"Hi, my name is Fiona." 

"Fon...na," Alexis said. And then she smiled. 

"Yeah, that's my name." Fiona smiled back, gripping her backpack's shoulder straps. "Are you ready? We have to get to the bus stop now or we might be late for our first day!" Alexis nodded her head up and down furiously, and followed after Fiona.

The bus skidded to a halt by the time the two girls arrive. 

Fiona stepped up, indicating to Alexis she walk up too, and slid her metro card into the machine. It beeped and Fiona stepped behind the white line to find herself and Alexis a seat next to each other.

"Hey, kid, what's the matter?"

Fiona turned back at the sound of the bus driver's voice. Alexis was staring at the card machine with a blank look. 

"You don't have a metro card?" the driver prompted. "Hey, do you?"

Fiona froze, feeling blood rush to her face. The only money she had on her was only enough to buy her lunch from the school cafeteria. 

"I...don..." Alexis started, shaking her head from side to side. She tightened her grip on the front railing of the bus. "Don...hav.."

"What? Speak up," the driver said, his voice bordering on annoyed, "if you don't have a metro card why are you here?" 

Alexis's eyes slowly traveled to Fiona, making her skin prickle. The other people on the bus had also started to stare at one girl to the other. The bus driver turned a bit in his seat to glance Fiona's way.

Fiona swallowed hard and fished for her wallet, her fingers shaking to get the right amount of change to pay for the ride. 

"Just for today," the bus driver said, closing the bus doors and turning back to face the road. 

Fiona sighed mentally and quickly shoved everything back into her school bag. She then grabbed Alexis's hand and guided her to the seat so Alexis wouldn't fall when the bus moved.

The ride to school was quiet, and Fiona did her best not to look Alexis's way; she was bobbing her head up and down and was tapping her fingers along her thigh in a rhythmic pattern. Some of the other people on the bus were still staring their way, making Fiona red-faced at the thought of what they were thinking about her.

Welcome to Wilfred Anderson MS 15

The middle school was a giant block surrounded by a freshly painted black gate. About two hundred or so kids attended this school, and many were streaming out from parents' cars, unlike Fiona and Alexis who had come by public transportation.

Alexis dutifully followed Fiona as she glanced from room number to room number to find their homeroom. Alexis's mother had requested to the school that her daughter be placed in the same classes as Fiona for their first year for her safety and to have a friend in a new environment. 

Except, Alexis didn't remember the birthday parties, sleep overs, camping trips, park visits, and school projects she and Fiona had spent their childhood years doing together.

The classroom was bright with the morning's light shining in from the open windows. Fiona and Alexis took a seat by the doorway, watching everyone else file inside. There was about twenty-two kids in the class.

"Good morning everyone!" the teacher, a young brunette woman, said, smiling at them. "I hope you all enjoyed your summer break and welcome to MS 15." A few kids mumbled back a greeting, but that was it. "My name is Ms. Kaen and it is a pleasure to see you all here. To start things off, let's introduce ourselves to one another. We'll start from this end of the room. Say your name and something about you."

Fiona jumped in her seat, seeing all eyes on her. Ms. Kaen was smiling.

"Hi, my name is Fiona." She paused, blushing. "I like to read." A few kids smirked.

"Wonderful!" Ms. Kaen exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Reading is a wonderful thing. Okay, next."

Fiona glanced at Alexis. 

"Ma nams...Ulxs." 

The class stared, some confused, others giggling behind their hands at the sound of Alexis's voice.

"I'm sorry, what is your name again?" Ms. Kaen asked. Alexis swallowed hard.

"A-alexs," she tried again. "Al-"

"Her name is Alexis," Fiona blurted out. The class turned to look at her. Fiona froze. 

"Oh, Alexis, what a beautiful name," Ms. Kaen smiled. "Tell us about yourself, Alexis." 

Fiona turned her head to see Alexis swallow hard and shift her jaws. Alexis did not speak, but it was clear to Fiona she was trying to say it properly this time. The longer she stayed silent, the longer Fiona felt her chest would explode.

Alexis had been hit by a car during the summer. A drunk driver had run her over when she was walking her dog, Daisy, across the street.  She fractured her skull and lost the ability to access parts of her brain, including all her past memories and hindering her pronunciation. Daisy, however, did not survive.

"She can't really talk," Fiona finally said, staring at her desk. Alexis looked at her, as did the rest of the class. "She was in an accident. She's learning."

Ms. Kaen was silent for a second or two, before nodding.

"Thank you, Fiona, Alexis. Who's next?"

When lunch time came around, Fiona was more irritated than relieved. In all her classes she said the same thing, Alexis was her name and she had been in an accident. All the teachers sympathized and thanked her, but many of the other girls in the class shifted away and did not speak to Fiona at all. The boys in the class didn't seem to mind, but they didn't seem to want to talk to girls anyway.

Alexis had home lunch, and she took her seat at one of the tables. Too angry that she was so much trouble on the first day, Fiona ignored her and brought her tray to the next table over. Maybe she could befriend the kids who sat here, without any interference from Alexis.

"Fon-na?"

She knew Alexis was looking her way, but Fiona kept her head down, picking at the food in her tray.

"Hey, retards aren't allowed to sit at this table," an angry, female voice said.

Fiona looked over to see a group of older kids surround Alexis. The three had to be eighth graders, otherwise they couldn't demand a spot in the cafeteria if they could be dismissed by a senior classmate.

"Yeah, we heard there was a 'disabled' girl this year," one of the other girls said, using air quotes on the word disabled. "Should we speak slower for you to understand?" Her friends laughed at her joke.

Fiona felt her stomach twist and she looked back down at her food. 

"Get lost, freak!" 

Fiona looked back at Alexis in time to see her being shoved backwards off the bench. Fiona's jaw dropped and before anything could stop her, she jumped to her friend's rescue. 

"Hey!" Fiona shouted, helping Alexis up. The three girls towered over them.

"And who are you?" one of the girls asked, grimacing. "Her friend?" Fiona clenched her jaws, her face heating up with anger. 

"Ye--"

"We don't care," another girl said, cutting her off. The others rolled their eyes and turned to take a seat at the table. One shoved Alexis's lunch box off the table. 

Fiona made a move to save the contents, but the plastic-wrapped sandwich and juice box splattered to the tiled floor. Fiona gritted her teeth and grabbed the fallen items and took Alexis to the table she was sitting at.

One of the girls looked back at Fiona and Alexis. 

"Don't sit here again." 

Ignoring her, Fiona silently offered Alexis half her lunch; it was mozzarella sticks with a side of ketchup and mustard, Fiona's favorite. The old Alexis would be awed by Fiona giving away her most prized lunch.

But the Alexis now shook her head, repacking her squashed lunch back into the lunch box.

"No thun-kis." She turned away and laid her head on the table, covering her face with her arms.

Fiona looked away. But the sick feeling in her stomach did not go away. Did Alexis blame her for what happened? After all, if Fiona had simply invited Alexis to sit with her to begin with, none of this would have happened. 

Alexis had gotten a metro card from the school, so this time on the bus ride back home, she didn't have any trouble. She hadn't really talked in any of the two classes after lunch, but Fiona didn't talk to her either. The fifteen minute trip was silent. Alexis continued to stare out the window at the passing scenery while Fiona stared at her hands.

But Fiona couldn't stand it; Alexis was her friend, even if she didn't remember. Because Fiona still had those memories. 

When they'd stepped off the bus, Fiona tugged on Alexis's sleeve. Alexis stopped walking, but did not turn around.

"Alexis," Fiona started, "I'm sorry. I know you don't remember, but we were best friends. And best friends don't let each other get hurt. But I let you get hurt today. And that's my fault. I'm sorry."

When she didn't respond, Fiona dug her heel into the ground, playing with the ends of her school bag straps. 

"I'm sorry, Alexis."

This time, Alexis turned around. "Fonna. I for..give you."

Fiona held out her hand.

Alexis took it.

"I want us to be best friends forever."

"For..rever."

I would like to also let everyone know that friends make our lives so much better. Do not give them up to fit in, because your friends are bits that fit you. Do not give them up because they're different, because their differences are your differences. Do not give them up for the sake of impressing others, because your friends are the ones who don't need to be impressed by lies. Do not give them up because you cannot say SORRY or accept that you are at fault; pride will only get you so far, whereas friends can take you to the moon and back.

Thank you Lenovo for giving me the opportunity to write this.

Word count: 1,595