The Guadalupe River creek ran low that summer, gurgling against Aurelia's ankles. The girl found the cool water mildly comforting. Light filtered through the arroyo willows overhead, dappling her white-and-blue striped t-shirt and sweatpants. The Japanese word for this, komorebi, encapsulated her malaise in a way an English translation could not.
At that moment, Aurelia had been wishing her t-shirt had thin vertical stripes instead of thick horizontal bars. She was conscious of the fact she had overreacted to Colby's teasing and should not have left the party without a word, but part of her hoped he would've run after her. Aurelia had requested a hamburger and two beef franks from Mr. Vandenberg. There was nothing wrong with wanting both, she reasoned, since there was plenty of food. It was Colby, whose birthday party she had been attending, who always made her feel ashamed of being hungry.
"Would you look at all those calories," he had remarked, watching her double-fist ketchup and mustard onto her hamburger and hot dogs respectively. "I reckon you could lay off the buns though."
That simple comment had knocked all the wind out of her as she waddled away, though not quickly. For how thick her legs were, they trundled like the rusty tin man unable to bend at the knees. Aurelia could not run properly. Not for the 100-yard dash during P.E. Not after a base kick in kickball. Not even if a raging ax-murderer was chasing her. And for that, she was reliably picked last in team sports.
But the voice that called Aurelia through the din of cicadas knew where she'd be. Bakari, the boy who had been her friend for as long as she could remember, crunched through the undergrowth and found her in the creek.
"You should come back to the party," Bakari said. "Colby's about to open his presents. Everyone's wondering where you are."
"Colby doesn't want me there," Aurelia said. "He thinks I'm... I'm..."
"There's no question he thinks you're fat," Bakari said coolly, "but I know he wants you there when he opens your present."
"How would you know? Bet he just wants another reason to tease me."
Bakari kicked off his Teva sandals and tiptoed into the creek, careful not to get his pants sleeves wet. He placed a hand on her shoulder, staring meaningfully at her with his soft brown eyes.  
 "Remember how excited you were to be invited? And you splurged for his present, so I know you don't want to miss his reaction."
Aurelia blinked back the tears knowing her friend was right. She allowed Bakari to pull her out of the creek and back toward the picnic tables where Colby and their classmates were gathered.
Before school let out last month, they had been silently reading in Mrs. Gupta's class when Colby got up and began ostensibly handing out invitations to all the boys while the girls looked on, scandalized to not be included. Aurelia had been passed over as well. She had always known she was a nobody until Colby sought her out on the last day of school to hand her a gold-embossed envelope sealed with the fleur-de-lis of his family crest. Paralyzed, she couldn't fathom why she would be invited to his birthday party except that their parents knew each other, and Mr. Vandenberg must have insisted that she be invited.
"Finally," Colby said as Aurelia and Bakari took their seats among the cornucopia of presents. "You were gone so long I was about to come looking for you."
"Really?" Aurelia asked hopefully.
"No, but I'm still glad you're here."
One by one, Colby opened the dozen presents lying on the table. They were typical of what an eleven-year-old boy would want: gadgets, peripherals for his PC, gift certificates, and trading cards. Bakari had given him a San Francisco Giants cap which Colby immediately placed on the crown of his dirty-blonde hair.
When he reached the large box from Aurelia, he pumped his forearms a few times to weigh it.
"It's nicely wrapped. Do I sense a woman's touch?" he said coyly.
It was Bakari's mom who had meticulously wrapped the present since Aurelia didn't know how, and she felt her heart race as Colby unwrapped it with dab hands, treating the paper like gold. She watched intently as the edges of his lips curled into a grin.
"A chess set!" he exclaimed. "Thanks, Aurelia. I was the ten-and-under junior chess champion back in Melbourne."
Aurelia felt dizzy that Colby had been able to identify her gift so easily. The chess set with its polished wooden pieces had appealed to her sense of fun, which seemed a good enough reason to give Colby one in real life. For someone so popular, he had only immigrated from Australia last January and didn't have a dedicated friend group yet. Chess had seemed a good excuse to meet him outside of school.
"I just figured," Aurelia stammered, "maybe you'd like to play sometime. With me and Bakari, I mean."
"That sounds lovely. I'll have my people contact your people."
Aurelia snuck a peek at Colby's hazel eyes to gauge his sincerity. They seemed to twinkle the more he smiled. Standing up, he reached across the table to shake her hand.
"And you don't have to be shy anymore," he said. "I'd love to be friends."