Page 3 of Rescuer

“You’re beautiful. I don’t care what they say, but I think you're beautiful, and that’s all that matters,” he said, giving me a small hug before wiping away my tears. He then took my hand and sat down with me, picking up one of the male dolls. “Let’s play,” he said excitedly, the encounter forgotten.

After the incident, we played all morning, only stopping for lunch, and then played together during recess. We didn’t leave each other’s sides until it was time to go home.

Renee and Charlie were waiting for me at the door, along with Halt’s brother who was talking to Renee. I ran out with Halt, running up to Charlie, wrapping my small arms around him tightly. “What’s wrong, Lee?” he asked, crouching down to my level.Mom always said he acted too old for his age.

“Does my hair look weird to you?” I asked, looking up at him with curious eyes. He looked to Renee and then back to me.

“Of course not. Who told you that?” he asked, looking angry.

“They made fun of me today,” I said, returning Renee’s hug when her arms wrapped around me.

“Did you tell the teacher?” they both asked at the same time. I shook my head, looking to Halt who was listening to us with his brother.

“Halt made them stop,” I said, pointing to him. Everyone’s gazes immediately fell onto my new best friend.

“Thank you, Halt,” Charlie said, bending down to shake hands with him. My brother was weird.

“She didn’t deserve to be called names and made fun of when she’s so beautiful. I only did the right thing,” Halt said, shrugging his shoulders.

“What names did they call you, Noalie?” Renee asked, looking upset.

“It doesn’t matter,” I huffed, waving my hand in a no-care-attitude type of way.I just wanted to go home already.

“They called her ugly, and they said her hair was paler than her skin,” Halt spoke up, coming to stand beside me. I huffed again. Tattletale.

“And your teacher doesn’t know?” Renee asked, looking at Charlie.

I shook my head quickly. “Please don’t say anything,” I begged. I felt like I was about to get in trouble. “You can’t tell Mommy.” My eyes watered. “She won’t let me come back tomorrow, and then I can’t play with Halt,” I whined.

Renee wrapped her arms around me. “Mom won’t keep you out of school,” Renee promised me.

“Renee, Lee, we have to go. Mom just texted me,” Charlie said, looking down at his phone.“Lee, tell your friend goodbye.”

I pouted, now not wanting to leave Halt. “Bye, Halt,” I said sadly as I was quickly pulled away by my brother. He was grumbling under his breath about how girls took too long, whatever that meant. “Please don’t tell Mom,” I begged again as we neared our car that was waiting near the front of the school.

“Why not?” Renee huffed. “She can talk to the principal tomorrow and make those bullies apologize,” Renee said.

“She won’t let me come back if she finds out. Please! I really like playing with Halt, and he will protect me,” I said, pleading with both of them.

“Fine,” they both said as we got into the car. Renee and I jumped into the backseat while Charlie took the front with Mom.

Renee helped me buckle up even though I protested, saying that I was a big girl now, and I could handle this. “How was your first day everyone?” Mom asked, sounding cheerful.

“Great!” we all exclaimed, making her laugh.

“That’s wonderful! Lee, did Charlie and Renee walk you to your class this morning?” she asked, looking at me before pulling out of the parking lot.

“Yes, and they even came inside the classroom and spoke to the teacher, and they met my new friend after school,” I started to ramble.

“What’s her name?” Mom asked, sounding interested.

I giggled. “It’s not a she, Mom. He’s a boy, and his name is Halt.”

“Oh. Renee, make any new friends today?” she asked, going on to the next kid.

“Yeah, Ryan—which is Halt’s brother.” I gasped, my eyes widening in surprise. That was so cool. “Oh! Ashley came back.” Renee started to talk about her best friend who had been over at our house countless times.

“That’s nice to hear. Charlie, how was Dakota?” my mom asked, finally getting to the last child. We were only a few minutes from home now.

“He was great. He went to England this summer and had tea outside the castle. He even got to see the princess and prince through the gates,” Charlie said, starting to talk about his best friend.

I liked hearing about their day. When we got home, even our dad was impressed with how well my day went, and I told him all about it after dinner while I sat on his lap.

I didn’t tell him about the meanies. I didn’t want them to make me stay home. I had Halt to protect me now, so everything would be okay. I could go to school the next day.

And believe it or not, I was actually more excited to go tomorrow than I was this morning.

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