Small stories

Bad Words

  
(2018)
"Leo, be good okay? And I'll come back soon okay?" Luciana kissed Leo's chubby cheeks. "I love you, mijo." Leo smiled, showing his teeth.

   "I love you too, mamà!" He gave her a tight hug and breathed in, breathing the scent of fresh bread and flowers. Luciana softly smiled and sighed, she got up from her knees and dusted her skirt.

   "Bye-bye." She waved at Leo while she walked away. Leo waved back until he saw his mom bump into another man. He was tall, brownish hair, and was holding hands with another kid. A girl.  "Ah! I'm sorry, sir!" She apologized and the man smiled and shooked his head.

   "No problem ma'am. Have a nice day." The man's deep voice said.

  "Once again, sorry. You also have a nice day!" Luciana said before officially leaving the classroom. Leo walked to the cubbies and hanged his spider-man backpack. It was the 2nd day of school and his teachers, Mrs.Woodbanks, and Ms.Leava, already taught the whole class about the basic rules of his school. He searched for his desk by searching for his nametag that was taped onto his desk. He found it right next to the window and the empty desk with the nametag that said 'Natalie Winston.' Leo raised his brow and sat down at his desk while trying to find the new girl he saw yesterday. The new girl could be Nata-lie. Was it pronounced Nata-lie? Leo didn't know. His eyes finally found the girl he was looking for. She had long brown hair and wide wild eyes. Like she drank 2 espressos before coming to school. She wore a purple shirt that had black polka-dots pattern and a Jeans that was a bit lost on her.

   She was dragging her a Minnie mouse backpack while she tried to find her seat. Leo instantly stood up. He took a deep breathe and opened his mouth wide open, "Nata-lie! Your desk is next to mine!" He yelled across the room. Nobody paid attention to him, but Nata-lie sure did. A toothy grin spread across her cheeks, showing that she was missing one of her front teeth. She then ran to him. When she was right next to Leo she looked at her nametag then back at him.

   "My name is Nata-lee. Not Nata-lie." She giggled. Leo's cheeks started to get warm. "I'm not a liar!" She crossed her arms playfully and laughed. "What's your name?" She asked. She looked over at Leo's nametag and furrowed her brows in confusion. "Lee-na-do?" She tried to say. It was Leo's turn to laugh.

   "It's Le-o-nardo! But, but, you can call me Leo!" He smiled and sat down at his chair. Natalie copied his actions and sat down next to him. "Are you new?" Leo looked at her.

   "Mm-hm." She nodded. "My momma forgot to tell me that yestherday was my firths day!" She said. Leo argued that she couldn't say some words because of her missing tooth. Leo didn't mind.

   "Well, wanna meet my friends? I met them yes-ter-day!" He slowly pronounced the last word. He was still learning English, even though his family can speak both English and Spanish.

   "Yeah! I wanna met them! Can you please tell me their names?" Natalie pleaded. Leo nodded and held up his pointer finger.

   "Wait for a little, 'kay?" He said.

   "Okay!" Natalie whispered.

___

   "Natalie! Do not do that! It's really bad!" Cody pleaded. Natalie stuck out her tongue and held up the red flag that she found in her dad's room. She thought that it was one of those props he used in movies.