Kimmy was the last downstairs when everyone else was already in the truck. She couldn't even go downstairs to eat breakfast. Not because of her usual nervousness of going to school, but facing not only Mary, and even Miguel, as well. It took both Ben and Claudia each to coax her out of the room and downstairs. It took baby steps and holding onto the wall, as well, as if she was walking through a haunted house with ghosts who could pop out anywhere.
Normally, there would be a consequence for making everyone else late in the morning, but Ben assured he was giving her a pass for now. Despite how understanding he was with her, Kimmy felt an unease that wasn't how he actually felt and did not believe him.
Once she got outside, she froze when her gaze landed on Miguel first.
To her surprise, Mary no longer wanted to do anything to her and things seemed to be as it had always been. But Kimmy still felt a shockwave come over her as she climbed in and had to sidle in front of Miguel's legs to sit between him and Claudia. Mary's urgency also was no help, whom was on Ben's side, did not want to be late.
Miguel also did not act upset with her and had even tried to move his legs out of the way while she was sidling by him. He did not sound hostile towards her and even held the seat belt fastener for her when Kimmy pulled the seat belt across her front after Ben reminded her.
The ride to school was spent in silence, except for a morning radio program. Kimmy stared at the floorboards at her feet to avoid eye contact with pretty much everyone except Claudia, who, at one point, asked if she was doing okay. Kimmy lifted her gaze at the older girl to nod her head, stiffly.
Kimmy sat hunched over halfway on the seat when her gaze glanced up at Ben, who asked the older girls why they liked listening to and watching stuff with a whole lot of drama. Apparently, it was another "girl thing" he knew nothing about. Even to Kimmy, it sounded stupid.
It was a relief Mary and Kimmy were dropped off first.
By now, Kimmy was familiar where her class was. Even though it was still early enough to head to the playground first, or even grab breakfast from the cafeteria, Kimmy headed for her classroom instead. She sat at the same table she had sat on her first day and slipped off her backpack to pull out the book Kimmy had borrowed.
She barely read half a page when Kimmy heard Mr. O'Reilly call her name. She flinched, twisting around in her seat to see him half in the doorway. He offered to let her come inside now if she wanted to.
"Good morning," Mr. O'Reilly greeted, holding his hand up with the palm facing her for the usual morning high five.
Kimmy timidly returned it, briefly halting so she wouldn't miss.
Mr. O'Reilly slowly let the heavy metal door close behind him. "How was your weekend?" he asked, genuinely interested. At least more than other teachers she had before.
Kimmy shrugged.
Mr. O'Reilly gave her a warm smile. "That good, huh?" It was probably meant as a playful jab at the way she responded, but Kimmy wasn't sure. He offered her a granola bar if she was hungry.
Kimmy accepted it when he held it out to her while she was taking out her pencil box from her backpack. While opening the notebook Mr. O'Reilly had already passed back to the students, he kneeled beside her desk.
"You know, I've been giving it some thought over the weekend. I noticed you still haven't been writing much in your journal. I have spoken with Ben about it and understand things have been difficult lately with the crazy transitions you've had to experience these last few months."
Boy, he did not know the half of it.
"I just want you to know, I don't grade on what you write. I only grade on participation. There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to the journal prompts. I just want to hear your thoughts. I won't share what you write with anyone else. In fact, if it would help, you can write at the top if you want me to read it or not, and if not, I will mark that it's done and move on. At least with the personal topics about you. I'd still would like to see your thoughts regarding the week's chapter. Sound like a deal?"
Kimmy lifted her gaze from her backpack to finally meet his. Holding it for a moment, she timidly nodded.
"Alright." Mr. O'Reilly stood up, tapping the front corner of her desk playfully and let her get started. To her surprise, he complimented her backpack, thinking it was a show his younger sister watched in middle and high school, and could even name it. He wasn't completely sure of the name of the show and Kimmy wished she could let him know he got it right. She just quietly closed her backpack and slung it on the back of her chair while Mr. O'Reilly walked back to his own desk.
Facing forward, Kimmy peered up at the whiteboard to read the morning's prompt. Mr. O'Reilly didn't always do a weekend prompt, but sometimes he would ask either on Friday or Monday what kind of plans or adventures were in store for them, and even included in parentheses any video game adventures for the gamers. Or even readers. Kimmy would have shared her adventures in her Minecraft world, but she still hadn't been able to play some more. Whether it was because someone was watching TV or Kimmy didn't know how to ask. Though, once she found Ben and Miguel playing the Wii. But since they were playing a bowling game, Kimmy declined when Ben had offered to let her join.
Kimmy's family never had a Wii. She only had memories of watching Stella playing the Xbox, and after watching YouTube for a while, the Switch was the first console Kimmy owned herself. She was aware of older consoles from Stephen and his pals, and eventually the Switch started adding a lot of the old games included in the online package. So, one by one, Kimmy was getting the chance to play the games long before her time, including the game that helped Stephen meet his wife and a lot of his friends.
The easy part was copying the prompt onto the blank page in her notebook. The hard part was still deciding what to write. How did she know Mr. O'Reilly would keep his word, anyway? That could have been a trick to get her to write. She had no reason to trust the guy any more than she trusted Ben.
She thought about the weekend. There was always Friday night where the weekend had started off better than how it ended. Stephen and Mal had played one of those horror games where their choices mattered and result in a character's death. They passed around the controller with their friends when their character was up. The game was chosen since October was the month of Halloween. Even though the game played like one of those teenage summer camp horror movies, it wasn't scary to Kimmy in the slightest. Even when she shut off the light, since Claudia was downstairs watching an actual movie with everyone else. She was glad Kayla had brought up a bowl of popcorn for her while Stephen and his friends were on break, remembering Ben's reaction to her watching what he thought was a scary Zelda game.
Kimmy was about to write about Friday night when Sunday afternoon suddenly came rushing back. Even though everyone else seemed to have moved past it, the events still played in her mind, over and over. Kayla had checked in with her at bedtime, how she was doing and if she was ready to talk about what happened. Kimmy had flinched when the lady had come into the room. Like before, nothing happened. Instead, she reassured Kimmy they weren't taking away tablet privileges to be mean. But, they took harming others very seriously.
Kimmy stole a glance up at Mr. O'Reilly, who had his laptop open on his desk.
He noticed her staring at him. "Do you have a question, Kimmy?"
She quickly switched back to her notebook.
The morning bell was heard over the intercom while Kimmy was debating what to write about. Mr. O'Reilly got up to go hold the door open for the rest of the class. That shockwave returned when her classmates entered the classroom and saw she was already there and settled.
She watched them walk in and head to their seats. Any time Kimmy noticed someone enter the classroom, her attention switched to them. Most smiled and waved, while others either paid her no mind or just stared back for a second.
Lucy stopped by Kimmy's desk, waving while coming over. "Hey, Kimmy. Want to sit together at art?"
Kimmy shrugged.
Lucy took the shrug as a yes. She then asked how Kimmy's weekend was and shared about hers until Mr. O'Reilly came back into the classroom and told her to take her seat.
Kimmy focused on writing once more, still going back and forth about which event to write about. In the end, she decided to write about Friday night, since it seemed like the safest. She didn't want Mr. O'Reilly thinking she was a bad kid.
Since it was October, the art projects in their art special for the month were Halloween themed. This week, Kimmy's class colored a silhouette of a haunted house at night scene, with Crayola oil pastels. Kimmy drew her haunted house with a tall tower that went off the top of the page and crows perched on the railing surrounding the roof. The problem was the same as her first day. She took so much time drawing it out first, Kimmy wasn't able to finish coloring, which the art teacher told her she needed to start picking up the pace.
Math and lunch were next.
Mr. O'Reilly made sure to check in with Kimmy after he's done with the lesson to make sure she understood the material, and would help walk her through the first few problems of the class work, along with the other students. But he noticed Kimmy had the most difficulty when she hadn't done any of the work. He let her take her time and patiently went over the steps for each problem. He would ask if she was taught something yet or if she remembered something from her previous school, and if the answer was no, he would teach or re-teach it.
It was this reason where it seemed none of the other kids rarely gave Mr. O' Reilly trouble. At her old school, kids got out of control, threw things, whatever that earned them a detention. But, here, everyone was friendly and helpful. Sure, Mr. O' Reilly had to give them a warning now and then, but nothing further escalated from there. In fact, there wasn't any bullying either. Everyone was nice to each other.
Social studies were after lunch, followed by afternoon recess. Why recess at this school was in the afternoon was any wonder to Kimmy when it had always been in the morning.
Regardless, Kimmy spent recess on the swings.
Lucy usually would swing with her. The other girl seemed the nicest. She asked questions the first week, including why Kimmy wasn't talking back to her. Kimmy had learned to ignore those kinds of questions, and eventually, like she's learned to do with Miguel, just let Lucy go on and on about whatever she wanted. Today's topic was a Star Wars series Kimmy hadn't seen and wouldn't be able to contribute to the conversation, even if she could speak.
Kimmy stood up with the swing to back up before carefully shooting forward. She didn't go as fast as she would like, afraid to bump into Lucy.
"Don't you ever swing upright?" Lucy asked, watching Kimmy swing back and forth on her stomach.
Kimmy pumped at the ground, kicking some sand in the air to keep the momentum going.
About that time, a group of girls came over and asked if Kimmy and Lucy wanted to play a game with them.
Kimmy stopped when the girls stopped in front of her swing. She stared at them while Lucy jumped up in excitement.
"Come on, Kimmy," Lucy urged, but Kimmy stayed there. She would have liked to join in with the other girls. From personal experience, it just wouldn't work out. There wouldn't be anything in common, and Kimmy was usually a tree in any kind of activity. She didn't want to hold Lucy back if she wanted to go play with them.
Lucy continued to get Kimmy to go play with the other girls, though.
Eventually, the girls just told Lucy to come play with them, turning away from Kimmy.
Kimmy noticed Lucy was hesitant about it, looking between them and her. To help make the decision easier, Kimmy turned and walked away so Lucy would choose them. It usually made her look like she didn't want to play with either of them and kids in the past who had tried to befriend her never talked to her again.
She heard Lucy ask, "Where are you going?"
Kimmy kept on walking.
When she was across the playground, Kimmy looked back to see Lucy had gone with the other girls. It was just easier to be alone than let somebody get close. Especially when she hoped Stella finished what she was being told to do soon and Kimmy and Zach could return home.
When the whistle was blown and Kimmy lined up with her class, she crossed paths with Lucy, who asked why she walked away. Kimmy just shrugged, keeping her hands in the pockets of her shorts.
It turned out Lucy was forgiving, and it was as if nothing had happened, because the whole way back to the classroom, she talked about the game the girls had played. Kimmy silently listened while watching the ground in front of her. It was some kind of hide and seek tag game where everyone was a unicorn for some reason.
The last thirty minutes of class were spent packing up for the day and picking up around the classroom. Mr. O'Reilly also passed out the daily progress reports for the kids to take home to their parents and reminded them Thursday and Friday were half days for parent/teacher conferences. That was something Stella never went to due to always having to work and would tell Kimmy to ask the teacher to send it home with her. She tried and made it as far as the teacher's desk, but could not form the words needed to ask. Besides, the teacher eventually would pass out report cards the following week for all the kids whose parents couldn't make it. Thus, the stress the anxiety caused would be for nothing.
Kimmy wondered if Ben or Kayla would go. After all, Ben has taken her to those doctors appointments and both of them have taken her shopping. Not to mention, Ben did say he would be the one going to all that stuff and apparently been communicating with Mr. O'Reilly already.
Upon realizing someone would actually show up to a parent/teacher conference, for some reason, made Kimmy feel those butterflies in her stomach. Not that her teachers never met Stella. Usually, when her mom picked her up from school, Kimmy's teachers would meet with Stella. But in the last year or so, Kimmy had begun walking to and from school herself. In fact, she wished she still could instead of having to sit in a crowded back seat and take her time getting there.
When the last bell of the day was heard over the intercom, Mr. O'Reilly released the class, holding the door open as he does in the morning, to wish them a great evening.
Kimmy stood back while the class piled out the door first before heading to the front of the school to wait by the flagpole. That was where Mary suggested they meet to wait for Ben.
While she made her way through the crowded outdoor hallways, she stepped off the cement walkway and onto the grass to avoid other kids. That's when Kimmy heard Lucy behind her.
"Kimmy, wait up!" The other girl hurried over, her pink and purple backpack shaking from side to side.
Kimmy stopped. Usually she would want to get to the front of the school as fast as possible. Now, she actually wanted to prolong going back to the house for as long as possible. If anything, the school day went by way too fast this time. Why did time seem to do that? Go slow when she wants it to go fast, but when she wants time to go slow, that's when it goes by fast.
Lucy caught up, and the girls walked together to the front of the school. Having not known Kimmy was meeting someone at the flagpole, Lucy wanted her to come with her where she waits for her mom. It was fine for a while until the girls got to the front of the school. But when Kimmy went the opposite way than Lucy, the girl tried once more to persuade her to come with her.
Kimmy paused and looked back at Lucy when she asked to come with her. This was one of those times she desperately wished she could speak. Her heart raced once more, and she kept looking between the only kid in her class who has stayed this long without giving up and the flagpole, torn on what to do.
Lucy even came over and tried to take her by the hand this time, but Kimmy impulsively pulled away. "Why won't you come with me? I want you to meet my mom." She sounded hurt as Lucy stared at her with a frown.
Kimmy felt the guilt fill up in her heart. She had hurt Miguel the day before, and now she was basically hurting Lucy. Maybe not with a real rock, but this time with an imaginary rock.
To her relief, Mary came over with her two friends, Abby and Jordyn, despite still being terrified of her. But Mary still greeted Kimmy as she had been doing, asking how her day was.
Lucy spoke up, interrupting Mary. "You know Kimmy?" she asked the older girl.
"Yeah, she's my foster sister." Foster sister? Kimmy hadn't heard that from Mary. Or anyone, for that matter. She understood Mary and Miguel were brother and sister. Kimmy didn't know she and Mary were anything but two kids having to live together. Like roommates or something.
"You're sisters?" Lucy blinked in confusion, probably noticing the difference in their skin color.
"Sort of." Mary then explained to Lucy they were temporarily living together until they could go back with family. Practically like the book Kayla read to Kimmy and Miguel said.
Hearing Lucy find out she was a "foster kid" and not living with her mom made Kimmy shrink further into herself. She didn't want the other kids knowing that. She was already considered "the weird, quiet one" wherever school she goes. Kimmy didn't want to be known as the "weird, quiet foster kid with no family" as well.
"Oh, okay," Lucy said afterwards when Mary was done.
Kimmy flinched her head towards Lucy's acceptance.
"Well, Kimmy and I were gonna go wait over there for my mom so she could meet her."
Kimmy worriedly glanced over to the line of cars waiting for their kids. She heard Mary explain they were waiting for their foster dad as well when Kimmy spotted Ben's truck pull up behind the last car in line and began walking over.
The kid was persistent because she ran after Kimmy, shouting "Wait!" like that bird girl from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Mary had followed as well. When she opened the door to the back seat, Lucy called to Ben, waving hello and introduced herself.
"Hi, Lucy," Ben returned with a wave as well.
She then immediately asked, "Can Kimmy come meet my mom, and maybe come over to my house?"
Kimmy froze as she was climbing into the truck and dropped on the seat like the rocks she's been throwing. Had she heard correctly? Lucy wanted her to come over to her house? Nobody else had ever said that.
She heard Ben ask if her mom was there already.
Lucy shook her head. "Not yet, but she will be soon. Please?"
Ben looked over at the time on the small radio screen. If Lucy's mom was coming soon, he told her to let him park so he could meet her mom as well and told Mary to close the door. Ben then backed up and moved over to the closest spot to park. Once he slid out, Ben opened Miguel's door to let Kimmy out again, who was still in shock. It took a minute before she undid her seat belt and sidled past Miguel, whom she still couldn't fully look at him.
"Wait here," Ben told the others, leaving the truck running, so they had cool air. While they crossed between the slow-moving cars, he playfully nudged her, pointing out Kimmy had made a friend.
Kimmy only shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. Despite the invitation, she was still skeptical how long this friendship would last. So far, the topic of video games hadn't come up yet, even though she had worn shirts with video game characters. That was the only thing Kimmy was most confident about, and she didn't like the idea of playing with dolls.
Her thoughts were interrupted when they stepped onto the curb and Lucy asked Ben, "Mary says they're foster sisters, so are you their foster dad?"
Ben proudly confirmed it.
"But you're not actually her dad?" She said, as if to piece everything together.
He shook her head. "Nope. We're just providing them with a home for a little while."
"So, Kimmy won't go to this school for long?"
This time, Ben shrugged. "However long it takes." He admitted there was no set timeframe for how long Kimmy would be staying with them, much to Kimmy's liking. She was probably the one who wanted to know the most, of course.
Lucy's mom arrived shortly, like Lucy had said. She lowered the passenger side window, which Lucy excitedly introduced Kimmy, and asked if she could come over. Ben also introduced himself and explained the same process as Miguel and his playdate with Hayden.
"It's a safety thing we are encouraged to do as foster parents," he said.
"I understand," Lucy's mom nodded, and the adults exchanged contact information to set something up for a later time. "Lucy's been telling me all about you, Kimmy."
Kimmy glanced up at the lady through the open window, standing further back than Ben and Lucy. Something about her made Kimmy feel intimidated, remembering another lady similar to Lucy's mom at the group home.
Since Lucy's mom was holding up the line, she and Ben wrapped things up there, and he and Kimmy headed back to the truck. Ben opened the door and Kimmy climbed in and sidled past Miguel once more.
"Is Kimmy gonna have a playdate like me and Hayden?" Miguel asked while Ben climbed into his seat and shut his door.
"Seems that way, kiddo." Kimmy looked up from fastening her seat belt just as Ben switched his gaze over to her and gave her a smile.
Kimmy quickly looked away at the floor. She wasn't sure what to make of finally being invited to somebody's house. After being jealous of Miguel and throwing a rock at him, she didn't feel like she deserved it. Even though this was what Kimmy wanted. Soon, guilt came over her as she thought back to what she had done.