Beginning
64. Beginning
Okay, this is my first post here, so be a little kind, please.
As I am using these prompts to help me flesh out a fanfic I am writing, They may be a little long. Just to warn you.
I figured starting with the Beginning prompt would be helpful, and fun. My continuity will almost always be the show, but I’ll be throwing in tidbits from the manga every now in then. Sorry, folks, Silver may not be making an appearance, despite his badassery.
Speaking of which, this particular prompt is rated G, and takes place shortly after the Persian story in How I Became a Pokémon Card. Yeah, I consider that canon to the anime. Hush. :P
Anyway, please enjoy the fic!
Edit: fixed something in the story to explain why the girls dislike her so much...
Edit: Fixed his last name. It's technically Moretti-Rochat, but no one remembers that :P
64. Beginning
“Alright, children, I’ve graded your language arts tests, and I’m a little surprised with the results. I’d like to see some of you study a bit harder, and ask more questions in class so I can be sure you understand.” Ms. Underwood said, placing each child’s test face-down on their desks. As she passed one young boy’s desk, she seemed to emphasize ‘asking questions’ as she set it on the false wood top. 7-year-old Iian Giovanni Rochat frowned a little as she did, gently pulling up a corner of the paper and peeking a little. He saw a bit of red marker, and grimaced. This can’t be good. As the children checked their papers, there seemed to be many with similar thoughts as there were many audible sighs. He saw the girl next to him smile a little, and he saw the coveted green mark, meaning a high score. He looked down at his own as he flipped it, frowning. Not good at all. Mother’s not going to be happy. He thought forlornly, staring at the big 75 in red on the top. His mother would have a conniption. It wasn’t fault he stunk at Language arts. He tried to memorize the stuff, but he always came up blank on the tests and quizzes. Why couldn’t it be like math, which he got without trying? Or music, which was helped by his father teaching him to play the piano?
“I’d like to congratulate our newest student, Seren, for making such a high score, despite just having transferred over from Celadon. After class, you may come pick something out of the prize box.”
The little girl blushed, and feeling all the eyes on her, hid her face behind long black bangs. So that’s the new girl‘s name, Giovanni thought. He had been out sick a couple of days prior, but had noticed her when she had been assigned the desk next to his the day he had returned. He had meant to say hello, but he had always been a bit shy. Something about those pretty violet eyes made him afraid he’d act like an idiot, though he couldn’t understand why. She was very quiet, always looking like she wanted to hide behind something, preferring to sit by herself at lunch, usually reading a book, which she seemed to do during recess as well. He also noticed her lack of size. He didn’t think she was much younger than him, maybe only by a couple of months, by her apparent intellect, but her height made her look like she should have been in kindergarten instead of first grade.
“Thank you, ma’am,” she replied back meekly, hurriedly folding up her paper and stuffing it in her desk, as if she was ashamed of doing so well. Maybe she can help me with my LA work, he wondered to himself, when the bell rang.
“Alright children, you have some free time before lunch, so you may talk quietly among yourselves until its time to go.” With that, Ms. Underwood sat down at her desk and started grading some more work.
As the children gathered into their little groups of friends and talked, he sighed. He didn’t really have many friends here. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in trying to make friends, he just got along better with older children than those his own age. When he had tried to make friends, they usually ignored him, and he was somewhat used to it. Well, what’s the worse she can do, refuse to talk to me?
Or laugh at me. Gah… Forcing his heart out of his throat, he turned to her and quietly said, “Um, excuse me?”
The girl looked up, as if she was surprised anyone was talking to her, “Yes?”
He smiled, relieved that she wasn’t giving the look he had gotten from some of the other children of ‘Why are you talking to me?’ “Uh, I didn’t realize you were the new student. My name’s Giovanni. Welcome to Ms. Underwood‘s class.”
He extended his hand, and she stared at it as if it might bite her before gingerly shaking it. “My name’s Seren. Though I guess you heard from her announcing it a minute ago.” She seemed embarrassed about it.
“Yeah, um, what did you make, by the way, if you don‘t mind me asking?” She pulled out the paper and handed it to him, and he carefully unfolded it, trying not to show his surprise at the green 100 scribbled across the top, a little smiley face drawn next to it. “wow, that’s good. I wish I was good at Language arts like that,” he rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin. “I kind of stink at it.” The teacher called for the children to line up, and he quickly asked, “You want to sit by me during lunch?”
Seren looked worried, and gently shook her head, “I’m sorry, I’m…trying to finish a book before the library wants it back,” she pulled out a trade paperback by the name of The Hobbit, and his eyes widened at the thickness of it. “I really want to read the next book, but they won’t let me because they think it’s too old for me.”
Giovanni inwardly sighed. At least he had tried, “well, okay. Maybe when you’re done we can sit together and maybe you can help me with my LA? If you need help in anything else, I’d be more than happy to return the favor.”
For once, she seemed to smile a little, “Maybe so, Giovanni. Thank you for inviting me, though.” She quietly got up from her seat to get in line before she got in trouble, and he sighed, beating his head against the door as he passed it. Good job, Iian. You could tell she was uncomfortable about the test, but you just had to go and ask. Mary, mother of God, help me in my stupidity.
The cafeteria was packed with children, each one talking over every other one until it became a cacophony that threatened to give Giovanni a headache. That was, if figuring out what half the food was didn’t. Judging by the meat in most of it, he was willing to bet the lunch ladies had gotten a large delivery of cheap pork in, which didn’t help him in the least, as he was rather allergic to it. In the end, he settled for the old stand-by of a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich, and biting into it, he made a mental note to see if they had strawberry jelly next time. You’d think a school such as this would have more to offer than a bunch of pork and PB&J…5 Pokebucks said that the money was going towards teachers’ salaries, or ‘padding the principal’s pocket’, as his mother had surmised. Beggars can’t be choosers, He munched away thoughtfully as he listened to some girls talking a few seats down. The girls were laughing over something, and he overheard a blonde girl named Karen, the leader of the group, say, “Have you seen that new girl? What was her name?”
“Something ridiculous like Serene or some such nonsense.” Beth, the other blonde of the group answered back.
“Whatever. Have you ever seen someone so little in your life? How’d she get into first grade? She can’t be even 7 years old.”
“Maybe she’s an extra smart midget,” Destiny giggled, putting her hair in her face, “Look at me, I’m a tiny little smart ass who’s too good to talk to any of the other kids.” She joked, and the other girls laughed loudly.
“Oh, but she talked to that weirdo, Giovanni.”
“You mean no eyebrows kid?”
“Yeah, him. I guess that’s the best she’ll get.” Karen pointed at Seren, who was sitting at the next table over, and Giovanni noticed misting eyes trying desperately to hide behind her book as she too munched on her peanut butter sandwich, “I heard she’s one of those special kids, ya’ know, that gets really sick all the time. Maybe that’s why they transferred her. They figured they couldn’t burden such a illustrious school as those in Celadon with someone like that.”
“What, so sending her out here to Viridian is any better? Why do we want her?”
“Maybe her scores will beef up the class average?” Destiny wondered, “I can’t think of a better reason than that.” She screamed as cold, white liquid splashed onto her head, and she turned to see Giovanni behind her, carrying a tray of his trash, “Watch out, you little worm! You just messed up my hair!”
“Terribly sorry,” He replied coldly, “Must have slipped.” He walked off to toss his trash, what a waste of perfectly good milk on such a person as Destiny. Should have waited until I could’ve gotten Karen. He sensed Seren’s eyes on him, and as he looked at her, she quickly plunged back into her book. She tried to resume reading, when he walked up to her, and took her empty tray for her. She looked up, and he gave her a small, private smile as he walked away. Her face went red, and she sighed, wondering how long it would be until she faced retribution for it.
Not very long, it turned out, as they went out to play for recess. She sat in her normal spot, a small stone bench near the jungle gym, when her book was knocked from her hands by a bright blue ball. She looked up, and one of the girls from lunch stared down at her, “So sorry, must have gotten away from me.” Seren said nothing, quietly handing back the ball and retrieving her book from the wood chips. She returned back to her seat, and a few moments later, she was knocked to the ground, much harder this time. The blue ball rolled away and rested underneath the foot of Karen, her blonde hair glistening in the bright sunshine. “Apparently you didn’t get the hint. This is our spot, little one. We play ball here,” she grinned.
Seren sighed, giving her a look, “whatever would you play ball in this area for?”
Karen frowned, “Bench ball, of course. Now move along.”
Seren picked up her glasses, and carefully wiped them off on her blue uniform skirt, “I believe I was here first, so could you please play it at that bench over there?” She pointed at an identical bench not 10 feet away.
Karen’s black eyes burned, as she picked up a fairly sharp looking rock, and began tossing it in the air, “And I believe I wasn’t suggesting your moving, was I, girls?” The girls obediently nodded.
Seren’s own violet eyes flashed, “And I wasn’t going to, either way. Now, please leave me alone.” She defiantly sat back down on the bench. She knew what was coming, and she knew that, just like Celadon Elementary, the wealthier the parents, the more the child got away with. She was here because her parents had worked hard to let her go to the best education they could give her, and she didn’t want to give them trouble with her fighting back, even if she was justified in it. That had happened at the last place.
Karen sniffed, “fine. I guess I’ll just have to force you to move.” The girls each picked up some rocks, and Seren closed her eyes tight as they started to throw them, anticipating what had happened before. But none hit her. She opened her eyes and found herself behind a male student with layered brown hair, who was rubbing his arm.
“Leave her alone, Karen,” the boy said, brushing the dust from his jacket from the rocks.
The girls frowned, and Karen glowered at him, “why should I?”
“She hasn’t done anything towards you. Go play your silly little game elsewhere and let her read in peace.”
“Why shouldn’t we just do the same…” Karen stopped as Destiny whispered something in her ear, “Hmph, you little kids aren’t even worth it.” She revised herself, turning with her companions and walking off.
“Funny, I was going to say the same!” Giovanni yelled after them, and Destiny and Beth found themselves holding back Karen as she furiously tried to slap him for the gutsy remark. They dragged her away, and he sighed, tuning and kneeling beside her, “Are you okay?”
Seren stared at him, wide eyed, “Um…yes. I think so…” She touched the back of her head, and winced.
“They got you pretty hard, didn’t they? I’m sorry. I couldn’t see what was going on until later on because of the 4th graders running around.” As he held out his hand to help her up, she saw several cuts from the rocks, and as she looked worriedly at them, he chuckled, “Don’t worry. My Persian’s given me worse. How about I take you to the school nurse? That looked like it hurt.”
Getting up, she placed her book in her pocket, and gave him a sweet smile, “Okay, but only if you let them look at those cuts. I…I don’t want you getting into trouble on my behalf.”
“Hm? Meh, worse has happened to me.” He found his face turning a little red at the smile. “Want me to tell you how I got this?” He pointed at the scar on his left hand, and she nodded as they walked inside to the nurse’s office, “Well, I was playin’ in the forest…” By the time she was sitting on the table in the nurse’s office getting the bump checked, he had told her about the Pokémon collection agency trying to take the Persian away, and how they had worked together to save it. “And when I turn 10, I’m gonna use him to help me with my journey…or Tech. Whichever I end up going to.”
Seren smiled as she held the ice pack to her head, “That’s neat. I’ve got a Spearow that I feed every day, but he’s wild. I’m afraid it’s not as neat as rescuing a Persian.” She pulled the ice pack off for a moment, as the cold was hurting more than the injury was. “By the way, thank you.”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you for helping me, both on the playground and at lunch. No one’s ever done something like that for me.”
Giovanni raised a non-existent eyebrow, “No one?”
She shook her head, “No. I don’t make friends very easily…I think you’re the first person who’s been nice to me, besides the teachers; but that’s their jobs, so it doesn’t count.” She bit her lip, “I…don’t suppose that invitation for lunch is still open, is it? Maybe I can help you with your Language Arts, too.” She smiled sheepishly, “truth be told, I could use some help on my math,” she quickly added, “That is, if you want to! I’ll be perfectly fine if you’re not!” She waved her hands quickly in front of herself.
“It’s still open, and I’d be more then happy to…just one thing.”
She frowned. Here came the condition, like always, “Yes?”
He grinned, “If I can be your friend, Seren, I’d be happy to help you with Math.”
She blinked, and then gave him the first genuinely happy smile she had given anyone in a long time, “I’d be…happy to.”
Giovanni squeezed her hand, “Cool! Now, is there anything you’d like to be called? Just Seren, or a variant of it?”
“Hmm…” she replied thoughtfully, “Seren should be okay…or maybe my middle name, Esther? Anything I should call you?”
Her new friend shrugged, “Both of those are pretty. Giovanni’s fine, I guess. Never thought about it, really.”
“Um, is Vanni okay instead? Giovanni’s kind of hard for me to pronounce…”
He beamed, “Hey, never thought of that one. I like it.” The bell rang, “do you need to stay here for a little longer?”
She shook her head slowly, “No, I’m feeling a bit better,” he noticed her voice had become a more normal tone instead of a whisper, and he helped her down. As they walked back to their classroom, he held her hand tight unconsciously, though she noticed it, and she smiled again. Maybe Viridian Private School wouldn’t be so bad after all.
At least I have a friend now, they thought in unison, and though they didn’t know it, it would be a friendship that would last longer than either of them could ever anticipate.
"So what did you do to get her twerked off at you?" He asked.
"Promise you won't laugh at me?" He nodded, and she continued, "I'm...somewhat clumsy. Couple of days ago, I might have accidentally spilled quick drying glue in Karen's seat..."
Okay, this is my first post here, so be a little kind, please.
As I am using these prompts to help me flesh out a fanfic I am writing, They may be a little long. Just to warn you.
I figured starting with the Beginning prompt would be helpful, and fun. My continuity will almost always be the show, but I’ll be throwing in tidbits from the manga every now in then. Sorry, folks, Silver may not be making an appearance, despite his badassery.
Speaking of which, this particular prompt is rated G, and takes place shortly after the Persian story in How I Became a Pokémon Card. Yeah, I consider that canon to the anime. Hush. :P
Anyway, please enjoy the fic!
Edit: fixed something in the story to explain why the girls dislike her so much...
Edit: Fixed his last name. It's technically Moretti-Rochat, but no one remembers that :P
64. Beginning
“Alright, children, I’ve graded your language arts tests, and I’m a little surprised with the results. I’d like to see some of you study a bit harder, and ask more questions in class so I can be sure you understand.” Ms. Underwood said, placing each child’s test face-down on their desks. As she passed one young boy’s desk, she seemed to emphasize ‘asking questions’ as she set it on the false wood top. 7-year-old Iian Giovanni Rochat frowned a little as she did, gently pulling up a corner of the paper and peeking a little. He saw a bit of red marker, and grimaced. This can’t be good. As the children checked their papers, there seemed to be many with similar thoughts as there were many audible sighs. He saw the girl next to him smile a little, and he saw the coveted green mark, meaning a high score. He looked down at his own as he flipped it, frowning. Not good at all. Mother’s not going to be happy. He thought forlornly, staring at the big 75 in red on the top. His mother would have a conniption. It wasn’t fault he stunk at Language arts. He tried to memorize the stuff, but he always came up blank on the tests and quizzes. Why couldn’t it be like math, which he got without trying? Or music, which was helped by his father teaching him to play the piano?
“I’d like to congratulate our newest student, Seren, for making such a high score, despite just having transferred over from Celadon. After class, you may come pick something out of the prize box.”
The little girl blushed, and feeling all the eyes on her, hid her face behind long black bangs. So that’s the new girl‘s name, Giovanni thought. He had been out sick a couple of days prior, but had noticed her when she had been assigned the desk next to his the day he had returned. He had meant to say hello, but he had always been a bit shy. Something about those pretty violet eyes made him afraid he’d act like an idiot, though he couldn’t understand why. She was very quiet, always looking like she wanted to hide behind something, preferring to sit by herself at lunch, usually reading a book, which she seemed to do during recess as well. He also noticed her lack of size. He didn’t think she was much younger than him, maybe only by a couple of months, by her apparent intellect, but her height made her look like she should have been in kindergarten instead of first grade.
“Thank you, ma’am,” she replied back meekly, hurriedly folding up her paper and stuffing it in her desk, as if she was ashamed of doing so well. Maybe she can help me with my LA work, he wondered to himself, when the bell rang.
“Alright children, you have some free time before lunch, so you may talk quietly among yourselves until its time to go.” With that, Ms. Underwood sat down at her desk and started grading some more work.
As the children gathered into their little groups of friends and talked, he sighed. He didn’t really have many friends here. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in trying to make friends, he just got along better with older children than those his own age. When he had tried to make friends, they usually ignored him, and he was somewhat used to it. Well, what’s the worse she can do, refuse to talk to me?
Or laugh at me. Gah… Forcing his heart out of his throat, he turned to her and quietly said, “Um, excuse me?”
The girl looked up, as if she was surprised anyone was talking to her, “Yes?”
He smiled, relieved that she wasn’t giving the look he had gotten from some of the other children of ‘Why are you talking to me?’ “Uh, I didn’t realize you were the new student. My name’s Giovanni. Welcome to Ms. Underwood‘s class.”
He extended his hand, and she stared at it as if it might bite her before gingerly shaking it. “My name’s Seren. Though I guess you heard from her announcing it a minute ago.” She seemed embarrassed about it.
“Yeah, um, what did you make, by the way, if you don‘t mind me asking?” She pulled out the paper and handed it to him, and he carefully unfolded it, trying not to show his surprise at the green 100 scribbled across the top, a little smiley face drawn next to it. “wow, that’s good. I wish I was good at Language arts like that,” he rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin. “I kind of stink at it.” The teacher called for the children to line up, and he quickly asked, “You want to sit by me during lunch?”
Seren looked worried, and gently shook her head, “I’m sorry, I’m…trying to finish a book before the library wants it back,” she pulled out a trade paperback by the name of The Hobbit, and his eyes widened at the thickness of it. “I really want to read the next book, but they won’t let me because they think it’s too old for me.”
Giovanni inwardly sighed. At least he had tried, “well, okay. Maybe when you’re done we can sit together and maybe you can help me with my LA? If you need help in anything else, I’d be more than happy to return the favor.”
For once, she seemed to smile a little, “Maybe so, Giovanni. Thank you for inviting me, though.” She quietly got up from her seat to get in line before she got in trouble, and he sighed, beating his head against the door as he passed it. Good job, Iian. You could tell she was uncomfortable about the test, but you just had to go and ask. Mary, mother of God, help me in my stupidity.
The cafeteria was packed with children, each one talking over every other one until it became a cacophony that threatened to give Giovanni a headache. That was, if figuring out what half the food was didn’t. Judging by the meat in most of it, he was willing to bet the lunch ladies had gotten a large delivery of cheap pork in, which didn’t help him in the least, as he was rather allergic to it. In the end, he settled for the old stand-by of a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich, and biting into it, he made a mental note to see if they had strawberry jelly next time. You’d think a school such as this would have more to offer than a bunch of pork and PB&J…5 Pokebucks said that the money was going towards teachers’ salaries, or ‘padding the principal’s pocket’, as his mother had surmised. Beggars can’t be choosers, He munched away thoughtfully as he listened to some girls talking a few seats down. The girls were laughing over something, and he overheard a blonde girl named Karen, the leader of the group, say, “Have you seen that new girl? What was her name?”
“Something ridiculous like Serene or some such nonsense.” Beth, the other blonde of the group answered back.
“Whatever. Have you ever seen someone so little in your life? How’d she get into first grade? She can’t be even 7 years old.”
“Maybe she’s an extra smart midget,” Destiny giggled, putting her hair in her face, “Look at me, I’m a tiny little smart ass who’s too good to talk to any of the other kids.” She joked, and the other girls laughed loudly.
“Oh, but she talked to that weirdo, Giovanni.”
“You mean no eyebrows kid?”
“Yeah, him. I guess that’s the best she’ll get.” Karen pointed at Seren, who was sitting at the next table over, and Giovanni noticed misting eyes trying desperately to hide behind her book as she too munched on her peanut butter sandwich, “I heard she’s one of those special kids, ya’ know, that gets really sick all the time. Maybe that’s why they transferred her. They figured they couldn’t burden such a illustrious school as those in Celadon with someone like that.”
“What, so sending her out here to Viridian is any better? Why do we want her?”
“Maybe her scores will beef up the class average?” Destiny wondered, “I can’t think of a better reason than that.” She screamed as cold, white liquid splashed onto her head, and she turned to see Giovanni behind her, carrying a tray of his trash, “Watch out, you little worm! You just messed up my hair!”
“Terribly sorry,” He replied coldly, “Must have slipped.” He walked off to toss his trash, what a waste of perfectly good milk on such a person as Destiny. Should have waited until I could’ve gotten Karen. He sensed Seren’s eyes on him, and as he looked at her, she quickly plunged back into her book. She tried to resume reading, when he walked up to her, and took her empty tray for her. She looked up, and he gave her a small, private smile as he walked away. Her face went red, and she sighed, wondering how long it would be until she faced retribution for it.
Not very long, it turned out, as they went out to play for recess. She sat in her normal spot, a small stone bench near the jungle gym, when her book was knocked from her hands by a bright blue ball. She looked up, and one of the girls from lunch stared down at her, “So sorry, must have gotten away from me.” Seren said nothing, quietly handing back the ball and retrieving her book from the wood chips. She returned back to her seat, and a few moments later, she was knocked to the ground, much harder this time. The blue ball rolled away and rested underneath the foot of Karen, her blonde hair glistening in the bright sunshine. “Apparently you didn’t get the hint. This is our spot, little one. We play ball here,” she grinned.
Seren sighed, giving her a look, “whatever would you play ball in this area for?”
Karen frowned, “Bench ball, of course. Now move along.”
Seren picked up her glasses, and carefully wiped them off on her blue uniform skirt, “I believe I was here first, so could you please play it at that bench over there?” She pointed at an identical bench not 10 feet away.
Karen’s black eyes burned, as she picked up a fairly sharp looking rock, and began tossing it in the air, “And I believe I wasn’t suggesting your moving, was I, girls?” The girls obediently nodded.
Seren’s own violet eyes flashed, “And I wasn’t going to, either way. Now, please leave me alone.” She defiantly sat back down on the bench. She knew what was coming, and she knew that, just like Celadon Elementary, the wealthier the parents, the more the child got away with. She was here because her parents had worked hard to let her go to the best education they could give her, and she didn’t want to give them trouble with her fighting back, even if she was justified in it. That had happened at the last place.
Karen sniffed, “fine. I guess I’ll just have to force you to move.” The girls each picked up some rocks, and Seren closed her eyes tight as they started to throw them, anticipating what had happened before. But none hit her. She opened her eyes and found herself behind a male student with layered brown hair, who was rubbing his arm.
“Leave her alone, Karen,” the boy said, brushing the dust from his jacket from the rocks.
The girls frowned, and Karen glowered at him, “why should I?”
“She hasn’t done anything towards you. Go play your silly little game elsewhere and let her read in peace.”
“Why shouldn’t we just do the same…” Karen stopped as Destiny whispered something in her ear, “Hmph, you little kids aren’t even worth it.” She revised herself, turning with her companions and walking off.
“Funny, I was going to say the same!” Giovanni yelled after them, and Destiny and Beth found themselves holding back Karen as she furiously tried to slap him for the gutsy remark. They dragged her away, and he sighed, tuning and kneeling beside her, “Are you okay?”
Seren stared at him, wide eyed, “Um…yes. I think so…” She touched the back of her head, and winced.
“They got you pretty hard, didn’t they? I’m sorry. I couldn’t see what was going on until later on because of the 4th graders running around.” As he held out his hand to help her up, she saw several cuts from the rocks, and as she looked worriedly at them, he chuckled, “Don’t worry. My Persian’s given me worse. How about I take you to the school nurse? That looked like it hurt.”
Getting up, she placed her book in her pocket, and gave him a sweet smile, “Okay, but only if you let them look at those cuts. I…I don’t want you getting into trouble on my behalf.”
“Hm? Meh, worse has happened to me.” He found his face turning a little red at the smile. “Want me to tell you how I got this?” He pointed at the scar on his left hand, and she nodded as they walked inside to the nurse’s office, “Well, I was playin’ in the forest…” By the time she was sitting on the table in the nurse’s office getting the bump checked, he had told her about the Pokémon collection agency trying to take the Persian away, and how they had worked together to save it. “And when I turn 10, I’m gonna use him to help me with my journey…or Tech. Whichever I end up going to.”
Seren smiled as she held the ice pack to her head, “That’s neat. I’ve got a Spearow that I feed every day, but he’s wild. I’m afraid it’s not as neat as rescuing a Persian.” She pulled the ice pack off for a moment, as the cold was hurting more than the injury was. “By the way, thank you.”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you for helping me, both on the playground and at lunch. No one’s ever done something like that for me.”
Giovanni raised a non-existent eyebrow, “No one?”
She shook her head, “No. I don’t make friends very easily…I think you’re the first person who’s been nice to me, besides the teachers; but that’s their jobs, so it doesn’t count.” She bit her lip, “I…don’t suppose that invitation for lunch is still open, is it? Maybe I can help you with your Language Arts, too.” She smiled sheepishly, “truth be told, I could use some help on my math,” she quickly added, “That is, if you want to! I’ll be perfectly fine if you’re not!” She waved her hands quickly in front of herself.
“It’s still open, and I’d be more then happy to…just one thing.”
She frowned. Here came the condition, like always, “Yes?”
He grinned, “If I can be your friend, Seren, I’d be happy to help you with Math.”
She blinked, and then gave him the first genuinely happy smile she had given anyone in a long time, “I’d be…happy to.”
Giovanni squeezed her hand, “Cool! Now, is there anything you’d like to be called? Just Seren, or a variant of it?”
“Hmm…” she replied thoughtfully, “Seren should be okay…or maybe my middle name, Esther? Anything I should call you?”
Her new friend shrugged, “Both of those are pretty. Giovanni’s fine, I guess. Never thought about it, really.”
“Um, is Vanni okay instead? Giovanni’s kind of hard for me to pronounce…”
He beamed, “Hey, never thought of that one. I like it.” The bell rang, “do you need to stay here for a little longer?”
She shook her head slowly, “No, I’m feeling a bit better,” he noticed her voice had become a more normal tone instead of a whisper, and he helped her down. As they walked back to their classroom, he held her hand tight unconsciously, though she noticed it, and she smiled again. Maybe Viridian Private School wouldn’t be so bad after all.
At least I have a friend now, they thought in unison, and though they didn’t know it, it would be a friendship that would last longer than either of them could ever anticipate.
"So what did you do to get her twerked off at you?" He asked.
"Promise you won't laugh at me?" He nodded, and she continued, "I'm...somewhat clumsy. Couple of days ago, I might have accidentally spilled quick drying glue in Karen's seat..."