"I'm sorry, your parents are unable to come home late tonight," the housekeeper told a little girl.
Pets, the 5 year old daughter of one of the richest families in the country, sighed sadly, "Again?" she asked, looking down at her feet, "What about my ge?"
The face of the lady softened and she crouched down to meet her at eye level, "Your parents are very busy people and your brother is still studying abroad, I'm sorry. I'm sure you understand," she said softly.
"I know!" Pets answered her, "But I'm so lonely!" she exclaimed.
"You have so many toys, why don't you play with them? Or you can play outside in the garden?" the lady suggested.
Pets blinked back her tears, "I don't want to play," she muttered, "Genie, I never see my parents! My Mama and Papa only send me presents on my birthday but never come home and they always make my gege work so hard!" she screamed in frustration, "I don't want my toys!"

Genie, the young housekeeper and guardian of the young lady Miss Pets Tseng, stood back up and sighed sadly. She knew how much the little girl wanted to see her parents and she found it cruel for the girl to grow up without parental love. She her soft little head, "How about I take you to the park after school today?"
Pets turned around, looking away from her, "I don't want to play alone," she replied.
"We can invite your friends," Genie offered.
"I don't have friends," Pets stated bluntly, causing Genie's face to fall.

...


Pets sat alone at the table at school during lunch time again. It was a normal thing for her. Her daily routine was very lonely. The girls at school didn't like her because she was different from them. She was much quieter and kept her hair shorter than them. The boys, too, for some reason didn't like her either. They picked on and bullied her for 'looking like a boy' and no one really liked her. It's was as if there was this terrible rumour about her going around, maybe there was, maybe there wasn't - who knew?

Pets sighed sadly as she opened the lid of her lunch box. She stared at the same range of foods again and felt her appetite begin to fade. She looked across the table over to the next one and watched the popular girls chatting happily and laughing. The most popular girl, Sunnie Huang, was the leader of the girls. Yes, it was very odd that 5 year olds had a hierarchy between them but that was how it was. Sunnie was standing up and the other girls around her were praising her like a goddess. They looked happy though. Pets found a small smile forming on her face, she wanted friends like those, but they would never accept her. They all bullied her so she decided it was best to stay away from them.

Sunnie then caught her gaze and so frowned. She glared at her and stuck out her tongue. The other girls turned to look at her too and their faces scrunched up in disgust. Pets sighed sadly and looked down at her food.

...

Miss Ruby clasped her hands together in happiness, "Okay class, choose a partner! It's time for our funny dance!" she beamed. The funny dance was when Pets's teacher, Ruby Lin, would play a funky upbeat melody on the piano and every pair would do a silly dance with each other.

Pets smiled as she looked at all her classmates, hoping that she would find someone to be paired with. She looked over at Sunnie, wanting to be her partner, but as soon as Sunnie caught her looking at her, she just sneered and paired up with Rainie Yang. Pets' face fell as everyone avoided her as usual. Miss Ruby sighed and then smiled sadly at the girl who was left alone in the corner of the classroom yet again. "Poor girl," she mumbled.

...

Pets sighed as she swung on the swing set alone. Genie has offered to push her but Pets had declined her offer, she was feeling too gloomy. This worried Genie, she knew that despite the bullying at school Pets would keep a bright smile on her face but today she was especially down. "Pets," she called as she noticed that dark clouds were beginning to roll over the horizon, "I think it's time we go home now."
Pets shook her head, "I want to stay longer,” she replied.
"It's going to rain soon," Genie told her as she walked over to her, "If we stay any longer in the park, we're going to get wet."
"Genie, you can go home first," Pets suggested, causing Genie to tilt her head at her.
"I can't leave you," she said.
"I want to stay here just a bit longer. Please," Pets pleaded, "I'll be home quickly," she assured.
Genie sighed, not wanting to argue with her, "I'm going to pop down to the shop quickly to buy some milk, when I return we'll go home. Is that okay with you?" Genie asked her and Pets eagerly nodded. "Stay with the kids here, don't leave the playground, understand?" Genie instructed and Pets continued to nod.

As soon as Pets waved at Genie while she exited the play ground, she cast her gaze upon a small group of children entering the playground. There were four boys, probably a few years older than her and they were laughing together. She watched them play on the monkey bars and scramble up the climbing frame. She found herself smiling just watching them play, "How I wish I had friends I could play with," she whispered as she gazed at them admiringly.

"Ow!" a boy cried.

Pets' eyes widened when she heard one of them scream which pulled her out of her daydreams. One of the boys had fallen from the top of the climbing frame and was crying.

"Aaron!" One of them exclaimed, running over to the fallen boy. He quickly helped him up and swung his arm over his shoulder, walking him over to the bench.
"Are you okay?" One of the other boys asked, joining the other two boys.
"Calvin, I think he's sprained his ankle," the boy, who went over to help first, said, inspecting the boy's leg. "Do you need a piggy back ride back to your house?" he asked, this time looking at the hurt boy, Aaron.
Aaron wiped his tears and shook his head, "I'm fine."
"It's good you're not too hurt then, we wouldn't hear the end of it from your mum," the fourth boy joked playfully.

Pets just watched them from afar, not able to hear their conversations clearly. Suddenly, drops of water began falling from the sky. Slowly, she looked up at the clouds that released all their tears and held out her hand, staring at all the drops of water that landed in her palm. She didn't know how long she was staring at the raindrops until she felt someone covering her up.

Confused, she looked up to see the boy who helped Aaron over to the bench. He had taken off his jacket and put it over her head. "You'll get sick if you just sit in the rain," he told her, "Where are your parents?"
Pets blinked at him, unable to speak due to his kind action. "Uh..." she stuttered, staring at his face. He was standing so close to her and she had never been so close to other kids before and no other kid had been so nice to her.

"Pets!" Genie exclaimed, hurrying over to the girl with a plastic bag over her head.
The boy glanced over at Genie for a second, "Your name is Pets?" he asked and she slowly nodded. "Is that your mum?" he asked.
Before Pets could reply, Genie ran over to her before noticing the boy beside her.
"Genie-" Pets was cut off by the boy.
"Keep the jacket, my friends are calling me," he said hastily before running off to his friends as they ran out of the playground to find shelter.

Pets just stared at the boy as he ran off.
"Pets let's go home before it rains harder," Genie urged, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the park.

...

Pets lay in her bed that night. She stared up at the ceiling that was covered in glow-in-the-dark stars and thought about that boy. "I want a kind friend like that," she muttered as she looked at the dark blue jacket that was drying on her radiator. She closed her eyes and imagined him. She imagined his face that was full of the flowers of youth and those shiny brown eyes. She imagined his dark locks that were getting soaked in the rain. She imagined his whole body and with her eyes closed, she whispered, "I wonder what your name is..."

"My name is Jiro."

She gasped and quickly sat up to see the boy sitting at the end of her bed just how she imagined him to look like. Her eyes were widened in a mix of fear and surprise. "J-Jiro?" she repeated nervously, rubbing her eyes. The boy's form flickered like a projection as she rubbed her eyes, and when she opened her eyes again, the boy's form was faint. She stared hard at him then his form began to appear more solid and all the colour returned to his face.

"Hi Pets," he beamed at her.
"A-Are you... real?" Pets asked, curiously. She crawled over to the end of her bed and poked him. She felt as though she really could feel him under her touch.
"I'm real if you want me to be," he smiled at her.
"Can… we be friends?" she asked.
Jiro nodded, "Of course! I will always be by your side whenever you need me!"
Her eyes sparkled in excitement, "Promise?"

"Promise."