Stranger

Lin

I woke up multiple times in the night and went to check on Nora. I know we'd just bought a sensor, but this girl was sneaky. Somehow I wouldn't put it past her to figure out a way to dismantle it. Each time I looked in, though, she was fast asleep.

Obviously, things weren't off to a great start. She'd been with us just a couple days and had already run away. I knew a sensor wasn't addressing the real issue. The kid was homesick, and there was no way of knowing how long she'd be without her mom. There was nothing I could do except be patient and show her love. Except, I still hadn't even touched her.

Since I wasn't sleeping well, I decided to get up and make pancakes. Every kid loved pancakes. Maybe this would help put me on her good side. Sure enough, she made an appearance, woken by the smell.

"Do you like anything in your pancakes?" I asked her.

"Chocolate chips?" She requested. I nodded and generously added some to the pancakes in the pan. Soon, they were ready and being drowned in maple syrup. The kid was ravenous, eating five. I wondered if she'd been malnourished at all. She was still tiny. I made a mental note that she needed to get a check up at the doctor's. Sebastian was thrilled to have pancakes for breakfast, and scarfed down two.

I had again planned to work from home so I could be around for Nora. During the morning, I gave her some space. She mostly sat around the living room watching TV and playing games on her phone. After lunch, I decided it was time to have some more conversation.

"So..." I began, picking up her lunch plate. "School."

She sighed, obviously not wanting to have this conversation. "Do you want to go back to Altman?"

Nora shook her head, which relieved me. From what I could tell it wasn't a great environment. "What are you thinking?"

"Why don't you just tell me what to do?" She asked me. "Why are you always asking me what I want?"

She obviously wasn't used to this style of parenting. "Because I really want to know what you think. Believe it or not, I don't want you to be miserable. I want you to go to a school you'll like."

"Obviously, you want me to go to Hunter," she said, crossing her arms.

"But is that what you want?" I pressed her.

"I don't know what I want," she admitted. "Isn't that why you're the parent and I'm the kid?"

"If it makes it easier, I can decide for you," I told her, sensing she was uncomfortable.

"I guess I'll just go to Hunter," she mumbled, resting her chin in her hand.

"Great," I said. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

She rolled her eyes in response. "I'll call the principal this afternoon. You've only missed a couple weeks of school."

Nora holed up in her room for the afternoon and I made the necessary phone calls. The principal told me they'd get working on her schedule right away and she could come to school tomorrow. I went to Nora's room to tell her the news.

"I talked to the principal," I told her, sitting on her desk chair. "And you can start tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" She asked, exasperated. I guess she wasn't expecting it to happen so quickly.

"What better day?" I pointed out.

"How about next week?"

"You've already missed a lot of school," I pointed out. "It's best to get back as soon as you can. Tomorrow, I'll take the subway with you and we'll get you squared away."

"Great," she mumbled.

"Do you have all the school supplies you need?" I asked. "We can run out and get whatever you need."

"Sure, I can get a tin lunch box and ribbons for my pigtails," she said sarcastically. I smirked, brushing her sarcasm off.

"Just let me know what you need," I told her again, then left the room. I collapsed on the couch, hoping that getting back to school would give her something to focus on. Sitting around doing nothing obviously wasn't going well. I just hoped tomorrow could go smoothly for her.