BROTHER AND SISTER-143
COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER
Cassie stood in front of the mirror in their new apartment her father had bought for them, she watched as Aunt Carol fixed her hair with a purple hair bland. She wore her new clothes with her aunt had bought her, a dark purple cardigan, a lavender blouse and a new pair of jeans. Her feet were covered by the uncomfortable black flats that had already gave her blisters.
The school has a no boots or sneakers rule, which she thought was utterly ridiculous. She ever wore shoes like this before, only her tatty old boots that her big brother had found. But she had to admit that she looked decent in her new clothes, not going as far as aunt Carol who said she looked pretty.
"Okay, stop pouting. It's only for a few hours." Aunt Carol says, brushing her hair.
"Do I have to wear these shoes? My feet hurt and they gave me blisters." Cassie complained, shifting on her feet.
"If you want to wear Mary Janes like Jude or a mule, then I suggest you stick with the flats." Carol replied as she went over to Carl who was sitting at the table with RJ and Jude.
Cassie frowned, following her aunt. "What's a mule?"
"A shoe without a back. Shows your heel of your feet." The woman explained as she fixed Carl's rat-nest of curls.
Cassidy and Judith looked at each other and shivered at the thought. Cassie filled her bowl of cereal with milk. "No thanks. I'll stick with the flats."
Carol chuckled as she poured a bowl of cereal for Carl who eat it happily. "I'll have you bandaids to put on your heels. That will up with the pain and not making the blisters worse."
"Thanks, aunt Carol." The eight year old said with food in her mouth.
The woman shook her head at her niece before letting the kids eat their breakfast. Once they were done, she ushered them to get their backpacks and head out the door. It was raining as they walked to the school and once there, her, Carl, RJ, and Jude said goodbye to Carol before waking into the school.
Judith took RJ by the hand, saying a goodbye to her sister and baby brother and walked Jay to his class. The classes were combined, for example, Cassie is in fourth grade like RJ so their class is mixed with fifth grade. Judith is in seventh grade and her class is mixed with eighth graders. Carl is in kindergarten and shared with first grade.
As Cassie and Carl walked hand in hand to the kindergarten classroom, she spotted Harry down the hallway talking with a couple of his friends. She felt her heart speed up when he saw her, said something to his friends before walking towards her and Carl.
"Hey, Cassidy!" Harry grinned as he walked next to her. "Hi, Carl!"
"Hi, Harry." The siblings said together.
"Where are you going? Class is that way." He pointed behind them.
"Oh, uh, I walk C to his class everyday. He tends to get distracted easily." Cassie explained, squeezing her brother's hand.
Harry nodded in understanding. "That's cool. He's in Mrs. Smith's or Miss. Shelly's class? My sisters are in Miss. Shelly's class."
"Miss. Shelly's." She answered as they got the classroom. They were greeted by a young dark haired woman.
"Hello, Carl! It's good to see you today!" Miss. Shelly said, crouching down to her brother's level. "What kind of day do you think you'll have today? A good, a okay, or a bad day?"
Carl smiled brightly. "Good day, Miss. Shelly!"
"That's wonderful! Why don't you say goodbye to your sister and then take a seat at your desk?" The teacher said with the utmost patiences.
Carl hugged his sister, which she returned and headed inside his classroom where he was greeted by his friends. Cassie watched as Maeve and Maci hugged her brother and dragged him over to his seat without him freaking out.
Miss. Shelly was still crouching, looking right at her. The woman smiled, placing a hand on Cassie's shoulder. "He'll be okay, Cassidy."
"I know." Cassie says before the woman stood up and bid a goodbye before walking into her room.
Harry put his arm around her shoulders and steered her towards their classroom. "You really do care for you brother that much?"
"Yeah, I'll do anything for him." She replied.
When they made it to class, the decks were separated by grade, fourth grade on one side and fifth grade on other side. Harry dropped his arm, smiled at her and sat down at a deck on the fourth grade side. Cassie took the seat next to him so she was between him and RJ.
Their teacher, Mr. Oddman, an old man in his mid sixties with graying hair started his lesson on the planets and solar systems. A few hours later, Cassie, Harry, and RJ met with Jude and Mei for lunch in the cafeteria, all the grades had lunch together, expected for high schoolers.
Cassie sat at their table, anxiously waiting for Carl to arrive at the cafeteria but he never did. "I'm gonna find Carl, I'll be right back."
She get up and headed towards Miss. Shelly's classroom and hovered in the doorway, staring at the teacher. "Miss. Shelly?"
The woman looked up, startled before smiling. "Oh! Cassidy, I assume you're here about Carl?"
"Yeah, he never came to lunch. Is he here?" Cassie asked, looking around her brother.
"Yes, of course." Miss. Shelly stood up, waving the little girl to follow her. "He had a little hiccup when it was time to pack up and put away our books. He became very frustrated and didn't want to put his book."
Cassie scratched the back of her neck. "Oh, I'm sorry—"
"No, no, Cassidy. It's quite alright." The teacher stopped her. There was a gentle smile on her dark skinned woman. "I've noticed Carl seemed to be a very emotional expressive boy, which means—"
"I know what it means, Miss. Shelly." Cassie interrupted.
"You're a very smart girl, Cassidy. Now, I would like to set up a meeting with your father regarding Carl. I know the boy has ADHD which is a hard thing to deal with and Carl been having shown some signs of it. But there's also some other then that." Miss. Shelly said as they got to a door.
"Well, my dad is usually working during the week so is my older brother. They work for the army. My aunt is the one who does the school stuff." The little responses.
"What's your aunt's name?" The woman asked, opening door and revealing a reading nook with Carl in it.
"Carol." Cassidy said before waking over to her brother. "Hey, C."
Carl looked up at her and smiled. "Hi, Cassie."
"Whatcha reading?" She sat down next to him.
"A bad case of stripes." Her brother replied, holding out the book for his sister.
Cassie smiled. "I never read this one. Is it any good?"
"Yeah, I like it."
"Are you done reading it?" She dared to ask.
Carl didn't answer for a moment before he nodded and stood. "Yeah, can we go to lunch?"
"Sure, C." Cassidy nodded, standing up as well. She took his hand and lead him passed Miss. Shelly and towards the cafeteria.
At the end of the day, RJ, Carl, and Jude raced passed aunt Carol, sprinted towards the apartment. Cassidy and Carol went to follow them, but was stopped by Miss. Shelly who called out for Carol.
"Carol, right? I'm Miss. Shelly, Carl's teacher." The woman received a nod from Carol. "I would like to ask if you could please tell Mr. Dixon that I would like talk to him regarding Carl."
"What about Carl?" Carol asked, furrowing her brows.
"Oh, nothing bad. Just have a few things to talk about. If don't mind, asking him." Miss. Shelly says, smiling.
Carol nodded. "I'll let him know why I see him next."
"Thank you, kindly, Carol." The teacher said before walking about in it the school.
Carol and Cassidy looked at each other before the older woman says. "The woman is weird."
"Tell me about it." Cassie agreed as they started walking home.
***
HARRY WILLIAMS
(Skandar Keynes)