Pink {H.S.}

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

I nodded to the secretary as I passed her, rearranging my white top over my jeans. Jase stumbled along behind me as I walked to his classroom, consent forms in hand. I stopped at the door and taook in the scene around me. Parents were sitting and talking with their children either on the colourful mats in the corner, or at the red and green tables in the middle of the room.  On the left side of the room, around 30 small desks were placed in groups of two, and on the right, two long tables were placed, one holding legos, play-dough and other toys that I couldn’t identify, and the other holding assorted things, which I assume were for teaching. At the front of the room, a table with refreshments was set up in front of a bookcase with many colourful books and a larger desk, which I knew from my previos ecounter was Delilah’s.

“Hello!” a voice called and I turned to my left to see Delilah, her brown hair blowing out behind her a little. I smiled and stuck out my hand for her to shake. She smiled back and shook my hand before stepping back. “Jase sits there, so you’ll be at… that table” she said, pausing as she located and pointed to the previously mentioned table. I nodded and took Jase’s hand, leading him to the table where I sat in a small red plastic chair.

“Why’s your hair so curly?” A girl with bright red hair asks me, her mother’s eyes widening when she hears this.

“Honey, don't ask him that. I’m so sorry.” She apologizes for her daughter, her cheeks turning the same shade of red as her daughter's hair. I smile at the woman, letting her know that it's alright, then turn to the little girl.

“Well, I don’t know actually. Why do you think it is?” She giggles, somehow finding my comment funny and replies.

“Is it because your mummy curls your hair? Mine does sometimes."

“No, I don’t think so. I guess we’ll just never figure out, will we?” I ask her, to which she giggles again before immersing herself in the play-dough on the table in front of her.

“Hello, hello, welcome everyone” Delilah says from the front of the room as she tries to get everyone’s attention. She smiles once the room falls quiet before continuing. “So today’s going to be rather relaxed, but there are a few things I need to go over first."

*~*~*

I stand up and stretch once Delilah’s done talking, heading over to the refreshments table. “Hey.” I wave when I see her standing there. “That was nice”.

“Are you sure? I saw a few kids and parents getting fidgety and worried that I might have made it too long.” She replies with a nervous smile, taking a napkin and placing a brownie on it.

“No, no, it was great. I promise” I say, to which she just smiles. I grab a few cookies for Jase before going back to the table.

“So bud, what do you want to do first?” I ask Jase after Delilah had explained the point of the game and handed out large pieces of paper to each table. The other parents had already gotten the supplies needed, both couples having had kids here last year and therefore knowing what to do.

“We should start with paint!” A boy whose name I believe was Ben says as I open the bottle, grabbing a paper plate and dumping a small amount of red paint onto it. Another parent -whose name I knew was Julie- had grabbed a few paint brushes, that Ben and the red-head –who had informed me was named Bella-  had already pushed away, preferring to use their hands instead. Jase reaches out and takes the stickers, peeling a pink star off before placing it carefully in one corner.

I start a conversation with another of the parents – James- but promptly stop when I feel something sticky and wet hit the side of my face. I turn to my left and see Bella smiling at me, holding her hands behind her back.

“What did you just do?” I ask, hoping it isn’t what I think it is. She continues smiling as she pulls her hands out from behind her back, showing that they're covered in paint. I wipe my hand on the wet side of my face and look at my hand to see that it too, is red. I sigh before wiping my hand on the paper towel set out for the mess that Delilah had clearly foreseen. I wipe the paint off my face before sitting back down in my –might I mention- tiny seat, resting my elbows on my knees.

I feel something pull at my hair and turn to realize that Ben has stuck a sticker in my hair. He smiles sheepishly and I sigh again, deciding to leave it for the moment as I focus on Jase.

“Are those clouds?” I ask, pointing to the two figures he had drawn. He nods before picking up a paintbrush and filling one in with red. “Daddy, can you colour that one in pink?” He asks. I smile and look around before realizing that there’s no pink paint. I’ll do the next best thing okay?” I ask, and quickly scrawl the word “PINK” into the cloud. 

*~*~*

Edited: 28/6