Chapter 167: First Day of School
Moana
A few weeks passed after that. With each passing day, Ella became more and more excited for school, and I was just as excited. After singing my paperwork and getting the keys to my classroom, I then spent the next few weeks leading up to the start of the school year preparing my lesson plans, stocking up on supplies, and cleaning out the abandoned art classroom.
On the morning of the first day of school, I woke up to Ella jumping on the bed and shouting.
“Moana! Daddy!” she shrieked excitedly, jumping up and down and jostling both of us out of our sleep. “Wake up! It’s the first day of school!”
I cracked my eyes open to see Ella standing above us with a wide grin on her face. Beside me, Edrick groaned slightly and finally sat up.
“Alright, alright,” he said, rubbing his eyes and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. “Come on. Let’s all have breakfast together before your first day of school.”
The night prior, I had already helped Ella pack her backpack and laid out her uniform. I had also packed my own bag filled with the things that I would need for the day, and set our bags out by the front door together. I had to admit that I felt a little nervous as I got dressed that morning, but I was also excited, and seeing Ella in her adorable little plaid uniform and Mary Janes made me smile.
After breakfast, it was time to go. Selina packed a lunch for both of us, and even gave Ella a little squeeze and a smile before sending us on our way. Edrick walked to school with us; once again, Ella walked between us and held each of our hands, and I felt like we were a little family once more. I hoped that this would become a tradition of ours.
As we arrived at the school, the front yard was bustling with the activity of the hordes of other little girls who were excited for their first day. The display ranged from preschool children who were crying and being carried in by their exhausted parents, all the way to bored high school students who just seemed happy to see their friends and to know that they would be graduating this year. Ella was clearly nervous, and clung to Edrick’s leg tightly as we walked up to the parent drop-off point.
“Daddy, I’m scared,” Ella whined, looking up at Edrick with big saucer eyes. “There are so many kids. And it’s loud.”
Edrick smiled and crouched down to her level. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and then held her firmly by both shoulders.
“You’re going to have a lot of fun,” he said. “I promise. And Moana will be here all day if you need her, and I’ll be waiting right here for you when the day is over. It’ll go by before you know it. Okay?”
Ella hesitantly nodded, sniffling a bit. Edrick planted a kiss on her cheek.
Almost as soon as he did that, it seemed that another group of little girls had already taken interest in Ella and were slowly inching their way toward us, fiddling nervously with their backpack straps.
“Um… What’s your name?” one of the little girls, a scrawny little thing with wispy blonde hair, said sheepishly.
“Ella,” Ella replied, her face turning red.
One of the other girls, a slightly bigger girl with brown hair and freckles, stepped out from behind the rest of the group and grinned widely. “I’m Stacie. Wanna play with us before school starts?”
Ella hesitated and looked up at Edrick. He nodded, and as though she had known these girls for her entire life, Ella took off toward the playground with them. I couldn’t help but laugh at how simple it was for children to make friends; I missed those days. By the end of the day, I was certain that she would be calling them all her best friends forever.
Finally, Edrick turned back to look at me and smiled.
“You sure you’ll be okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
“Just… Call me immediately if you start to feel sick or anything.”
I couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “Edrick, it’ll be okay,” I said, giving his arm a squeeze. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
Edrick nodded hesitantly. I gave him a little wave and turned to leave, but suddenly, I felt his hand on my arm. He pulled me back, turning me to face him so that I could see the worried look in his eyes.
And then… He kissed my forehead, making my face turn beet red.
“Be careful,” he whispered, taking a step back and releasing me. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and without another word, he walked away and left me standing there with a racing heart and butterflies in my stomach.
…
Once the bell rang, all of the students lined up to go inside. Ella was still with her group of little friends, which made me feel a bit relieved, and I made my way up to my classroom as the teachers began to march their students through the hallways for homeroom. I noticed that quite a few kids, of all ages, were giving me strange looks; but I just waved and smiled, and unlocked my classroom door.
I still had some time before my first class would begin, so after I settled in a bit I made my way over to the faculty lounge for some coffee. There were a couple of other teachers in there; the music teacher, whose name was Jeff, and one of the science teachers, Deborah. I had already bumped into them a couple of times over the summer, and so we exchanged brief pleasantries before I scurried back to my classroom to get ready for my first lesson.
It didn’t take long before the first class came in; and, much to Ella’s surprise — although I already knew, and was looking forward to seeing her smile throughout my first class — it was her third grade class.
“Good morning, everyone,” I said as the students filed in with their teacher standing in the doorway. “I’m Miss Fowler, but you can call me Moana. Sit anywhere you like.”
As the kids hurried around to pick their seats, I stood up at the front and waited patiently. I had set up the desks in a semicircle around the room to make the atmosphere more welcoming, and there was a carpet on the floor in the middle with cushions that I would let the students sit on if they wanted. Almost immediately, Ella and several other girls beelined for the cushions. The other girls got their first, and almost shoved Ella out of the way in the process.
“Hey!” Ella said, frowning. “You pushed me!”
“You should sit in the back, half-blood,” one of the little girls snarled. She was a little girl who was taller than the rest, with ginger hair and blue eyes. Her face was pointed, like a little fox, and she had a bit of a nasty look to her.
My eyes widened. I opened my mouth to say something with the intention of shutting that sort of nastiness down immediately, but before I could, Ella folded her arms and puffed her chest out.
“You know…”
