Elora is 6
Elora
I
clung to Duke’s leg as we walked into the noisy room. Hiding behind him, I kept my fists clenched tightly around his jeans. There had to be a hundred kids here, all screaming and running around like wild animals. I wanted to go home, but I promised Duke that I would at least try this whole kindergarten thing.
When he told me about school, he made it sound like a dream. He said there would be games, counting, and more friends than I could ever imagine. Standing here in this nuthouse, I couldn’t help except feel overwhelmed. Duke was my bestest friend in the whole world, and I didn’t need any other friends besides him.
A tall woman approached us, and Duke gave her a warm smile before returning his focus to me. The unfamiliar lady returned his toothy grin before giving me one as well. Her teeth were white and shiny but not nearly as polished as the men I lived with; not as pointy either.
She crouched before me, making me squeeze Duke’s pants again while he ran his fingers through my hair. He was always best at calming me down. “Hello, my name is Mrs. Beth. I’ll be your kindergarten teacher,” she said in a friendly voice. “You must be Elora, right?”
I shyly looked down, not wanting to talk to her. She seemed kind, but Eugene always told me not to talk to strangers.
Duke kneeled down, and I gripped his arm tightly. “I want to go home,” I mumbled, knowing he heard me. He could always hear me, no matter how far away I was.
“We can’t go home yet,” he replied with a soft smile before turning to look at Mrs. Beth. “She’s just a bit shy. She’ll warm up in no time.”
“That’s completely normal.” Mrs. Beth replied with a nod before focusing her attention back on me. With a smile of her own, she asked me what activities I liked to do for fun. “What kind of games do you like to play, Elora?”
I looked up at Duke, waiting for him to answer her.
Chuckling, he encouraged me to answer on my own. “You know what games you like. Tell her about that card game you and Theo play.”
“Go Fish,” I answered, peering up at the teacher.
Mrs. Beth widened her eyes. “Really?! That’s a great game,” she replied with a grin and a wink, causing me to smile in return. “You know what–we are actually going to play a few games this morning so we can all get to know each other. I think one of the games we are playing is Go Fish.”
“They’re playing my favorite game,” I whispered excitedly as I looked at Duke. Despite my sudden delight, I was still nervous about joining all those kids in that room.
He grinned. “That sounds fun, doesn’t it?”
Mrs. Beth looked at me as she stood and began leading us further into the room. “Let me show you your desk so we can get started on those games.”
“Are you excited, Elora?” Duke implored as he rubbed my arm, only letting go to point towards Mrs. Beth. She was pulling out a small chair that was placed in a square with three other little desks. “Look at that desk– that’s all yours.”
“I do like that I don’t have to share,” I whispered, eyeing my new workstation.
Duke laughed, standing up to his full height (that seemed to tower over everyone else in the room). “I know you do. Alright, I will be over there with all the other grown-ups while you go have some fun, okay?”
Still unsure, I murmured. “It’s scary.”
“It’s not scary,” he responded with a sad smile. Kneeling once more, he turned me so that I was fully facing the classroom. “Look around and tell me what you see–”
“Madness.” I interrupted without hesitation.
“Well, I see a bunch of kids who are looking for friends–who are just as nervous as you are,” Duke commented with a sigh before gesturing towards the tiny desks. “Look at that little girl sitting at the desk beside yours.”
The girl seemed shy, sitting alone with nothing except her dark curls to entertain her. “She looks nice,” I conceded.
“Why don’t you go say hi?” He suggested.
I nodded, deciding she looked less crazy than the other kids here. Still nervous, I glanced back at Duke for comfort while I sauntered toward my desk. Each time I glanced back at him, he gave me the same encouraging smile and nod.
As I slid into my chair, I peeked at the girl, noticing her shirt had a pink butterfly on it. “I like your shirt,” I muttered, my heart pounding in hopes she didn’t think I was weird.
She looked down at her outfit and smiled. “Thanks, I picked it all by myself,” she said proudly.
“Really?” I giggled, “Duke picks my outfits for me.” He always dressed me in cute outfits, but only after asking what color I felt like wearing that day.
“That’s not what big girls do. My mommy said big girls dress themselves,” she began while eyeing my outfit. “I’m Willow. What’s your name?”
I shrunk in my seat, confused by what she meant. Eugene taught me how to count to twenty, and I knew all my letters. Those were big girl things…right?
“Elora,” I answered.
“Alright! It looks like everyone has found their seats,” Mrs. Beth announced. “We’re going to play a few learning games today. How does that sound?”
The class got loud again, but I stayed quiet.
“Good! As we play our games, the grown-ups are going to leave for a few hours, and they’ll come back when we’re done,” she smiled, but her words horrified me.
Looking back at Duke, I knew he wouldn’t leave me. It didn’t matter what the teacher said–he wouldn’t do that. “Don’t go,” I whispered anyway. He looked sad for a second before he gave me another reassuring smile.
The adults who were standing at the back of the class started walking out the door, and Duke followed them.
Once the door was shut, I noticed that I wasn’t the only one worried. A few kids were crying, and someone even wailed.
Jeez, they didn’t even have Dukes. What were they so worked up about?
None of their adults could compare to mine. It made me feel better knowing that as scared as I was, at least I wasn’t throwing a fit. I was a big girl, and I would keep my promise that I’d try kindergarten.
 |
Kindergarten wasn’t so horrible. The first few hours went by fast, mostly because I was just thinking about Duke coming back and saving me from this place. However, after a few matching games, I started having fun. Mrs. Beth drew an awful drawing of a stick woman on the whiteboard.
She drew arrows to the triangle dress the stick lady wore as well as to its hair, skin, fingers, and eyes.
“Alright, this next game is going to be about our colors and numbers,” our teacher began. “Can anyone tell me how many eyes we have?”
“Two!” Someone shouted.
“That’s right! Great job,” Mrs. Beth gushed. “Now, can anyone tell me what colors our eyes can be? Any guesses?”
“Brown!”
“Green!”
“Blue!”
It got quiet momentarily while I waited for someone to shout out the prettiest one. I took a breath as I looked around the room. No one was saying it, so I guess I probably should. Saying the first words I’d spoken in class all day, I called out: “Red!”
A few kids snickered, and I blushed, feeling embarrassed.
Mrs. Beth was quick to hush them before smiling kindly in my direction. “Red is a good color, Elora. But only albino people have red eyes, good thinking.”
“No… a lot of people have red eyes,” I insisted with furrowed eyebrows. Basically, everyone I knew had pretty red eyes.
“Mrs. Beth, she’s lying!” A little girl screeched as she pointed at me. “I’m not lying!” I defended myself.
Quieting the class once again, Mrs. Beth returned her attention to me, though her smile wasn’t as friendly this time.
“There’s nothing wrong with playing make-believe. In school, we’re here to learn and tell the truth. So, no more funny colors,” she reprimanded gently.
“But–”
“Can anyone tell me what hair colors we can have?” The teacher interrupted and ignored me, intent on changing the subject.
I lowered my head, pouting in my seat and not understanding why they called me a liar. I knew I was right.
|
Duke and I walked through the front door of our house. After an enjoyable first day of school, I was happy to be home. He got me ice cream as an apology for leaving. He also said that adults couldn’t go to kindergarten–that it wasn’t allowed, and they had to do other things.
I didn’t like that. Duke could sit at the desk next to mine for all I cared. Theo grinned when he saw me and scooped me into his arms. “Hey,
kiddo! How was school?” He asked while trying to steal a bite of my ice cream.
I shrugged as I tried to keep my treat away from his open mouth. “It was okay. Wanna go with me tomorrow? You can sit next to me and play games,” I invited.
“Yes, Theo,” Eugene taunted. “Please go back to kindergarten.”
Sitting me down on his lap, Theo and I joined everyone else in the dining room–even Lucifer.
Theo shot Eugene a look before smiling at me. “You know I would, but with you gone all day, who’s going to look after these guys?” He gestured around the table.
I giggled, “I’m hungry.”
Quin glanced at me. “I’m making food,” he dismissed.
Dane closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair. “Well, what did you learn today?” He questioned.
“Nothing,” I responded while continuing to eat Duke’s ice cream apology. “We just played games.”
“Oh yeah?” Dane laughed. “What kind?”
A game piece on a large map on the dining room table distracted me from my conversation with my friends. It was Felix’s since he was the one moving other pieces around, but it didn’t seem like he was having fun. In fact, he looked angry.
A throat clearing reminded me of Dane’s question, and I blinked before finally answering. “Oh, uh–matching, counting, colors…” I paused, my eyes widening as I grabbed Theo’s face with my sticky fingers and looked closely at his. “Are you an albino person?”
“No?” He raised his eyebrows, seeming baffled by my question. “Where’d you hear that?”
“We were naming eye colors, and I said red, and everyone called me a liar, and Mrs. Beth said I was playing make-believe because only albino people have red eyes–” I said in all one breath before being rudely interrupted.
“Elora–” Felix scolded.
“She doesn’t know any better,” Duke quickly cut in while pulling my hands from Theo’s face. He always had a wet wipe ready to make my hands clean again.
“Then make her know better,” Felix snapped, scowling in my direction.
Suddenly, everyone began glancing at each other, their expressions super serious.
Duke took me away from Theo and sat me down on the table in front of him. He brought the wet wipe to my face as he spoke softly. “Elora, you know what a secret is, right?” He asked.
I nodded eagerly. One time, I woke up late because I had to go potty, and when I opened my eyes, I saw Lucifer in my closet. He was grabbing a bag of marshmallows from the top shelf and looked annoyed when he saw that I was awake. Still, he handed me a marshmallow before whispering that it was ‘our secret.’ Even now, I hadn’t told a soul. “Yup, you never ever ever ever ever–”
“Elora,” Duke warned, giving me a stern look. Out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw Lucifer move, but I was too busy talking to
Duke to take notice.
“–Ever tell secrets. Unless you tell me I have to tell you, then I’ll tell you,” I chirped, pointing at him. It was true; Duke was always allowed to know my secrets.
“That’s right,” he stated with a smile. “You’re so smart.”
I grinned from ear to ear. “I know!” I exclaimed excitedly before covering my mouth and giggling at my outburst. My eyes widened with realization, and my voice softened into a whisper. “Are you going to give me a secret?”
“Tell you a secret,” Eugene corrected.
Duke nodded in agreement before addressing me again. “Elora, it’s imperative that you never tell anyone this secret, okay?”
Nodding, I held my pinky up. “Pinky promise.” He hooked his around it. Wow! This must be a serious secret! I couldn’t help but feel ecstatic.
With his lips pressed together, Duke looked as though he was contemplating what he’d say next. “Eugene, Felix, Dane, Lucifer, Theo, and I,” he began. “We’re not like other people–”
“Because you have pretty eyes?” I blurted.
“Kind of,” he replied with a chuckle. “We’re special. You know how we’re fast?”
“Really, very fast,” I agreed. They were so quick that sometimes I couldn’t even see them.
“And stronger than other people,” Duke continued. “We’re also older than we look. You know how when you get hungry, you want food?”
Food… Quin was making food! Thank goodness. I looked in his direction. “What are you making–”
“Elora, pay attention,” Dane instructed.
“Uh-huh.” I sighed. It wasn’t my fault that I was getting bored.
“Well,” Duke kept going as though he hadn’t been interrupted. “When
we get hungry, we drink blood–”
“Ew!” I stuck out my tongue in disgust. “Icky.”
Duke agreed with a laugh before explaining that they were a different kind of people–a special kind. They were called vampires.
“Not an albino?” I asked, pushing my eyebrows together. With a shake of his head, Duke confirmed. “No.”
I took a second to think about our new secret before squishing his cheeks and smiling, “Mosquito.”
A burst of laughter came from Theo’s lips. “An overgrown one,” he joked.
Felix gave me a cold stare. “Elora, do you understand the secret? You must never say anything about it to anyone.”
Nodding my agreement, I glanced at his game and grabbed a small metal wolf. “What are you playing?” I asked.
“It’s not a game,” Felix sneered as he snatched the figurine from my hand. “Don’t touch things that aren’t yours.”
Quin straightened in his seat with a deep look of concern. “What happens if she runs around telling people about the men she lives with having red eyes, running fast, never sleeping, and God knows what else?” He sighed, “Eventually, the wrong people will hear, and it could get back to someone who will try to kill he–”
Duke narrowed his eyes at him. “We’ll have this discussion later, Quin.” Rolling his eyes, Quin glanced at me briefly before looking back at Duke. “There doesn’t have to be a discussion. If anything happens, she’ll
accompany you while we take care of it.”
I didn’t know what they were talking about, but I did know that Felix was distracted. Seizing the moment, I grabbed one of his toys and began moving it across the table. A smile was on my face as I moved the small wolf, letting it walk away from all its wolf friends.
During my game, everyone left until Felix, and I were still at the table. I moved onto a chair, tucking my legs under me so I was tall enough to lean over the table. Felix didn’t pay me any mind as he continued playing his game.
I watched him move a wolf every few seconds before changing his mind and moving it back. Pretending his wolves were friends with mine, I slowly moved my wolf closer to all its friends.
Waiting until he had one in his hand, I brought my wolf next to it and, in a deep voice, made it greet its friend. “Hello.”
Felix blinked down at me, then at the wolf in my hand, before he grabbed the metallic animal. “I told you not to touch things that aren’t yours,” he scolded.
Slouching against the back of my chair, I felt bad for my wolf, but then I remembered that Theo was always happy to play games with me. I looked around for my ice cream so I could leave and take it with me, but I didn’t see it anywhere.
My brows scrunched briefly before I shrugged and moved to get off the chair. Unable to escape it completely, I grunted a few times while my feet dangled above the ground.
With a loud sigh, Felix moved around the table and lifted me off the chair by my underarms. He seemed irritated but handed me my little wolf anyway.
“Now leave me alone,” he said curtly as he went back to his game.
I nodded, feeling a bit down that he never lets me join in. Eugene used to say that being selfish could have its benefits, but I just saw Felix hoarding his toys.
Clutching the metal wolf in my hand, I sprinted toward the kitchen with a smile. “Theo!” I called out. “I’ve got a new game!”
