The boy threw his deflated ball to the ground and kicked it for good measure. Plopping himself down in the dirt he wiped his lip with his shirt and saw just how much blood had come out. Seeing it made him think back to the punches the boys had given him. He had been trying to play with them for months now, even offering to carry their stuff for them. Today they had said they would finally play with him if he could beat at least one of the boys up. He didn't like fighting and he tried to find another way but before he could even process the situation one of the boys had pushed him onto the dirt. Moments later the group of boys lifted themselves off of him and left him in the dirt. For good measure the oldest boy, about 11 years old, took Ho Dong's volleyball and took out his pocket knife and stabbed the ball for good measure before throwing back in his dirt covered face.

Ho Dong sat in the grass crying completely unaware of the girl that had decided to take a seat next to him. When he looked up to wipe his face again her hand stopped his. "Don't do that," the girl said. "You'll get it infected if you touch the cuts with your dirty hands. That's what my mom always says."

 

She quickly pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed some water from her water bottle on it. She started wiping his face as he sat silently staring at her focused expression. When she finished wiping him off she discarded the now ink and brown handkerchief into a trash bin and pulled out a small pack of band aids. "You carry those around too??" The boy hiccupped in amazement.

 

"Huh? Oh yeah, mom says I should have a few just in case. I got these today at the store with my friend. They had cute dogs on 'em. See?" She held up a light blue bandage with a miniature smiling dalmation on it. Ho Dong smiled as she put it on his head and another one on his cheek. "You're gonna have to go home and tell your mom to put some cream on your lip or it could get real nasty looking." When she finished up she dusted off her hands and knees before turning to leave.

 

"Wait!" The little boy called out. "Aren't you gonna ask why I was crying?"

 

The girl turned around with a confused expression. "Do you want me to ask?"

 

"Isn't that what people normally do?"

 

"I don't know. My mom always says to stay out of people's business. If they want to tell you something they will, but you should never ask them stuff they may not want to talk about with you." She puffed out her chest and raised her head in an attempt to demonstrate her mother's authority.

 

"Do you always do what your mom says?"

 

"Yup."

 

"Really?"

 

"Really."

 

"Why?"

 

The girls expression changed a bit and she frowned. "It's my business you shouldn't ask. Didn't you hear what I just said?"

 

"Oh... right. Sorry. Can I... can I tell you why I was crying?" He fidgeted on the floor and looked anywhere but at the girl. He didn't know why but he just wanted to tell her. He thought she could make his hurt go away like she did with the cuts on his face.

 

Her expression immediately brightened. "Really?? You really want to tell 'me'? You trust me?"

 

"Huh.. oh yeah. You seem... nice. Not like those other kids." He scowled as he scooted closer to the tree to make room for her to sit.

 

"I've been meaning to ask you about them? They don't really seem like your friends..."

 

"They're not... it's kind of the reason I was crying." Ho Dong went through the painful ordeal of reciting what had happened to him just a few moments prior at the park. When he was finished he felt like crying again but thought it best to not cry twice in front of a girl. The first time was merely an accident seeing as he didn't know she was there.

 

"If you don't mind my asking, why do you play with them then? They're so mean to you."

 

"They're the only other boys in the neighborhood that like to play sports. I don't have anyone else to play with and I love basketball, and soccer, and baseball, and-"

 

"I get it. You like sports." Her head was reeling from how quickly he was speaking. After some silence the two shifted awkwardly on the floor once again. It took a moment before she spoke. "You want to play with me?"

 

His head jolted up and he stared at her with the biggest saucer eyes could muster. "You can play sports??"

 

She kicked the dirt with her pink shoes. She absolutely could not play sports. She was the typical girl: loved playing with dolls, loved dressing up, and hated to get dirty like her 4 year old brother. Still, there was something about the sad boy that made her want to play with him. He wasn't weird like she thought. He was just... lonely. "No..." she began tentatively, "but you can teach me if you want. And then we can play one on one games and you wont need those big dummies."

 

He blinked at her several times before exploding in a fit of giggles. "I like you," He said before getting up sticking his hand out to help her. Once she got up he shook her hand happily and said "I'm Ho Dong by the way. Lee Ho Dong."

 

"I'm Sa Ra. By the way, I like you too." They stood there hand in hand giggling at each other.

And that was the first time they said "I like you."

 

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**** in case you didn't know Ho Dong was his real name before he changed it to Ho Won ****