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“Hey, it’s okay,” Chris whispers to the small boy whose shoulders shake with every suppressed sob that’s torn between grief and anger, tiny hands balled into trembling fists as the other kids in the classroom look on with a mixture of pity and shock. “It’s alright! She’s gonna give it back, don’t cry–”
Josh, seven years old and used to getting whatever his little heart desires at the snap of his fingers, is too distraught to listen to him.
“I w-want it back n-now,” Josh wails loudly, sniffling as he rubs at his eyes in frustration before glaring at the teacher’s retreating back, her heels clicking sharply on the wooden floorboards as she slips his toy gun into a drawer of her desk and locking it with a key.
Chris, not sure what to do but desperately wanting to stop his friend from crying pulls him close, his arms awkward and uncertain as they wrap around the smaller boy, who returns his hug in tenfold, burying his face in Chris’ shirt.
Josh doesn’t stop crying until Chris finally manages to coax him back to their seats in the back of the room, away from prying eyes and pitying stares. Ms. Lucas watches in stern indifference–and in all honesty, Josh was having a little bit too much fun with his toy gun, and maybe it’s time he’s finally told no for a change, because god knows his parents won’t tell him.
Still, from Josh and Chris’ perspective, a great wrong has just been committed, and for a kid as sensitive as Josh, the experience nearly borders on traumatic.
“W-we have to get it back,” he sniffs, glaring at the teacher who calls for everyone to calm down and wanting to continue the lesson. Chris considers this hesitantly.
“How?” he whispers.
“She put the key on her desk, see?” Josh points out. “We need to get the key!”
“Yeah, but how?”
Josh pouts. “…I don’t know…”
Getting the key means getting Ms. Lucas away from her desk, and they can’t do it in front of the class–Pete Millard would definitely tell on them, the bully.
Chris is ready to discard the idea as stupid, but one look at Josh’s anguished face as he longingly stares at the desk where his precious toy gun is locked away changes his mind instantly. Chris thinks it silly he’s this upset over a toy, but if getting it back will make him happy again…
He raises his hand.
“Yes, Chris?” Ms. Lucas says.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” Chris answers politely, and Ms. Lucas allows it with a sigh, seeing as how the first break is five minutes away anyway. Josh watches him skip out of the classroom with a frown.
Five minutes later, Ms. Lucas’ phone goes off.
She picks it up with a frown and seems to be wanting to put it away, until something seems to catch her attention and her eyes widen, her surprised gaze flitting over to Josh who meets it with confusion.
Just as Chris walks back into the classroom, looking very satisfied with himself, Ms. Lucas answers the call, turning away from the classroom for a moment as she walks towards the corridor.
“Mrs. Washington?” Josh barely catches her say, and he becomes even more confused. Why is his mum calling Ms. Lucas?
Chris hops down happily on his seat next to Josh, his friend eyeing him suspiciously, but he remains quiet, simply smiling widely, looking rather proud.
When Ms. Lucas walks back into the classroom, she appears a bit pale and rather shaken as she walks straight towards the desk, unlocks the drawer, pulls out the toy gun and approaches Josh’s desk, placing it down in front of it and returning to her desk without another word.
Josh, eyes wide in complete shock, grabs his toy almost reverently, before looking over to Chris who grins at him.
“I borrowed your phone,” Chris explains in hushed tones. Having rich parents as he does, Josh is the only kid in his class who owns a mobile phone, though he keeps it tucked away in his backpack during school hours, hanging outside the classroom on the long coat racks. It was incredibly easy to call up Mrs. Washington and explain what had happened–adding a bit of exaggerating.
“Chris,” Josh’s face lights up and he beams at him before throwing himself at his friend and hugging him tightly. “You’re the best!”
“Um, th-thanks…” Chris flushes slightly but manages a bashful smile as Josh pulls away and admires his toy gun again, this time being so wise as to not shoot at his classmates. “Hey, why do you like that one so much? You have other toys at home, right?”
“Mhm,” Josh briefly aims at Ms. Lucas’ head when her back is turned, though lowering it a moment later before glancing over at Chris. “But you gave me this one, so it’s special… Chris? Hey, Chris, your face is getting really red. Are you ok? Chris?”
Chris buries his reddened face into his arms on the desk. “…’M fine…”
Only years later when looking back on this incident will Chris realize that this is the exact moment where he fell in love with Joshua Washington.