| March 22nd | Friday Afternoon |
~ Megan's POV ~
As I sat at my desk, I listened to my class scribble away on their end-of-the-week quiz. It wasn't much. Just a little something I had come up with to gage where we were as a class after Spring break. My eyes quickly scanned the room.
Sara seemed to be finished already as her head was now resting in her arms, her face turned to me. When she caught my gaze, she smiled. I smiled back. Eli was nearly done. Actually, it looked as if most of them were done and just waiting for me to announce it was time to get ready to leave for the day.
That's when I heard quiet whispering. My eyes switched to Ashton and Ava who were silently talking to each other.
"Girls," I warned.
Ashton and Ava fell silent as Ashton hesitantly flipped her quiz over and threw Ava a sorry look. I didn't want to believe that they had been attempting to cheat, but by the looks of it, that's exactly what they were trying to do. Ava buried her nose back into her quiz she seemed to be struggling with.
I made notes in my grade book as I realized Ava hadn't completed any homework this week. It was disappointing, but not unfamiliar. I had sent notes home with her, but doubted if Lisa, her guardian, had even looked at them, much less taken them into consideration. It was clear the girl needed help, perhaps a tutor or something, but the hope that Lisa would provide was far-fetched. The frustration overcame me.
After checking the time, I realized we only had a few minutes until the dismissal bell. Ava still wasn't finished with her quiz. She was the only one.
"Ava," I called out.
She self-consciously looked up and my heart stretched.
"Are you almost finished with your quiz?"
"Y-Yes ma'am," she stuttered.
I watched her stare at the questions with a strained look on her face before inevitably guessing and flipping the quiz over on her desk. The she buried her head in her folded arms.
"Can the desk leaders collect everyone's test – face down – and bring them to me, please?" I asked. "The rest of you may start packing up to leave."
The room was now loud with the bustling of movement as students readied to head home for the weekend. I accepted the quizzes and thanked my students before readying to escort them out.
I was on carpool duty today, which meant standing outside in the growing Florida heat while I waited for the kids to be picked up. Most days I didn't mind, especially since Ava was getting picked up on time now. After dropping off my bus riders, I headed to the carpool area.
Students trickled away as I directed them into their designated cars. Some of them told me bye, some told me to have a good weekend. It warmed my heart knowing a lot of these students not only looked up to me but felt a trusting connection.
Eventually it was me and two more students. Ava, and a little boy from Ethan's class that I couldn't quite remember what his name was. Then, a car approached the line as the little boy grew excited. He jumped in the car and told us goodbye. Then, it was just two.
Lisa had been on time for months. It was strange now for her to be late. I walked over to Ava who was distracting herself with another book I had allowed her to borrow from my classroom selection.
"How are you liking the book?" I asked as I sat next to her.
She looked up at me through the tangles in her long brown hair. Those eyes only ever really lit up when she was talking to me or reading a book. Of course, she had also come out of her shell quite a bit this year. She participated more in class and seemed to be making friends now.
"It's so good Ms. Adams," she raved.
Her excitement made me smile. She didn't know this, but the book she was reading was a few grade-levels above where she should be. Her reading and comprehension skills were through the roof when it came to only being in third grade. Now, if we could get her other skills to the same level, I wouldn't be so worried.
I checked my watch and decided we would wait in my classroom again. Ava followed me quickly to the air-conditioned room. While we waited, I started grading the quizzes they had taken earlier.
Ava's was pulled first, and not by accident, as I started looking over her answers. They weren't good. At all. I knew she had failed the quiz just by a glance, which made me wonder if she had retained anything we learned in class this week. It was clear she knew some things, but without doing the homework I had assigned this week, there was a lot of information she wasn't remembering.
"Ava would you like to go over your quiz you took earlier?" I asked.
She stopped reading for a minute to look at me. This worried look crossed her face, almost like she was disappointed in herself.
"No...?" she answered hesitantly.
I gave her a smile as I suppressed a laugh. Sometimes her wit gets me, I thought. Reminds me of Sam, sometimes. I grabbed her quiz and walked over to her, taking Ashton's empty seat.
"I think we should go over it together," I advised, no longer giving her the choice.
"Okay."
We had gotten through the entire quiz before Lisa showed up at my door. She scrambled to explain why she was late, but it was hard for me to believe her. Of course, I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but found it difficult.
And when she left with Ava, I thought that was that. A bad day wedged into a streak of good ones. I left for the day and didn't think about it for the entire weekend. Then, when we returned to class the following week, she was late picking up Ava again on Monday.
And then late again on Tuesday.
Then Wednesday and Thursday.
By Friday, I had decided that if Lisa was late again, I would need to schedule a conference with her. Sam had been warned Friday morning before I left for school that I possibly wouldn't be home in time to see her off to work, which she accepted in a sleepy state.
Friday classes proceeded like normal. Ava was unusually quiet the entire time. I didn't like how Lisa being late and her having to stay at school made her self-conscious. It was clear it bothered her, but what could she do? Tell Lisa she didn't appreciate being picked up way later than the rest of her classmates because it wasn't fair? Lisa would probably tell her to suck it up and that life wasn't fair.
As predicted, Lisa was late picking up Ava Friday afternoon. Again. This was the first time she had been late for a week straight.
"Ava," I called to her. "Let's go wait in class."
As we walked back, I contemplated the necessary path of action I should take. I could tell the principal, or the social worker, but being that Ava was a foster child, I was worried how that would affect her life at home if anything came of it.
I could have a parent-teacher conference with Lisa, but that's even if she agreed to show up for it. Yeah, I could do that. And if she did fail to show up to the meeting, then I would have no choice but to go to my uppers for a solution.
I just hated that Ava would inevitably be the one affected.
The only good thing about Ava being picked up late this entire week was the fact that I had been able to help her complete her homework while we waited. It was clear she understood the material. She was a very bright little girl. She just needed the extra affirmation the homework provided.
Her grades this week had even gone up in result.
"I'm sorry Lisa's always late, Ms. Adams," Ava apologized as she doodled in her notebook. "She's just sad now that Jason's gone."
My eyes popped up from my work that was scattered over Ashton's desk. I usually sat next to Ava after school now to help her do homework, but since she didn't have any to do today, I decided to sit next to her for company while I did mine.
The good part of me told me not to pry. It was manipulative to ask Ava more about her home life, wasn't it? I mean, she was just a child. She knew no better. And I bet if Lisa found out she had revealed personal things to me, she would be in a massive amount of trouble.
So, I didn't press her on who Jason was or why Lisa was sad he had left.
"It's okay to be sad when people leave," I answered.
"I was sad when my mom left." She continued to doodle. "Lisa told me my mom didn't want to leave, but that she had to."
I knew absolutely nothing about Ava's past, which made me worry that saying anything back would only confuse or hurt her. I had no idea where her mom was or why she had been arrested. I knew nothing, so I refused to comment on Ava's birth mother.
"When my little sister left me, I was sad too," I said. "But when I feel sad, I think about all the good times we had together."
Ava just stared at me. It felt like I was walking on eggshells. The last thing I wanted to do was say the wrong thing, but I had never navigated something this delicate before.
"When you're sad about your mom..." I started. "What makes you not sad?"
She seemed to ponder the question. I was afraid to say the wrong thing. I knew if I did, it could certainly come back and bite me in the ass. I could get in serious trouble for it, too. What I was doing wasn't necessarily right, and I knew that.
"I read books and pretend that I'm the characters."
My heart sank and I realized, Ava might not have any good memories of her mother. She was so young, and I had no idea when she had been shoved into the foster system. I had no idea if she even remembered anything about her mother other than the fact that she had left her.
"It looks like you're almost done with that book," I observed while swallowing the lump in my throat. "Why don't you go pick out another one in case you finish the one you're reading before Monday?"
"You mean, I can take two books home?" she asked excitedly.
I just gave her a smile and a nod before she ran off to the bookshelf.
"I'm so sorry," I heard from the door. "I tried to get here on time, I just..."
I looked up at Lisa and then back at Ava.
"You just keep looking for a book, okay?" I instructed.
She just nodded.
I stood and made my way to the door, shutting it quietly behind me as I confronted Lisa. She was distraught, but there were no signs of her being under the influence. At least, not that I could see. She looked worn and tired. She also looked sad, just like Ava had told me.
"Lisa, if you continue being late like this..." I started. "I'll have to go to my principal, and she's gonna go to our counselor-"
"No. Please," she begged. "Don't. I can be on time. I just... I got this new job and..."
The exhaustion on her face proved to be too much for me to remain calloused. Maybe I should hear her out, but not here. We could have a meeting, just her and I.
"Listen," I started. "How about we have a parent-teacher conference and you can explain everything to me. Then, we can go from there."
She seemed to accept the conference with grace, which was something I hadn't expected. We agreed on April 8th as long as she promised to pick Ava up on time next week. She promised she would be on time and at the meeting in a few weeks.
Once they were gone, I headed home with a head full of thoughts on what I would say to her. I had no idea what Lisa was even going to come out with. Ava's confession in class continued to play in my head as I tried to figure it out.
By the time I got home, I had a plan, or at least bits and pieces of a plan. It wasn't full proof, but really, I also just wanted to run it by Sam and see what she thought about it. She wouldn't be home until late tonight though, so I would have to wait up for her.
Hopefully she wasn't too tired when she got off, because I needed her thoughts on the matter. So, I distracted myself with work and TV while I waited for her to walk through the door.
***A/N***
My days blur together so much at this point I forgot it was Tuesday. Here's another update. Hope you all enjoyed it. Oh, and watch "The Half of It" on Netflix. It's great.
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Lauryn