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“Hans! Wait up!” The young girl cried out as she chased after the boy in front of her.
“Heh heh heh, no way _______!” Hans shouted back. “You have to keep up!” _______ sighed but kept running. She knew that if she could not catch up to Hans, he would stop allowing her to spend time with him. She was not nearly as quick or as nimble as Hans, but she did put in all her effort when she was with him. Hans used to hang out all by himself every day. None of the other children even tried to talk to him. When _______ asked them why they told her that he did not think anyone was good enough for him. The children called him rude, selfish, and smug. _______ did not want to believe them so against their warnings she approached Hans one day. He was hanging upside down from a tree branch doing inverted sit-ups. She waited at the bottom of the tree for Hans to lower himself again. When he found himself face to face with her, he was startled and fell to the ground.
“Oh no Hans! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!” _______ gasped, covering her mouth. With quick reflexes, Hans leapt to his feet.
“Why’d ya come out here?” He asked her. _______ realized he was a blunt person, so she chose to be direct with him.
“Because I want to be your friend.” She replied proudly. Hans tilted his head to the side letting his hair fall away from his eyes. They were a shockingly bright yellow.
“Eh?”
“I said that I want to be your friend.” She repeated firmly this time. Hans blinked a couple of times, straightened his head, and then smirked.
“Do you think that you’re adequate enough to be my friend?” So what the other kids said was true. Hans really did think he was better than everyone else. _______ was not going to give up easily, however.
“Well… what does it take?” Hans chuckled. He swung his hands behind his back and took a few steps past _______. She kept her eyes on him as he planted his feet firmly and turned back to face her.
“You just have to keep up!” With that, Hans dashed away. _______ hesitated for only a second, but Hans was already several meters ahead of her. Ha! Nice try girlie, but no one ever catches up! Hans laughed to himself but stopped when he heard feet pounding the ground behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and was astonished to see _______ chasing after him. She was not closing the distance between them, but she was keeping pace. His astonishment turned to annoyance. Hans took a sharp turn to the left off the forest path. He guessed that the roots and rocks would slow her down and allow him to get away. He leaped and bounded through the forest without effort. There’s no way she’s still behind me! He risked one more glance over his shoulder, but before he could express his frustration with the girl who was still tailing him, all his breath was knocked from his body. With his attention turned elsewhere Hans had not noticed the big tree directly in front of him. He fell back onto the ground and eventually _______’s face came into his blurred view.
“Does this mean I can be your friend now?” She asked between huffing breaths. Though in pain, Hans grinned and let out a small laugh.
“Yeah, why the hell not?”