Angel ran outside with Roger and Mark, but soon Roger and his girlfriend, April, were swinging happily alone together.
"Can I play with you guys?" Joanne came up and asked the two boys.
Mark smiled, "Sure!"
Angel giggled, "Want to help us build a sandcastle?"
"Yeah!" Joanne agreed, sitting down next to Angel and Mark in the sandpit.
While Angel and Joanne carefully molded the grainy material, Mark observed the details of a certain girl's face with his camera zoom. "Mark," Joanne asked, "who are you looking at?"
"Maureen," Mark sighed happily. He pointed to the girl, who was drawing a cow with side walk chalk. "Isn't she pretty?"
Joanne smiled, "Yeah, she's really pretty! Why don't you go talk to her?"
"I can't," Mark turned off his camera sadly. "She wouldn't talk to me, anyway."
"Oh, yes she will!" Joanne smiled. "Let's go!" she grabbed Mark's hand, and pulled him over to where Maureen was crouched over the pavement.
Angel giggled, his new friends were funny! He kept on making little castles, until he got bored, and decided to explore the rest of the playground. He could see Mimi, skipping rope with a few other preschool girls. He waved at her, and she smiled back.
Then, little Angel heard something. He turned the corner, and found a boy crying under the slide. The boy looked older than him, maybe he was a 3rd grader? "You okay?" Angel asked, kneeling down next to the boy.
He looked up. It was then when Angel noticed how….how pretty…the other boy was, even with soft tears streaming down his cheeks. The other boy had dark skin that reminded Angel of hot chocolate, and his dark brown eyes met Angel's honey ones immediately.
"I think so," the boy said. His voice was pretty too, deep but soft and loving at the same time.
"What happened?" Angel asked.
The boy hesitated before answering, "They pushed me down the slide, and I fell off."
"Oh! That's not nice!" Angel was shocked. He didn't know what else to do, so he took the other boy's hand in his.
"What are you doing?" the boy asked curiously, but he didn't take his hand back.
"My mama always holds my hand when I get hurt, so I'm holding yours," he explained.
The boy smiled, "Okay. Your hands are soft. And pretty." Angel nodded in agreement. The other boy continued, "Your skin looks nice next to mine. The colors match real well."
Angel giggled, "I'm Angel."
The boy's eyes widened, "Really?"
Angel looked down, ashamed, "I know it sounds like a girl's name, but I don't think it is."
"No, no, no!" the other boy said, "I think it's a perfect name for you, because that's kind of what you are. An Angel."
The first grader blushed, "Thanks. What's your name?"
"Thomas," the boy wrinkled his nose, "but most people call me Collins."
"Why do they do that?" Angel asked.
"I don't know," Thomas replied. Angel nodded, and stared down at their still intertwined hands.
"This is nice," Angel smiled.
"Yeah," Thomas agreed. "I like holding hands."
"Me too," Angel said.
"I bet I like it more than you!" Thomas challenged.
Just then, the recess bell rang. Angel ran off, letting go of the boy's hand. "I'll see you later!" he called back.
"Wait!" Thomas said, "what grade are you in?"
"First!" Angel answered. "How 'bout you?"
"Third," he answered proudly.
"Oh," Angel frowned.
"What?" Thomas asked, grabbing his hand back. "I don't want you to be sad."
"But…but you're older than me," Angel said sadly. "That means you're too cool to be my friend."
Thomas shook his head, "No…I think you're my best friend."
Angel looked up, "Really?"
"Really," Thomas smiled. Then the two boys ran back inside.