Cindy’s parents turned their attention from Miss Treadwell to Mom and me. Miss Treadwell took the chance to quietly escape. Smart woman.
He gave my Mom a quick smile, and then looked down at me.
“Are you Alex?”
His voice boomed through the hallway. I wanted to stand behind Mom and hide, like Cindy was doing with her mother.
“Yes,” I said. I sounded like a little mouse.
He reached his sledgehammer-like arm out and extended his hand. I shook it gingerly. My hand vanished in his fist.
“Thank you very much. Cindy told us all about what happened, how you stood up to that...boy, for her.”
I felt my face growing hot. I looked at him, then at Cindy, who was giving me a small smile from behind her mother.
“You’re welcome,” I said to both of them.
Cindy’s father laughed and focused on Mom.
“Hi. I’m Larry. This is my wife, Chandra.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Chandra said. She shook Mom’s hand and gave me a smile.
They started talking. About the incident, the teachers, the first year of our school lives, a little of everything. I could only listen for about a minute before my attention started to wander. My eyes fell on Cindy, who looked to be as bored as I was.
“Hi,” she said quietly.
I gave my sister a final look and walked over to Cindy.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. Thank you for helping me. Tommy was being a jerk.”
“You get used to it.”
“We should play together from now on. If we do, Tommy and his stupid friends will leave us alone.”
I hesitated for a moment. Friends with a girl? I’d be made fun of every single day. No one would want to hang out with me.
So life wouldn’t be any different. I’d actually have one friend to play with. She would just happen to be a girl.
“Good idea,” I said.
“Okay. Tomorrow after lunch, meet me at the jungle gym. We’ll be friends.”
I smiled and nodded.
And that was the start of something great.
Mind Slide Page 27