A Friendship Re-Earned
School started in September. Yusuf was in Esme's year, but in a different class. They saw each other at break and at lunch.
The first complication was Hanna and Liv. Esme introduced Yusuf to them at lunchtime on the first day. The four of them sat on the bench under the old oak.
It was not, the first day, very smooth. Hanna was friendly but a little reserved. Liv was friendly and quizzed Yusuf about Toronto, which was kind, but it underlined that Yusuf was the new-old kid and not part of the existing group.
Esme felt a small, awkward tug. Two parts of her life were being asked to fit together. Each part, on its own, was easy. Together, they were a puzzle.
She did not solve it on day one. She did not need to.
She did what she had learned to do over a hard year: she just kept showing up. With all of them. Some days she sat with Hanna and Liv. Some days she sat with Yusuf. Sometimes all four of them.
Yusuf, on his side, was making his own new friends — Marek and Pim, mostly, in his class. He did not need Esme to be his only person. That was a relief for both of them.
By Christmas, the friendship between Esme and Yusuf had a new shape. They were not best friends in the way they had been at eight. They were, as Yusuf had said in July, *old friends.* Old friends who were now also new friends. Some shared history. Some new ground being walked together.
By Easter, Hanna and Liv