Chapter
1
On the first day of school, Olive Regle didn’t mind that her older brother, Ryan, walked ten steps ahead of her because he was too cool to walk next to his little sister. Last year it bothered her, but not this year. This year, she had someone to walk with and someone to keep her company: His name was Forest.
Forest dropped into Olive’s life on a camping trip. He had grown up in the forest and had no family. From the first moment Olive met him, she felt an odd bond with him. Luckily her father saw kindness in the wild Forest and let him stay and live with them. That had been only a week ago, and it had been one crazy week. Olive had to teach Forest how to do everything from brush his teeth to use silverware. But now there was an even bigger challenge: school.
Olive liked the learning part of school, but she didn’t like feeling left out and invisible. The popular kids at school often made Olive feel like an outcast.
This year’s going to be different, she thought with confidence as she walked.
She figured that since Forest was so different, that he would be treated as an outcast, too. Then, she and Forest would stick together, and she’d never be lonely at school anymore. In fact, Olive thought it felt nice to be excited to go to school—for a change.
Olive looked over at Forest, who was wearing his backpack on the front of his body as if it were a frontpack.
They turned right at Blackstock Way and left at Pine Street. A large playground came into view. Olive smiled as she watched Forest’s eyes grow wide. Before this, his jungle gym was the forest itself, so this was a whole new thing to him.
“Come on, Forest,” said Olive, tugging him away. “We’ll come out here later for recess.”
“What’s ‘recess’?” asked Forest.
“It’s when we get to leave the classroom and run around on the playground,” explained Olive.
“Oh…” said Forest.
Beyond the playground were basketball hoops and a large field. Olive steered Forest away from the playground and toward a group of buildings to the left. They were all one story with a big number on each one of them, with brightly painted doors that opened to the outside. This year, Olive and Forest’s third-grade class was in Room 7. As the pair entered the room, the teacher spoke up.
“Please find your name on the correct desk and then have a seat,” said Mrs. Finn.
Olive was relieved to see that her desk and Forest’s desk were right next to each other. She took her seat and pointed to where Forest should sit. Around them, kids were either already sitting in their seats or standing near them and talking. For a split second, Olive felt a pang of loneliness. Then she remembered that she had Forest on her side and smiled as she looked over at him.
That’s when Josie Letay walked into the classroom, laughing loudly with her friends. Olive frowned and turned away. Josie Letay was the most popular girl in her class every single year. Even in kindergarten she was popular! Josie was noisy and funny, with lots of friends. Olive, on the other hand, had always been shy and quiet—and alone.
At that moment, Mrs. Finn approached Olive’s desk. Olive felt a little nervous, and looked down. “You must be Ryan Regle’s sister. He was in my class two years ago,” said Mrs. Finn in a stern voice.
“But I’m nothing like him,” Olive said quickly.
“That’s good,” said Mrs. Finn, her eyebrows arched up. “Let’s keep it that way.”
Olive looked over, about to say something to Forest, but he wasn’t at his desk. She scanned the room and found him by the class pet: a fat little fur ball of a hamster.
Well, of course he found the animal in here, thought Olive with a smile. Not only was Forest drawn to animals, he had the ability to communicate with them. It was amazing to see him chittering with squirrels or barking at her dog.
Olive was about to go and check out the hamster, too, when the bell rang. RIIIING!!!!
That’s when Olive realized she forgot to warn Forest about the bells! She could see Forest’s mass of hair flipping wildly as he looked around, trying to figure out the source of the ringing sound. Olive cringed as Forest leaped up on a desk and screeched at the top of his voice. All the other kids covered their ears.
“The bell just means to sit down in your chair,” Olive explained.
“Okay,” said Forest, climbing back down and sitting in his seat. “I’ll talk to Bell later?”
Olive opened her mouth to correct Forest’s plan of having a chat with the school bell when Mrs. Finn clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Welcome to the third grade,” she began. “I think it’s going to be a great year. First, I’d like to introduce a new student to our school. He’s had a very unusual upbringing. He grew up among the redwood trees. Would you please come up here, Forest?”
Uh-oh, thought Olive. What on earth is Forest going to say?
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