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Nancy had never been this terrified in her entire life.
Surrounded by the most kids she’d ever seen, all shouting and laughing with toys clattering together in their hands. Her mom said it would be fine. She was a big girl now, and this is what big girls do. Go to school, make a friend, have a happily ever after. But Nancy didn’t exactly have a headstart, she didn’t even have a regular start. One bad case of the flu and suddenly Nancy was two weeks behind everyone else. Friendships had already been formed, and Nancy was left out of all of them.
Nancy had never been smaller than other children before, either. The only other kids she knew were her younger brother and the Sinclairs’ two year old next door. Compared to them, she was big, and old, and smart. But all these children seemed taller, and who knows what two weeks of learning time had taught them that Nancy had been left out on? It was completely hopeless. She’d be behind for the rest of her life at this rate.
She sat under the big willow tree in the playground, picking at the grass and watching everyone else. A few kids had begun a game of soccer, some were drawing on the benches, some were playing tag. But none of them were talking to Nancy.
One child in particular caught her eye. She seemed all over the place, darting between groups, laughing and talking. There didn’t seem to be kid in the entire class who this girl wasn’t talking to. She must’ve been amazing at making friends. She approached one of the boys playing soccer, tapping them on the shoulder. Nancy was too far away to hear the conversation, but the girl seemed excited, bouncing up and down with her knees. She’d been invited to join the game, given a yellow bib to match the boy’s, now his teammate. The goal was open, the ball was lined up, and the girl ran at it. But instead of kicking it, she fumbled, tripping herself up and over the ball and landing on the concrete. It looked painful.
The girl got herself up, seeming completely unfazed by the fall. Mrs Barlow ran towards her, guiding her away from the soccer pitch and towards the first aid cabinet. Some disinfectant and a bandaid later, and the girl was straight back to the pitch, ready for her second shot at glory. But the boy ripped off her bib, and she was shoved away.
She stood in the middle of the playground, looking suddenly lost. Nancy felt bad for her, but at the end of the day, it didn’t matter, right? This girl had loads of friends, she spoke to everyone! But then, the girl’s eyes caught Nancy’s over by the tree, and suddenly she was barrelling towards her.
She sat by the tree trunk, next to Nancy, with a huge grin on her face. “I got a cat!” she lifted her chin, revealing a cartoon cat on her bandaid. “Mrs Barlow let me pick. Do you like cats? I love them. But mommy says we can’t ‘ford one. Can you ‘ford one? Do you have one? Is it a boy or a girl? What’s his name?” The girl gasped a breath. “I’m Robin. What’s your name? I never saw you before. Are you new? Did you move here? Did a big van take your things here? Did you get to ride in it?”
Nancy was suddenly speechless. What if this girl didn’t like her? What if Nancy wasn’t as good or fun as all her other friends? What if she said the wrong thing?
Robin twisted her head in curiosity. “Do you speak English? My daddy is French. Do you speak French? Bonjour! That’s hello in French. Je m’appelle Robin. That means my name is Robin. I already told you that, but maybe you didn’t understand it. Êtes-vous français? Où viviez-vous?”
“N- Nancy.” Nancy stammered out. Answering the question from about five questions ago, and ignoring the bits she couldn’t understand.
Robin gasped. “C’est de là que vient mon père!” Robin suddenly looked concerned. “Pouvez-vous parler anglais?”
Nancy really was lost. Two weeks without school and they’d taught everyone a whole new language. How was she supposed to get by? How was she ever supposed to make a friend if she couldn’t even understand them?
Robin suddenly grabbed Nancy’s wrist, pulling her up and marching her to the teacher. “Mrs Barlow, it’s not fair!” Robin whined, catching the teacher by surprise.
“What’s not fair, Robin?” she asked.
“How can she learn anything when she doesn’t speak our language?!” Robin exclaimed. Did… did they teach her how to read minds, too?
Mrs Barlow’s face twisted in confusion. “Robin, what on earth are you talking about?”
“She’s only just come to America! H- how is she supposed to learn stuff like words and numbers? My daddy says it took him ages to learn when he first came here and he was a big kid! It- it’s not fair! She’s going to be left behind-”
“-Robin-”
“-And no one will want to play with her!-”
“-Robin!” Mrs Barlow laughed. “She speaks English, sweetie, she’s lived in Hawkins her whole life!”
Robin let go of Nancy’s wrist. “But… but she said she’s from Nancy. That’s where my daddy comes from.”
“Robin, did you ask too many questions at the same time?” Mrs Barlow said, and the girl nodded. “Her name is Nancy. I think that’s probably what she was trying to tell you.”
“Oh.” Robin looked disappointed. “So she’s not French? Then why is she the new girl if she always lived here?”
“Robin…”
“Yes, Mrs Barlow?”
“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Mrs Barlow gestured towards Nancy. “One question at a time, remember?”
“Right. One at a time.” Robin nodded, and turned to Nancy. “Nancy… why are you new if you’ve lived here all your life?”
“I got sick.” Nancy replied.
“Why don’t you talk much if you can speak English?” Robin continued. “I talk a lot! I think that’s why people don’t want to be my friend. Do you have any-” she shook her head. “One at a time. Answer the first one, okay?”
“Uh…” Nancy picked at her fingernails. The real answer was because she didn’t know if people would want to listen. But instead she said “I don’t know.”
“Okay!” Robin said. “Do you have any friends?”
Nancy shook her head.
Robin suddenly retreated into herself, looking just as shy and quiet as Nancy. “…do you want to be my friend?”
“Yes.” Nancy nodded enthusiastically.
“Okay!” Robin grinned, taking Nancy’s hand and skipping back to the willow tree.
“I like them, too.” Nancy said.
“What?”
“Cats. You asked me if I like them. And then you asked me if I have one. But I don’t. My parents said I could get one but they found out my brother is al- allergic. That means he gets sick if we have a cat.” Nancy explained.
Robin gasped excitedly. “You have a brother? What’s his name? Is he older or younger? Do you play with him? Is he nice? Is he allergic to anything else?”
“Uh…” Nancy giggled, Robin had already forgotten the ‘one at a time’ rule. “Mike, younger, yes, sometimes, and peanuts.”
Robin paused, running through the questions in her head. “Okay!” she squealed. “You are really good at answering questions.”
Nancy grinned. “You’re really good at asking them.”