Max and I met in first grade. Even back then I was a devout worshiper of the Completely Avoid People God. My family and I had just gone through a move during the summer. Max had as well, and even though he’d been a socialite back then, too, he hadn’t made a friend yet.

I hated change. To make matters worse, when we’d moved we’d had to leave behind my only friend, my dog. My parents promised that as soon as we found a real house rather than the apartment we were in, we’d send for her, and eventually we would. But that didn’t help me on the first day of school.

I had avoided talking to any of the other kids, even when they tried to be friendly, and during recess I’d found a nice tree to sit behind and cry, feeling miserable. I missed my dog, I hated my new school, and I wanted to go back home. To my real house, the one we’d just finished selling to move. Suddenly there was a boy standing beside me, missing his two front teeth but still smiling like mad.

“Hi, I’m Max, who are you?”