The Prodigies [First Draft]

Six

By the time Kenny made her way outside, the parking lot was empty. Her thoughts raced around in her head. How long had she spent in there with Miss Kaylee? What triggered the Darkness? Was she going to be skipped up a grade? Then her mind turned to Gabriel. Would he still be waiting for her? What if he thought she had forgotten him? Was she still his friend?

Kenny had too many questions and not enough answers.

A lump began to form in Kenny's throat. She pushed her thoughts of the K1 classroom away, knowing she would dwell on them later. After deciding to at least get some of her questions answered, the girl sprinted to Gabe's house to see if he was still there.

Gabriel was sitting alone on the grass in his backyard. He looked up at Kenny as she ran towards him, slumped over with disappointment. However, his lonely eyes seemed to light up once he saw Kenny. He popped up faster than a piece of toast shooting from a toaster and came toward the fence to greet her.

"Hi, Kenny!" Gabriel smiled and dropped his glove to sign his words. "I thought you weren't going to come. What happened?"

Kenny tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She could barely think, but with shaky hands, she managed to sign back, 'My teacher needed to talk to me for a few extra minutes.'

"That was a long time. You've been gone for almost a half an hour. What did you guys talk about?"

Kenny's eyes began to sting, and she looked away from Gabe. Half an hour? No wonder Miss Kaylee had seemed to jump from addition to Calculus. Kenny must have worked her way all the way up to high school mathematics on the chalkboard. The young girl bit back the panic rising in her chest and swiftly wiped at her eyes, but by then, Gabe could already tell something was wrong.

"Is everything okay, Kenny? D-do you want me to get my mom?" He was worried enough to forget to sign as he spoke.

'No, I'm fine,' Kenny signed in response. She didn't want to make a big deal out of something that could possibly be nothing. Plus, Gabriel's mother was completely deaf in both ears. The woman knew sign language better than the back of her own hand. Kenny had trouble understanding her, as she signed faster than a cheetah running after its prey. It would simply embarrass the young girl and upset her more to have to ask Gabe's mother to repeat what she had signed over and over again.

"Are you sure?" Gabriel asked, trying to look Kenny in her eye.

The girl nodded. 'Can we play catch now?'

At the mention of catch, Gabe relaxed and opened the gate for Kenny to come inside. He handed the young female her glove, and the two played as they always did. Kenny willingly let herself forget about school and the Darkness. She lived only in that moment with Gabriel, in his backyard. However, because of their late start, it quickly got dark. Kenny had to go back home much sooner than she'd liked.

"Goodbye, Kenny! See you on Monday!" Gabe waved, and Kenny waved back.

If Kenny had known this was going to be the last time she saw Gabriel for a while, she might have hugged him. She might have told him about the Darkness and explained the reason why she had been crying. She might have even spoken to him, very quietly told him goodbye. However, Kenny hadn't known. All she did was wave for a brief moment before she left, leaving behind nothing for Gabe to remember her by.

****

"Someone get the door!" Ms. Greenwood shouted from her room. "I'm expecting someone, which means come upstairs and stay quiet, all of you!"

Children downstairs in the living room groaned, packing up their things to move them into the small compartments called their rooms. Kenny closed her book and got up to go get the door. Anywhere other than Snowcoast, this action would have been unsafe for a five-year-old. However, the only people who ever came to the foster home were Patrick the mailman or Ms. Greenwood's on again, off again boyfriend, Henry. Patrick had already come to drop off a package earlier that morning, so Kenny was expecting Henry to be standing in the doorway when she unlocked the heavy wooden door.