Good evening, everyone! (Or whatever time of day it is when you see this) Yours The Author here, bringing you Day 1 of Panprice Week 2023! As always, the prompt for Day 1 is: First Meet! *Chanting* Childhood Friends! Childhood Friends! Come get your childhood friends trope here! Nice and fresh!

Admittedly, it was a bit difficult to write this one, mostly because I tend to use more complex words than I think the average 6 year old would use liberally, but I think I made it work: TW for bullying (kids are mean) and bad teachers/authority figures (adults are also mean)! You've been warned! See you at the bottom of the page!

Lil' Dave Panpa's first day at school had not been a very good one.

For some reason, when Dave arrived in the colorful classroom full of other children, he just couldn't… fit in with them. He tried really hard to find someone to be friends with, but it never ended well. The other children either got bored of him or just plain didn't like him because his stories were boring, or because he was too quiet for them to hear him speaking, or because he was "weird" (not that anyone explained why he was weird, he "just was").

By the time class had started, he was the only one without a friend, which made him sad. A part of him hoped that the "class" part of class would be different: he was pretty smart, already knowing how to add and subtract small numbers, and already able to read, too (his favorite book was "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"). Unfortunately, whenever he tried to show what he knew, the teacher had stopped talking about that, and had moved on to something else.

"Math is over now; we're doing reading," the teacher would say. "Stop talking about the book; we're learning to write now." "Put down your pencil, Dave; it's time for lunch." "Dave, have your parents ever told you that you talk too much?"

The other students had giggled at that last statement, and Dave felt his lip wobble and his eyes burn as he drew in on himself. His teacher wasn't very nice.

And now here he was, only halfway through the day, sitting on a bench under a tree and watching the other kids play on the playground with their friends. Dave didn't want to play by himself, but no one else wanted "Weird Dave" nearby, either. He wanted to lie down on the bench, but the teachers would snap their fingers at him and say he had to wait until naptime. So Dave sat, and waited for naptime to come.

"Hey Dave." Dave looked up at the sound of his name to see two girls and a boy approaching him, smiling.

"Hi," he waved shyly.

"Do you want to play house with us?" One of the girls asked.

Dave gasped excitedly, standing up from the bench. "Um, okay! …How do you play?"

The girl pointed at herself. "I'm the mom." She pointed at the boy. "He's the dad. She's the neighbor," she pointed at the other girl before pointing at Dave. "And you're the baby."

Dave's jaw dropped. "H-huh?"

"And since you're the baby," the girl grinned a not-very-nice-looking grin, "you have to do what we say!"

Dave began to retreat to the bench. "Um, I don't think I wanna be the baby-"

"Aw, come on, Dave!" The boy chided. "We're being nice and letting you play with us! Just be the baby already!"

Dave shook his head. "I-I'm not a baby-"

"Baby Dave!" The other girl cheered, jabbing a finger in his direction. "Weird Baby Dave!"

"I'm n-not a weird b-baby…!" Dave insisted, tears welling in his eyes as the three of them began poking him, always aiming for the sensitive spots in his neck and under his arms while they chanted, "Weird Baby Dave! Weird Baby Dave!"

Dave curled into a ball on the ground, feeling them poke at his back and his head and wishing they'd just go away-

"Oi, you!" Someone shouted. "Bugger off and pick on someone your own size!"

The three kids shrieked and ran off. Dave curled in on himself more tightly. Whoever had scared off those three must have been even more scary, and now they were going to eat him-!

"You okay?" That someone asked gently. Dave dared to peek up at them.

He was an older boy, with fluffy black hair and a bandaid slapped on his cheek. He was smiling at Dave and holding a hand out to him. The hand was a little grubby, but it looked warm and inviting after the sharp poking he'd just experienced, and Dave slowly took it and let the boy pull him to his feet.

As soon as Dave was standing, the boy let go and glared off in a different direction. "Some blokes are real mean, init? Don't know how to be good people at all!" He looked at Dave again, softening his expression. "You're sure you're okay?"

Dave couldn't help but look at this boy with big, shiny eyes. "You're like a hero!" He said excitedly.

The boy grinned and brushed his hair back. "Thanks! The world needs more heroes to stop bad guys, don't you think?"

Dave nodded eagerly, then shyly twisted the toe of his shoe into the dirt. "Um, I'm Dave. What's your name?"

"The name's Rupert. I'm in second grade. What grade are you in, Dave?"

"Um… Kin-der-gar-ten." Dave made sure to emphasize each part of the word so that he said it right. "Rupert is a nice name. It sounds so grown up!"

Rupert kicked at the dirt lightly, looking away. "I-I think most names are grown up names…"

Dave frowned, worried he had upset Rupert somehow. "I-I'm sorry, I just think… Rupert is a good name. It's big and strong, like a grown up! I mean it nicely, I p-promise…!"

Rupert quickly turned to Dave and made a soothing gesture with his hands. "I-I know you do! You're a good kid, Dave. You're honest and kind. I like that."

Dave hid his face in his hands. "Th-thank you…" he mumbled, "that's really nice of you…"

"Uh, h-hey!" Rupert said suddenly. "I found an ant hill earlier… Do you want to look at it with me?"

Dave gasped. "Really? Could… could we make a house for the ants, too, with leaves and sticks?"

Rupert grinned. "That sounds awesome! Let's go-"

"Hold it right there, young man." The two of them jumped and whirled around to find a teacher towering over them. They did not look happy. "I'm going to need you two to come with me."

Later…

Dave and Rupert ended up in the principal's office. Apparently, the three kids who were picking on Dave before said that Rupert had pushed them and bullied them, even though they just wanted to play with Dave, and Rupert was going to be punished for it.

"But I didn't push them!" Rupert insisted.

"Watch your tone, young man," the principal scolded. "You're in enough trouble as it is. I've called your parents, and they're going to take you home early."

"But-"

"No buts! Now be quiet, unless you want to lose recess privileges."

Dave watched the two argue, whipping his head back and forth at whoever was speaking. This was all his fault! Rupert was going to get in trouble because of him, and it wasn't fair! He had to do something, but what?

"Um… Mr. Principal, sir? Can I say something…?" The principal flicked his eyes over to Dave. He took that as a sign to keep going. "Th-the truth is… Rupert is a hero! He saved me, and he didn't push the other kids at all! They're… they're lying! They were calling me names, but Rupert is really nice! He told the other kids to go away, and they did, b-but not because he's scary! He's really nice and a hero and we were gonna make a house for the ants together, and-"

The sound of a phone being placed back on its hook pulled Dave from his tale. The principal made a shooing motion at Dave. "Dave, you can go back to class. Rupert is going to stay here and wait for his parents to pick him up."

"H-huh?!" Dave exclaimed. What about everything he just said, about Rupert being a hero?!

"And for goodness sake, stop mumbling all the time! I'll have to set you up with our speech therapist if you can't enunciate properly. Off you go to class; don't wander!"

Dave opened his mouth to protest, but a withering glare from the principal left him nodding miserably before following the secretary out of the office.

That was his mood for the rest of the day: miserable. He couldn't nap during naptime, and he hardly heard a thing the teacher was teaching (thankfully, she didn't call on him at all), and he was miserable as he walked all the way home.

He didn't get to ride the bus because his house was close to school, but his mom and dad both worked, so they wouldn't drive in the carpool, either. Instead, he trudged through the muggy heat of late summer down the street, passing houses that practically looked the same until he could see his house when he turned a corner.

"Dave!" Dave jumped and looked around wildly. "Over here, Dave! It's me, Rupert!"

Dave turned and saw Rupert waving at him from behind a white picket fence, grinning broadly at him. "R-Rupert? You're okay?!" He hurried to the fence and peered at Rupert through the cracks.

Rupert looked much better than he had earlier, all toothy smiles and bouncing energy. "Yeah, my mom picked me up after you left. She thinks the principal's a doo-doo head, so I'm not in trouble!"

Dave gasped. "Y-you called the principal a… a… that!"

Rupert winked at Dave. "Technically, my mom called him that, so it's okay. I just can't say that in front of him. Are you okay, Dave?"

Dave nodded. "Um, yeah! But… I'm sorry I got you in trouble, Rupert. I didn't mean to…"

"Hey," Rupert said gently, reaching through the fence to let Dave take his hand. "You didn't get me in trouble, those other kids did. And I really like how you stood up for me with the principal, even if he ignored you. I can tell it was hard for you, and I'm glad you did it."

"I had to," Dave insisted. "It wasn't right!"

Rupert let go of Dave's hand and gently tousled his hair. "You know, Dave, you're kind of a hero yourself. If we stick together, we could be heroes together! Do you want to be friends?"

Dave gasped excitedly, stomping his feet happily. "Really?!"

"Yeah, really! Now come on, I'll let you in through the front door. Mom has snacks!"

"Oh, o-okay! My parents aren't home, so I think it's okay!"

Following Rupert's directions, Dave found his way to the front door of his neighbor (and new friend's!) house, knocking on the door as his first ever friendship was about to begin.

I imagine Dave's parents are... okay. Not great, not terrible, just... okay. Rupert, on the other hand, I imagine has parents who are a little overbearing (not in a helicopter parent way, but more of a "really excited about every little thing he does" way). Rupert standing up for another kid at school should be celebrated, not punished; hence, extra playtime out in the sun, and lots of snacks, too. When they meet Dave, it's like having a second child they can dote on, which Dave is shy about, but takes it to be polite.

I also imagine that Dave likes to talk, but he mumbles a bit, which makes it hard to hear him. Getting him a speech therapist was probably the only good thing the principal did for him, helping him speak up while also learning more about social cues (something I imagine he has more difficulty with, but the therapist is very nice, like a decent human being should be).

Back when I was in elementary school, my best friend and I would often sit make little houses for the ants out of leaves and sticks (well, she did the building, I mostly watched because I didn't like touching germy outside things), but it was easily the high light of the day. Luckily, I had an easier time than poor Dave during the "class" part of class, though when I was really young, I was a bit silly. Didn't get into trouble for it, but I eventually shaped up (I distinctly remember pretending to be a dying cockroach once, when my teacher did something I didn't like. Can't remember how that turned out, though).

Anyway, that's Day 1 of Panprice Week! I'll get started on Day 2 tomorrow, so I hope you'll stick around! Leave a review and tell me your thoughts; and I'll see you tomorrow. Until then!