Backstory: So, two kids meet on a playground...
James Wilson was smaller than most of the other boys in his grade, being a year younger than them, and that meant he always got picked last at recess when it was the fourth graders' turn to use the baseball diamond, but he never let that discourage him. He just ignored the inevitable sigh from whichever captain -- usually Jeff Davis -- grudgingly muttered, "Fine, we've got Jamie," and played his little heart out anyway. He was a good player, after all. The other boys just didn't want to admit it. He was certain they would eventually. It was just that he'd only been bumped up a grade this year and they weren't used to him yet.
Today, though, Brian Stevens had convinced his friend Bobby to play, so there was an extra person. "Don't need you, squirt," Jeff said, giving James a little shove to get him off the field. He stood watching for a few minutes and then pushed his hands into his pockets and trudged off toward the swings, watching his feet as he walked.
It just figured, his first day at a new school, and he was just trying to mind his own business when someone ran into him. Literally. "Hey!" Greg said with a scowl. "Look where you're going, doofus. This is my spot." Greg hated change. He hated moving, and he already hated this place. Everyone was stupid. He'd been leaning against a tree, watching the stupidity around him, when this scrawny kid decided to run into him.
Normally, James would've just apologized and gone on his way but he'd already been snubbed by the rest of his classmates and now the new kid was being a jerk, too. New kids were the ones who got picked on, not the ones who did the picking! So he shot a scowl back. "Your name's not on it," he said defiantly. "And it's not like I was moving at the speed of light or anything. It's your own stupid fault you didn't bother to take a step out of my way. Or make some kind of motion so I even knew you were there."
"If you were paying any attention at all, short stuff, you could've easily avoided me. I wasn't in your path or anything." Greg scowled even more. The class runt was actually putting up a fight.
Great, James thought, rolling his eyes a little. The new kid's mean and stupid. "You were, otherwise I wouldn't have run into you. I didn't swerve to hit you," he pointed out.
Greg scowled a little more. "How do you know you were even walking a straight path?"
"Because I started there--" He pointed at the ball field. "--and I was going there--" He pointed at the swings. "--and there's a direct line between them and I'm still on it. That's how I know." He hesitated a moment, looking at Greg's face before he said, "You know, I never believe grownups when they say 'Be careful or your face will stick like that,' but if you frown any harder, I think yours really might."
"You'd be frowning too, if you had to move to some stupid town, and go to some stupid school, and some stupid little kid ran into you when you were just minding your own business," Greg said promptly.
"Actually, I probably wouldn't." Well, it was true. "And I'm not stupid."
"Everyone here is stupid."
"Wow," James deadpanned. "You're gonna be real popular."
Greg rolled his eyes. "Why would I want to be friends with a bunch of stupid kids?"
"Because it's easier than getting beat up by them."
"I can handle myself," Greg said sullenly. "I'm not looking for a fight, I just wanna be left alone."
"That's dumb," James observed. "Everything's gonna be stupid forever if you just scowl all alone in a corner."
Now Greg was just confused. "Why do you care? It's none of your business what I do."
He shrugged a little. "I was just sayin'..." Satisfied that at least there was someone more miserable than him at the moment, James decided to give the kid what he wanted and just go away. "Have fun being alone and grouchy," he said, shoving his hands back in his pockets and resuming his trek toward the swings. There was an empty one next to Amy Knight, and James liked the way her hair trailed out behind her when she got the swing going really high.
"Hey!" Greg wasn't ready for the kid to leave yet. "Short stuff! What's your name, anyway? If you're gonna bother me, I might as well know what to call you besides 'short stuff'."
His first thought was to ask 'Why do you care?' but he knew what it was like to be the new kid, so he didn't. "Jamie," he answered automatically, because it was what people called him. He kind of hated it, though, so he corrected it quickly. "James."
"Well... I'm Greg," he said after a brief pause for thought. James didn't actually seem quite as stupid as the others, which made Greg feel a vague need to try and keep him around, at least for a little while. He didn't say that, though. It might make him look stupid, and he couldn't have that. "You like baseball?" He ventured.
James nodded and looked back at the boys playing. "I'm good at it, too. They don't like to admit it, though, because they're older so they think they're better."
Greg rolled his eyes. "That's stupid. Age is just a number. Besides, they can't be that much older, you're in the same grade." He looked James up and down. He was scrawny, but there was a runt in every class, he'd found.
"I got skipped over third grade," he explained. "Some of them are almost ten, and I only turned eight in August."
"Older in their case just means stupider," Greg said with a shrug. "I woulda skipped a grade or two but we move around so much it's pointless."
"How come you move so much?" James asked. "I have a cousin that has to move around a lot because he keeps getting kicked out of everywhere..."
"My dad's in the Air Force," Greg said with a shrug. "Or, he was. He isn't anymore. So I guess we're here to stay. It's stupid. I lived in China once."
"Really?" James couldn't help looking a little impressed by that. "How come he's not in the Air Force anymore? And why'd he pick here to live...?"
Greg shrugged again. This wasn't nearly as interesting for him as it was for James, apparently. "He can't see anymore. That's what he said, anyway. He's not blind or anything, but I guess he can't see good enough to be in the Air Force, so they made him leave. And we moved here cos this is where he lived before."
"Grownups are weird. They always go back to the same things instead of trying anything new." His gaze wandered back to the ball field again and his eyebrows suddenly rose a bit, like he'd gotten an idea. "Do you like baseball?" he asked.
"Yeah," Greg said, though his voice didn't sound particularly enthusiastic. It was suspicious instead. "Why?"
"Maybe tomorrow you could play, too," James suggested. "Then there'd be an even number and they'd let me play again."
Greg's eyes narrowed a little. "I could, maybe. But why should I? What would I get out of it? I'd get picked last except for you, and someone might figure out that I was playing just to even out the numbers so you would get to play again, then I'd get picked on for helping you out."
"You wouldn't get picked on. I don't get picked on. Just ignored sometimes. They don't not like me." He looked vaguely dissatisfied about this but he really didn't seem like he was bullied. "You'd get picked last except for me at first but if you're any good that won't last long. And even if you don't actually make friends, at least people won't bother you for always standing around by yourself and scowling."
"No one bothers me for standing around by myself except you," Greg pointed out logically. It was true, up until this point he'd been largely ignored by the other kids and that was how he wanted it, at least until he found some way of impressing them all at once and making them jealous.
"Maybe not to your face," James said with a shrug.
Greg shrugged again, too. "Don't care what they say behind my back. The worst they could say is that I don't talk to anyone. Which is true."
"Okay, don't help me, then." James looked a little bit dejected again. It wouldn't hurt the other boy to help. But if he really didn't want to, there wasn't much James could do about it.
"I didn't say I won't," Greg said. He didn't say he would, though, either. He did manage to stop scowling long enough to give James a little smirk, like he knew something the other boy didn't.
This was getting to be more trouble than it was worth. "Never mind," he muttered, turning to leave again. "I don't want help anymore."
Greg rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'll help you. But at some point you might have to help me. Only fair, though I can't think what I'd need your help for."
Frowning a little, James studied the other boy for a few moments. "Did you ever have any friends before?"
"Friends are overrated. They're all stupid and selfish and don't really care about you."
"Just saying 'no' would've taken a lot less time."
Greg shrugged again. "If I wanted friends, I could have them. But I don't, because it's pointless."
James looked skeptical. "I don't think you could."
"I could, but I won't, because I don't need to prove it to you," Greg said promptly.
"You couldn't. You aren't nice at all. I've only been talking to you for a few minutes and I'm already tired of you. I don't think you could keep friends even if you tried," he insisted.
Rolling his eyes, Greg sat down in the gravel and started playing with the little rocks there, picking out the white ones and sticking them in his pockets. "If you're so tired of me, why are you still here? I'm not making you talk to me. But here you are."
"I tried to leave twice already," he pointed out. "You keep talking, though. I don't think you want me to go or you would just stop talking and let me."
"I don't think you want to leave, either, though, because you could've ignored me and just left."
"That would be rude." Mrs. Wilson raised polite boys. "But, fine. I can make other friends. I have other friends already. Have fun with the rocks." He turned away yet again and headed for the swings and Amy's pretty hair.
Greg had to smile a little. "I'm interesting, though."
"No, you're not," James said over his shoulder. "You're just mean."
"I'm mean and interesting," Greg replied. "And maybe you're not as stupid as the rest of them."
That made James pause a little. He got the impression that this kid didn't say things like that a lot. Still, he didn't want to seem as interested as he was. "Smart enough to know when to give up, at least," he said, walking backward so he was facing the other boy but still moving away.
Greg smiled a little. "You don't seem the type to give up."
"Not when it's worth it." James was almost to the point where he was far enough away that the conversation would be over whether he wanted it to be or not. His bluff was being called. He couldn't let himself give in, though, so it was going to have to stop being a bluff. "Enjoy the rocks. See ya."
Greg was going to let him walk away, really, but then he thought of something, so he hopped up quickly. "Hey! James!"
That was kind of unexpected. James blinked and tilted his head a bit. "Yeah?"
"We'll play baseball tomorrow," Greg said firmly. "The new kid and the little kid. They'll never know what hit 'em."
A little grin broke out on James' face. "Yeah, okay. See ya tomorrow, then."
Today, though, Brian Stevens had convinced his friend Bobby to play, so there was an extra person. "Don't need you, squirt," Jeff said, giving James a little shove to get him off the field. He stood watching for a few minutes and then pushed his hands into his pockets and trudged off toward the swings, watching his feet as he walked.
It just figured, his first day at a new school, and he was just trying to mind his own business when someone ran into him. Literally. "Hey!" Greg said with a scowl. "Look where you're going, doofus. This is my spot." Greg hated change. He hated moving, and he already hated this place. Everyone was stupid. He'd been leaning against a tree, watching the stupidity around him, when this scrawny kid decided to run into him.
Normally, James would've just apologized and gone on his way but he'd already been snubbed by the rest of his classmates and now the new kid was being a jerk, too. New kids were the ones who got picked on, not the ones who did the picking! So he shot a scowl back. "Your name's not on it," he said defiantly. "And it's not like I was moving at the speed of light or anything. It's your own stupid fault you didn't bother to take a step out of my way. Or make some kind of motion so I even knew you were there."
"If you were paying any attention at all, short stuff, you could've easily avoided me. I wasn't in your path or anything." Greg scowled even more. The class runt was actually putting up a fight.
Great, James thought, rolling his eyes a little. The new kid's mean and stupid. "You were, otherwise I wouldn't have run into you. I didn't swerve to hit you," he pointed out.
Greg scowled a little more. "How do you know you were even walking a straight path?"
"Because I started there--" He pointed at the ball field. "--and I was going there--" He pointed at the swings. "--and there's a direct line between them and I'm still on it. That's how I know." He hesitated a moment, looking at Greg's face before he said, "You know, I never believe grownups when they say 'Be careful or your face will stick like that,' but if you frown any harder, I think yours really might."
"You'd be frowning too, if you had to move to some stupid town, and go to some stupid school, and some stupid little kid ran into you when you were just minding your own business," Greg said promptly.
"Actually, I probably wouldn't." Well, it was true. "And I'm not stupid."
"Everyone here is stupid."
"Wow," James deadpanned. "You're gonna be real popular."
Greg rolled his eyes. "Why would I want to be friends with a bunch of stupid kids?"
"Because it's easier than getting beat up by them."
"I can handle myself," Greg said sullenly. "I'm not looking for a fight, I just wanna be left alone."
"That's dumb," James observed. "Everything's gonna be stupid forever if you just scowl all alone in a corner."
Now Greg was just confused. "Why do you care? It's none of your business what I do."
He shrugged a little. "I was just sayin'..." Satisfied that at least there was someone more miserable than him at the moment, James decided to give the kid what he wanted and just go away. "Have fun being alone and grouchy," he said, shoving his hands back in his pockets and resuming his trek toward the swings. There was an empty one next to Amy Knight, and James liked the way her hair trailed out behind her when she got the swing going really high.
"Hey!" Greg wasn't ready for the kid to leave yet. "Short stuff! What's your name, anyway? If you're gonna bother me, I might as well know what to call you besides 'short stuff'."
His first thought was to ask 'Why do you care?' but he knew what it was like to be the new kid, so he didn't. "Jamie," he answered automatically, because it was what people called him. He kind of hated it, though, so he corrected it quickly. "James."
"Well... I'm Greg," he said after a brief pause for thought. James didn't actually seem quite as stupid as the others, which made Greg feel a vague need to try and keep him around, at least for a little while. He didn't say that, though. It might make him look stupid, and he couldn't have that. "You like baseball?" He ventured.
James nodded and looked back at the boys playing. "I'm good at it, too. They don't like to admit it, though, because they're older so they think they're better."
Greg rolled his eyes. "That's stupid. Age is just a number. Besides, they can't be that much older, you're in the same grade." He looked James up and down. He was scrawny, but there was a runt in every class, he'd found.
"I got skipped over third grade," he explained. "Some of them are almost ten, and I only turned eight in August."
"Older in their case just means stupider," Greg said with a shrug. "I woulda skipped a grade or two but we move around so much it's pointless."
"How come you move so much?" James asked. "I have a cousin that has to move around a lot because he keeps getting kicked out of everywhere..."
"My dad's in the Air Force," Greg said with a shrug. "Or, he was. He isn't anymore. So I guess we're here to stay. It's stupid. I lived in China once."
"Really?" James couldn't help looking a little impressed by that. "How come he's not in the Air Force anymore? And why'd he pick here to live...?"
Greg shrugged again. This wasn't nearly as interesting for him as it was for James, apparently. "He can't see anymore. That's what he said, anyway. He's not blind or anything, but I guess he can't see good enough to be in the Air Force, so they made him leave. And we moved here cos this is where he lived before."
"Grownups are weird. They always go back to the same things instead of trying anything new." His gaze wandered back to the ball field again and his eyebrows suddenly rose a bit, like he'd gotten an idea. "Do you like baseball?" he asked.
"Yeah," Greg said, though his voice didn't sound particularly enthusiastic. It was suspicious instead. "Why?"
"Maybe tomorrow you could play, too," James suggested. "Then there'd be an even number and they'd let me play again."
Greg's eyes narrowed a little. "I could, maybe. But why should I? What would I get out of it? I'd get picked last except for you, and someone might figure out that I was playing just to even out the numbers so you would get to play again, then I'd get picked on for helping you out."
"You wouldn't get picked on. I don't get picked on. Just ignored sometimes. They don't not like me." He looked vaguely dissatisfied about this but he really didn't seem like he was bullied. "You'd get picked last except for me at first but if you're any good that won't last long. And even if you don't actually make friends, at least people won't bother you for always standing around by yourself and scowling."
"No one bothers me for standing around by myself except you," Greg pointed out logically. It was true, up until this point he'd been largely ignored by the other kids and that was how he wanted it, at least until he found some way of impressing them all at once and making them jealous.
"Maybe not to your face," James said with a shrug.
Greg shrugged again, too. "Don't care what they say behind my back. The worst they could say is that I don't talk to anyone. Which is true."
"Okay, don't help me, then." James looked a little bit dejected again. It wouldn't hurt the other boy to help. But if he really didn't want to, there wasn't much James could do about it.
"I didn't say I won't," Greg said. He didn't say he would, though, either. He did manage to stop scowling long enough to give James a little smirk, like he knew something the other boy didn't.
This was getting to be more trouble than it was worth. "Never mind," he muttered, turning to leave again. "I don't want help anymore."
Greg rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'll help you. But at some point you might have to help me. Only fair, though I can't think what I'd need your help for."
Frowning a little, James studied the other boy for a few moments. "Did you ever have any friends before?"
"Friends are overrated. They're all stupid and selfish and don't really care about you."
"Just saying 'no' would've taken a lot less time."
Greg shrugged again. "If I wanted friends, I could have them. But I don't, because it's pointless."
James looked skeptical. "I don't think you could."
"I could, but I won't, because I don't need to prove it to you," Greg said promptly.
"You couldn't. You aren't nice at all. I've only been talking to you for a few minutes and I'm already tired of you. I don't think you could keep friends even if you tried," he insisted.
Rolling his eyes, Greg sat down in the gravel and started playing with the little rocks there, picking out the white ones and sticking them in his pockets. "If you're so tired of me, why are you still here? I'm not making you talk to me. But here you are."
"I tried to leave twice already," he pointed out. "You keep talking, though. I don't think you want me to go or you would just stop talking and let me."
"I don't think you want to leave, either, though, because you could've ignored me and just left."
"That would be rude." Mrs. Wilson raised polite boys. "But, fine. I can make other friends. I have other friends already. Have fun with the rocks." He turned away yet again and headed for the swings and Amy's pretty hair.
Greg had to smile a little. "I'm interesting, though."
"No, you're not," James said over his shoulder. "You're just mean."
"I'm mean and interesting," Greg replied. "And maybe you're not as stupid as the rest of them."
That made James pause a little. He got the impression that this kid didn't say things like that a lot. Still, he didn't want to seem as interested as he was. "Smart enough to know when to give up, at least," he said, walking backward so he was facing the other boy but still moving away.
Greg smiled a little. "You don't seem the type to give up."
"Not when it's worth it." James was almost to the point where he was far enough away that the conversation would be over whether he wanted it to be or not. His bluff was being called. He couldn't let himself give in, though, so it was going to have to stop being a bluff. "Enjoy the rocks. See ya."
Greg was going to let him walk away, really, but then he thought of something, so he hopped up quickly. "Hey! James!"
That was kind of unexpected. James blinked and tilted his head a bit. "Yeah?"
"We'll play baseball tomorrow," Greg said firmly. "The new kid and the little kid. They'll never know what hit 'em."
A little grin broke out on James' face. "Yeah, okay. See ya tomorrow, then."