Moving Forward (Completed)

Chapter Twenty

Every time Katherine asked how things were at home, MJ shrugged it off. "Same as always..." was her vague response. That didn't stop Katherine from asking though. They had developed a small routine... MJ would be waiting by her door when she arrived at work, Katherine asked her how things were as she unlocked the door, and MJ shrugged off her question while making her way to the pillows to read.

Today had been no different.

"How do you get to school?" Katherine asked, watching MJ read from her desk.

"I walk." MJ said, flipping the page in John Knowles, A Separate Peace.

"What causes you to get here so early then?"

"Oh... if I'm in the way I can read in the cafeteria. The noise doesn't bother me." MJ started to gather her things.

"That's not what I meant. I like that you read in my room every morning. I just meant, why don't you want to sleep in a bit longer or something?"

"I like leaving before my mom wakes up." MJ shrugged.

"Who do you relate to, Phineas or Gene?"

"Who do you think?" MJ chuckled.

"Gene." Katherine smiled.

The book MJ was reading was well above her grade level, but Katherine didn't need to be her reading teacher to know she understood it.

"I just got an e-mail about donuts in the teachers lounge, what me to snag you one?" Katherine smirked.

MJ's eyes widened as she nodded.

Katherine grabbed a donut and an orange juice the PTA had provided, and then checked her mailbox, pulling out various papers including the month of April's lunch menu.

"Do you know MJ Stacker is in your room reading?" Ms. Nelson asked as she pulled the things from her own box.

"I do." Katherine smiled.

"I wouldn't leave her alone. When she was in my class I always caught her stealing things." Ms. Nelson huffed.

"Oh, ok." Katherine gathered her things and headed back to her room. She wasn't worried about MJ taking anything, and she wasn't going to engage in a conversation about her past behaviors. MJ had been most teachers dreaded student every year, she wouldn't fault Nelson for the warning, but Katherine had a different relationship with her.

"Here."

"Am I taking the donut meant for you?" MJ asked, hesitating on excepting it.

"The donut I wasn't going to eat." Katherine smiled, extending the food closer to her student.

"You sure?"

"I had eggs, fruit, and about six cups of coffee this morning before I left my apartment," Katherine chuckled, "I'm not even close to hungry."

MJ took the donut and moved to her desk to eat. "Ms. Morgan?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you get to school in the morning?" MJ asked, a mouthful of donut.

"I walk."

"So you don't live far?"

"About the same distance as you, but in the opposite direction." Katherine replied, shifting a few things around on her desk to get ready for her morning class.

MJ noticed and gathered the things she'd need to take with her to Ms. Winters room, using one hand while she finished the donut with the other.