let her know that everything was set for Elizabeth and Dylan to move in that weekend!

There was a shuffling noise down the hall. She looked up and giggled. Her little boy wasn't so little anymore. He'd grown a lot over the summer, just like his hair, which was now tousled all over the place. Dylan came into the kitchen and slumped in his chair. "Morning."

"Morning, handsome. Egg, cheese and bacon sandwich sound good for your first day?"

"Can I have it on a bagel?"

"Of course!"

"Then I'm game." He reached for the glass of orange juice she'd poured for him.

Elizabeth made two bagel sandwiches, one for herself, the other for Dylan and sat back down.

"I have good news. Mrs. Stanton emailed me this morning. We're all set to move into the cottage I showed you."

"Cool. It was really nice."

"It was, and it will be nice to have our own space again."

"Definitely." Dylan was happy. This move brought back a little light on his mom's face. That made him very happy.

…..

"Wakey Wakey! Eggs and Bacon!" Jack called up the stairs to Harper's room. "Breakfast is on."

"Are you serious?" Harper yelled back.

"Yes. Do I need to install the kind of alarms we have at the fire station?"

"If you do that, I'll move in with Papa and Nana. I promise you!"

"That would make me sad," Jack called back up with a laugh. "Please come down. Breakfast is ready."

"Fine." She flung the covers off and grabbed her dad's old college hoodie off her desk chair and headed down to the kitchen.

"There's my sleeping beauty," Jack smiled from the stove. He was already dressed in his uniform for work.

"Funny, Dad." She sat down at the table and looked at the glass in front of her. "Juice? Can't I have some coffee? I'm in middle school after all."

"Well, let's see, are you as tall as you want to be?"

"What? No. I'm not done growing."

"There you have it. Coffee is said to stunt your growth. So unless you're content being that size forever, I suggest you stick with juice." He placed a plate with toast, bacon and eggs in front of her. "Eat up! Today's a big day!"

"I guess."

"You nervous?"

She shrugged. Harper had always been good at school. Good at making friends was another story. She was a sweet girl, but her shy demeanor made getting to know new people tricky.

….

An hour later, Jack drove Harper to school on his way to work. Her silence made him nervous. He hoped moving back was a good idea in regards to her. He said a silent prayer that she'd make at least one good friend today.

"Here we are," he said pulling up to the curb. "Want me to walk you in?"

"No, I can do this on my own."

"Okay." Jack reached over and hugged her. "Have a great day, Honey Bee."

"Thanks, Dad. Be safe at work."

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too." She exited the car and with a wave, hurried inside. Jack stayed at the curb till she was safely inside.

After walking around for a bit, getting a feel for the place, Harper walked into Mrs. Sullivan's 5th grade classroom. It was nice, very well decorated. The desks were arranged in groups of four around the room. Two facing two. Each desk had a folder with a student's name on it. Harper walked around the room of desks till she found the folder with her name on it in the back right corner.

Taking her seat, she watched as all the other children walked in and took their seats. Everyone seemed to already know each other.

"Here we go…" she muttered to herself.

….

Dylan left the library in a hurry and went to his locker, grateful that he was able to get it open on the first try. He'd spent most of the morning in the back corner of the library hiding from the world. He was so lost in his book, he missed the first bell going off. When he realized what time it was, he had to book it to get to class on time.

He entered his classroom and scanned for anyone he might have known from the three months he'd spent in school before the summer break. There were a few, to which he was grateful for. One was his friend Cody, a nice skinny blonde kid who liked to ride bikes and play lacrosse. He seemed like the kind of kid Dylan could be good friends with. If he let himself. All last year, Cody was nice and friendly. Maybe this year Dylan would try to be a friend too.

The final bell rang, so instead of going over to Cody, who gave a friendly wave, Dylan just went to find his seat. He walked down the aisle and took his seat. In the set of desks behind him sat a blonde girl he'd never seen before. She looked sad. Dylan, as grumpy as he could be at times, never liked seeing others sad.

"Hey," he said with a nod. "I'm Dylan."

"Hi." She tried to smile. "I'm Harper."

"Nice to meet you."

Mrs. Sullivan clapped her hands as she stood at the front of the room. "Morning class!" The red haired teacher smiled. "Welcome to your first day of the 5th grade. I'm Mrs. Sullivan and I'm very excited to be your teacher this year. Now, you're all new to this school, but at least one of you is new to this area as well."

Harper sunk in her seat, praying Mrs. Sullivan wouldn't draw attention to her. Thankfully all the teacher did was encourage everyone to make an effort with everyone and be open to new friends.

…..

The morning dragged on but finally it was lunch time. Harper walked into the busy lunch room with her purple LLBean lunch bag in hand. She didn't feel like making small talk with anyone, so she found a quiet spot and sat down.

At the other end of the table, Dylan sat opposite Cody, who talked his ear off about the lacrosse camp he'd attended over the summer.

"Do you like lacrosse?" Cody asked.

"I've never played. Looks pretty sweet though."

"I'm a huge fan. If you want I have extra sticks. I could bring one and we could pass the ball and stuff. See if you'd like it."

"Sure."

Harper was reading her favorite book, Black Beauty, while she ate the grilled chicken salad her dad had packed for her. It was her favorite. He even packed her two chocolate chip cookies, another favorite.

Across the lunch room, Harper had unknowingly caught the attention of one of the 8th grade boys. One who liked to think he was older and more mature than he actually was.

"Hey guys, check out that new girl. She's pretty hot don't you think?" Bradley Wilcox said turning to his two friends.

"What grade do you think she's in?" one of the boys asked.

"I don't know, 7th, maybe 8th? Let's go see if she's any fun."

Bradley walked over to Harper's table and stood in front of her.

"Hey."

"Hi," Harper said softly peering over her book.

"You're new, right?"

"Yeah. I am. I just moved here from Austin, Texas."

"Ah, cowgirl huh?"

"Um, no. I'm from the city. Though I do know how to ride."

"Cool. Whose class are you in?"

"I'm in Mrs. Sullivan's."

That caused the boy's two friends who were now standing behind him to snicker at one another. They found the fact that their friend was trying to flirt with a little 5th grader very funny.

"Way to go there, Brad," one joked under his breath.

"Wait you're a 5th grader? I guess I should have figured. You kind of look like a baby." Now flustered, Bradley's flattery turned into bullying.

"I do not look like a baby," Harper said defensively.

"Sure you do. I mean the face is pretty but the rest of you…"

She got up to leave.

"What's this?" He snatched her book out of her hands.

"Give that back!"

"It's about a horse? So you are a little cowgirl."

"I said give it back!" She reached for it but missed.

Dylan looked up from his lunch and saw the tall, older kid standing across from Harper. She looked upset.

"Oh no. What's that guy doing?" he mumbled.

Cody looked over too and groaned. "That's Bradley Wilcox. He's not a nice guy. I remember him from elementary school." Dylan stood from his seat. "Where are you going?"

"He's being mean to Harper. We have to help her." Nervous, but with determination, he marched over. "Leave her alone."

"What's it to you?" Bradley snapped at him.

"You're being a jerk. Just give her the book and leave her alone."

"You want the book, come get it."

Dylan went to reach for it as Bradley and his friend began shoving Dylan around. "Knock it off!" Dylan demanded. He managed to shove Bradley back once before receiving a punch to the side of the face.

Harper ran off toward the teacher's table.

"Mrs. Sullivan, Dylan needs help!"

Mrs. Sullivan looked over to see all the commotion. "Oh my goodness!" She ran over. "Boys! Enough!"

The boys each took a couple steps back from another. Dylan, held the side of his face. It was throbbing from the hit he took.

"What happened?" the teacher asked.

Dylan started to explain but was cut off by Bradley, who insisted it was Dylan who started the fight.

"Both of you are going to the principal's office now," Mrs. Sullivan instructed.

"That's not fair!" Harper exclaimed.

"Now. Let's go. You too, Miss Thornton."

As they walked, both Dylan and Harper were silently trying to figure out how to explain this predicament to their parents.

…..

The three students sat impatiently in the main office. They felt like sheep being led to the slaughter as the large clock ticked away on the wall behind them.

After being briefed in his office to what happened by Mrs. Sullivan, Assistant Principal Flynn came out and walked up to the three students. "So I hear we're having a little problem already, huh?" No one said anything. "Well, we've called your parents and they're all on their way. For now, Bradley, since you seem to be a big part of what transpired, why don't you come into my office first?"

He rolled his eyes and slumped into the office.

"Mr. Flynn," Dylan stood. "Where's my mom?"

"She was in a district meeting over at the high school. I called her and she'll be here soon."

"Okay." He sat back down.

Once the door to the assistant principal's office was shut Harper asked, "Who's your mother?"

"Principal Thatcher."

"Wait, as in the principal of this school?"

"Yeah. Lucky me, right?"

They sat in complete silence for what felt like the longest minute of their young lives. Bradley's mother walked in making her intense presence known and looked around the room.

"Where's Bradley?"

"In Mr. Flynn's office, ma'am," Dylan answered respectfully.

"Thank you." She looked at the red bruising mark on Dylan's face and sighed before she walked over and entered the room as if she'd done it before many times.

Dylan slumped down in his seat and sighed. He touched the ice pack he'd been given to the side of his face and winced. This was not how he'd thought the day would go.

Harper looked over at her classmate. He seemed as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. She felt angry at herself for how the scene in the cafeteria played out.

"Thanks for trying to help me. I'm sorry you got hurt."

Dylan looked over at Harper. There was a slight evidence of tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. He hated watching people cry. "It's okay. That guy's a jerk. Thanks for getting the teacher before he killed me," he said with a small laugh.

"You're welcome." Harper stared down at her hands. "Why… why did you stand up for me anyway?"

Dylan rested his head back against his chair and stared at the ceiling above. "Let's just say I'm done letting the bad guys get away with stuff like that."

"Have you been picked on before?"

"Something like that." Truth was, it wasn't from him getting picked on but what his mother went through. Memories of his life before they left his father filled his mind. He could feel his stomach turn as he remembered the sound of his father's voice and the things he'd say to his mother. Quickly, he decided to change the subject. "So, you're the one the teacher was talking about? Being new to the area?" She nodded. "Where'd you use to live?"

"Austin, Texas. My parents are divorced." She wasn't sure why she gave him that detail, but she felt she could trust him.

"Ah, I get that. My parents are divorced too. We moved here from DC six months ago. You live with your mom?"

"No." She shook her head vigorously. "She's back in Austin or traveling somewhere or something. I don't know." Harper sighed. "She wasn't a good wife to my dad."

"Oh." It seemed they had some things in common. "My dad, he wasn't a good husband either."

Harper looked over, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Me too." He scratched his head. "I'm lucky, I guess. My mom's pretty awesome. I get annoyed with her sometimes, like this morning when she dragged me out of bed way too early. Or when she wants me to cut my hair. But I know she loves me. That's more than I can say for my dad. What about you?"

"My dad's great. He tries to be super dad sometimes. Trying to make up for my mom."

"That's nice."

The office door opened and Elizabeth entered in a hurry. She looked around and quickly found her son. "Dylan, what happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He stood and accepted the hug she offered.

"I can't believe you were fighting."

"I wasn't! I mean, I didn't mean to."

"It was my fault, Ms. Thatcher." Harper stood.

"What's your name?" Elizabeth asked sweetly, seeing a world of emotions in the young girl's face.

"Harper Thornton, ma'am."

"Thornton?"