Finding Her Joy

Classrooms And Chalkboards

*A/N- Okay, okay. I know I said this was gonna be all about Mialotte, but I just had to throw in some more stuff about Reece and Mia when they were younger. You can't have Mia without Reece. It's impossible. I feel like it helps with the character development for Mia. I promise the next chapter will be something cute between her and Char. Hope you enjoy.

(MIA POV)
Someone, probably very old, once said that in order to fix our present, we need to remember our past. Maybe it was forgive our past? Sounds like a load of bull, honestly.

Most of my past I've tried very hard to forget. Although, there are a few early childhood memories that I've become rather fond of in recent years. Memories like spending time with my parents when they were together and happy, or the day I met the Knight siblings.

I was 7 when Reece and I first met. I can still remember it like it was yesterday.

My parents had decided to move one town over to be closer to one of my dad's friends. This friend just so happened to be Roger. They had decided to go into business together, and my dad didn't want to commute every day. We packed up the house and moved closer to the offices where they were planning on starting the nurseries.

The day I met them was my first day at some new private school. I remember my uniform didn't fit right, and that made me nervous. I didn't want the other children to laugh at me or tease me for how I looked.

I remember the way the morning air put goosebumps on my arms from being slightly colder. It was one of the few mornings that it wasn't raining or overly fogged.

Sometimes, I can still smell the classrooms. The smell of chalk and cleaning supplies always brings me back there and to my introduction to the class.

My father moved us in the middle of October, so school had already been in session for a short time. Everyone knew each other already. The friend groups had been decided. We were so young, and yet everyone was already grouped into categories based on smarts, beauty, or popularity. How strange is that?

I walked into the classroom with the principal. As soon as I stepped into the room, all the children went silent and started to stare. They were whispering to each other about my red hair. I remember my hair was down over my shoulders, and I had used it to hide from their comments.

The teacher took my hand to pull me to the front of the class. "Alright, everyone settle down. We have a new student." She announced to the other children. They all sat forward in their seats as she spoke. She looked over at me, "Introduce yourself, darling." She said as she nudged me forward.

My face went red, and my voice was practically a whisper as I told them my name, "My name is Mia... I'm 7..." The teacher kept looking at me, trying to get me to say something interesting about myself. "Um... I like to take pictures and read..." I remember I looked back at her asking if I could be finished.

"That's great. Everyone say hello to Mia. Pick an empty chair. We're about to get started." The tables were pushed together where everyone was paired up with at least one other person.

I walked down the center aisle, looking at all the empty chairs. As I passed a little girl, she put her hand in the seat, "It's taken." She said rolled her eyes at me as I kept moving.

There were two more open seats. One had another little girl sitting there. She was glaring at me, I swear I heard her growl. It wasn't hard to figure out that she was the school bully. She was very tall, and as I passed her, one of the girls in the class who already had a partner looked at me and just shook her head, trying to warn me to pick somewhere else.

The only other seat left was next to a very thin, blonde boy. He sat up in his chair and looked at me. He did a small smile in my direction as he said, "You can sit here if you like." He stood up, pulling the empty chair out for me. I sat down and said thank you as he pushed me closer to the desk.