Midnight, The Stars & You

2.

Present Day
May 2023

Silence. She wasn't sure why, but it worked like a charm. Whenever the kids were getting rowdy, she turned her reversible octopus into the red side. The angry face. All of her second graders would stop talking within 30 seconds and settle into their seats.

She stood against the smart board with her arms crossed. The plushie sat on top of her right shoulder, looking over the tiny faces as she did. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow, earning some giggles in the front row, but turned the octopus back to blue. The happy face. A small hand shot into the air. The brunette nodded at the child.

"Ms. Ginny! We made you some cards!"

Ginny smiled wide, feeling her cheeks squish against the crinkles under her eyes. She set the octopus on her desk, before walking to her student. Her lanyard clapped against her pink dress- the keys jangling with every step. "You guys made me something!? That's funny... because I made each one of you a special gift for your summer breaks!"

The class cheered, glancing around at each other with grins. Ginny pointed to her desk, where a pile of neatly stocked bags were waiting with a name on each one. "I'm going to call each of you up and then we can trade gifts! How does that sound?"

"Yay!" Everyone clapped with their little hands.

Ginny called the first student up with a smile. Johnny jogged up to her feet and wrapped his arms around her legs. Ginny giggled, leaning over to hug the boy as he whispered he'd miss her being his teacher. It was always bitter sweet saying goodbye to her kiddos each year, but she was so proud of how far they'd come since the beginning of the year.

"I'm going to miss you too, buddy." She patted his head. He handed her a piece of red construction paper with an eleborate stick figure drawing of the class during reading time. Johnny smiled wide, showing off some gaps in his teeth.

"I drew that because it's my favorite time of the day... besides lunch."

Ginny rubbed her stomach, nodding slowly. "Me too! I love it so much, thank you Johnny! Now, here's your gift!"

She gave him the goodie bag and he squealed, running back to his seat to open it. This went on for about twenty minutes- calling each student up to her desk and swapping gifts. By the end, Jenny had a stack full of 25 drawings. She'd keep them forever.

"Can Ms. Ginny's class line up one more time for dismissal!?" She cupped her hands around her mouth and smiled.

The kids jumped up, grabbing their belongings along the way. They made their way to the door and stood in alphabetical order. Ginny patted each of their heads, silently counting as they giggled. She made it to the line leader and nodded firmly.

"You guys did amazing! Not just right now for line, but all year! I'm so proud of each and every single one of you! Make sure you guys come visit me next year when you're all in the big bad third grade!" She clapped her hands, feeling the most joy in her heart as her class whooped and hollered. She'd miss them and all the laughs they brought her. But she was happy they were all moving forward.

The bell rang. Ginny opened the door and led her class down the hallway. She shuffled them off to either the bus lanes or carpool, hugging her students as they passed. She wished them all a great summer. When the other classrooms had emptied out, she walked back to her class with a faint smile. She was almost to her decorated door when a familiar face appeared down the hall.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too sister." Timothée chuckled, grabbing the shades from his face.