rowan & ro

when they met on the first day of the fifth grade, their connection was almost automatic. it was lunch time, and all the other kids had gone outside to play their usual games; you know: jump rope, hide and seek, tag, the usual.
but not these two.
rowan, a red-haired boy with sharp features and mind, always thought that if he was to come back to the place he is already in, there was no reason to leave at all. this was something that his mother fought against his whole life. it would be, indeed, a lie to say that it was an easy task to send him to school.
while noticing the set up of the room, rowan decided to approach the only other boy who stayed behind during lunch time, seemingly enjoying the word puzzles the teacher had previously assigned him a great deal more than hopscotch.
standing behind him, rowan was amazed to see that, although only a few minutes had passed, ro [he had heard the other kids call him that] had already deciphered three pages worth of puzzles.
ro seemed troubled. on the forth page of the assignment there was a word he simply could not put together.
"it's a jumble." said ro, suddenly taking a pause from his trance and frustration, "but i can't seem to figure this one out! what word could the letters c, s, a, and c possibly form?"
"i have no idea," responded rowan, "not at all."
"I am the best at puzzles and out of all that the teacher has given me, this word-- this one word has brought me to complete frustration."
"it seems to me that the machine with which this page was printed was faulty."
"hm?"
"there are smudges everywhere... specially on that one c, it also seems distorted somehow."
"why you are absolutely correct! I would have never noticed that myself! what an eye you have...ummm...?"
"oh, of course--rowan, rowan cace"
"precisely!"
"what?"
"once you pointed out that there was something peculiar about the afore mentioned c, it became increasingly obvious that it's shape more closely resembled that of an e, thus changing the pieces of this puzzle. having the correct pieces: c, s, a and e the solution seems too simple: the word 'case'"
"wow, you're quick, antaro..."
"star. antaro star, but how did you know my real name? everyone calls me ro"
"It's written in all your puzzles."
after which, rowan and ro shared a hearty laugh that inevitably rendered them inseparable.