Just Us

(5) The Day I Discovered My Word Vomit

The dismissal bell rang and I was interrupted halfway through my sentence. The children were grinning from ear to ear and I shook my head. I walked back to my desk and looked at my students.

"Fine, you're all dismissed." Cheers erupted and I held up my hand and the room was immediately silenced. "But, I expect you all to do your homework. No excuses."

"Yes, Miss Vi!" they all said in unison. With a nod, I let the kids go.

I was preparing my things when I noticed Kian and Dawn still sitting on their chairs. The little boy had his hand on her shoulder, and my heart clenched when I saw her glistening eyes. Leaving my messy desk, I went to the kids.

My old flats remained silent even though I was walking quickly. My head was getting heavy and I gasped when I saw a tear fell down Dawn's porcelain face. The children then noticed me.

I knelt in front of her as Kian moved to her side. The cold tile pressed on my bare knees yet I ignored the sting. My palms were sweaty and I rubbed them against my black slacks before holding the girl's hands.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Only a sniffle escaped her lips and Kian spoke up for her. "She was being teased again, Miss Ruiz," he answered and I took note of his clenched fists. I closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them, I smiled reassuringly at the kids.

"Tell me what happened, sweetie," I cooed at Dawn as she brushed bangs away from her face. She sniffled a few times and I saw Kian rubbing her back and I was screaming internally.

"T-they said that Daddy w-was a criminal and that he was a bad person," she cried and I lent her my shoulder. My heart ached at the cute little girl bawling her eyes out and I felt tears threatening my own.

This had been the third time that something like this happened. I have not witnessed the first but was informed by the office of the incident. It happened again six months after I got assigned to their class and I was thankful to Max for arriving just in time or else I have hurled the boy from across the room. We tried contacting his father, but whenever I would, Dawn found a way to stop me from talking. Which was really confusing.

But seeing the girl crying her eyes out right now was the last straw. I would get to the bottom of this.

After she calmed down, I held her by the shoulders and looked at her. "Dawn, you know that I need to talk to your father, right?"

"But Miss Vi! I don't want Dad to know!" she whined and again, was on the verge of tears.

Patting her head reassuringly, I said, "I have to inform him of the situation." I stopped when I realized something. There must be a reason why she wanted to avoid her father or something. So, with a soft voice, I asked, "Is there a problem, sweetheart? You know you can tell me everything. Are you afraid of him?"

Dawn frowned and shook her head. "No, Miss Vi. I just don't want him to worry." The girl giggled a bit before adding, "He's really nice. But he gets sad when he hears about this kind of stuff."

Blinking in shock, I laughed at myself. Vi, not everyone was a bad person, FYI. "Oh. Of course."

A knock interrupted my thoughts and I saw a man standing by the doorway. He had sleek pompadour-styled black hair, and even though he was wearing white long sleeves, the tattoos on his arm were still visible. His dark jeans clung on his torso a bit tight. Beads of sweat coated his forehead and he was obviously huffing for a breath. An easy smile dangled on his lips, and no, it was not directed at me.

I looked at Kian as if to ask if he knew the man but the boy just shook his head. I was going to turn to Dawn when she suddenly bolted from her seat and ran towards the unknown, yet hot, guy.