Autumn leaves prompt

And there it was, Bryant Intermediate School. Terri regarded the building with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. She was a seventh grader now, almost a teenager, but this building was bigger than her old elementary school. Easier to get lost in. What if she couldn't find her classes? But, no, she remembered now, she just had to go in the far door and home room would be right there on the left. She was really looking forward to learning all the new stuff that came with a new school ??? and especially to leaving the bullies of sixth grade behind. Those kids all lived on the other side of the dividing line, and would be attending the other intermediate school in the district. She was so glad to be rid of them, so glad to start somewhere new, where she would be Terri now, and never Theresa again. It was going to be a great year.

It was still technically summer, one of the last days of August, but some of the trees surrounding the school had already started to lose their leaves. Most of those on the sidewalk were yellow, some even still greenish, but there were a few brown ones here and there. Terri saw one particularly crisp looking one, and skipped a little to the side to step on it, relishing the crunch. She even ground her foot into the pavement to feel it crumble even more beneath her shoe. The satisfaction made her look around for more.

Then something plowed into her from behind with such force that Terri lost her balance and fell forwards, landing hard on her hands and knees. Three boys swished by, turning to laugh and congratulate each other for knocking her down. Glaring after them, Terri wondered what it was about her that made people do that. There must be something that practically invited people to go out of their way to torment her, something that made her stick out like a crisp brown leaf among the limp yellow ones. Pushing up from the pavement, she brushed the pieces of foliage from her palms and pants. She wished she could stomp on those boys and grind them into the ground, instead of being the one who got stomped. But they were clearly older, taller, and stronger than she was, so no chance there. In fact, the one who'd rammed her was so big and broad, his blond hair so shaggy looking, that he reminded her of her aunt's St. Bernard. Bear wasn't quite as huge as a real grizzly, but he could still terrify her simply by lifting his head and looking in her direction.

Maybe it wasn't going to be such a great year, after all.