𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚎

Nina stepped into the doors of Crossroad elementary school clutching the straps of her bright pink hello kitty backpack. She was as nervous as any kindergartener would be for her first day of school. The bright yellow plastic chairs were mostly occupied by her classmates. A lot of them had red eyes from crying. Nini had promised herself that she wouldn't cry at all. She had already cried the day before and she didn't want to walk into school for the first time with red eyes. She clutched the ends of her new light pink dress. She had her favorite hello kitty hair clip in her hair and her mom had even taken the time to make a perfect ponytail for the little girl. She placed her bright pink backpack in a cubby without being asked. She knew it was her cubby because it said "Nina" on it. She knew how to read and write her own name. Her grandma had taken extra careful time to teach her so that she could impress her teacher. Nina sat down at an empty table without being asked. She folded her hands and sat up straight. Her grandma had always told her to do the right thing even when no one was looking. Nina loved her grandma very much, and she didn't want to let her down. 

"Hello Nina," a woman said coming over to her. She was a very nice woman with brown curly hair and a yellow polka-dotted dress. She smelt like vanilla, and Nina liked her instantly. 

"Hello!" She said happily.

"You've already put your backpack in your cubby and sat down?" the lady asked.

"Yes!" Nina answered proudly. 

"What a big girl you are!" the lady exclaimed, "I'm Ms.Funnel, your teacher."

"It's very nice to meet you Ms.Funnel," Nina said, "My grandma says that I should do the right thing even when no one is looking."

"Well, your grandma is very smart!" Ms.Funnel said happily. Suddenly a teacher rushed in. Her hair was messy and she looked tired.

"Vanessa, what's wrong?"Ms.Funnel asked. 

"Camile," the lady said to Ms.Funnel, "There's a boy in my class that won't listen, and half of his class is crying. Can you handle him please?"

"Of course," Ms. Funnel said. Nina looked around. Who was Camile?

"Who's Camile?" Nina asked curiously. Ms.Funnel smiled at the cute little girl. She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, Vanessa marched through the door holding a boy by his shirt collar. The boy was wearing a blue button-down at that was all wrinkled up.  He was glowering at Ms.Funnel.

"This is Ms.Funnel," Vanessa told the boy, "You are going to stay with her." Vanessa looked at Ms.Funnel, "He already has a yellow card. If he misbehaves again, send him to the office." With that, Vanessa left the room.

"Hi," Ms.Funnel said to the boy gently, "What's your name?" the boy stuck out his tongue.

"I don't care if I go to the principal's office." the boy said crossing his arms. 

"Now there, I'm sending you to the office," Ms.Funnel said as soft as she could. She had dealt with a lot of troubled kids before, and the key was getting them to feel safe. "Why don't we color? See? there are blues and yellows and-"

"Oh sure." the boy said rolling his eyes, "Why don't I pin a 'world's biggest ort(a/n~he means art) nerd' pin to my shirt?" Ms.Funnel was taken aback. She had never met a sarcastic kindergartener before. He seemed to have trouble with his a's from the look of it.

"Ms.Funnel," A tiny voice said from behind her. Camile Funnel turned around to see Nina raising her tiny hand. She was taken aback, she had never, not once seen a kindergartener raise their hand on their first day. 

"Yes Nina," she said coming over to the little girl, 

"I drew something for you." She said handing her a picture of a big rainbow.