Chapter 2
Chapter Two
ELIZABETH
Third Grade
The Day I Met My Sunshine
T he next morning when I take my place on the reading rug in our classroom, I daydream about last night.
When I went to my window to say good night to the twins, I discovered cut-out construction paper stars, and a moon taped on the outside of the window glass. Each star had a letter written on it that spelled out P-R-I-N-C-E-S-S .
As I inspected the paper starry night, wondering how it got there, the branches on the oak tree started to move. That was when I noticed two brown-headed boys smiling at me through the window. Jayson and Julien had been stuck at home with the flu all week, and Mom wouldn’t let me go over to see them.
Opening the window, I held out my hands to help Jayson as he climbed through first.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“We’re tired of being stuck inside…and we missed you,” Jayson replied, turning to help Julien.
My little heart melted. “I missed you, too.”
“I’m stuck,” Julien said, trying to clamber over the sill.
We pulled him inside, and his long legs accidentally kicked my ladybug nightlight lamp from my bedside table.
“Be quiet. You’re going to get us in trouble.” Jayson picked up the lamp and placed it back where it belonged.
“Sorry.”
Hailey must had heard the noise because she came through the bathroom, her eyes widening when she saw Jayson and Julien.
“Mom is going to be so mad if she finds them in here.”
“Love you Hales, but scram.” I shooed her away.
“Your funeral,” she replied and retreated to her room.
Once she was gone, the boys and I snuggled down together on my bed. Jayson doubled a pillow over and rolled onto his stomach beside me, propping his head on top of his folded arms. I reclined back against my headboard, and Julien laid his head on my lap. He sighed when I slid my fingers through his soft brown hair.
“Would you rather eat a bowl full of maggots or three spiders?” Jayson asked.
We loved playing this game.
“So gross!” I threw my stuffed dog at him.
Considering the question, Julien said, “I’d eat the spiders because they’re small and there’s only three of them. I don’t think I could eat an entire bowl of maggots.”
“Still gross.” I pretended to fake vomit. “But I see your point. I agree. Okay. My turn. Hmm.” I spent a second thinking and then it hit me. “Would you rather…kiss a girl or kiss a toad?”
Jayson slid his eyes to Julien, then looked at me and said, “We’d kiss the girl, but only if it was you.”
I was nine years old, but after first grade when Jayson, Julien, and I became friends, I discovered that boys were not as icky as I once thought. I also saw Samantha kissing boys all the time behind the jungle gym on the playground at recess. It had me thinking about whether I wanted to kiss a boy or have a boy kiss me. My mom and dad kissed all the time. Mom said that people kissed when they really liked each other. Samantha must have really liked a whole bunch of boys.
Would I want a boy to kiss me? I didn’t think I would. But then I would see Julien running across the playground after Jayson, or I would think about the color of their eyes that had always fascinated me, and I would change my mind. Yes. Yes, I did want to kiss a boy. Well, two specific boys with gray eyes. And yes, I’d want them to kiss me back.
I had talked to Hailey about it one night. She thought I should keep my feelings a secret. That if they knew I liked them in that way, they would stop being my friends.
Hailey reappeared in the bathroom doorway. “Mom’s coming up the stairs.”
Little sisters could be so annoying.
“How do you know that?”
“I went downstairs for a glass of water.”
Julien pecked my cheek with a quick kiss and crawled off my bed. “Come on, Jay. I don’t want to be grounded again.”
Jayson kissed my other cheek.
As they disappeared out my window, Jayson poked his head back in.
“Samantha tried to kiss us on the playground, but we told her no.” Then he smiled at me and disappeared.
Seconds later, I heard their voices from the darkness say, “Good night, Princess.”
I touched both cheeks where they kissed me, and it was Hailey’s turn to make fake vomit sounds.
Coming out of my daydream, I absentmindedly pluck at a stray piece of fluff on the reading rug as I wait for class to begin. Jayson and Julien are still out sick, and the room feels emptier without them.
Beside me, Samantha and Jacinda giggle-gossip about a boy they saw in the hallway. I catch fragments of their conversation—something about his dirty clothes and his weird eyes. I really hate it when people talk about others behind their backs. It’s rude.
“Sorry,” Maria mumbles beside me, her knee grazing mine as she shifts.
“No prob,” I reply, my attention already elsewhere.
The sudden clap of Ms. Pauling’s hands snaps us all into focus. She stands at the front of the classroom next to a boy I’ve never seen before. His dark hair falls into his eyes, his head tilted down as he stares at the floor. He’s wearing a light blue, long-sleeved button-up, the fabric wrinkled and stained with faint brownish smudges. Samantha and Jacinda’s snickers grow louder, and the boy’s head snaps up, a scowl firmly set on his face. The sight of him tugs at my chest.
“One, two, three, eyes on me.” Our teacher chants the familiar words she uses to get us to focus.
“One and two, eyes on you,” we recite in unison.
“Good morning, class,” Ms. Pauling says brightly, her tone light as she gestures to the boy. “I’d like to introduce our newest classmate, Ryder Cutton. Ryder is from Virginia and will be joining us for the rest of the school year.”
Choruses of “Hi, Ryder” and “Welcome, Ryder” sing out from the reading rug.
“Since it’s November, and Ryder hasn’t been here for the past three months, who would like to be his class buddy?—”
Before she’s even finished her question, my hand shoots up. “I can be his class buddy, Ms. Pauling,” I say, my voice clear.
“Excellent, Elizabeth. Thank you.”
She instructs Ryder to sit next to me on the reading rug. I try to scoot over to make room for him, but Jacinda and Samantha refuse to move. Ms. Pauling doesn’t notice because she turns around to retrieve the bin that contains our assigned reading books.
“Make room for Ryder,” I tell Jacinda.
She barely acknowledges me. Instead, her eyes flick toward Ryder, and she cups her hand over her mouth to whisper something to Samantha. Their muffled giggles drift through the air, making Ryder’s shoulders slump a little. He frowns, the corners of his lips turning down, but stays silent.
Annoyance prickles my skin, and I can feel my patience thinning. I glance at Ms. Pauling, who’s still busy sorting through books, and decide to take matters into my own hands. I swivel around, bend my legs at the knees, then plow Samantha and Jacinda out of the way. Once a space is cleared, I grab Ryder’s hand and pull him down next to me.
“Ignore them.”
He smiles at me.
Ryder has really pretty eyes. Catching the sunlight streaming through the window, they’re a light shade of brown. Their color reminds me of fall sunsets, the kind that make the leaves in the backyard glow in shades of gold and amber.
Ms. Pauling finally turns around, her sharp gaze landing on Jacinda. The subtle narrowing of her eyes is enough to send the message. Jacinda straightens up at the silent reproach.
Samantha leans back and sticks her tongue out at me.I roll my eyes and pretend I didn’t see it.
Ms. Pauling passes out our assigned reading books but doesn’t give me mine. “Ryder, until you take the reading test so I can assess your reading Lexile level, why don’t you and Elizabeth go to the school library and pick out a book to bring back to class. I will let Mrs. Heard know you are coming.” She points to the clock hanging on the wall. “Please be back in thirty minutes, no later.”
As soon as we step into the hallway, the muffled chatter of classrooms fades, replaced by the distant hum of the school’s air vents.
“I’m sorry that Samantha and Jacinda were so mean to you.”
Ryder shrugs but doesn’t say anything.
Trying to lighten the mood, I show him where the important things are located. “That’s the boys’ restroom.” I point to the blue door on our left. “And the water fountain. I never use it because… ick , germs. I bring my own water. The cafeteria and gym are down at the end of the hall. We usually go outside to play, but when it rains, we use the gym.”
At the end of the corridor, I pull on the heavy glass door and gesture for Ryder to enter.
“This is the library. It’s my favorite place.”
The smell of books fills the large, airy room. Tall wooden shelves stretch toward the ceiling, and the soft glow of the fluorescent strip lights gives the space a warm, welcoming feel. Mrs. Heard, the librarian, sits behind her curved desk in the center of the room, her glasses perched low on her nose as she types away at her computer.
“Hi, Mrs. Heard!”
“Hey, sweetheart. Ms. Pauling said you were coming. It’s nice to meet you, Ryder. Let me know if you need any help finding a book. We’ll get a chance to talk more during library time on Friday.”
With a nod, she returns to her computer, leaving us to browse. Ryder wanders quietly down an aisle, his fingertips brushing the spines of books. I watch him for a moment.
“What do you like to read?” I ask.
He shoves his hands inside the pockets of his jeans and shrugs his shoulders again. I decide to try a new tactic. I grab a My Little Pony picture book from the shelf and hand it to him.
“You like magical talking rainbow unicorns?”
The horrified look that overtakes his face when I place the book in his hand is just too funny. It gives me the encouragement I need to continue teasing him.
“What about this one?” I say, handing him When the Crayons Quit .
He surprises me when he replies, “Do they have The Hungry Caterpillar or any books about the American Girl dolls? I like the ones with Josephina and Felicity.”
Ryder has a nice voice. It’s deeper than Jayson’s or Julien’s.
“You know the names of American Girl dolls?”
“Who doesn’t?”
Well, okay then. Who am I to judge? I walk over to the American Girl book section and take a couple of books off the shelf. Ryder clutches his stomach and bends over laughing.
“I’m just messin’ with you, Elizabeth.”
I put my hands on my hips and give him a piercing look. He gazes up at me and starts laughing all over again. Wiping tears from the corners of his eyes, he straightens up and grins.
“I have two sisters. My little sister, Brea, collects them. Our living room is covered in American Girl dolls. It’s creepy the way they all stare at you,” he says with a shudder.
“Sounds like your sister and my sister will love each other. She has these dolls with huge eyes that freak me out.”
Mrs. Heard finds us in the stacks and hands me a paperback. “This finally checked back in, and you were next on the wait list.”
It’s Where the Red Fern Grows . I do an imaginary fist pump. It’s been checked out of our public library for forever, so I asked Mrs. Heard to put me on the wait list for it here at school.
“Thanks so much!”
Ryder shuffles closer. “I’ve been wanting to read that one. My older sister said it was really good.”
I thrust the book at him. “Here. You can read it.”
My offer seems to baffle him for some reason. “Thanks, but you should keep it. I’ll go find something else to read.”
“Seriously. Take it. I can read it after you’re finished.”
“How ’bout we share. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Ryder smiles, and it’s such a nice smile that I can’t help but smile back.
Ms. Pauling pokes her head around the corner of the stacks. “Hey, you two. It’s time to head back to your class.”
The rest of the school day goes by quickly. Ryder and I talk. A lot. I tell him about Jayson and Julien. He tells me about his old friends and school in Virginia. His dad opened an auto shop in town, and that’s why they moved here. Once school is dismissed, we part ways, and I go find Hailey, so we can catch the bus home.
While standing in line, waiting to get on, someone bumps my shoulder.
“Hey,” Ryder says.
“Hey! Is this your bus?”
He nods.
“You must live in our neighborhood. What street?”
“Our new house is on Fallen Brook Drive.”
“That’s where we live,” Hailey pipes up.
“Ryder, this is Hailey, my sister I told you about. Hales, this is Ryder. He’s in my class, and I’m his class buddy. He has a little sister named Brea, and she loves American Girl dolls.”
That fact gets her excited. “Really? How many does she have?”
Ryder looks up into the sky to do a mental calculation. “About fifteen.”
“What? No way! I only have three!”
Hailey must be super impressed because as we load onto the bus, she begs Ryder to come over to his house and meet his sister.
“Why don’t you guys get off at my stop and walk home with me? Brea should already be there. She’s in kindergarten, and Mom picks her up at one. Aisle or window?” he asks when we get to the first available bench seat.
This boy is just so nice. “Aisle, please. Thanks.”
“Yes!” Hailey exclaims, always happy to sit next to the window.
I drop my backpack onto the floor and hug it between my feet. Ryder nudges my shoulder again and shows me Where the Red Fern Grows .
“Want to read with me?”
“Sure.”
Halfway home, I remember that I promised the twins that I’d meet them in my room after school.
“Do you mind if we drop by my house first before we head to yours?”
“ Lizzie ,” Hailey whines. “ American Girl dolls ,” she emphasizes gravely like it’s a life-and-death situation if she doesn’t get to see them as soon as possible.
I’m sure Jayson and Julien won’t mind if I’m a little late.
“Where have you been?” Jayson says as soon as I open my window for them to climb inside.
“Who’s that?” Julien asks, his tone wary, eyes narrowing the moment he spots Ryder standing just behind me.
Ryder gives a chin jerk in greeting. “S’up.”
“You guys sound so much better.” I reach behind me and grab Ryder’s hand, pulling him forward. “This is Ryder. He joined our class today. Oh! And he lives right down the street. His dad owns a garage, and they have this awesome car in their garage. It’s black with a yellow stripe down the middle. Ryder’s dad let me sit in it. The car is amazing! It has this really big thingy sticking up from the hood.”
I wave my hands around in an exaggerated motion, trying to show just how big it was.
“It’s called a supercharger,” Ryder helpfully interjects.
“Yeah, that,” I reply, growing more animated as I talk. “His dad let me sit in the front seat and rev the engine. It was so freakin’ loud! The whole car vibrated, like it was alive, and the windows rattled. It was awesome! You guys have to come see it.”
I really want the twins to like Ryder and welcome him into our group.
Jayson sizes him up. Julien does the same, then holds out a fist. “Any friend of Liz’s is a friend of ours.”