Henry started at Bowie Elementary in October. On his first day, he stood by the classroom door and held his backpack straps tight. He did not know anyone.

Ms. Garza asked Jasmine to be Henry’s buddy for the week. Jasmine showed him where to hang his backpack and where the class kept the pencils. At lunch, she saved him a seat next to her.

Henry did not talk much. But at recess, Jasmine saw him drawing in a small notebook. The pages were full of dragons, each one with long whiskers and bright scales.

“You drew these?” Jasmine asked. Henry nodded and smiled a little.

The next morning, Henry walked into class and went straight to Jasmine’s table. He handed her a folded paper. Inside was a dragon with a name written under it in big letters: JASMINE.