Glue

"Craftscraftscraftscraftscraftscraftscrafts CRAFTS!"
"Yes, Chris, it's time for crafts."
"I wanna make a picture!" Chris said, jumping up and down.
"Calm down and take a seat, please," the teacher said. "I'll get you some markers and paper."
Chris leaned over to the little boy sitting beside him.
"I'm going to make a picture," he excitedly whispered.
The little boy just gave Chris a shy smile.
He looked down at the table and adjusted his green cap.
The table was covered with various crafty items.
Scissors, paper, markers, crayons, popsicle sticks-
"Glue!" some kid called out. "Jonny, can you hand me the glue?"
The boy with the cap looked up at the mention of his name.
He grabbed the glue off the table and handed it to the other kid.
"Thanks!"
Jonny looked back at Chris.
Chris was holding a black marker firmly in his left hand and scribbling all over the paper.
Jonny was a little jealous.
He wished he could have been as artistically gifted as Chris.
Or anyone else in the room for that matter.


"Jonny?"
The teacher knelt down beside Jonny. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," Jonny sadly replied.
"You don't want to draw like Chris?"
Jonny shook his head.
"I'm not a good draw-er," he said.
The teacher frowned and looked around the room.
She spotted another boy standing by an easel.
"Do you want to paint like Will?" she asked.
Jonny shook his head again.
"I always make a mess with paint," he said.
The teacher deepened her frown and pointed to two girls.
The girls were digging into a tub of beads.
"You could make bracelets with Dianna and Katie," she suggested.
"That's for girls," Jonny replied, crinkling his nose.
"You could..."
The teacher's eyes were frozen on a boy in the corner.
It was the boy who asked Jonny for the glue.
"What is that boy doing?" she said to herself. "Guy!"
Guy turned around, holding a bottle of glue in one hand and several popsicle sticks in the other.
"Yeah?" he innocently replied.
"What are you doing?" she asked him.
Guy stepped over to the side, revealing a giant popsicle stick building.
It was at least four stories tall and intricately built.
The teacher just stared in amazement.
She turned back to Jonny and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to draw?"
Jonny looked at Chris again.
Chris was still drawing with the black marker.
"I don't want to draw."
"Well, we have to find something for you to do..."
The teacher reached across the table and grabbed a bag of something multicolored.
"How about you make something with these pipe cleaners?"
Not wanting to disappoint her, Jonny agreed.
"OK," he quietly replied.


Jonny took out a few pipe cleaners and began to bend them into different shapes.
He worked on it for a few minutes until the teacher came over again.
"How are you boys doing?" she kindly asked.
"Done!" Chris shouted, throwing the marker onto the table.
"Yeah," Jonny agreed.
He set his work down gently on the table.
Chris stared at it and gasped in awe.
"Jonny, is that a guitar?" Chris asked with wide eyes.
Jonny nodded.
"It looks like a box with a stick," another kid snobbishly said.
Chris whipped his head up and snapped, "It's a beautiful guitar!" Then he turned to Jonny and said, "I got your back."
"Thanks," Jonny smiled.
"Miss Anna, wanna see my drawing?" Chris asked the teacher.
"Sure," she said, kneeling down to see.
Chris proudly held out to paper.
Two stick figures were in the middle of the page.
One had lots of curly hair, and the other was wearing a hat.
Everything was drawn in black marker, except for the hat that was colored in green.
"Is that you and Jonny?" the teacher asked.
"Uh huh," Chris chirped, "he's my best friend. One day we're gonna get married."
"Are you?" she asked with a small laugh.
"Yeah, 'cause that's what best friends do." Chris smiled widely and turned to Jonny. "Right, Jonny?"
"Yeah," Jonny replied.
"Um, boys don't get married," a girl across the room said.
Chris turned to see who it was.
It was Katie.
"Katie, shut up!" Chris yelled. "Jonny and I are getting married, OK?"
"Chris, don't tell Katie to shut up. Be polite," the teacher said.
Chris lowered his head and quietly replied, "Sorry, Miss Anna."
"I think you should apologize to Katie," she told him.
"Sorry, Katie," Chris mumbled.
"Katie is right, though," she said, "boys don't usually get married to other boys. Boys get married to girls."
Chris looked up at her with big sad eyes.
"But I want to get married to Jonny," he said.
"Well, you're a little young yet, anyway," the teacher said. "You won't be getting married anytime soon."
"Especially not to any girl... especially not Katie," Chris said with disgust.
"What's wrong with Katie?" the teacher asked.
"She's always mean to me!" Chris replied.
"Ah, that's because she likes you," she quietly said.
Chris's eyes flew open.
"She likes me??" he incredulously repeated.
"Sometimes little boys and little girls tease each other when they like each other," the teacher explained.
Chris turned to Jonny and frowned. "Sorry, Jonny, I guess we can't get married. I would never tease you."
"Oh, OK," Jonny replied.
"Do I have to get married to Katie?" Chris asked the teacher.
"No, you don't," the teacher answered.
"Good," Chris breathed in relief, "Because I think Dianna is much cuter."
Chris looked across the table at Dianna, who was staring at him in shock.
Her cheeks were as red as a tomato.
"I'm sorry, Chris," Dianna began, "but I don't like you like that. You're a nice boy, but... but no one compares to Guy."
Dianna batted her long lashes in the direction of the boy with the glue.
"He's so handsome," she said, dreamily sighing.
Chris looked at Katie.
Katie smiled back at him and girlishly flipped her dark hair to the side.
Chris thought for a few moments, then turned back to Jonny.
"Jonny, I changed my mind," he said. "From now on, I will tease you all the time."
"You will?" Jonny asked, rather unsure of what to make of this information.
"Yes," Chris answered, "like, your hat is really ugly, Jonny."
Chris stared blankly for a few moments, then started to giggle.
Jonny smiled back, and Chris quickly planted a small kiss on Jonny's cheek.
"OK," the teacher said, "I think it's time to get back to class."