The next Monday in school,

just before the morning bell,

a wadded-up piece of paper flew through the air

and landed on my desk.

I knew exactly what that flying paper was.

I opened it up

and smoothed it out.

Sure enough, Nicholas had drawn me a picture.

But

it was a new kind of picture.

For the first time ever,

Nicholas had drawn himself

with me.

Just the two of us,

together on a stage,

in our bunny suits,

holding each other’s paws.

I stared at that picture for a long time.

My heart felt jumpy

and my face felt blush-y

as I looked at just the two of us,

together,

holding each other’s paws.

I couldn’t stop myself from thinking,

I might like that.

And suddenly, I felt very shy.

I could not turn

and look at Nicholas.

So this time, I thanked him

without turning.

He kicked the back of my chair,

not too hard,

like he always did.

Then I folded the picture neatly

and put it on top of the pile in my desk.

Like I always did.

But I already knew

that later,

I’d take that picture out

and put it in my backpack,

so I could carry it home with me

and do some more thinking

about Nicholas,

who’d drawn marshmallow Peeps for me

when I was sad.

And burped my solo for me

when I was scared.

And stood up for me,

twice,

when Ben was mean.

I knew, too,

that I’d sneak that picture into my backpack

when no one was looking.

Not even my best friend, Pearl.

Because

I wanted to keep that picture

and my thoughts about Nicholas

to myself.

At least for a while,

I wanted to keep a secret of my own.