1st Grade:

Rachel's POV

Everything was still and peaceful. The school that I went to was right next to a lake that was filled with swans and ducks. The breeze danced through the air and blew my hair into a mess. I was six and my hair was long and straight… it was a shimmering black and silky as velvet… I spaced out into the lake and swans…

"Hey, Rachel!" my friend said from beside me.

"Yeah, Tay?" I looked over at her with a sparkling smile… my hair blew in the wind while I turned my head.

"Look at them." she pointed up at the top of the hill.

In the distance I could hear fighting.

"You're such a loser!" the three boys laughed.

I could see three of them surrounding another kid, about my age… maybe a little older.

"Why'd you even come here!?" they screamed at him. "You're so annoying…" with that they kicked him down the hill.

"Rachel!" Taylor screamed and huddled up.

"Taylor!" I reached over and pushed her out of the way, leaving me right in front of the boy rolling down the hill.

He hit me straight on and we both collided to a stop. Everything was spinning and my head hurt… a lot. It was throbbing and pounding. It almost felt as if my heart was in my head. I got up and made sure the boy was okay.

"You okay?" I asked as I hovered over him. I bent down and looked for any injuries.

"Mmm…" the boy turned over and furrowed his brows from the pain. He had dirt and scratches all over his face, arms, and legs. Now that I thought about it, I had dirt all over myself, too after the collision and tumble.

"Do you want to go to the nurse?" I asked quietly.

The boy didn't respond. Before I knew it the boy was trying to get up and the three bullies were carefully descending the hill.

"Hey you!" they pointed at the boy.

The boy's eyes turned small and he stumbled to stand up. After standing up he headed towards the opposite side of the lake.

"Wait!" I said as I hurried after him. We ran about a few feet and I caught his wrist.

"Let me go!" he turned around and I fully saw his face. He was beautiful… gorgeous… handsome.

"Whoa…" I said aloud, not realizing that I had said that aloud. He had fear written all over his face, but still his beauty made up for it all. He had gorgeous green eyes that sucked you right in. His hair was as black as mine. His other facial features were perfectly fitted and on his face. Except that it was covered in scratches and bruises.

"Let me go!" he screamed again and tried to yank out of my grasp, but failed.

I pouted my face and glared at him. "Nope." I stood there, firm.

"They're gonna get me!" he screamed in fear.

I turned around and realized that the three bullies were approaching fast. "It's okay." I smiled at him. "I'll take care of it."

"Hey! You!" they screamed at me and pointed directly at me.

I turned around and glared at them. "What do you guys want?"

"Move!" one of the boys said with a missing tooth.

"Why? What did he do to you?" I covered up the way to the boy.

"He doesn't belong here!" they all screamed.

"And why is that?" I snapped.

"He's stealing all of our friends…" they screamed a little softer and blushed slightly.

Friends? You mean all the girl's attentions… I looked behind them… almost our entire grade was sighing and drooling over him, whoever he was.

"Jealous?" I snickered.

"No way!" the boys screamed. One of the boys, which looked like the main bully, stepped forward.

"Come here, you annoying little brat!" he charged forward at the boy behind me.

The boy behind me just shrunk and whimpered behind me.

The bully raised a fist and started running faster and faster.

"I don't think so." I cut off his path and grabbed his fist and threw him on the floor with a loud thud. "Leave him alone!" I screamed from on top of him.

"Oww!" the bully whimpered on the floor as I plopped on top of him. "Get off me!" he threatened.

"Or what? You're going to try to punch me again? Go play with your friends, and leave him alone." I demanded as I got off him.

"Let's go…" the bully wriggled off the ground and headed back up the hill.

"Rachel…" Tay walked up to me.

"Are you okay, Tay?" I asked in a worried state.

"I'm fine… but what about the little boy?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah!"

I walked over to the boy… "Are you okay?"

"Mm-hmm…" he said, a bit spaced out.

"Come on! You can come play with us!" I smiled my brightest smile at him and held out my hand towards him. "Right, Taylor?"

"Yeah!" she smiled at him too.

"O-okay…" he said reluctantly. He took my hand and started to walk with us back to the shore of the lake.

"Oh, yeah. What's your name?" I asked the boy.

"Demitri." he said shyly.

"I'm Rachel! And this is my friend Taylor." I pointed to Tay.

"Hi!" she giggled.

"Hi…" he said quietly and stared out at the water.

From that day on, the three of us always hung out together and always stood up for each other. The three of us were inseparable, until the day came that Taylor had to move… to Seattle.

"But that's so far away…" I sobbed with Demitri by my side in front of their moving truck. Our families were talking and saying their 'goodbyes.'

"Don't worry, I'll come back and visit!" Taylor hugged tightly.

"You better…" I sniffed.

"I'll miss you, too, Demitri." Taylor hugged quickly.

"Me, too." Demitri said quietly.

"Come on, dear." Taylor's mom said. "We're going to miss the flight."

"All right, mommy." Taylor hopped into the truck with a long face.

"Goodbye, you two." Taylor's mom hugged us both tightly and pecked us lightly on the forehead.

"Bye bye…" Demitri and I said sadly with our parents behind us.

And with that… Taylor was gone. From Maryland to Seattle, it was so far.