“I don’t know of too many one year olds that have pierced ears…” I replied with a chuckle.

“You’re not one, you look like your ten…” I heard a familiar voice say behind me. I blinked at Mom once and then turned around. Standing behind me was Abby Jenkins. Abby was the daughter of one of mom’s coworkers, and someone that I knew in passing from school. “Good evening, Mrs. Fisher. How are you?” I gave Abby a quick look up and down. She had a blue tee shirt that read ‘Fun at the beach’ and a pair of jeans on. Her long strawberry blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail with a white ribbon.

“Hi Abby.” I said, Now it was Abby’s turn to blink. She hadn’t figured out who I was yet, and me speaking to her didn’t give her any ideas as to who I was. She raised her eyebrows.

“Do I know you?” She asked. Rachel giggled.

“Maybe.” I said quietly. “I’m Emma.” Abby continued to look at me, still not sure of who I was.

“Abby, you’ve met Emma, you just don’t remember her. How is your summer going?” Mom asked. Abby’s gaze shifted from me to Mom.

“It’s going well, we are leaving for the Florida Keys tomorrow. Are you sure that I’ve met Emma?” I glanced back at mom, hoping that she would come to some explanation as to who Emma was.

“Yes, I’m as sure of it as the nose on my face.” Mom said with a chuckle. I brushed a few strands of my blonde hair back out of my face. Mom had left a few strands on each side of my face loose so that they would frame my face. It was something that almost all of the girls that were in my class did with their hair, and something that I thought would be annoying. I hardly noticed, unless I moved my head in such a way that the hair fell into my eyes. Abby had moved her right hand to her chin as she thought about where she might know this little girl named Emma from. She looked at me, and then at Rachel, and then back to me and I saw a look of realization pass over her face, her sparkling green eyes widened for a second and then she smiled.

“Emma’s not a girl…” She said, a little louder than I would have liked. Shane turned his head, and realized who was sitting at the next table. He had been so engrossed in quietly picking on his six year old sister that he simply hadn’t paid attention to what was going on around him. His gaze shifted from Rachel to Lizzy, to Abby, and finally he stopped on me. He gave me a good look up and down, and then he smiled. It wasn’t a smile that I wanted to see. Mom’s eyes went from me to Shane, and back to me. She raised an eyebrow; she knew of the problems that Shane had caused for me at school.

“If Emma’s not a girl, then who is it, Abby?” he said jeeringly. He looked me up and down again, like I was a piece of meat or something.

“I’m not sure. I know that Mrs. Fisher has a son, but I don’t see him anywhere around here…” Abby let the thought trail off. I’m dead meat now. I thought. I was pretty sure that Abby knew who was standing in front of her. It was at that second that Shane figured out who I was.

“That’s because Emma is Justin.” Shane said loudly. Now several tables turned to look at this rather loud boy. I felt my cheeks turn red and then my eyes started to water. I felt a tear slip out. “Oh look the little sissy is crying. Just wait until I tell everyone I know that Justin Fisher was wearing his little sister’s dress when he went out to eat.” I ran out of the restaurant. I don’t know where I was planning on going, but I know that I ended up on the ground next to mom’s van. I was on my knees, when I felt a pair of arms around me. I knew they weren’t Rachel’s, moms, Lizzy’s, or Rebecca’s. I looked up, expecting to see Shane Barker, but I saw the very concerned face of Abby Jenkins. I heard the doors on the van click and saw the lights flash out of the corner of my eye, and the door in front of me slid open. Abby helped me up and into the van and she shut the door, locking it after it had closed. I sat in one of the captains chairs, with Abby’s arms still around me. Abby’s left hand was stroking my hair and she was gently rocking me. A few seconds later I heard the doors on the van click again and watched as Mom and Rachel came out, followed by Akira as well as a man in a tie. I sat up and looked at Abby in the light that filtered in from outside the van. She too had tears flowing down her face, almost as if she were sorry for me or something.

“Why did you come after me?” I asked as Mom opened the door on the van. She looked at me and Abby and realized that Abby had the situation under control.

“Because I’ve been in your shoes...” Was Abby’s simple, but profound statement.