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Year 5

You squeeze your stuffed bunny as hard as your little hands can muster as you nervously peek out of the car window. The uncomfortable booster seat your mother purchased from a secondhand store does little to calm your nerves as does her mindless chatter into the phone tucked in between her shoulder and her right ear. She parks in front of a house you don't recognize and for a moment you're filled with excitement at the possibility of her forgetting that you are in the car with her again to evade hell.

Until the car door cracks open and she stands there with your bumblebee backpack thrown over one of her shoulders.

"Let's go, Y/N," she says after you send her a couple of blinks. You click off your seatbelt and begin to make your exit. "You can't take Bunny to school."

Your heart drops as you stare into the black doe eyes of your beloved companion and tears dance along the edge of yours. You make the mistake of looking back at your mother and to your surprise she takes enough time away from her phone call to notice you.

"Come on, Y/N!" She snaps, fueling your internal torment, "don't be the kid that cries on the first day, let's go!" She tugs your arm and in the midst you drop Bunny, only catching one last glimpse of his white fur before your mother slams the door.

"Mommy," you cry out as she now drags you across the street, paying you or your cries for help no mind. A single tear runs down your left cheek as she leads you towards the school. If it were not the last place you wanted to be, it would seem as inviting as the outside would want you to believe. The gates were sky blue as were the roofs while the rest of the buildings were a pure white. There was a mural of a rainbow with a ring of children surrounding it that read something you could not read. "Mommy," you cry out again, hoping the lack of whine in your tone will capture her attention better.

"What?"

"What does the picture say?" You point at the colorful mural, grateful for the distraction.

"It's not about what it is, it's about what it can become," she monotonously reads.

You scrunch your nose in confusion. "What does it mean?" Turning your head towards her, you are met with no response when she goes back to her conversation with the device. Pondering the words as your short legs attempt to keep up with your mother's lean ones is enough to keep you from remembering where you both are headed.

At least until you enter the gates and the realization hits you like a brick. The courtyard is filled with children of various ages, some who look as terrified as you, some who throw full on tantrums, and some who loudly giggle with their friends. They all manage to simultaneously instill fear into your little heart.

"Wait one minute," you hear your mother say into the phone, "Excuse me, where are the kindergarten classrooms?" She asks who you assume is a teacher.

"To your left, where the purple playground is," she points towards the separate building to the side, nicely fenced with a white barricade. The daunting play structure intrigues you as you watch a little boy yell out from the top before going down the twisty slide.

Once again your mother tugs you by your pink jacket sleeve until you are at the entrance of the barricade where a plump woman with a polka dot dress greets the other children in front of you.

"Hi, what's your name?" She asks when you get to the front, her thick rounded glasses that give the illusion of her eyes appearing three times larger making you smile a bit.

"Y-Y/N," you say with your hands behind your back.

She squats down so that she is at eye level with you and reaches out for your hair, "Hi Y/N, I'm Mrs. Cho. I love your pigtails, is this your favorite color?"

You nod, the memory of the yellow ribbons you picked out while your grandmother was fixing your hair this morning coming to mind.

"Mine too," she smiles, "I'll be your teacher this year and we're gonna have a lot of fun, I promise. Would you like to come in and play?"

Your eyes shift to the purple play structure again, this time being able to spot the various children riding tricycles while some others play in the green sandbox to the side. A Tarzan yell is belted out and you look up just to meet the eyes of the same boy ready to go down the slide. He grins at you as he fixes his blue baseball cap before diving down, head first this time.

"Y/N, come on. I've gotta go." Your mother taps her foot impatiently as she shoves your backpack into your hands. She leans down and pecks your cheek before quickly whirling around and exiting the school.

"Mommy," you feel the tears well up in your eyes again as your voice slightly breaks, parallel to Mrs. Cho's heart.

"Come on, Y/N. Let's make you some friends," she holds out her hand for yours and you comply as you continue to stare at your mother's back as she exits until finally she is out of sight.

"Hmm let's see," Mrs. Cho scans the students scattered throughout the courtyard, trying to decipher who would be most compatible with you. As if on cue, another Tarzan yell rings in your ears, and you both look up to see the same boy sliding down. "Jungkook, get over here!"

He enthusiastically runs towards you two with the same grin plastered on his face. "Jungkook, I told you you can't go down the slide like that. You could get hurt."

"But Mrs. Cho," he whines, "that's the funnest way!"

She laughs at the mischievous boy while you simply blink at him, quietly assessing his already stained T-shirt and orange shorts.

"This is our new friend, Y/N. How about you go and start introducing yourselves to everyone before class starts." She turns to you, "Y/N, this is Jungkook."

Now you both blink at each other, his eyes reminding you of Bunny causing you to stare even harder.

"Mrs. Cho, she's weird. Why is she looking at me like that?" He whines.

You scrunch your nose in anger, already prepared with a retort. "I'm not weird! You're weird, you look like my Bunny!"

"I'm not a bunny," he steps towards you and puffs out his chest, "I'm a boy! You look like a...a...a," he looks around, spotting a certain rodent running up a tree, "a squirrel!"

You furrow your brow and take a step towards him again, "Bunny Boy!"

"Squirrel Girl!" He narrows his eyes.

Mrs. Cho finally intervenes, "alright you two, that's enough. Go play with the rest of the kids, now."

You feel your lip quiver a bit but you push the insult to the back of your mind. You won't be the kid who cries on the first day. He grabs your hand, so that you both look friendly in front of the watching eyes of Mrs. Cho, simultaneously sending her a fake smile. When she turns around, you yank your hand back.

"I don't need you to help me make fwends," you stick your tongue out.

"Oh yeah? Well I don't wanna be fwends with an ugly girl anyway!" He pushes you before scurrying back to his throne at the top of the slide.

If you had a dollar for every time you wanted to to cry today, you'd have exactly three, and you'd be rich. Blinking the tears away, you turn toward the sandbox you spotted earlier and see a single girl gracefully dancing around in it.

"Hi, I'm Y/N can I play with you?"

She looks at you and your lips part at the sight of her sparkling eyes, her pouty lips, and full cheeks. It is only then that you realize she is not a girl when you take a double take of her outfit, the khaki shorts and striped long-sleeve throwing you off.

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

He furrows his brow, "I'm a boy. My name is Jimin."

"Then why were you dancing like that?"

"Because I take ballet," he answers.

"Boys can take ballet?" Your eyes widen and he giggles as he nods. "Can you teach me?"

Just when you thought his eyes could not sparkle more, they light up and he quickly gets into position, hoping you will follow. He points his toes out and curves his arms out in front of him before looking to you. Attempting to copy his stance, you bring your toes together ready to point them out but your knees bend awkwardly.

"Jimin this is hard," you whine, frustrated.

He giggles, "no, Mommy says you have to keep your legs straight. Look," he reaches out for your bended knees to push them together. Instead, they just wobble and you lose your balance, sending both of you into the sand in a laughing fit.

Spitting out a few grains, you prop yourself up on your elbows. "I think I should just watch you."

He nods before standing up, dusting off the excess. He begins to twirl, converting into a blur of dark hair and elegance unlike anything you have ever seen in your five years of life before. You thought he could keep going forever, causing you to start to clap and cheer him on to continue.

Jungkook watches from the top of the play structure, as you laugh and applaud the twirling boy, tears beginning to well up in his eyes at the realization that your first friend is not him. His bottom lip puffs out as he begins to involuntarily eavesdrop on your conversation.

"Who taught you how to dance?" You ask once the boy finally settles down and dizzily stumbles to sit next to you.

"My Mommy, she works for a company. I want to be as good as her so she can take me everywhere she goes." He wiggles his feet around.

You nod, "You're gonna be even better! That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

Jungkook's heart aches at your words.

A light pink dusts Jimin's chubby cheeks. "Really?"

"Mhmm. I wish I was good at something," you pout, kicking the sand.

"What do you like?"

"I like animals. I used to have a puppy but Mommy gave it away because it made her sneeze," you drop your head on your knees.

"I have a kitty. Maybe you can come to my house one day and we can play," he pipes and your eyes light up as you nod enthusiastically.

Mrs. Cho's voice rings through the courtyard, beckoning all of you to come inside to start class and you and Jimin race towards the door in a fit of giggles. Jungkook springs back to life, a grin taking its place back on his face as he runs toward the door.

"Jungkook," Mrs. Cho says in a warning tone when she sees the boy triumphantly march towards her, "what are you up to?"

"Nothinnn," he sends her a bunny smile and she shakes her head.

After a few games and recitations of the alphabet and numbers 1-10, you were all pooped.

"Okay kids, snack time!" Mrs. Cho announces, darting out of the way to avoid being stampeded as her hungry students sprint toward their cubbies.

"Mrs. Cho, I left my snack in my backpack. Can I pwease go outside and get it?" Jungkook bats his long eyelashes at his teacher with his lower lip puckered out.

"You need to take a buddy Jungkook."

"Can Y/N go with me?"

You perk up at the sound of your name, daring the interruption from the beloved extra chocolate pudding cup Jimin gave you to reveal itself. You watch Jungkook smile at you mischievously and you roll your eyes.

"Why is he smiling at you?" Jimin asks, stuffing a spoonful in his mouth.

"I don't care," you shrug. Mrs. Cho waves you over and you sigh. "I'll be right back, guard my pudding."

You skip over, averting eye contact with the cheeky boy beside your teacher.

"Y/N would you please be Jungkook's buddy while he gets his snack outside?"

You narrow your eyes, staring straight into his before slowly nodding. He hooks his arm around yours and you both exit the classroom.

"Why did you choose me," you grumble, kicking a few pebbles along the way to the backpack rack.

"I wanna show you something." He stops, allowing you to crash into his back. You stumble back, ready to fight him but when you look up he's gone. You hear yelps and you turn to be met with the sight of Jungkook running around the flower bushes by the play structure. Annoyance filling your heart, you turn back to the classroom and begin to make your way back, the thought of your pudding cup being left uneaten saddening you.

"Wait Y/N!" He yells and you groan, "just one minute!"

You plant yourself on the concrete, your hands propped up on your knees to steady your hanging head as you watch him manically run around the flower bushes once again. You can see the drops of sweat begin to glisten on his cheek under the September sun, his pink lips still curled into a smile. He takes off his baseball cap for a second to wipe at his forehead, revealing his damp ebony hair plastered to it. Maybe if he was not such a meanie you could have been friends with the boy.

"Got it!" He yells, skipping toward you with both palms enclosed in front of him. Sitting beside you, he reaches them out and waves them in front of you. "Open."

"What is it?" You arch an eyebrow, hesitation overtaking your body.

"Open it!" He waves his hands more eagerly and you comply, peeling away one of his sweaty palms. Inside, your lips part in awe at the sight of a Monarch butterfly laying down, most likely dazed from the amount of shaking and suffocation it has endured being trapped in Jungkook's hands.

"You said you liked animals!" He grins. You watch the butterfly awaken and begin to flutter its wings a bit. It crawls around Jungkook's palm and he frowns. "This feels weird, get it off!" You stick out your finger and it walks toward you, still a little loopy.

You smile and Jungkook forgets his own name at the sight.

"I love butterflies!" You gape at the beautiful orange wings detailed with black, not being able to believe you have the privilege of observing it so closely.

"You're welcome," he hums victoriously.

"Thank you, Jungkook!" You lunge toward him to envelop him in a hug, startling both the butterfly and him in the process. It flutters it's wings and begins it's ascendance into the sky. Jungkook gasps and jumps to his feet.

"No!" He shouts, beginning to run after it. It begins to fly higher and higher and in an effort to keep up, Jungkook runs up the play structure to the highest point. He reaches out to catch it, his tongue sticking out in eagerness and hope. But his fingers are too short and the butterfly only grazes his skin as it flies away. His heart sinks and he drops to the floor, the tears he had held inside of him since the minute you told him you didn't need him now pouring out everywhere.

"Jungkook!" You pant as you make your way up the steps to catch up with the fast boy. "Jungkook?" The sounds of his sobs alarm you and you sit beside him in both confusion and fear. You didn't think the boy could cry. "Why are you crying?"

"B-Because," he sniffles, "now you'll never like me. I lost the butterfly." He continues to blubber, streams of tears pouring down his cheeks.

"Jungkook, I love you!"

His sobs stop and he looks over at you with puffy red eyes.

You nod, "I've never seen a butterfly so close before and it's because of you! You're the best!"

"You don't hate me?"

You shake your head. "My grandma says you should never hate someone, it's bad for your heart."

"My Daddy says that too," he sends you a small smile.

"But you have to be nicer to me," you state, before going to drape your arm around the boy's shoulders.

"You called me Bunny Boy!"

"You called me weird!" You refute.

"Fine," he mumbles, nuzzling into you.

"Promise?" You wave your small pinky finger in front of his face.

"Only if we become best friends," he looks to you, his black doe eyes instilling the same comfort Bunny does.

He interlocks his pinky with yours.

"Promise."

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ah yes i have started another book but this one will most likely not be as long as i'm planning the other one to be

i only started this one because i was having major writer's block and discouragement to keep going with Boyfriend Material but this story is really getting me excited about writing again.

i hope you like 🥺👉🏽👈🏽