Ferdinand gave a smile and said, "Hi, Anjanette. It's nice to meet you. You know, you don't have to be afraid of me." She said, "I don't?" He said, "Of course not. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anybody." She said, "I'm not afraid of you. I was just afraid that you wouldn't like me. I was afraid you would prefer the more popular girls." He said, "No way. The popular girls don't seem nice, and at my old school, they were always so violent, getting into fights every time you turned around." Anjanette felt reassured knowing that Ferdinand didn't like the popular girls. She asked, "Would you like to walk to the cafeteria with me?" He smiled. "Sure," he said. I could use the company, and I'm new here, so I need someone to show me how to get there. When the two of them got to the cafeteria, Ferdinand noticed that Anjanette didn't have anything to eat. "Anjanette," he said, "are you not going to eat?" She knew that he wasn't going to hurt her, but she wasn't comfortable telling him her troubles at this point. "Oh," she said, "I'm not very hungry." Her stomach growled. Ferdinand looked at her and said, "Your growling stomach indicates otherwise." He then said, "Here. You can have half of my sandwich." Anjanette smiled and said, "Thank you. You're very kind." He said, "You're welcome. I try to be." As they finished eating, some of the bullies came up to them. The leader said, "Hello, Ferdinand. I'll go on a date with you if you give up your hippie trash." He said, "I won't give up my hippie 'trash' as you call it, and I wouldn't go with you to a Greyhound race." She then noticed Anjanette. "And what are you doing with that....that..that....creature?!" Anjanette thought she was going to cry. Ferdinand said, "She is not a creature! She's my friend!" The leader of the bullies then directed her attention to Anjanette and said, "You don't need to be with that hippie." Suddenly, Anjanette felt a twinge of bravery she never felt before. She said, "You leave him alone! Can't you see he's scared enough already, being new to this school?" The ring leader of the bullies punched Anjanette in the face. The bullies then walked away. Ferdinand become deeply concerned. He looked at Anjanette and asked, "Are you okay?" She said, "I'm going to have a black eye by tomorrow, but I'll be fine. Standing up to those jerks felt good." She walked to the nurse's office with Ferdinand beside her. She was happy to have a friend for once. Ferdinand could sense that Anjanette was lonely and needed a friend. During study hall, the two of them listened to some classic Beatles tunes together. Her parents never allowed her to listen to such great music. Her uncle always did. When it was time to go home, Anjanette said, "This has been great, Ferdinand." He said, "Yeah. I'm sorry you got hurt for me." She said, "Don't worry about it. I'm going to be fine." She knew her parents wouldn't notice or care that she had a black eye. Uncle Bruce might notice, though. She then said, "I'll see you tomorrow, Ferdinand." He said, "See you." As she walked away from the school, Anjanette decided to go to Uncle Bruce's. She knew her parents would still be at work. There would be no point in going home anyway.