She Fell For The Boy Next Door

The older boy shoved the small girl into the mud in the middle of the park. Wet dirt splattered her red pigtails and everywhere else. Her bottom lip trembled and she looked at the ground just as another boy, this one her age, ran over and pushed the seven-year-old onto the damp grass. He bent down and offered his small hand to the girl. She grabbed it, helping to pull herself up onto her feet. The boy kept hold of her hand and led her over to their mothers, talking on a park bench. The red haired girl’s mom sighed at the sight of her daughter, but smiled at the boy holding onto her hand. The boy’s mom laughed and ruffled her son’s hair.
“Annabelle, this is my son, Cale. He’s the ratbag I was telling you about” she said.
In the process of tidying her daughter, Annabelle smiled at the other woman and her son.
“Emily, this is Alice. She just turned five yesterday” she replied.
Emily’s fair eyebrows rose.
“So did Cale!” she said, surprised.
Annabelle lifted Alice onto her lap and wrapped her arms around her.
“Emily and Cale live next door to us now” she told her daughter.
Cale grinned at Alice and she shyly smiled back.
“Best friends” he said.
They were.