"Achoo!"

He sniffed and wondered if he was getting sick.  He glanced at his watch.  It was almost time.  He did not want to be late on his first day. 

He hurried his pace until he came by an alleyway where he caught sight of a group of teenagers huddled together.  He noticed that they were all dressed in the same school uniform as him.  He did not think much of the situation and continued to walk on.

Just as he did, a fight broke out amongst them.  He thought it was better to mind his own business until he realised what was going on.  One boy was surrounded by the group and seemed to be their target.  Despite the punches and kicks which connected with his body, the boy did not utter a sound.  It was only when the boy slumped to the ground did the group finally halted their attacks and left.

He quickly rushed over to check the boy on the ground.  He breathed a sigh of relief when the boy raised his head to look at him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, helping the boy up.

"Mind your own business," said the boy as he brushed him aside and walked off.

The school bell rang alerting students that class was about to start.  Moments after they settled down, the teacher stepped into the classroom with a new student beside him.  The new student was surprised when he recognised a familiar face from amongst the class.  Sitting in the back row of the classroom was the bullied boy he had seen earlier.

When they made eye contact, the bullied boy glanced away.  He seemed uninterested when the teacher introduced the new student.  Despite this, he found the new student seated at the empty desk beside him.

The new student did not miss the irritated look on the bullied boy's face when he took his seat.  Despite his efforts to befriend the boy who was now his classmate, the boy ignored him.  Perhaps the boy did not like him because he had witnessed what had happened earlier that morning.

When lunchtime came around and he was still sniffing and sneezing, the new boy decided that it was time to go to the nurse's office.  He could not afford to be sick when he had just started at his new school.  He had no idea where the nurse's office was but was too afraid to ask someone as most of the students seemed eager to rush to the cafeteria.

"You're wondering around like a lost soul," a voice remarked.  "Looking for something?"

He looked at the tall boy approaching him.  He recognised the tall boy as someone from his class.  "I'm looking for the nurse's office," he replied, thankful that someone was nice enough to help him.

The tall boy pointed down the hallway.  "Straight down and turn right."

"Thank you," he said.

"But don't get your hopes up," the tall boy added before continuing on his way. 

He watched as the tall boy disappeared down the hallway.  He could only wonder what the tall boy meant by those words.

Moments later, he found himself outside the nurse's office.  He knocked on the door and waited.  Silence.  He knocked again.  Still no answer.  Perhaps the nurse had stepped out to lunch.  When he tried to open the door, he found that it was not locked.  Perhaps he could wait inside.

He opened the door and stepped inside.  He immediately froze in surprise when he saw a little boy sitting on one of the beds, scribbling on a scrap book with his crayons.

When the boy heard the door open and footsteps approaching, his face beamed up with delight.  "Daddy!" he called out excitedly but his face fell when he did not recognise the person standing there.  "Not daddy."