I sat alone in the sandbox during recess, drawing lazy patterns in the sand. Natara had banished me from the kingdom cause I fell off the ladder on my way up to present a gift to her, and I knocked down Ken too. Ken was allowed to stay though cause it wasn't his fault. I was really lonely though. All my friends were still allowed in Natara's kingdom.

A girl in a blue dress skipped up to me and started playing in the sand. She had bright green eyes and long lashes freckles and curly brown hair that reached her back.

"Hi."

I couldn't speak.

"My name is Madison Cara Finch. What's yours?"

I stared at her.

"I'm in first grade."

She was beautiful.

"You sure don't talk much," she said. She picked up a stick and started writing something in cursive. I think it was her name. Madison Cara Finch. She was perfect, and a lot nicer than Natara was to me. Wise with age, smart, mature and she writes. I've only written the whole alphabet ten times now.

"I'm Malachi Charles Fallon, but everyone just calls me Mal." I wished I could write in cursive too.

"Your initials are MCF too?" She smiled at me, showing me her missing tooth.

And I knew that Madison Finch was the girl for me.

I followed Madison around for the next two weeks, and she never told me to go away once. I didn't care that she always had tea parties with her friends while I had to hide behind a tree. She wanted me around. ME. Once she even let me play Princesses with her and her friends, and I got to be the kingdom fool. One day I decided to tell my friends that I was going to tell Madison Cara Finch to be my girlfriend.

"A first grader?" Ken asked.

Maria shook her head. "Are you sure?"

Shawn adjusted his glasses. "My sister, Jenna, has a girlfriend. My dad wasn't too happy at first, but I think she's really nice. Mom isn't happy that she's dating though, and Jenna's like a billion years old!"

"I thought you loved Natara," Matt said as he shrugged.

I stopped coloring. "Madison and I are going to be boyfriend and girlfriend like big people cause we can both write our names in cursive and we have the same initials."

Maria's eyes widened. "You know how to write in cursive?"

I grinned. "My sister's teaching me."

"Hi, Mal. You want some of my cookie? Mom packed an oatmeal raisin cookie, and I don't like them." Madison handed me a huge, chewy-looking cookie. She must love me. I sat by her on the edge of the sand box, where we first met.

"Madison, I love you." I said with a nod. She giggled and covered her mouth.

Over the past weeks I've been watching movies that Mommy likes to watch and I can now say that I'm an expert on how to tell a girl I love her. I tell her and then I kiss her. And I did. I kiss her and it was everything Dad said it would be. Fireworks and all. Madison stood up and pushed me to the ground. She wiped her mouth and frowned.

"Haven't you ever heard of cooties?" She shrieked. And she ran away. That was the last time Madison and I ever talked. Dad once said that Love hurts, and I can understand that now. I have two bloody knees for the nurse to take care of. As I walked to the nurse's office, not only did my knees hurt but my whole body did too. I took in a sharp breath of air and cried until Miss Tibby rescued me.