Member-only story
Friendless on the Playground
Ten minutes of your day might change someone’s life
She wasn’t really chubby, she was just bigger than the other kids in her sixth grade classroom. I noticed her immediately as a new face that hadn’t been there in the previous weeks.
Her bright blue eyes and rosy cheeks appeared cheerful, but her mouth was turned into a perpetual pout.
At recess she promptly sat down on a bench right next to the school doors and closed her eyes. The rest of the class ran across the parking lot to the playground.
“What’s the matter?”
She didn’t want to be outside. She didn’t want to be at school. She didn’t like it here. I told her I was sorry, and it was fine if she wanted to sit down during recess, but she needed to do it by the playground.
Reluctantly, she followed me over to the swing set. I asked about school, and what she liked to do and wanted to be when she grew up. Her one-word answers clearly conveyed her lack of interest, and after a few moments of failed conversation, she sat down on the ground and closed her eyes.
But the next day, once we got outside she followed me closely. I asked how her night was.
“It was okay. I was at my dad’s house.”
