Set in the Game of Blame universe, a little drabble about Alba Mellark's first day of pre-k. I hope you enjoy it :). Any mistakes are my own - the educational system works a bit differently here, so if anything sounds funny, blame it on the fact that I live far far away :) xxx

Mommy and Daddy said school would be fun. They said that I would play and make many friends and learn everything because I am very smart. But Mommy and Daddy never told me that I would have to play and make many friends and learn everything without them being there. So when they woke me up with kisses and helped me put on my go-to-school clothes and put Teddy Gabey in my go-to-school bag I was happy because I thought they were coming to school with me. But now Mommy and Daddy are saying goodbye and and they never say goodbye to me except when I go to Auntie Delly. But this is school and they're going to leave me and I don't want this so I hug Daddy's leg and cry and cry and cry.

"Don't leave me here! I'll be good forever!" I howl as I cling to Daddy.

Mommy and Daddy look very sad and he bends down to hug me and Mommy tries to bend down as well but there is Baby-in-the-Tummy and he is always in the way. Daddy holds my face and gives me a lot of kisses. I like Daddy's kisses but he still wants me to stay at school so I still cry. And cry and cry.

"Baby, sweetie calm down, school is fun, I promise. The room is full of toys and other children and you will spend all day playing with friends," Daddy tells me as he dries my eyes with a tissue. But I'm still crying and my face will never ever be dry. And neither will the tissue I think.

"You and Moh-mee are my friends, Dah-dee," I sob. "And Benny," I add and look around but Benny is not here. He goes to Big Boy school but I'm a Little Girl I think because I'm only three and all I want to do is stay home and play and not go to school.

"But you'll make other friends, Little One," Mommy explains as she pulls me to her and kisses me also. "Do you think Mommy and Daddy would ever leave you in a place that is not fun?"

I don't know the answer to the question so I cry some more and try to hug her. I wish Baby-in-the-Tummy didn't make her tummy so big. I can't reach anywhere.

A lady who is older than Mommy and Daddy and who seems round and fluffy comes to greet us and smiles at me and tells me that everything is going to be fine and that school will be fun. I'm tired of people telling me that school will be fun. I am telling them that I don't want to go and no one cares so I stamp my foot and howl. This usually makes Mommy and Daddy angry and they give me Time Out and I want Time Out at home so I stamp and stamp.

Daddy turns to Mommy. "Maybe she's too young … maybe I should get all the evening shifts so that I can spend the mornings with her …"

"We talked about this! But maybe you're right … what if -"

"No Mr and Mrs Mellark, your daughter will be fine. She will come round in no time" says the fluffy, round woman and I sob that it's not true. Nothing will ever be fine if I go to school!

Daddy nods and blinks a lot and then squats to give me one last hug and many many kisses. Then he turns me round and points to a clock on the wall. "These kisses will ast you through the day, and I will come back for you when the little hand of that clock hits the number three with the pink birds painted on it, I promise!"

"The little hand?"

"Yes."

"When it touches the pink birdies?"

"That's right."

"Then you'll come for me?"

"Yes."

"Promise-promise?"

"Promise-promise."

"How long does it take for the little hand to touch the birdies?"

Daddy smiles at me and I like Daddy's smile. "Well Alba, clocks are magic. The more fun you have, and the more you play, the faster the hands go. So if you have all the fun in the world, the little hand will touch the birds in no time, and I will be back to pick you up!"

After one last kiss on the nose by Daddy, Round Fluffy Lady grabs my hand and leads me to a room and Mommy and Daddy wave goodbye and I think they're crying and blowing me kisses and this makes me very sad so I go sit down on the carpet and hug Teddy Gabey and cry more while I wait for the little hand to touch the pink birdies. There are other children in my class but I don't know their names because they're not Benny. Some of them are crying like me and others are singing songs with Round Fluffy Lady and playing. There are many toys and many colours but my Mommy and Daddy are not here so I don't care. The little hand doesn't seem to move much and everything is very bad.

Then Round Fluffy Lady brings out a box and the children in my class all stick their hands in it and it is Play Doh! Play Doh is the bestestest thing in the world.

So I get up from the carpet and move to a little girl who is rolling Play Doh on the table and I ask her what are you doing and she answers I'm building a snow man.

"Do you wanna build a snow man?" she asks me.

And I think like Frozen and I tell her "Like Frozen!". And she says yes and then I say yes! And then she asks do you want to be my best friend and I say yes and then we hop and we build a snow man with Play Doh. I show her Teddy Gabey and tell her that he's my bestest friend and she shows me Gerry Giraffe because he's her bestest friend. Then we hold hands and sing some more songs and dance a bit. I don't know her name but maybe one day I'll ask her because I think we're going to be Friends Forever.

Then I cry a bit because when I open my lunch box I see that Daddy baked me cheesebuns and they are in the shape of Teddy Gabey and that Mommy gave me a box of grapes and she pulled out all the seeds so that I don't cough and I cry because I miss them. Then Round Fluff Lady reads us stories and they're nice stories. Then I yawn and we all yawn and then we drink milkie. After I finish the milkie I see that the little hand touches the pink birdies and Daddy is here!

I'm so tired that all I do is open my arms wide and he picks me up and I stuff my face under in his neck because there everything is safe and is not school and smells of bread and cake. Daddy carries me to the car and hugs me tight-tight and asks me about school but all I do is shake my head because I don't want to talk. I just want cuddles and hugs and sleep. So when he tells me "Will you tell me about your day Little One?", I just answer "Can I sleep in the big big beddie?" and fall asleep in the car before he buckles me with the seat belt.

When I wake up I'm all snuggled in the big big beddie and I'm very hungry so I walk to the kitchen and there I find Mommy who's cooking spaghettis for me! Spaghettis are my favourite because even if I make a mess while eating them Mommy and Daddy don't think I'm naughty. Because eating spaghettis is very hard.

Mommy hugs me and calls Daddy and they ask me about school. I tell them about Play Doh and my best friend. They think that I should ask her her name too. Then I remember something.

"Moh-mee, Dah-dee, the kisses you gave me did not last a whole day," I tell them with a frown. Because it's true. I used them all up while crying.

"Oh no!" Mommy says, "how many would you need you think?"

I open both hands wide. "As many as this," I explain.

Daddy counts my fingers and nods. "So ten kisses then? But I think you need more, what do you think Mommy?" She nods her head thoughtfully.

"There is more than 10?!" I ask. Is this magic?

"Yes there is much more, but you need to go to school so that you will learn all about it ," Mommy explains.

I think this through. "So I need to go to school to learn numbers?"

"Yes."

"And to learn the name of my best friend?"

"Yes, Little One."

I think both things are very important so when Daddy helps me up my chair and they sit down next to me so that we can eat the spaghettis I nod my head and tell them that I will go to school for a little bit until I learn everything.

Because after all, I think that being able to count kisses is very important.