“I didn’t want to sit in the front row, that’s why I left that desk empty and sat in the second one instead. I was afraid the teacher would call on me often if I was right up front. And when I saw you, you were tall already, even though you were just five. I knew your body would hide me. So, I smiled and hoped you would come and sit in front of me. And when you did, I knew the teacher would always pick you to answer questions and leave me alone.”
He let me go, looking a little upset. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah.” I hadn’t meant to upset him with the truth of why I’d been smiling at him that first day of kindergarten. “My older sister had told me about the teacher asking kids in the front row most of the questions throughout the school year. And she told me to look for a kid that was bigger
