Together (Sequel to Slipping Away)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The small family had only a short wait before they were ushered into the principal's office.

"Mrs. Brugger will be with you in a few moments. She's currently in a meeting." The grey-haired secretary, Ms. Welter, told them.

"We can come back another day if that would better for Mrs. Brugger." Harry said and the secretary shook her head.

"Don't be silly. She'll just be a few minutes." Ms. Welter said before disappearing out the door, shutting it behind her. Harry and Louis looked around the office in silence. Just as the older woman said the principal walked in only two minutes later. She was a tall slender woman with warm chocolate eyes and a smile that could blind the sun

"I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting! I had a spontaneous meeting with one of our student's parents." Mrs. Brugger said and Harry frowned slightly.

"Is everything okay?" He asked hesitantly. He didn't want to enroll Adaley into a school that was having problems with its students. Mrs. Brugger nodded and smiled at the family.

"His parents and I were discussing the idea of bumping their son up a grade or two. His levels are way higher than average for his age group and I can tell he's extremely bored." Mrs. Brugger explained and Harry nodded.

"How old is this student?" Harry asked and the principal smiled.

"He's only six but he's reading at a fifth grade level and his math skills are incredible." She said. She gasped softly. "Oh! I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Sirina Brugger. And you are?" she asked, holding her hand out. Louis, Harry, and Adaley all shook it.

"My name is Harry Styles and this is my fiancé Louis Tomlinson." Harry introduced and smiled down at the little girl that sat between them. "And this is our daughter." He said and Sirina looked down at her with a smile.

"And what's your name?" Sirina asked and Adaley shyly smiled at the woman.

"My name is Adaley Jaylyn Cane, ma'am. It's a pleasure." Adaley said politely and Sirina looked mildly shocked but quickly recovered.

"And how old are you, Ms. Cane?" Sirina asked and Adaley sat up a little straighter.

"I'm six years of age, ma'am. Date of birth is February 1st of 2010." Adaley said professionally and Sirina looked at her in shock. Louis smirked at the principal's face.

"What's her highest level of education?" Sirina asked Harry and Louis and Harry thought a moment before responding.

"Before Louis and I adopted her, her mother was homeschooling her. When we adopted her our friend Ali Michaels took over. I believe Ali was beginning to teach her more complicated multiplication and division problems." Harry said and Sirina's eyebrows shot up.

"Really? We don't teach that here until around third and fourth grade." Sirina said and thought deeply for a moment. "It sounds like your daughter will more than likely be in the same grade that we're moving Bradley to." She said and Harry's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Bradley?" Harry asked slowly and Sirina smiled apologetically.

"Sorry. Bradley is the six year old whose parents I had the meeting with today." Sirina said and Harry nodded. "To fully determine Adaley's potential she'll have to take a placement test. She can take that while you and Mr. Tomlinson complete the paperwork to officially enroll her in school. After we decide what grade she'll be placed in I'll take you to her classroom and you can meet her teacher." Sirina said and Harry nodded. Ms. Welter escorted Adaley out of the room to take the placement test while Louis and Harry filled out the paperwork. Only an hour later Louis and Harry were finished with the paperwork and Sirina was scoring the placement test. Adaley nervously wiped her hands on her black skinny jeans and Harry smiled comfortingly at her.

"How was the placement test?" Harry asked softly and Adaley shrugged slightly.

"Some parts were worded strangely but it wasn't that bad, Daddy." Adaley answered honestly and Harry smiled proudly at her. Sirina looked up from the placement test moments later and started at the small family in front of her in shock. Louis raised an eyebrow.

"Is everything all right?" Louis asked worriedly and Sirina rubbed her hand over eyes before answering.

"In all my years of teaching and being a principal, I've only seen scores like this once before. According to this Adaley should be in sixth grade, not kindergarten." Sirina said and Harry's jaw dropped.

"Excuse me?" Harry said in a high pitched voice. "Sixth grade!? As in middle school?" he asked and Sirina nodded, showing the couple the test.

"Yes sir. Adaley can unofficially be labeled as a genius." Sirina said and both Harry and Louis stared at their daughter in shock. Adaley shyly smiled at her fathers.

"When you took the test with Ali it only said that you should be in third grade. How did you improve that much in such a short time?" Louis asked and Adaley shyly picked at her nails.

"When Aunt Ali would take me to the library or bookstore I'd go to the college textbooks and study." Adaley said shyly and Sirina shook her head in disbelief. Harry looked up at Sirina and frowned slightly.

"You said you've only seen scores like that one other time. May I ask who that other student is?" Harry wondered and Sirina smiled slightly.

"Bradley. We decided to put him in third grade. It's an easier transition than if we just put them in sixth grade." Sirina explained and Harry nodded slowly.

"Could we do the same thing with Adaley?" Harry asked and Sirina nodded with a smile.

"Absolutely and we can put her in the same class as Bradley so she will have someone her own age around her." Sirina suggested and Harry nodded.

"Yes. That sounds wonderful." Harry said with a wide smile and Sirina laughed softly, standing up from her desk.

"Do you want her to start today?" Sirina asked and Harry shook his head.

"No ma'am. We just moved here and we want to get settled into our house and the town before we have Adaley start in school." Harry explained and Sirina nodded.

"We can have her start on Monday. It'll give you three a week to completely settle in before she starts. We do have a dress code here. Students have to dress appropriately and their clothes have to be kept clean. No torn jeans or ripped shirts." Sirina explained and glanced down at Adaley's outfit. "Her outfit would work for Monday through Thursday." She said and Louis cocked an eyebrow.

"What about Friday?" Louis asked and Sirina smiled slightly.

"Fridays are days were our students have to wear something nice because we have a school wide assembly every Friday. At the assembly we give awards to certain students for each week. We keep track of which class got the most awards for their grade and on the last Friday of the month the class in each grade with the most awards get a pizza party." Sirina explained. "We want our students looking nice in case they win an award." She said and the family nodded slightly.

"And what are the awards for?" Harry inquired and Sirina smiled proudly.

"They promote positive attitudes, good grades, and hard work. Most people think that they'd turn each class against each other but actually it's made them work harder as a complete team." Sirina said and Adaley smiled at the thought of winning an award to bring home to her fathers. "It's actually a huge deal to a lot of the parents so we have families that attend. You are more than welcome to attend this Friday to get a feel of what it's like at one of the award assemblies." She suggested and Louis nodded slightly.

"We just might do that. Thank you." Louis answered and Sirina nodded.

"And we can introduce Adaley to the school if she would be okay with that." Sirina mentioned and Adaley nervously looked at her. "We don't have to unless you're completely okay with it. Just let me know before Friday. Now, shall we go meet your teacher and classmates?" Sirina asked and looked down at the shy little girl. Adaley nervously chewed at her lip before she answered.

"Yes ma'am. I'm ready."