#bat bats

The boys stood around the girl as she lay in the mulch and dirt. Laughter rang throughout her ears. She looked at the dirty, red popsicle in front of her, then up at the cackling boys. When she looked back at the popsicle ants were beginning to crawl to it. Tear stung her eyes and her lip quivered. She couldn't eat it now... She choked out a sob and the tears fell down her cheeks.

“What, you're crying now, Kalie?” one of the boys taunted, “You're a cry baby! Cry baby!” The rest of the boys laughed even more. They began to chant the new nickname. “Cry baby! Cry baby!” That made the little girl cry even more. She got up and ran, the howling of the bullies fading into the distance.

Kalie ran around the corner so the playground was no longer in sight. She sat on the steps and cried. Today was Free Popsicle Day, when during recess you got to have a popsicle. She had been looking forward to this day, and now... She sniffled and tried wiping her face, but she was still sobbing and the tears wouldn't stop. Maybe she really was a cry baby...

“Here.” Kalie jumped and lowered her hands from her eyes. In front of her knelt a boy. She recognized him from her class, but she didn't talk to him much. A popsicle hung out of his mouth as his drowsy eyes stared at her. He was holding out a wrapped popsicle. The girl blinked at him for a moment.

“Oh... Th-thanks,” she said, taking the popsicle from him. She stared down at it and sniffled. Her tears had stopped. She wiped her wet cheeks with the palm of her hand.

“It's gonna melt if you don't hurry and eat it,” the boy mumbled, frowning at the popsicle in her hand. He took his own out of his mouth and licked at it.

“I-I know that!” Kalie quickly opened the wrapper to reveal the blue popsicle. Her eyes widened. Blue was her favorite! She looked at the boy, who was still looking at her popsicle. “How did you get two?” she asked. He raised a brow.

“Hm~? What do you mean?” he said.

“Two popsicles. I thought we could only have one,” she said, frowning with confusion. The boy tilted his head to the side.

“I just asked for it.” he stated.

“Asked? But...” Kalie looked back down at the popsicle in her hand, “But it's Free /Popsicle/ Day. Not /popsicles/.” The boy shrugged and pointed to his own popsicle.

“This is my third one,” he said before giving it another lick. The girl gasped. Third one?! You could have three?! He noticed her shock and smiled. “Eeeh~? What's with that face?”

“I didn't know we could have that many...” Kalie said, embarrassed now. She licked her popsicle. “Why did… you get this for me?” she asked. He looked down at his popsicle.

“Mmm... Because you dropped yours,” he said, giving his another lick, “This is such a rare day. It'd be a shame if you didn't get to have one.” He frowned a little, then looked up and eyed the girl's face. He reached out and wiped a wet spot on her cheek that she had missed earlier. As his hand brushed against her, her cheeks turned pink.

“Um, well... Thank you... Mura-.....Muraaa-...” Kalie scrunched her face up. What was his name? It was something long, “Murabubla...bla...” The boy's eyebrows furrowed and he pouted out his bottom lip.

“Murasakibara Atsushi,” he stated, not sounding very pleased.

“Murakasa-... That's too long! I can't remember that!” she said. She gave him a stern look as she looked him over. He raised a brow. “I'm gonna call you Murakun,” she declared, finally taking another lick at her popsicle. It was beginning to melt and she hurried to lick the drips before they reached her hand. Murasakibara blinked at her, tilting his head.

“Hmm~?... 'Murakun'?” he said thoughtfully, “... I guess that's a pretty cute name. I like it.” He smiled.

“Good, I'm glad!” Kalie said, smiling back.

“Then I'll call you Kay-chin,” he said. The girl blinked. Kay-chin?

“That's kinda weird, but okay,” she said.

“Eeeh? You think it's weird? I think it sounds cute,” he said. The girl tilted her head in thought.

“Mmm... Yeah, I guess it's cute,” she said, lapping at her melting popsicle again. Murasakibara was just finishing his. He stood up. Kalie looked up at him. He was taller than most of the boys. Not by too much, but he was definitely tall for his age.

“I'm gonna get another popsicle,” he said, “You wanna come with me?” He held out his hand for her. She looked down at it, then noticed something else about him. He had a tubby belly. Her face lit up.

“You have a belly!” she giggled, poking it. He jumped a bit. A light blush spread across his cheeks. He put his hand on his stomach to try and shield it from her.

“Y-yeah, so?” he mumbled.