“Hey, kid! Watch it!” Pam quickly dodged out of the way as a basketball lightly came into contact with her legs.
A couple of the big kids who were just playing basketball strode over to her, towering high above her short frame. She felt herself shrinking in their shadows, trembling from fear. An icy chill ran down her spine as her heart dropped.
“Hey! You ruined out game, kid!” One scruffy boy yelled at Pam, making her eyes water.
“I-I’m sorry,” Pam chocked out, timorously. “I didn’t mean to.” These were the bullies of the first grade playground. The kids you did not want to mess with. Pam grasped her tin Sesame Street lunchbox tighter and looked for an escape.
The other kid who was obviously the leader stepped forward, nearly a foot away from Pam. He pushed her hard onto the asphalt and walked away. She bit her quivering lip again and burst into tears. After pulling herself up from the icy ground, she ran down the street, not caring if she was to be punished for leaving school.
Her feet pounded against the concrete as she blindly made her way to the park down the street. When she got there, she immediately found her way to the yellow plastic tunnel, a favorite of hers when she was playing Hide and Seek. She wiped her tearsoaken eyelashes with her sleeve. That did absolutely nothing because she just started bawling even harder. She wrapped her arms around her knees and sniffled pathetically.
Little did she know that a little boy in the same class of hers had followed her.
“Hello?” A cute, squeaky voice asked from outside the tunnel. Pam jumped out of her unpleasant trance and answered the little voice.
“What do you want?” She sniffled again, wiping her runny nose on her jacket. A small face popped in to look at her in the tunnel, a look of compassion on his adorable face.
Pam looked away from him. “Oh,” she frowned, pursing her lips. “A boy.” Jim noticed her blotchy cheeks, a clear sign she had been crying. Jim’s heart fell and he drew a sharp intake of breath on the words ‘a boy’.
“Yes, I’m a boy. Is that bad?” Jim asked, clearly heartbroken.
Pam pouted out her lips, and muttered something quietly. “Yes, it is bad. Boys aren’t very nice. They are mean and push you. Boys always push girls around, especially me.”
Jim felt a sudden urge of sympathy towards her, but refrained from hugging her. “So does that mean I can’t join your clubhouse, Pammy?”
Pam blushed slightly at her nickname, but put on a believable facade. “Yes, Jim. I’m sorry, but no boys allowed.” Jim’s heart broke once more and he quietly backed out of her private clubhouse for one.
He decided on something to do just for Pam. She was right. Boys were mean sometimes. But not him. Never would it be him, Jim Halpert.
An hour later, Pam’s sobs quieted down and she distantly heard the bell ring dismissing school. She held her knees tighter against her chest, hoping the cruel kids wouldn’t find her. She heard distinct voices walking down the sidewalk, fading as they passed.
“Hey, Beesly! Come out to play!” Pam frowned and played with a strand of her curly hair in nervousness. That was the voice of the boy who had pushed her an hour earlier.
“N-no,” Pam stuttered, utterly at a loss of what to do.
“Stop picking on her. Go away, Roy. No one wants you here.” Pam’s heart stopped momentarily and she smiled slightly.
“Oh, yeah? And what are you going to do about that, Halpert?” Roy said, gruffly. Jim tackled him to the ground, lips pursed angrily.
“Don’t-ever-pick on-Pam-again!” Jim yelled, between breaths. Roy quickly got up from the ground and sprinted away from the park, looking back every so often at Jim, who had his hands on his hips in triumph.
Pam untangled her hands from her knees and got up, running to Jim. “My hero!” she squeaked happily. Jim’s cheeks turned a bright shade of red and he hugged Pam with all his might.
“I figured if you wouldn’t let me be in your club I could at least guard it,” Jim said, taking a sudden fascination in his feet. Pam threw her arms around Jim once more, her fluffy coat pressing into Jim.
“Well,” Pam feigned speculation. “I guess some boys aren’t so bad. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings eariler. You are one of the good ones, Jim. You’re like from Sleeping Beauty. My knight in shining armor.” Jim seemed to blush even worse and he grinned.
“Thanks, Pammy. It’s okay.” He kissed her on the cheek, something unheard of. A boy kissing a girl with cooties on the cheek? It was a sweet gesture and Pam made no attempt to hide her amusement as she took his hand.
“Come on, Jim!” She said exasperatedly, pulling him towards the tunnel.
“Huh?” Jim asked, clearly confused as to what she was doing.
“It’s okay, Jim. You can join my clubhouse. No more ‘No Boys Allowed’. This is our super, special, secret, clubhouse, boys allowed. But you know what? This isour clubhouse. The Pam and Jim clubhouse. And it is just for you and me.”
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Story Notes:
Posted at FF.net.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: I own nothing. :]
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Chapter End Notes:
Thanks for reading. I cross posted this on Fanfiction, under the same name. I changed some things when I posted it here, though. If you've noticed, I changed the boy who pushes Pam's name. It was Owen, and I decided to change it to Roy. And they end up almost getting married...makes you wonder how that ever worked out.
