Weeks passed by and Jacqueline and her friends tried to turn him against me and bully us, but every day, Jeffery and I ate lunch together. I never truly knew how belonging felt until I met Jeffery; no one does. It takes years of misery and loneliness to feel the warm sensation of acceptance spreading from your stomach to the very tips of your fingers and toes. It feels as if you’ve just finished a long distance race: every muscle in your body burns with exhaustion yet you feel so happy, you could cry. And you have finished a race-- one of the most difficult, and the award is a true friend.
Over the past few week, I’ve told Jeffery about my past and why I sometimes seem to hold back. He completely understood, assuring me I didn’t have to fear. There was only one thing I didn’t tell him: Jacqueline and I used to be best friends.
In first grade, she was Jacky. We spent everyday together, always choosing each other for partners in class and going over to each other’s houses after school. We were the best of friends… were. Then came the first day of second grade, and she was… different. I didn’t see it at first, but, little by little, I noticed how she stopped coming over after school and how she would snicker with the popular kids in class, occasionally looking my way. Then one day, I felt someone putting something in the tangled friss of my hair during class. Angrily, I turned around to tell whoever it was to not touch me, but before a word could leave my mouth, I was shocked speechless. There stood Jacqueline, smirking her signature smirk for the very first time. Tears filled my eyes as I whispered, “...Jacky.”
She laughed, “What? I was getting something out of your hair,” she said in mock innocence. “...Are you gonna cry?” And then, for a second, I thought I saw what must have been the last remnants of my friend in her eyes, but they quickly clouded with cruel amusement as she strolled back to her seat, the class laughing along with her. Just before she sat down though, she turned and said, “Oh, and by the way, my name’s not Jacky. It’s Jacqueline.” Everything changed from that moment.
YOU ARE READING
Meeting Jeffery
PoetryFourth grader, Elise Lopez never imagined someone could become her friend. That is until she met Jeffery Gray, the new boy in her class. But can she overcome the pain of all her past friendships to start anew? Can she give Jeffery the trust needed t...
