He shoved a paper bag to the sniffling Red. It grazed her arm and it felt warm to the touch.
"Your favorite, Didi."
"Peace offering." He added then tugged at the paper bag – an indication for her to take it.
The aroma seeping through the paper bag lured her to it. "Hmmm…" She smiled amidst the still wet tears on her puffed cheeks. "Look at my mouth. It's starting to drool over. Can't wait to taste one!"
She took the paper bag, got seated again, and landed it on her lap. She had successfully kept her precious letter safe inside her bag in a swift motion out of Andrew's notice.
Now more relaxed, she tapped the top surface of the wooden bench beside her, inviting Andrew to sit next to her. He occupied that seat in no time. He also handed a clean checkered blue handkerchief to her. "Dry your tears, Didi."
"That's sweet of you, Duru. Thanks." The corners of her lips stretched upward some more. She happily received the hanky from him and wiped her face with it. "Can I take my hair tie back now?"
"No. You said I can keep it. In exchange, keep my hanky."
"Tsk."
"Are you crying because of what I did at school today? I'm sorry." He sounded so repentant as if he was caught doing a severe, unforgivable sin. Unlike her smiling one, his face drooped with genuine sadness. He sighed.
"Why act like that if you're going to be like this now? So not cool, Duru. Totally not cool." She placed the warm bread against her cheek. "Ahh, so warm. This is the best." She remarked before taking a generous bite from it. "So tasty. You really know what I like best."
"Of course."
Andrew dug his hand into the paper bag and also took a piece of bread.
They ate in silence and in contentment. All the absurdities that happened that afternoon were temporarily forgotten.
Honestly, she did not truly hate Andrew to the bones. She's just a bit irritated by his actions. Well, maybe more than just a bit.
But as other people say, hate the deed, not the person.
Andrew had been a dear, good, old friend to her and her Nana.
She met her ten years ago when his family first moved to East Sechoia County. They bought the then-vacant slot by the corner and established a family-run bakery there.
When she was seven, Red very seldom left the house because whenever she did, she would every single time return home crying from being picked on by the kids.
Well, anyone who saw her would pick on her. The kids would tease her and laugh at her and call her unpleasant names like "mutant" or "bleach" and the adults would glare at her with contempt. Maybe they thought that she's a problem child.
But when Andrew Steinfield first saw her, his reaction was so different.
Little Red and Nana were on their way to the church one Sunday morning - an unpleasant but inevitable trip - when they noticed new neighbors unloading boxes and furniture from a van a few houses away on the corner lot that had been vacant for months.
The little boy from that family also noticed them.
"Mom! Mom!" The voice of seven-year-old Andrew went electrifyingly ecstatic. "I want to have my hair like hers, too!" His paw-like hand tugged at the hem of his mother's blouse while she was busily checking the boxes at the back of their van's compartment.
"Andrew Steinfield! Can't you see we're busy? Go play with her if you want. Make friends." His mom, Mrs. Becca Steinfield reprimanded and shooed him out of the way.
He only shrugged off good-naturedly and like an obedient kid, sauntered towards little Meredith who was so timidly trapped between her Nana and the front door of their building where their rented house was on the upper floor. If Nana wasn't holding her plump hand so firmly back then, she would have run at great speeds up the stairs and back into her bedroom.
Nana held her in place. "We have new neighbors, Meredith. Let's greet them." She had said brightly.
"Hi!" Little Andrew extended his cute chubby hand for a handshake, his face beaming innocently. "I like your hair. I like you too. You seem like a good kid. Can we be friends? We're neighbors now."
Little Meredith looked at Nana first, who approved of the boy, before she nodded her head.
Of all the people that she met, he was the first one who told her to her face that he likes her and her unique trait.
Afterward, Andrew would visit her and play with her inside their house.
She was homeschooled at the time so he supplied her with wonderful stories of his adventures in school.
Eventually, she got envious of him and talked to Nana to get herself enrolled at Andrew's school too. Oh, how it had made Nana happy!
However, not long after, she went home crying again. Both Nana and Andrew were alarmed.
"The other children were teasing me. They were calling me 'Blue' because of my hair."
"Don't get affected by them. Shouldn't you get used to it by now?" He commented tenderly while wiping his own chubby paws against her tear-stricken face.
"I know… I will try." She retorted glumly, sniffling.
After some time, Andrew heard some girls call her 'Red'. When he asked her about it at home, she explained with a warm smile. "One of the girls defended me against those who teased me, that my nickname should be 'Red' and not 'Blue'. It's a response to the teasing, but after that, miraculously no one calls me 'Blue' anymore. I know it's silly and shallow, but it feels good."
Contrary to her sentiment, the boy felt a bit sad about it.
One time, while they were playing, Andrew told her, "You know you have a beautiful name, Meredith."
"Nana said my father named me."
"Then, he chose well. Your name means 'Great Lord'. Maybe your father has high hopes for you. He wishes you well."
"Hmm…" She couldn't think of anything appropriate to reply to him. In her mind, rather than giving her a beautiful name, she wished more than anything else for him to just live with her and Nana if he was still alive and well somewhere.
"But can I call you 'Didi'? It's a great name too. It means 'warrior of the people'." Andrew requested randomly.
"Hmm… Yeah, but I don't think it suits me… I get scared easily. I'm not a warrior and people hate me."
"That's all in your head, Didi. I'll call you that, okay? And think of the meaning. I hope it will give you courage."
"Alright. Then, I will call you Duru."
"Does it have any significant meaning?"
"Hmmm… Maybe?" She giggled timidly. The little boy laughed with her, at their silliness.
"Don't let other people call you Didi and I will not let other people call me Duru. It's between you and me only, okay?"
"Hmm, okay."
Ever since that day, they have been calling each other special nicknames, and it was exclusively between them.
And in her room, aside from the box of treasures she kept under her bed where she collects all her precious things, sat another box labeled D&D, Didi & Duru which contained mementos of all their good things together, like all their birthday presents and photos together over the years, and tickets to amusement parks and theaters they went to, to name a few.
And for sure, while her father's mysterious letter would go to her box of treasures, the checkered blue handkerchief Andrew gifted her that night would go straight to the D&D box.