"I have a little hell to raise."
- Crowley (Supernatural)
Song: According to You by Orianthi
"According to you, I'm stupid, I'm useless, I can't do anything right."
****************
Harlow had been hard at work for the past couple of days. She was trying to make sure she had plenty of money for when Jodie graduated from pre-school. Jodie had really wanted to graduate, and she had tried really hard in pre-school every day. So, Harlow wanted Jodie to have the absolute best graduation.
Ms. Stanfield knew what Harlow was doing, so she would throw in a little extra money on Harlow's paycheck, but she made sure it was discreet enough where Harlow wouldn't notice. Ms. Stanfield had been even more generous to the two since she heard about Harlow's date.
Harlow had described everything to Ms. Stanfield, and Ms. Stanfield was beyond happy with how well the date had turned out. She wondered when she'd see Bucky again, and if she'd be able to thank the man for being so kind and caring towards Harlow and Jodie. Bucky really was a fantastic man, even if he was a bit quiet and closed off to the world.
While getting ready for the lunch rush, Harlow recieved a phone call from Jodie's pre-school. Harlow was devastated when she heard that Jodie was upset. The teacher wouldn't tell Harlow exactly what was wrong with Jodie, but Harlow had a feeling it wasn't something she would be at all happy to hear about later.
"Go pick her up. You've been working your bum off for days, Harlow. You deserve a break, and that girl doesn't deserve to be treated poorly at school," Ms. Stanfield said, and Harlow thanked her profusely.
Harlow had quickly left the store, and practically ran down to Jodie's school. When she entered, she seen Jodie from the sign-in window. Jodie was sitting in the corner, by herself, crying, as the two teachers sat and talked with each other, and the other students ran around playing.
"Can I help you?" The front desk lady asked, and Harlow nodded.
"I'm here to get Jodie," Harlow replied, her voice very stern.
"Go ahead, I've unlocked the classroom," The woman answered, after pushing a button to unlock the door.
The front desk lady's main job was to unlock doors, lock doors, accept deliveries, and make sure the children's lunch came in on time from whatever school catering place they always ordered from. Each day, a truck would come with break and lunch for each student. The teachers would heat the food and pass it out to the children at a certain time, and at snack time, the children would be able to pick snacks from a large cupboard of different items.
Harlow had been the one to purchase most of the snacks for the children, since there was only two classrooms in the small pre-school, and each class only had around twenty children. Since there wasn't that many children, Harlow didn't really feel like it was breaking her wallet to buy snacks for the children.
Anyhow, when Harlow entered the classroom, she quickly signed Jodie out on the clipboard near the door, before she walked over to her daughter. The two teachers watched her, but didn't make a move to talk. Once Harlow was near Jodie, she crouched down in front of the small girl.
"Oh, sweetheart, what happened? Why are you crying?" Harlow asked, causing her daughter to look up at her.
In mere seconds, Jodie was out of her seat. She threw her arms around her mother's neck and cried. Harlow rubbed her back comfortingly, since she knew Jodie wasn't going to calm down instantly. Once Jodie was somewhat calm, she pulled away and looked at her mother.
"What happened?" Harlow asked, causing Jodie to sniffle.
"Zac was being mean. Tatum called me names. Katy said I was a poor orphan. Leo said I was stupid and ugly. Mindy hit me," Jodie explained, though her words were jumbled and somewhat hard to understand.
"Where'd she hit you?" Harlow asked, causing Jodie to show her the bruise on her arm,"Did you tell your teachers?" She asked, and Jodie nodded.
"Ms. Kay said Mindy didn't mean it, and Ms. Abby said I can't be a tattletale all the time," Jodie replied, causing Harlow to frown.
"Let me go talk to them. You go get your things. I've already signed you out," Harlow said, and Jodie nodded.
The moment Jodie walked away, Harlow walked over to the teachers. She stood in front of them with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed.
"Jodie has told me exactly what happened. Now, you two should count your blessings that I didn't decide to go talk to the school board about you. If one more student hits my child, or says something mean to her, and neither of you punish that child, I will be talking to your boss. Jodie has a bruise on her arm, so I know she's not faking it. This is your job, and you better learn to do it right, before you lose it completely," Harlow spat, just as Jodie finished getting her things.
Harlow lead Jodie out of the building, as the two teachers stood flabbergasted. That hadn't expected Jodie to tell Harlow the truth, since they had told her to keep it quiet. The teachers really didn't care what any of the kids did, as long as they could talk to each other and teach them a little when they felt like it.
"Do you want ice cream, Jodie?" Harlow asked, looking down at her daughter.
"Yes, please," Jodie replied, still sniffling a bit.
Harlow felt like she wanted to go back and complain to the main boss of the school, but first she needed to take care of her daughter. She wanted those teachers to see what happened when they didn't do their job. Jodie didn't deserve to be mistreated, and it broke Harlow's heart to hear how upset her daughter was because of the children that apparently hadn't been raised right...
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Apartment 102 (B. Barnes) (AU)
Fanfiction*The story has been edited and revised* Bucky Barnes had finally ran away from HYDRA, but he was in hiding. He was too worried, and a bit scared, to go to his childhood friend, Steve Rogers, so he tried to hide from the blonde as well. Bucky had jum...
