As we walked down the street hand-in-hand, I could sense her searching the crowd for someone she knew. A line of kids stood at the bus stop, but none of the faces were familiar to me.
Or to her.
Her footsteps slowed as she considered retreat. She was excited for the first day of school and for the joy she expected was waiting for her in first grade, but in that moment, she forgot all of the things she was looking forward to experiencing. All that mattered was that she didn't know anyone.
Her chin dropped and the swagger left her walk. Her confidence began to spiral downward as she waited for someone ... anyone ... to put on a friendly face. The kids at the bus stop all clearly knew one another and were busy with conversations continued from days past, so I tapped Alexis on the shoulder and said, "Hey."
"What?" she asked, her focus entirely on me. The shiny thing I had thrown at her had worked.
"You're going to have a great day," I told her.
She smiled as she returned to looking around and studying the other kids. Just then, I sensed some movement up the street. Alexis noticed the little boy with the dark hair at the same time that I did.
"Look! It's Ethan!" she said.
Ethan isn't actually named Ethan, but that's not what matters. What matters is that Alexis knows him and has played with him many, many times. His parents are fantastic as are his bigger brothers. The entire lot of them are on my list of Neighbors I Really Like.
Ethan rushed down the hill, his eyes locked on the crowd of older boys who were standing behind Alexis. She didn't realize he had a singular focus, but I did. I saw it coming long before the moment came to be.
Alexis placed a hand on her hip and dipped her chin as she grinned and she said in a sing-song voice, "What are you doing, Ethan?"
He didn't hear her. He was too focused on the boys behind us. Or perhaps he DID hear her and was focused on the boys behind her, so he made sure to hurry faster. Either way, he brushed past Alexis without acknowledging that she was there.
I waited to see how Alexis would respond. It was such a TOTALLY normally 7-year old boy thing to do to walk past a girl without acknowledging her existence. The presence of six or seven other boys, all 7-years old or older, certainly set the scene for some serious girl avoidance.
Alexis looked up at me, her face full of confusion. "Why didn't Ethan say 'hi' to me?" she whispered.
"Because he's a boy, Alexis," I told her. How else do you explain the games kids play?
She pondered my answer for a moment before saying, "Boys are kind of dumb."
"You're right," I told her. "They are."
She thought for a moment longer before spinning on her heel. "HIIIIIIIIII, ETHAN!" she blurted out as loud as she could without yelling. She then quickly turned to ignore him.
And so it begins.
