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Henry never sat with anyone at lunch. Despite his apparent popularity in class, he was always eating in the corner of the cafeteria, his nose buried into a book.
Mari always wondered why nobody seemed to notice him outside of class. For her, it was hard not to notice. Henry almost never left her mind after school. He was so smart! Every time their teacher asked a hard question, two hands were guaranteed to shoot up every single time. And they would always be called on.
“Go ahead, Mari.”
or
“Yes, Henry?”
In a sense, Mari almost considered Henry her rival. He always knew everything that she knew and even some things she didn’t. When a hard question was asked, it seemed as if the whole class backed off to allow the two to duke it out. She would always turn her head and stare at him as he thought. She found it interesting to watch his face change as he thought about an answer, how his eyes narrowed and his hand cupped his chin. And then his moment of clarity when the answer dawned on him and he gave a goofy little smile before speaking. Always a correct answer.
Sometimes the thought crossed Mari’s mind that maybe her classmates found it annoying. Maybe that was why no one ever sat by Henry. No one liked a know-it-all, after all. A particularly snippy classmate had spat that in her direction after school one day, and the thought stuck with her.
Mari didn’t try to be a know-it-all. She was just eager to learn, and put together all the pieces that her teacher placed down to figure out an answer. Learning was fun for her. It came almost naturally. Maybe it was the same way with Henry.
Her heart sank at the thought of that same classmate saying that same thing to Henry. He didn’t deserve to be treated like that. He was so nice to everyone! It seemed unthinkable that anyone could dislike Henry. She certainly didn’t dislike him. If anything, their unspoken “rivalry” in the classroom was her second-favorite thing about school (after the piano).
The more Mari thought about Henry, the more guilty she felt about seeing him all alone at lunch. Every day, she scarfed down her food as fast as she could and ran to the music room for just a short amount of time with the music teacher’s piano.
The piano. That beautiful, shiny piano. When she sat in front of it, all of her worries ceased to be. The short time that she spent with that piano on a daily basis made any day ten times better. All of her cares and worries faded away, and she lost herself in the quiet tranquility of the music, if only for a little while. When the bell rang, she would rejoin her class and walk back to the room with everyone else.
Part of Mari was scared that if she didn’t go to the piano, then she would be alone at lunch, just like Henry. He had a friendly air about him that was different from hers. His friendliness seemed to be more well-received than hers. Maybe her classmates thought she was patronizing them. Or pitying them. Did she come off like that? A part of her was scared to find out, so every day, it was off to the piano.
Henry didn’t seem to have a piano. He was always cooped up in the corner of the cafeteria with a book, slowly eating his food. He didn’t seem to notice the lack of anyone near him. Or mind, for that matter. But it bothered Mari because Henry was a nice boy. He didn’t deserve to sit all alone.
The piano could wait one day… right?
Mari suddenly felt a pang of fear in her chest. Was she… nervous? Why would she be nervous? It was just Henry. They basically already knew each other from class.
The doubt crept into her mind. What if he didn’t want to talk to her? What if he actually hated her from all the competing? Did he think she was a know-it-all too?
She shook her head. Nothing got done by hesitating. If he really did hate her, the piano was waiting. At least she had something ready if this went south.
The familiar sight of a subpar school lunch appeared on the dark colored tray in her hands. Her legs carried her away from the lunch line and her head turned up towards the mass of other students. Everywhere she looked there were smiling faces and full tables, and the loud sounds of the lunchroom assaulted her ears. Looking over the crows, her eyes met her target.
Henry sat at the back of the cafeteria like usual, his head down, staring at his book for the day. He slowly ate his lunch, not paying attention to the cacophony of children around him. Mari took a deep breath, and her legs began to carry her in his direction.
Her chest grew tighter as she approached, but she swallowed the nerves and continued forward. She got closer and closer to the table, and before long, she stood next to him at the stool. Engrossed in his reading, Henry did not seem to notice her.
“Um… hi.”
That startled him a little. Henry jumped, and his eyes met hers.
“Oh. Hey. Mari, right?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I… um… wanted to know if I could sit with you.” She fiddled with her fingers underneath the tray.
He looked a bit taken aback, but slowly nodded and closed his book. He patted the seat next to him and gave a warm smile.
The nerves left Mari as she returned the smile and sat down happily.
“So I guess I’ll tell you my name myself now. I’m Mari, it’s nice to meet you officially and all!”
He smiled and laughed a little. “I guess I’ll do the same. I’m Henry, but my family usually calls me Hero.”
“Hero?” Mari tilted her head out of curiosity. “How did you get that name?”
His face reddened and he shuffled a bit. “U-Um… well…”
Oh. It must be a bit embarrassing. “I won’t laugh. I promise!” She held out her pinky for him.
He slowly locked his pinky with hers and gave a smaller, more nervous smile.
“My family started calling me Hero because I really like sandwiches.” He quickly looked away and began to eat more of his lunch.
Mari felt a laugh coming but suppressed it. After all, she promised him that she wouldn’t laugh.
“That’s really cute! Can I call you Hero?” She moved her head to enter his line of sight. His eyes met hers and she swore she could see his face turn a deeper shade of red.
“Um… s-sure, I guess. No one else really does, though…”
“Then I’ll be the first!” She smiled even bigger. “You’re Hero now!”
Hero smiled a little. He didn’t seem to dislike it. Mari turned to her food and began to eat. The food tasted at least passable, the same as always, but something about eating it with Hero made it taste just a little bit better.
Before long, she broke the silence again.
“You like to read?”
“Hm?” Hero looked at her and realized his book was still under his arm. “Oh yeah, I do.”
“Me too! But I haven’t been able to do much of it recently. I’ve been practicing piano a lot.”
“You play piano?” He looked interested. Mari smiled sheepishly.
“Mhm. I’m not too great at it yet, but I think I’m getting there! Do you play music?” She leaned a little closer.
He shook his head. “No… I haven’t had a chance to try anything like that. I’m thinking about joining the band next year to learn an instrument though.”
“Oh yeah!” Mari clapped her hands together. “I wanted to do that too! But…” she frowned a little. “I don’t know if there’s a spot for a piano player. Maybe I’ll have to find something else?” She shook her head. “I’ll figure something out for sure!”
“My little brother likes to come in and watch me play. Maybe I’ll try to teach him. Oh!” She bounced a little in her seat and gave a big grin. “I can teach you too, if you want! It’s super fun!”
Hero’s eyes widened. “T-Teach me? That’s okay… you don’t have to. I know you’d probably rather play it yourself…”
Mari shook her head. “I’d love to teach you! You want to learn how to play anyway, right? And we can get to know each other better!” The last part slipped itself out. She hoped Hero hadn’t heard that.
He shuffled a bit and sat silently for a few moments. “Maybe… some time. I guess I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better.”
Oh. He definitely heard that. Mari felt her face heat up.
“You said you have a little brother?”
That was right. She had said that.
“Yeah! His name is Sunny, he’s in first grade!” Mari’s smile returned to her, and she noticed Hero’s smile widening as well.
“I have a little brother in first grade, too! His name’s Kel! Maybe they know each other.”
Mari thought for a moment. “Hmm… I don’t know. Sunny’s pretty shy, I don’t know if he would have met anyone on his own.”
“Who knows? Kel’s really friendly. I feel like he could make friends with a rock if he really wanted to!” Hero laughed.
His laugh felt like music to her ears. Hero really was a nice boy. It only made her wonder why he sat alone more. Just when she went to open her mouth-
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
The lunch bell sounded throughout the cafeteria, and the teachers came in to scoop up their classes. Mari looked down at her tray, the bits of food left staring up at her. She had been so engrossed in her talk with Hero that she had forgotten to eat most of the food. Frowning, she dumped the leftovers and stood at her place in line, right behind Hero.
Class for the rest of the day was a bit more interesting. Whenever a question was asked, she caught Hero glancing at her just as often as she glanced at him. When she raised her hand, he lowered his to let her answer. When she was confused, he picked up and happily explained his reasoning.
She felt strangely happy to have a bond, no matter how small, with the boy she considered her academic rival. Mari felt happy that she had talked to him. It turned out that Henry- no, Hero- was a really nice guy after all.
At last, the final bell rang, and all of the students at Faraway Elementary School grabbed their backpacks and stood up to go home. Mari finished putting away her homework in a folder and zipped up her bag. When she looked up, she jumped a little as Hero stood next to her desk with his bag on. Looking around, she noticed that they were the last two in the room.
Hero noticed her startled expression and spoke. “Oh, uh, sorry Mari. Um… I wanted to know if you wanted to walk home together? If you want.” He shuffled around a bit.
Mari grabbed her bag and put it on. She gave a warm smile and nodded enthusiastically. “Mhm. Sure! Let’s go!”
They left the building together and began their walk home. Mari realized that she actually had no idea where he lived, but opted to not worry about it. Maybe she could ask while they walked. But first she wanted to resume their lunch conversation.
“Hey, Hero?”
“Hm? Yeah?”
“You’re really nice. Why do you always sit alone?” She turned to look at him and saw that he looked a little sad.
“I like to read a lot. Other people don’t like to do that. I don’t really know anything about sports or video games either, so I don’t really have anything to talk about.” He looked down. “I want to make friends, but I don’t know much about anything that people like.”
“We can be friends!” Mari exclaimed, stopping in front of him and giving a big smile. “And we can teach each other stuff!”
He blinked a few times and slowly, his expression formed a smile. His goofy little smile. “Yeah! I-I think that would be fun! I’d love to be friends with you, Mari!”
She felt her heart flutter a bit at seeing that smile and hearing him accept her friendship proposal. She had a friend that she could hang out with! In her time going to school in Faraway, she had only met a handful of people officially. Even then, they were people that she was placed next to in class or that she knew from the softball team; no one that she would call a close friend.
And yet, in just the short amount of time that she and Hero had talked to one another, she felt more connected to him than any others. She mentioned her brother to him! As much as Mari loved Sunny, it took a lot for her to talk about him. She knew he didn’t like to be the center of attention, so she opted to keep him out of the limelight. But she had dropped his name without a second thought while talking to Hero for the first time! That had to mean something, right?
Mari put her hands together and clapped happily. “Yay! Okay, that’s what I was wondering. So what do you do other than read?” The two began walking again and she tilted her head at him curiously.
Hero put his hand to his chin. “Hmm… I like to help my mom cook. She’s really good at it, and she’s been teaching me!” That goofy grin again. “I want to try and make cookies myself one day!”
“Oooooooh, you should let me try one when you do! That sounds so good! Maybe you can teach me how to bake them when you learn!”
He laughed a little. “Sure! We can call it a fair trade, then! You can teach me music, and I can teach you baking!”
“That sounds so fun!” Making these plans with Hero made her feel happier than she had been in a long time. They continued to talk and laugh on the way home, sharing family stories and complaining about homework all the while. Eventually, they turned down Mari’s street.
“My house is down this way.” Mari nodded in the direction they were walking. Hero’s eyes widened a little.
“Mine too! Do we live on the same street?” The two of them picked up their pace a little, walking past the many houses on the street until finally, Hero stopped in front of a house with an orange roof.
“This is my house!” He pointed towards it and smiled. “Where is yours?”
Mari looked to her left. Sure enough, right next door was a similarly-sized house with a beige roof. She pointed to it, and this time it was her eyes’ turn to widen.
“Right there! Right next door!”
“No way! Really? That’s so cool!”
Mari and Hero stared at one another before bursting into laughter.
“How did we never notice!?”
“I don’t know! That’s so funny!”
At last, they managed to compose themselves and stood quietly in Hero’s driveway. Mari smiled sweetly and waved. “I guess I’ll go home. I’ll see you tomorrow, Hero!”
His signature goofy grin came back and he nodded. “Yeah! See you tomorrow, Mari!”
As Mari walked to her door, she watched Hero enter his house and take one last look in her direction before closing the door. She turned to her door and gave a quick knock: the signal to her mother that she was home.
The door opened quickly, and Mari was scooped into a big hug by her mother. “Hey, Mari! How was your day?”
Mari gave a big smile. “It was really really good!” She walked into the house, noticing Sunny laying on the couch watching cartoons. Her mom smiled warmly and closed the door behind them as Mari walked inside.
She could barely contain her excitement as she turned back towards her mom. Jumping up and down excitedly, the day’s big event was announced to the house.
“I made a new friend today! His name is Hero!”