Jordan liked arriving at school early.
He liked having time to talk with his friends before the first bell.
One Monday morning, he noticed something different.
A new boy was sitting alone near the classroom window.
His name was Liam.
Liam had joined the class the week before, but he rarely spoke to anyone.
“Want to play basketball with us at lunch?” Jordan asked.
Liam looked down at his desk.
“No, thanks.”
Jordan shrugged.
“Okay.”
The next day, Jordan asked again.
Liam gave the same answer.
By Wednesday, Jordan stopped asking.
“He never wants to do anything,” Jordan told Sienna.
Sienna looked over at Liam.
“Maybe he has a reason.”
“Or maybe he just doesn’t like us,” Jordan said.
At lunchtime, something happened.
Their teacher, Ms. Parker, asked everyone to work in pairs on a science project.
Jordan hoped to work with Sienna.
Instead, Ms. Parker said, “Jordan, you and Liam can work together.”
Jordan tried not to look disappointed.
They sat at a table with paper, pencils, and a box of supplies.
Their job was to build a small bridge from wooden sticks.
Jordan immediately began making a plan.
“We should make it like this,” he said. “You can hold these pieces.”
Liam stayed quiet.
“Can you pass me the glue?” Jordan asked.
Liam reached for it, but his hand shook a little.
The bottle fell.
Clack!
It rolled under the table.
Jordan sighed.
“You have to be more careful.”
Liam quickly picked it up.
“Sorry.”
For the rest of the lesson, Liam barely said a word.
When school ended, Jordan waited near the front entrance for his mother.
He saw Liam standing nearby.
But Liam was not waiting for a car.
A younger girl ran toward him.
“Liam!”
She was carrying a backpack almost as big as she was.
Liam smiled for the first time that Jordan had seen.
“Hey, Sophie.”
He took her backpack.
Then he helped her put on her jacket.
A woman hurried toward them a few minutes later.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said.
“It’s okay, Mom,” Liam replied.
Jordan could hear them talking as they walked away.
Their mother had started a new job.
Liam had been picking Sophie up from the younger children’s building every day.
Then Jordan heard something else.
“Do we have to move again?” Sophie asked.
Their mother became quiet.
“I hope not,” she said.
Jordan watched them leave.
Move again?
He had never thought about why Liam was new to the school.
The next morning, Ms. Parker brought a small box of muffins for the class.
“The bakery gave us a few extras,” she said.
Jordan picked one.
“This smells delicious.”
He sat down beside Liam.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Jordan asked, “Have you moved schools a lot?”
Liam looked surprised.
“Three times in two years.”
“That sounds hard.”
Liam nodded.
“Every time I make friends, we leave again.”
Jordan suddenly understood why Liam did not want to join basketball.
Maybe Liam was not unfriendly.
Maybe he was tired of meeting people and then saying goodbye.
Jordan thought about how he would feel if he had to leave Sienna, his team, his room, and his school.
He would probably be quiet too.
Maybe even angry.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Jordan said.
“For what?”
“For getting annoyed about the glue.”
Liam gave a small smile.
“It’s okay.”
Jordan took a bite of his muffin.
“We still need to finish our bridge.”
Liam looked at him.
“I have an idea for it.”
“Really?”
Liam pulled out a piece of paper.
He had drawn a new design at home.
Jordan studied it.
“That might actually work better than mine.”
At lunch, Jordan carried the basketball outside.
He did not ask Liam to play right away.
Instead, he sat beside him on a bench.
“My friends and I are playing,” Jordan said. “You can watch if you want.”
Liam watched the game for a few minutes.
Then the ball rolled toward him.
He stopped it with his foot.
Jordan smiled.
“You sure you don’t want to try?”
Liam picked up the ball.
“Maybe just one game.”
One game became two.
By the end of lunch, Liam was laughing with the others.
Jordan realized something important.
Nothing about Liam had changed that day.
Jordan was the one who had changed.
He had stopped guessing what Liam was like.
Instead, he had tried to understand what life might feel like from Liam’s side.
