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It was another normal day at Huggyvale middle school, and all the little critters were out on the playground for recess.
A young chicken girl named Dixie Chicken was running around, trying to prove to her little brother, Harold Hopscotch, that she could run faster than him.
“Watch this!”
The fluffy chick says, running along the length of the playground.
Unfortunately, she didn’t quite see where she was going, and tripped over a rock, falling over and landing flat on her face.
When she raises her head, she hears Harold’s annoying laugh.
“Oh yeah, really impressive.”
He says sarcastically.
Dixie growls.
“Shut up!” She says. “That was a practice run!”
Harold gets up from the bench.
“Yeah, whatever.” He says. “I’m gonna go find some girls to impress.”
He says, walking away and leaving Dixie in the dirt.
Dixie sighs.
“I’ll show him one day…”
She tries to get back up, but when she tries to stand on her knee, it hurts so much that she falls back down.
“Stupid… knee…”
She says, struggling to get up.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Someone says.
Dixie looks up from where she was grounded.
A red bear cub was kneeling in front of her.
“Need some help?”
She asks.
Dixie grunts.
“I’m fine…” she says, trying to get up and falling again.
The bear looks sad. “You need help.”
She says, offering a hand.
Dixie sighs, taking it.
“Thanks…”
The red bear helps her up.
“No problem.” She says. “Let’s get you to the nurses office.”
~Band-aid transition~
Once Dixie gets out of the nurses office with a star-shaped bandage on her knee, she sees the red bear standing outside, waiting for her.
“Are you okay?”
She asks.
Dixie nods, smiling.
“Yeah!” She says. “I told you, it wasn’t that bad.”
She points to her knee. “I even got this sweet bandage out of it.”
The red bear smiles. “Ooh!”
She says. “Cool!”
Dixie nods. “Yeah, it’s pretty epic.”
Since recess was almost over, the two started to walk to class together.
“So, what’s your name?”
Dixie asks.
“I’m Bobby!”
The red bear says. “Bobby bearhug.”
Dixie smiles. “Dixie Chicken.”
Bobby smiles. “You wanna sit next to me in class?”
Dixie nods. “Sure.”
~an hour or so later~
After the students had completed their assignments, they were given an hour or so of free time to chat or read or do whatever until it was time to go home.
“So Dixie, how are you doing in school?”
Bobby asks.
Dixie sighs. “Not that good… I have mostly Cs…”
Bobby looks sad. “Are you struggling?”
Dixie nods sadly.
“Well, I used to get better grades, but that was when I was friends with Bubba.”
Bobby tilts her head.
“Do you mean Bubba Bubbaphant?”
She asks.
Dixie nods. “Yeah, we used to be friends, but not anymore.”
Bobby frowned. “Why not?”
Dixie sighs. “Well, we used to hang out a lot, because he used to blab about space or physics or whatever, and I listened to him because I thought it was cool.”
She sighs.
“But then everyone started thinking that he was my boyfriend…”
She says. “And things got awkward, so we just stopped talking to each other…”
Bobby looks sad. “Oh no…”
Dixie shrugs. “Eh, it’s okay.” She says. “I’ll just find someone else to help me with my homework.”
Bobby is silent for a moment, thinking.
“Maybe you should talk to him.” She says. “It’s not worth letting your friendship go over that.”
Dixie huffs. “But he’s NOT my boyfriend!”
Bobby giggles. “I never said he was.”
Dixie looks away. “Well everyone will think he is again.”
She sighs sadly.
“A girl can’t be friends with a guy without everyone thinking they’re in love…”
Bobby smiles. “Yes they can!”
She says.
“I mean just look at Dogday and Kuddle Kitty!”
She says, pointing to the other side of the room.
Indeed, an orange puppy was sitting next to a pink kitten at one of the other tables, and they were happily reading a book together.
Dixie laughs. “Bobby, everyone knows they’re in love.”
She says. “Or at least, Kitty is in love with Dogday but she’s too shy to tell him.”
Bobby’s eyes sparkle.
“Really?”
Dixie nods.
“Yeah, she’s obsessed with him.”
She says.
Bobby watches as Kitty lays her head on Dogday’s shoulder.
Bobby smiles.
“Wow, I never noticed.”
Dixie sighs.
“But yeah, I don’t think Bubba and I can be friends…”
Bobby pets her shoulder.
“Aww, come on! Of course you can!” She says. “Just ignore what the other kids are saying, and keep being friends.”
Dixie lets out an exasperated breath, admitting defeat.
“Okay fine, I'll go talk to Bubba tomorrow…”
She says, grumbling.
Bobby smiles, hugging her.
“Yay!” she says.
Dixie blushes a bit.
“O-okay… let go of me.”
Bobby pulls back. “Oh, sorry.”
Dixie smiles and shrugs. “It’s okay.” she says.
The next few seconds were a little awkward.
“So uh, wanna go read with me?”
Bobby asks.
Dixie nods. “Sure.”
And so the two girls spent the rest of the school day, sitting in the big beanbag chair in the corner of the room, and reading their favorite books together.
It was the start of a beautiful friendship, and maybe in the future, something more?