Xander

   The first time he saw her, Alexander knew he needed to to know her. She reminded him of joy of light of everything good. She smiled at everyone. She smiled at him. The first time he saw her, she was on the swing. He must have been no older than 10 so she must have been around 9. Wearing a dress that was so clearly a hand-me-down yet it looked like as though it was made for her. The yellow of it lit up her face and made her look like she was glowing. She reminded him of sunshine. He couldn't help but think that a bit of sunshine was all he needed in his life.     Of course there was nothing he could do about it. There was no way he would ever go up to her. She would likely ignore him completely. After all, he wasn’t the best company. He didn’t think he would even be able to make her laugh. Not the way the other children did. So he was resolved to watch her from his place on the playground bench. Just watching her would bring him more joy than he was worth he thought.     That was until she looked at him. They locked eyes. She leaped off the swing at the height of its path and landed the superhero landing with both feet and one hand on the ground. Then, she started walking towards him. He began panicking. He looked around for something to do.     He couldn’t let her think he was just staring at her. He couldn't let her think he was obsessed with her. It was only the first day of school, he couldn’t let everyone know he was strange already. He busied himself with adjusting the velcro straps on his shoes. When he looked up again she was right in front of him with her hands on her hips.     “Why were you watching me? Are you a crazy stalker or something?”  Stalker. He didn’t know that word. From the look of her face he knew he didn’t want to be called that.     “I wasn’t watching you.” He replied simply.    “Well what were you looking at then?”     He couldn’t think with her staring at him like this. He had no idea what to say. He looked around for something to claim to have been staring at and came up blank.     “Ok, I was watching you but I’m not crazy and I’m not a stalker…well I don't think so..please don’t tell anyone. It’s only my first day and I don’t have any friends and if you tell anyone they will think I’m weird”    “How come you don’t have any friends?” was all she said    “I just said it's my first day.” He snapped. It came out more harshly than he intended and he immediately regretted it. She seemed utterly unbothered though and replied thoughtfully.    “I can be your friend.” She said. This surprised him. He expected her to make fun of him or storm off. She did neither. Instead she held out her hand.    “I’m Nora. Do you want to be my friend?” He looked at her for a second trying to register what she was saying. She just looked back expectantly. “You’re supposed to say yes. That’s how you make friends” she told him.    He blinked and took her hand and shook. “Yes. Okay, let’s be friends.” She smiled. It was brilliant. It made him feel warm. She looked back at the swing and saw that there was now a little boy on the seat she had vacated. With a look of slight disappointment she turned back to him.     “Is there someone sitting there?” He shook his head and she sat down. “so what’s your name?”