Seeds of Hate Read Online Free

were playing, some were coloring, most seemed to know each other.
    Everyone seemed to have someone. My desk mate hadn't arrived yet. I repeated his name over and over again. The bell rang just as he arrived.
    "Nathan, come in and sit down quick. We're going to start."
    He ran straight toward his seat and sat down. He threw his bag and jacket on the floor and then looked up waiting for Mrs. Milton to begin.
    I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He seemed nice. I hoped we'd be friends.
    Just as Mrs. Milton began I felt a tugging on my left sleeve.
    "Jav-ee-er. I'm Nathan," he whispered, pronouncing the j in my name.
    "It's Ha-vee-air, the j is pronounced like an h," I replied.
    "Why?" he asked.
    "I don't know," I replied.
    Nathan looked confused.
    "You can just call me Ha-vee, if that's easier," I said.
    "Ha-vee. Okay. Do you want some sour gummy worms? I stole them from the pantry before I left."
    Nathan opened up his hand and inside sat several colorful worms. "They're not real, are they?" I asked.
    "No, silly. They're candy! You've never had a gummy worm before?" I shook my head no in response. "Well, try one. You'll like it."
    He placed one in my hand and then pushed it toward me. "Eat," he said and gestured to place it in my mouth. So I did.
    At first it was very sour and then it was sweet and then back to sour.
    "It's good, right?" he asked.
    "Mmmhmm," I replied, nodding my head in agreement.
    Nathan shoved the remainder of his stash inside his desk and then turned his attention to Mrs. Milton. I did the same.
    "Okay, class. Let's take out our crayons and begin with coloring our 'Welcome to Kindergarten' activity sheet," said Mrs. Milton as she passed around a stack of papers with images printed on them.
    I watched the rest of the class as they pulled out boxes of crayons from their desks and backpacks. I placed my hand in my desk and felt around. It was empty.
    "Nathan, where do we get the crayons?" I asked.
    "You're supposed to bring your own. Did your mom forget?"
    I looked in my bag. All I had was my jacket and my lunch. "Yeah, I guess so," I replied.
    "That's okay, you can use mine." Nathan poured out several crayons onto my desk and started coloring. Every twenty minutes or so he would hand me another gummy worm. He had brought a lot to school. The more I ate, the more I liked them.
    We did a lot of other activities that day. I didn't have any of the supplies, but Nathan let me borrow everything. He sat with me on the rug during lunch and gave me his extra Yoo-Hoo. I'd never had Yoo-Hoo. It tasted how I imagined chocolate milk would taste. I'd never had that either.
    During the last hour of class, a kid who sat across from us came over.
    "Hey Nate, can I have a gummy worm?"
    Nathan looked up at him and then back at me. "I don't have any, Mikey," he replied.
    "Liar. I saw you give some to him," said Mikey, pointing at me.
    Nathan shrugged and went back to tracing the alphabet.
    "I'm sorry I ate them all," I replied.
    Nathan laughed. "I gave them to you. Mikey's a ding dong anyway. He's always wanting something from me," he said.
    "Okay," I replied and we both went back to our tracing.
    Parents began to peek inside the door, and some kids started putting their things away. I hoped my mom was here.
    "Thank you so much for a wonderful first day, class," said Mrs. Milton. The bell cut her off as students began to squirm in their seats. "See you all tomorrow!" She smiled and dismissed us to our parents.
    I handed Nathan his pencil and the remaining crayons. My mom walked inside just as I finished gathering my paper. My cheeks lifted, but I refrained from jumping up and screaming—I hadn't seen anyone else do it.
    Nathan and I both stood and walked toward our parents. He put out his hand in front of me and said, "Last one."
    I looked down and picked up a yellow and green sour gummy. He had saved it.
    "Thank you, Nate," I replied.
    Nathan put his arm around me and pulled me close. "Call me Nathan. Everyone else