Day by Day

Chapter 36: Fairies and Dragons

* 1 Year Later *

Kids ran around outside of the orphanage. It was a warm and beautiful summer day, and six-year-old Cayla skipped her way down the steps to the backyard of the orphanage. Her little brown pigtails bounced with every step she took. Her blue eyes observed all the play areas. Kids were playing games and running around the play structure.

Cayla skipped to the play area, where it seemed that other children were playing some sort of roleplaying game. Cayla waved to get one of the girls' attention. "Olivia!" she called. 

"Hi, Cayla," the girl replied with a smile. "Do you want to come play with us?"

Cayla nodded as she made her way up the play structure. "What are you guys playing?"

"Fairies and Dragons!" another girl in the group said. 

"Ooh, I want to be a fairy," Cayla said happily. The other two girls gave each other a smirk before looking back to Cayla. "What? Is something wrong?"

"It's just..." Olivia began. "Me, Katie, Zoey, and Marissa are all already fairies. Liam is the only dragon, so we think you should be a dragon."

Cayla frowned. "But... I want to be a fairy too."

"Ugh!" Zoey said. "We already have four fairies! That's too much, so you HAVE to be a dragon."

Cayla nodded but still gave the four girls a sad look. She felt tears beginning to build in her eyes, but she wasn't going to allow them to fall in front of the other kids.

"Okay, let's play!" Marissa said. The four girls ran off as Liam chased them, screeching and flapping his arms like wings, pretending to be a dragon flying through the air.

Cayla sighed before chasing after the girls. She didn't think there was anything necessarily wrong with being a dragon. It's just that she wanted to be a fairy. Sure, she knew she wouldn't get everything she wanted all the time, that was a given since she is in an orphanage, but when playing pretend on a playground, she thought people should at least be allowed to pretend to be whatever they wanted. Cayla was much more upset by the way the other kids treated her than actually not being able to be a fairy.

After about ten more minutes, all the orphans were called in for lunch. All the kids gathered in the cafeteria. As usual, Cayla sat with her three best friends. Usually, they all were super talkative, but Cayla was quiet, still thinking about playtime.

"What's wrong, Cayla?" Jacey asked, noticing her friend's sudden behavior change. "Did something happen during playtime?"

Cayla shrugged her shoulders. "I was playing fairies and dragons with Olivia, Katie, Zoey, Marissa, and Liam. I wanted to be a fairy, but they made me be a dragon even though I didn't want to."

Brelyn hummed. "I think being a dragon would be really fun."

"There's nothing wrong with being a dragon, but I wanted to be a fairy."

"Did you tell them you didn't want to be a dragon?" Elaina asked.

"I tried, but they were being really mean about it," Cayla added. "I didn't want to make them even madder, so I just went with it."

"Cayla," Jacey began. "Remember what Ms. Jones told us last week? She said that sometimes, we have to learn to stand up for ourselves."

"But it's hard sometimes," Cayla replied.

Elaina added, "Yeah, it is."

"I think I have an idea to help you out," Brelyn said.

The next day, during playtime, Cayla walked out to the play structure. She found Olivia, Katie, Zoey, Marissa, and Liam playing fairies and dragons once again. "Hi, guys!" she said making herself known.

"Hi, Cayla! Are you ready to be the dragon again?" Katie asked.

Cayla shook her head. "Nope."

The five kids looked at the brown-haired girl with a confused look. "But you have to be the dragon," Zoey argued.

"No, I don't," Cayla said. She was a little nervous standing up for herself, but she knew she wasn't alone. "I don't have to be anything I don't want to be."

"She's right," Jacey said from behind her.

"During playtime, we should be able to be whatever we want to be," Brelyn added.

"And not letting her do something is just being mean," Elaina said.

"Also, I brought my friends with me to play with us," Cayla explained. "Now, Elaina and I want to be fairies, but don't worry because you have two more dragons. Jacey and Brelyn would like to be them."

The group of kids stayed silent, not really sure what to say. They hadn't really been told off before. "Now," Jacey began. "You can take all of us, or Cayla will not play with you. We will be fine having our own game."

The five kids looked at each other and shrugged. "Sure, I guess," Marissa responded. The kids expected to not have any fun with the new group; however, they found themselves having way more fun than before. Cayla smiled as the kids playing dragons chased after her. Not only was she glad that the kids stopped being mean to her, but she was also glad she finally had the confidence to stand up for herself.

Author's Note: TBH, this chapter isn't exactly what I wanted it to be. I had major writer's block for this one which is why it took so long and why it's so short. I would open the document and just stare at it because I literally had little to no idea of what I wanted to write. This chapter was meant to explore Cayla's insecurities with how she views herself in front of others (as seen in chapter 19 of You and Me) and learning to stand up for herself. However, in the next couple of chapters, I have an idea of where I want to go with them, so hopefully, I can get them done sooner. (Spoiler: the next chapter is Elaina centered!) Anyway, hope you all have a wonderful day!