Disclaimer: If their names look familiar, I probably don't own them.
Arranged alphabetically in our desks, I sat in the row to her right, two seats behind her. I figured this was lucky as it allowed me to watch her without being caught. Well, at least not by her. So for the first week of school I admired her from afar.
The second week of school, I began strategically placing my mat next to her's during nap time and during games of "Duck, duck, goose" I was as gentle as possible when tagging her, and I never labeled her as being the "goose."
The third week of school, Jack Kelly began sharing his animal crackers with her during snack time.
For the first time I knew heart break.
The two of them grew closer and during recess he would push her on the swings, obliging to her cries of "Harder! Push harder!" During rousing games of "Tag" he would chase her, regardless of whether or no he was "It," and she would shriek with delight when he finally caught her.
I sat on the seesaw and watched.
By the end of the week, they had begun pushing their mats together, practically napping atop one another. I grinned smugly when the teacher put that to an end. Though it didn't falter their affections. I heard they had even had dates, but then five-year-olds are notorious for exaggerating.
Finally, after a three week fling, Jack Kelly began sharing his animal crackers with Betsy Anderson.
To her credit, she took it on the chin, only crying for a couple of minutes and biting her lip to keep from pouting.
I knew then to act and act soon. So the next day, as the box of animal crackers came around, I made it a point to grab two tigers (her favorite) and an elephant (my favorite). My hands full, I looked to where she was standing and my lower lip jutted out. Chad Meyers was already handing her his crackers and she was giggling again, Jack and Betsy long forgotten.
I didn't realize how tightly I was squeezing my hands until I looked down and saw a crumble of cookies in my palms. It made biting back the tears even harder.
Author's Note: Well, I just wrote this tonight. I'd been meaning to update this for a while, but I kept putting it off. Hope you enjoyed it and I hope it has intrigued you enough to read the next chapter...whenever I get around to putting it up.