Fostered by their teacher

Chapter 12

Trey's POV 

Lunchtime comes, and all the other kids are excited, grabbing their food and sitting at the little tables, but I don't feel hungry. Neither do Harper or Taylor. We're all sitting next to each other, our trays in front of us. There's spaghetti, but it doesn't even look good today. Usually, I like spaghetti, but I just stare at it. I don't want it.

Harper pokes at her food with her fork, and Taylor's just holding onto her teddy, not even touching her tray. Miss Emma walks by and notices us, stopping to kneel down next to our table.

"Trey, Harper, Taylor, are you okay? You haven't touched your lunch," she says gently, her voice soft like always.

Harper shakes her head, her eyes starting to water again. "I don't want it."

Miss Emma looks a little concerned. "But you need to eat something, sweetie. How about just a little bit? It'll help you feel better."

Taylor squeezes her teddy tighter, not saying anything, and I push my tray away a little, shaking my head too. I don't want it. I don't want anything right now.

Miss Emma tries again, this time offering a forkful of spaghetti to Harper. "Just one bite, okay? For me?"

That's when Harper starts to cry. "No!" she yells, pushing the fork away, and spaghetti goes flying onto the table.

Miss Emma looks surprised but still calm. "It's okay, Harper, you don't have to if you don't want to—"

Before she can finish, Taylor starts crying too, clutching her teddy and shaking her head. "I want Y/N! I don't want to be here!" Her voice gets louder, and she pushes her tray onto the floor, spaghetti splattering everywhere.

My heart starts pounding. I don't want to cry, but now everything feels wrong. I don't want to eat. I don't want to be here. I want Y/N. I want to go home. I shove my own tray away, and it tips over, more spaghetti hitting the ground.

"Y/N!" Harper screams through her tears, and now we're all crying. I can't stop it, even though I don't like making a scene. It just feels like everything's too much.

Miss Emma looks worried now, her hands up like she's trying to calm us down. "It's okay, it's okay, I promise. I'm going to call Y/N. We'll get in touch with her, alright?"

She tries to comfort us, but Harper's still screaming, and Taylor's rocking back and forth with her teddy, sobbing. I'm crying too, and I can't stop, even when Miss Emma rubs my back.

One of the other teachers comes over, her eyes wide. "Emma, do you need help?"

Miss Emma nods quickly. "Can you please call Y/N and explain what's going on? I'll stay here with them."

The other teacher rushes off, and Miss Emma tries her best to calm us down, but it's not working. Harper's still crying, and Taylor's practically shaking with how hard she's holding her teddy.

"Shh, it's alright," Miss Emma says, trying to pull us into a little group hug, but Harper just keeps crying louder, and Taylor's crying into her teddy.

I don't care about the spaghetti or the noise or the other kids. I just want to go home.

Y/N's POV 

My phone buzzes on the kitchen counter, and I grab it quickly, my heart racing. Seeing the preschool's number flash on the screen, I already know something's wrong. I answer immediately, trying to stay calm.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Y/N, this is Miss Claire from the preschool. I'm really sorry to bother you, but Harper, Taylor, and Trey are really upset today. Miss Emma's with them right now, but they're asking for you. They've been refusing to eat and are getting more upset. We think it might help if you could come pick them up."