Sweet Expressions

Don't Sack The Gumdrops

I adored the rest of the hour. The children had come in as a group, most of them laughing or whispering quietly as they hung their jackets on the hooks along the wall. I grinned when Gabriel introduced himself as the teacher and they all swamped him with questions about his hair and earrings. He seemed to take it all in stride, even laughing and complying when one of the bolder children reached up to tug at his blond streaks.

We had worked on group projects. Gabriel had pulled five large canvases out of the supply closet and enough acrylic paint to paint a house. I smiled while the kids had fun painting the canvas and themselves. Gabriel was dynamic. Every question asked had lit up his eyes and curled his lips in a pleased way. It was hard not to be affected by his enthusiasm, every kid seemed happy in the class.

Which brought me some puzzlement. I studied each child for a moment as they chatted and smeared paint together. They all seemed to be getting along just fine to me. Maybe because Gabriel was new they were behaving themselves better than they usually would? I kept one eye on the kids and one eye on Gabriel. He hadn't slipped up even once around the kids yet, and we were almost finished for the day. I wondered at this point if he would need any help at all.

"Everything going smoothly in here Mr. Coleman?"

The children all became silent as the Superintendent and a smiling Addie stepped into the room. I shifted uneasily on my feet and brushed a wisp of hair out of my face and back into place. The little girl I was helping mix colors, Jenny, slopped green paint onto my hand mid-pour. She looked horrified at the accident, but I simply smiled softly at her, hopefully letting her know it was okay. She carefully placed the can down on the table while I grabbed some of the brown paper towels we had available for messes. By the time I had wiped my hand off Jenny was at rigid attention, listening to the Superintendent address a stiffened and uncharacteristically formal Meanie.

"We expect in future to see each child working on their own individual projects. I need not remind you we have standards to uphold in this school, and a competitive atmosphere is paramount to achieve that goal. Good day."

The Superintendent swept out of the room without a backward glance. Addie stayed behind, shrugging at Gabriel as she bent to take a look at one of the canvases we had let the children work on together. I glanced at the over-layered green and blue hand prints that made up a picture representing the earth. I grinned to myself remembering how Meanie had painted their hands amid their giggles so they could each add their own mark. Addie looked back at Gabriel under her lashes and then stood to face him.

"Superintendent Mayfair can be pretty strict, just follow the rules and you should do just fine."

"Sounds like a lot of..."

I almost missed it. Gabriel had been so good and everything had been going smoothly up to this point. My stomach was doing somersaults when realization hit me that a curse was forthcoming, and so I barked out much the same way the first time it had occurred today.

"Gumdrop sugar!"

I think I actually frightened Addie. She put her hand to her heart and threw wild eyes around the room until they finally landed on me; the sugar barker. The kids started snickering around the room and Gabriel coughed as Addie kept a concerned eye on me. I stiffened when Jenny reached for my hand, slipping her smaller hand in my palm and squeezing. I looked down at her big brown eyes and squeezed it back gratefully, relaxing. She smiled at me with a mischievous glint and piped up in her soprano voice.

"Thank you Miss Sang! That's the color I was trying to remember the name of. Let's go look for it now, okay?"

I got dragged in the direction of the supply closet and gladly went, following my little lifesaver as her dark hair bobbed in front of me. I glanced back at Meanie, hopeful he would mind his tongue in my absence. He winked and gave me a thumbs up behind Addie's back before she turned back around towards him. I refocused on Jenny as we moved into the closet. She spun on me and released my hand to put her tiny fists on her hips. I blinked as she began whispering fiercely at me.

"You can't yell in the classroom like that anymore. You are going to get in trouble and they are going to sack you just like our old teacher. I don't want you to get sacked Miss Sang! You...you are nice. Please say you'll be quieter so you don't have to go away!"

I kneeled down next to her and took in the fact that she was crying now and had actually stomped her foot at the end of her spiel. I reached a hand out and hesitantly wiped a tear off of her cheek. It felt so strange. I barely knew her and she was crying over me. I sighed, feeling awkward and unsure how to comfort her other than to promise that I'd be quieter. Her lip quivered and my heart rose into my throat. Now I knew how Meanie felt when I pouted.

"Okay Jenny. I promise I'll be quieter. Now we should get back to class. C'mon."

I held a hand out and she wiped her eyes with her wrist and smiled, grabbing at my hand and squeezing it hard. Addie had already left when we returned to the classroom. I walked over to Gabriel as Jenny bounced off happily in the direction of her group. Meanie sought my gaze out as we helped the kids start cleaning up for the end of class. He looked remorseful and all I could do was roll my eyes and giggle as I nudged his arm with my elbow. It had still been a good day and I had had a lot of fun with him. I wasn't going to let a little embarrassment get in the way of that.