The quarter

It is nap time in kindergarten and I am supposed to be asleep and so are all the other kids. We all lay on blankets brought from home, kid size; mine is blue and yellow plaid with tiny tassels that look like worms. One eye open, one eye half closed, all I want to do is lay there and relax while I pick pick pick at a pretend tassel worm I imagine has just sprouted up from the earth, but I can't because the boy next to me, David, keeps saying "psst, psst, psst" over and over, annoying me. I know it is me he is pssting because that is not the only thing he does to annoy me and if he could, I know he would be saying my name out loud and poking me on my shoulder instead of pssting, but he knows he would get in trouble for talking during nap time, so he doesn't.

When our teacher says, "Okay kids, nap time is over, put your blankets back in your cubby," I jump up fast, faster than David, and walk very fast across the room over to my cubby which is on the girls side, no boys allowed, and then right away teacher says, "Okay. Listen up kids. Line up for recess," and I make it to the front of the line first, next to Miss Rose where I know David will not bother me.

As soon as we are outside, all the girls and I run for the jump ropes, but before I get there, David stops me. Not with a grab, but with his whole body, blocking me, and I struggle to get around him when he says, "I really like you Bonnie. Why do you always run away from me? If I give you my lunch quarter will you like me back?" And I have no idea what to say because I don't think it's possible for someone so annoying to like me, so I am very glad to see Virginia right next to me and she speaks first instead of me.

"David," she says, "You don't like Bonnie, you like me! Only me!"

And he does not look at her, he is only looking at me, holding out his quarter, so I take it and Virginia starts crying real hard like a big fat baby and I don't laugh or call her a name, I just reach towards her holding out the quarter, and say, "David is just being silly. He really meant to give this to you," and I keep looking only at her while David stands beside us. Real quick, she stops crying, which I didn't know was possible, and she puts the quarter in her pocket and we go jump rope and then recess is over and we all line up to go back into class. In front of me on the line, I can see David poking Virginia on the shoulder and she smiles and I do too.