Plip-plop, plip-plop, plip-plop. I hear the pitter patter of rain outside as I am taking my last test of the day. Then, I have to go on the bus to the most dreaded place, the daycare center. The people over there always treat me unfairly, but I have a secret they don't know. It all started in the summer entering second grade, one week after I started going to that wretched daycare center. Let me tell you my story from the beginning.
My name is Amanda Pennington, and after school, I go to a daycare called Smile Tymes with a crooked smiley face as its logo. It's a daycare for "special kids". Am I special? I sure am. I have dyslexia and I'm socially troubled. I had no friends until 6th grade with the exception of Ella, my best friend since I started going to Smile Tymes.
I've hated Smile Tymes since I first stepped in those filthy doors. There was a strong, stinky scent which smelled of rotten bananas. The walls of the main lobby were painted to look like a rainbow, but all the paint had been flaked off long ago, so it looked like the inside of a prison cell.
There are quite a few rooms in the building, but only four rooms were designated for children. There was a room for infants, a room for 3 year olds, a room for 4 year olds, and another room for the school age kids. The rest of the rooms were hogged by the staff and were places where they could simply chill. They had plenty of good food there, while they serve us some "chicken nuggets". Rumors say that the chicken nuggets are actually made from duck meat and pig meat. There was one bathroom per room, which means that 100 or so school age kids of both genders share one bathroom. The janitors only clean the bathrooms once a month, which makes me wonder if this violates any health codes. The staff bathroom, on the other hand, was a clean place that wasn't shared by a hundred people. The main child care room has nothing to do except a few books and some paper and pencils. After school, they would expect you to do schoolwork. During the summer, they would occasionally take you somewhere, but most of the time, you would be left to "socialize".
That place was a mess by its appearance, but that wasn't why I hated it so much. The main reason was because of the bullies. They had problems too, but not the same problems as I did. They had temperamental issues; whenever someone would do something small to anger them, they would target the small kids in KG, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade.
There was a sort of system in the room that the adults didn't know about. The ages in the room varied from 5 to 18, which was quite a broad range and unsuitable for a room of these many children. Kids ages 5-9 were the targets, and there were not many of them. Almost every time a new kid comes that was within that age range, they would leave within a week of their arrival. This leads to there being less elementary schoolers than middle or high schoolers.
The kids ages 14-18 were the big bullies, and they would torment the younger kids that can't do anything about it. Those bullies were nearly six feet tall in height, and the younger kids were probably two and a half feet smaller than them, so the bullies would do quite a bit of harm to them. Not all the older kids were jerks though. Mostly the girls and some of the boys would be nice to the younger kids, but they wouldn't do anything to stop it. The kids ages 10-13 were neutral, and would be bystanders or do their own thing. Occasionally, there would be one who stood up to the bullies, and they would also become , when they turn 14, as if by magic, they become the bullies that they were once humiliated by.
When I actually started going to Smile Tymes, it was late summer, and I was enrolled in their summer camp. I was entering second grade, and I was going through some hard times. My father had abandoned my mother when I was born, but it wasn't until last month that my mom died. The night she died, she went shopping at night and left me with the babysitter. A suicide bomber bombed the supermarket, and she was killed along with 30 other people. That was a tragic accident. After my mom died, I went to the Tampa Bay Orphanage. I hated that place almost as much as I hated Smile Tymes. A couple that came to visit told that I wouldn't stay there for long. I have long, dark brown wavy hair, and sea green eyes. My mom always told me that I got my father's eyes and hair. My skin was smooth and I had a Californian tan, even though I've lived in Tampa my whole life. Plus, in general, people around me told me I was a very cute child.
After a week, that couple adopted me. It took two weeks to get all the documents signed, and then I was legally their adopted daughter. It didn't feel right to call them "mom" or "dad", so we decided that I would call them by their first names, Gary and Kelly. Mr. and Mrs. Hendrickson are the town's best psychiatrists, and are nice and good with children, but Kelly can't have a child, so they adopted had also adopted a three year old a while ago, but they needed an older child to help take care of him. When they adopted me, they tried talking to me, but I wouldn't talk much. They found out that I've always had some problems talking to people, and I have dyslexia, so before I knew it, I was enrolled with the Smile Tymes education center. My adopted brother, Thomas, also goes here, but he is with the other three year olds.
Within a few days of my arrival, I started my first day of summer camp with Smile Tymes. It was late summer, around three weeks until school starts so this could get awkward. I'd like to say my first day of summer camp went fine, but of course it didn't.
Author's Note
This is my first fanfiction piece of writing, so let me know how I do by reviewing or PM me. I have a lot planned for Amanda, so stay tuned.😀
