Chapter Text
“How much longer, Mama?” Cherry asked, feeling like the brush was going to pull her hair off.
“Almost done, Sherri. You’re going to look so beautiful.” Her mother replied.
Cherry sighed. She didn’t care about looking beautiful, but her mother certainly did. They’d spent the last ten minutes making sure Cherry’s special “first day of school” look was perfect. Now, they were sitting at the vanity as she combed her hair with aggressive affection. She finally put the brush down and clipped in a small bow that matched her frilly pink and white dress. She placed a gentle hand on Cherry’s shoulder.
“There we are. You look radiant, Sherri.”
Cherry smiled softly, then followed her mother out of her room and down the stairs towards the kitchen. Her big brother, Andrew, was seated at the breakfast table reading a comic book and eating a banana. His new shirt was buttoned sporadically.
“Andrew, how many times have I told you to button your shirt all the way?” Their mother chided. Cherry giggled.
“Quit it, Cherry!” He cried, fixing the buttons on his red and blue madras shirt.
Cherry simply sat next to him, eyeing his comic book.
“Whatcha reading, Andy?” She asked.
“Nothing,” he replied. “Why do you care? Comic books are for boys.”
“No, they’re not!”
“Then how come you never read them?”
“Because….’cause……Mama!”
Their mother walked over, handed both of them their lunchboxes, and patted Andrew’s shoulder.
“You two will behave while you’re at school, understood?”
They both nodded reluctantly. Their mother was sweet, but she could also be very strict.
Cherry looked at her lunchbox, and realized what this meant. She was about to go off to a new place where she knew no one, and where her brother would ignore her even more. He liked playing with her when it was just them, but whenever anyone else was around, he pretended she didn’t exist. To him, she was just his dumb kid sister. It made her feel lonely. The neighbors didn’t have any kids her age, and all the older girls found her annoying. She secretly hoped that she might meet someone today who would want to be her friend. Maybe even a best friend. She’d wished on the evening star for one just last night. If it worked for the characters in her storybooks, why couldn’t it work for her?
She followed Andrew outside as their mother coddled them for pictures. Their father, of course, was absent on another business trip. He was always too busy for events like this. After what seemed like a thousand photos, she and Andrew hopped into the white Chevy parked in their driveway. Cherry held out her hand for Andrew to take. She needed some reassurance that he hadn’t forgotten about her yet. As they drove down the street, she felt him slowly grab her hand. Cherry felt content for the rest of the drive.
As she stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the car, she had only two things on her mind: her new teacher and how to make friends. Andrew sped off towards some boys on the other side of the playground. They were in third grade, three whole years ahead of her. Even if they were boys, she wished she had someone to run off to like that. Her mother took her hand and walked her through the doors into the kindergarten classroom. Cherry peered through the doorway and saw lots of boisterous kids. Some were running around the room, others were playing games on the carpet. Her mother bent down and planted a kiss on her cheek.
“Be good today, alright? I’ll be back to pick you up at three.”
Cherry waved at her mother, and then walked over to a tall woman with glasses standing by the chalkboard. She tugged on her skirt shyly. The woman turned around and smiled down at her.
“Why, hello there, sweetheart. What’s your name?”
Cherry hesitated for a moment. Her mother always told her to introduce herself as Sherri. That was her real name. The one on her birth certificate. Even if Andrew called her Cherry because of her red hair, she wasn’t meant to have everyone call her that. It was a rule, but she also thought that it made it special. There wasn’t anyone else in her life who she’d want calling her Cherry, anyway.
“Sherri,” she replied softly. The woman bent down to her level.
“Nice to meet you, Sherri. I’m Ms. Parson. I’m going to be your teacher this year. Are you excited?”
Cherry nodded, a small smile on her face. Being at school seemed way more fun than being at home by herself all day. At least here, someone else might actually want to play with her.
“I’m glad to hear it,” said Ms. Parson. “Do you want to see where your seat is?”
Another nod.
“Follow me. It’s just over here, and I think you already have a new deskmate!”
Ms. Parson took Cherry’s hand and led her to two seats next to each other by a window. One of the desks was already occupied by a small brunette girl in a green dress. She looked up excitedly when she saw Cherry coming over.
“Marcia, this is Sherri. She’s going to sit next to you.”
Marcia waved eagerly. Cherry sat down in her seat, a little surprised at the amount of energy this girl had. Ms. Parson walked off to corral some of the boys, who were throwing paper at each other.
“I like your dress,” said Marcia. “I think you’re the best-looking person here in pink.”
Cherry blushed a little. “Thank you. I like your green dress, too. It’s different.”
“Thanks! You know, you’re the first person who’s told me that. But, it’s only because my mama won’t let me wear pink. She says I don’t look good in it. But, she lets my older sister, Mary, wear it all the time. I don’t know why, though. She looks just like me. And everyone tells me green is for boys, anyway.”
Cherry smiled. Marcia was certainly talkative. She didn’t mind, though. Then, Ms. Parson called everyone to attention.
“Good morning, class! My name is Ms. Parson, and I’m so excited to be your teacher this year. I hope that it will be filled with fun and learning. Our first activity is going to be making name tags to put on your desks. I’ll be passing out supplies, and you can come and pick out a piece of paper at the front of the class. If you’d like, you can also put a nickname if there’s another name you want to be called at school.”
Cherry walked up to the chalkboard where a stack of multicolored strips of paper sat on a small, wooden stool. She picked up a light pink strip and walked back to her desk, where Ms. Parson had placed a small box with markers, colored pencils, scissors, and glue. Marcia came back to her desk with a green strip. She picked up a purple marker and started writing her name.
Cherry paused. She thought about what Ms. Parson had said about putting a nickname on the name tag. Her mother would certainly not approve. She looked up at the front of the class. There was still plenty of paper left. If she didn’t like it, she could always redo it, right? She picked up a red marker and began.
“Wait, is that your real name?”
Cherry looked up from drawing little hearts around her name. Marcia was looking at her name tag in awe.
“Well, it’s what my brother calls me. He says it’s because of my hair, how it’s red like cherries are.”
She was nervous. Her mother always chided Andrew for calling her Cherry, like it wasn’t proper. She feared Marcia might do the same. Instead, her face broke into a wide grin.
“That is SO COOL!” She exclaimed. Cherry couldn't help but smile with her. “I wish I had a name like that. Mine sounds so boring.”
“No, it doesn’t. It’s kinda fun to say. Marcia,” she said, letting her mouth fill with the word. “Marcia. Marcia. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!”
Marcia giggled.
“Guess what?” she asked excitedly.
“What?” Cherry asked.
“I made my name tag green!”
She proudly held up the strip of paper. Her name was written in big purple letters and surrounded by dark green hearts, just like Cherry’s.
“I love it!” She replied. “I made mine pink.”
She held up her name tag with her name written in red in a circle of pastel pink hearts.
“Hey, we’re matching!” Marcia said.
“Alright class,” said Ms. Parson, “I’m going to come around and help you put your name tags on your desk. Once I’ve finished, please sit quietly in your seat until everyone’s name tag is on their desk.”
She walked over to Cherry and Marcia first.
“Why, ladies, these look lovely!”
“We used our favorite colors. They even match our dresses!” Marcia explained.
“That sounds wonderful.”
She stuck Marcia’s name tag to her desk, then picked up Cherry’s.
“Oh, Sherri, is this what you wanted to be called? Cherry?”
“Yes, ma’am, if that’s alright,” said Cherry.
“Of course it is. I think that’s a delightful nickname.”
She finished with Cherry’s name tag and moved on to the next group. Cherry smiled.
“Do you like cherries?” Marcia asked.
“Oh, they’re fine,” Cherry responded. “Honestly, I prefer strawberries.”
“Me too! In the summer, my uncle grows a strawberry patch in his backyard and whenever we go over there, he always has a fresh bowl of strawberries for me and my sisters. We go to his house a lot, because it’s not that far and I like seeing my cousins. My daddy says it’s only an hour away, but it feels like ten hours because being in a car is really boring. We play lots of games to pass the time, but it’s just about seeing stuff on the road, and it’s always just the same stuff like a house, a tree, another car, or sometimes even a—”
“Marcia!”
Ms. Parson was looking over at them sternly.
“Remember how I told you not to be loud while I was helping others?”
“I’m sorry,” said Marcia, hanging her head.
“It’s alright. Just make sure to be quiet while I help the last few students.”
Cherry looked at her. She looked just like how she always felt when her mother reprimanded her for not “behaving”. Usually, she wasn’t really doing anything. She’d just gotten carried away by her excitement. Her mother disapproved of any behavior like that, even for a five year old. She reached over and grabbed Marcia’s hand.
“It’s okay. I don’t think you’re loud,” she said softly.
Marcia looked up with a small smile.
“Thanks. My whole family says I’m a chatterbox,” she whispered back.
“I don’t care. It makes you interesting. You have lots to talk about.”
Ms. Parson made her way back up to the front of the class and clapped her hands.
“Alright, everyone, now we’re going to be doing some writing practice. I’m going to give you a worksheet and we’ll fill it out together.”
After the papers had been passed out, the two girls sat there working diligently until Marcia noticed the clock. It was almost time for recess.
“Psst. Hey, Cherry,” she mumbled.
“What?” Cherry replied.
“Do you want to play together during recess?”
“Sure.”
Cherry smiled down at her paper. She had finally made a friend.