Wednesday Short Story - Prompt - Kids

 Gifted

“Kyle, take the new girl in your team.” said Julien bossily.

“Why should I? You take her.” retorted Kyle. For a couple of ten year olds they were very opinionated.

“I already have Snot Face and Computer Geek on my team.” said Julien firmly. “We all want a fair match and it’s only right if New Girl is in your team.”

Kyle looked at Julien’s team of nine kids with varying degrees of athletism and sighed.

“Fine.” he said turning to look directly at me. He walked up to me and said commandingly. “You are on my team. Now listen to the rules.”

I didn’t like Kyle. He was mean, but then again, he took me on his team. It’s not like the new kid ever has a choice. I mean if they did, why would a new kid ever choose to be a new kid in the first place?

“Can you kick?” Kyle asked, rudely dragging me to stand with his team, far away from Julien.

I shook my head in response to his question. He sighed and I could tell he was disappointed.

“Can you catch?” he asked hopefully. He looked different with his eyes looking so earnest.

I shook my head again. This time the rest of our team groaned.

“Fine. You stay behind me all the time okay?” he said zooming his face in front of mine. I flinched at the authoritative tone, but nodded anyway.

“Good.” he said patting my head patronizingly. I scowled at him, wanting him to stop. I might be new, but I had dignity.

Julien ended my misery by whistling from the other side of the playground. Apparantly this was to indicate that his team was ready.

“Stay close to me and away from the ball.” Kyle said as everyone moved to take their places. I nodded obediently, shadowing Kyle as he moved onto the pitch.

The match started all too soon, with the ball flying onto Kyle’s foot. He snatched away and raced onto enemy territory. I hurried after him as he sailed past defenders, dribbling, pausing, darting almost dancing his way to the goal post.

I watched in awe as he shot the ball. It curved into a semi circle over the head of goalkeeper and flew into the net.

Every one on my team started to cheer. They were hugging Julien, clapping his back and patting his head. I stood close behind him and got patted on the head too.

Then suddenly everyone was moving away, including Julien. I rushed to return with him to the other side of the field.

Time allotted for our last free period rolled by as I observed the game proceed. Julien’s team tried to score thrice and succeeded once but was otherwise thwarted by our own goalkeeper. By the sound of all the children bad mouthing around me, I realized that no one was actually winning.

Just when the kids were getting frustrated, Kyle managed to snatch the ball again. But as I chased after him, rushing to keep my word, a strong kid from Julien’s team came hurtling through to trip Kyle.

At that moment, I think my brain froze, but my legs just kept on moving. I couldn’t stop myself from running faster and bodily blocking Kyle. The bigger kid crashed onto me instead and I collapsed to the ground clutching my knee as Kyle continued to run.

“Stupid new kid.” muttered the boy who collided with me, angrily getting up and walking away.

I wondered why he was upset when I heard some cheering behind me. I turned to see that everyone was hugging Kyle again and I deduced that he had probably scored.

“Well done Kyle!”

“That was an incredible shot!”

“You’re the best Kyle!”

“He got lucky, that’s all.”

“If Billy had managed to hit him, we’d have won.”

“Stupid New Girl.”

I think we won, because no one returned to play. I had no way of knowing for sure as I had never played this game before. I sat on the grass, my knee bleeding onto the soil. It hurt a lot, I probably needed to visit the nurse, but it was just too painful to move.

I closed my eyes and tried not to cry, not knowing what else to do. It was a long time before I was interrupted by the school bell and someone’s voice.

“New Girl.” said someone. I opened my eyes to see Kyle standing in front of me and frowning. The field had emptied by now, with all the kids hurrying off to get on the school bus.

“You’re bleeding.” he said looking horrified at the deep gash on my knee. He crouched down for a closer look, unruly mustard hair covering his freckled nose.

“It’s deep.” he assessed. “Why didn’t you cry out or something?”

I shrugged at his words, wincing as the cold air tingled my wound.

Kyle sighed and turned around while still crouched. “Climb on. You need to see the nurse.”

My eyes widened at his words. Cool Kids carrying New Kids were almost unheard of, and I’d been to six new schools this year.

“Was it Billy who fouled you? I was actually wondering why I wasn’t hurt today. If you were behind me, you should have been fine.” said Kyle conversationally. “Look I know you’re a girl and I don’t really know how you think, but if someone is charging at you like that, you should run away, not towards them.”

I didn’t respond as I crawled forwards to climb onto his back. He held on to the back of my knees, carefully avoiding the bruise, as I clutched his shoulders for extra support. When he stood up, it reminded me a lot of how my Daddy carried me.

“Do you never talk?” he asked as he walked back to the school. I shook my head against his shoulder. I think he understood me because he stopped asking questions.

He carried me to the nurse’s office and set me on the chair. But before the nurse could rush in with the first aid kit, Kyle was gone. I think his Cool Kid image was at stake here. It was a praiseworthy to maintain the tag, so I couldn’t really fault him.

It was a good twenty minutes before I was patched up and ready to go home. I limped out of the infirmary to see Kyle leaning against the wall, with both our school bags by his feet.

“The school’s almost empty. Didn’t want to leave you alone. Is someone coming to pick you up?” he said shortly picking up and handing me my backpack.

I nodded, squirming my arms through the bag’s straps. My Dad would probably be waiting outside. New kids had certain privileges after all.

“Hey, I was thinking...” he said as we walked down the corridor towards the front gate. “Next time, I’ll stand behind you...so Billy can’t hit you by mistake. Or maybe I could convince Julien to take you on his team. I could make sure no one from my team hurts you.”

I shook my head. I wanted to be on Kyle’s team. Kyle smirked at that. I think he’s secretly proud I chose to be on his team. Well, what do you know, New Kids get to choose too!

My Dad was already waving at us when we reached outside. I hurried up to greet him, with Kyle tagging along.

“What happened to your knee? Did you fall down?” Dad asked worriedly.

Before I could respond, Kyle started to speak. “I’m really sorry Sir. My name is Kyle and we were playing football and I told her to stay behind me at all times. I didn’t notice the kid from the other team coming at me, I think she ran a bit too fast and he collided with her instead.”

Daddy sighed with relief, his rigid shoulders relaxing. I know he thought I was being bullied. I have been bulllied before, and it’s never been just a bloodied knee.

“Thank you Kyle for taking care of my daughter.” said my father gratefully. “I believe you missed your school bus, can I drop you home?”

Kyle shook his head. “I ride my bike to school, so I’m okay.”

“Alright. Thanks again Kyle. I am glad my daughter found a friend in you.” said my father. “It’s almost three o’ clock, I think we should all get going then.”

“Wait, um, could you tell me your name?” asked Kyle his brown eyes concentrating on me.

I fidgeted. I hated this part.

Everything always changed after this, for better or worse.

“Her name is Isabelle.” explained my Dad. I know he hated this part too. “She’s not able to speak, but she would love to be your friend.”

Kyle nodded thoughtfully and continued to stand with us. I think he didn’t understand. So I pointed at my open mouth and shook my head to clarify.

“I get it.” said Kyle impatiently, but surprisingly not in an unkind tone. “And I don’t care. You still have to play next week. I’m always one player short and you are loads better than the losers on Julien’s team. The only difference is that from now on I’ll be right behind you. Deal with it.”

Does it always feel this way? To recieve a gift you least expected, but have always wanted?

Before I knew it I was beaming at Kyle. My Dad was grinning too. I wonder if Kyle knows how much his words mean to us.

Kyle smiles back, toothy and pure.

“Cheer up Isabelle. When you get better we can see which one of us has a bigger scar.” he said as he waved us goodbye.

I think those who give never truly know how much their gifts are worth. But I hope Kyle knows that I will cherish it forever.

#Prose

#Gift

#immaterial

#children

#friendship

#sharing

#PleaseDon’tDiscriminate

#SpreadLove