Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Dino Charge. This story is fan-made.
Kendall pulled into the school parking lot, stopping just in front of the building and looking to it with a smile on her face. It was the first day back, and Cammy had insisted her older sister drop her off.
Kids were saying goodbye to their parents and were headed inside the building. Some were excited to be back, and found their friends before running inside to see who would be their teacher and if they were in the same class. Other kids seemed nervous, showing a clear reluctance to leave their parents and their summer vacation behind.
Cammy was the latter. She wasn't happy her summer was over. She wasn't happy to be back in school. While she had made friends the past year, she knew things would be different now. She wouldn't have all the same kids in her class. She wouldn't have the same teacher and she was a year older. She would be expected to know more and do more. She held her stomach nervously as she looked out the back seat window.
"I think I'm sick."
"You're not sick, you're just anxious," Kendall told her and got out of the car, coming around to open Cammy's door. After she did, she knelt down, smiling at her sister. "You thrived last year, Cam, and there was so much going on. This year is going to be easier."
"But it's the fourth grade," Cammy said. "What if I'm not smart enough?"
"You're plenty smart."
"What if the kids don't like me?"
"You have friends from last year, and you'll make new friends this year."
"What if the teacher is mean?"
"Then that teacher will have to deal with me," Kendall insisted and gently pulled her sister out of the car. "Look, some parents are walking in with their kids. Would it help you if I stayed until you met your teacher?"
Cammy nodded her head, so Kendall checked her watch. She technically wasn't required to show up at the museum by a certain time, but she didn't like coming in late in the day. Though she didn't have a boss to answer to, she had many employees who would need her advice, assistance and support throughout the day. She didn't want to be absent when she was needed.
"I have about twenty minutes," she told Cammy. "I'm sure we'll find your teacher by then, but after that, I have to go."
"Okay," Cammy answered and took Kendall's hand as they walked into the school. Students and their parents were being directed to the gymnasium, where the teachers were all waiting for their students. Cammy noticed the corner for the grade four students and pointed it out to Kendall. However, upon glancing at the teachers, she already didn't like her odds.
Ms. Patterson, the teacher from her previous year, was one of the choices. Cammy had liked her, for the most part, but her obsession with cats annoyed her students throughout the year. Still, Cammy had done well in her class, and would much prefer to sit through another year of cat puns, stickers, and images than be placed in a classroom with Mrs. White.
Mrs. White was an older lady, very close to retiring, based on what the other students said the year before. Cammy had never heard anything nice about her. Her tests were hard, she gave a lot of homework and didn't believe in recess. Cammy heard rumors that students in Mrs. White's class would skip recess and spend that time working on math sheets. She wasn't sure that last part was true, but she was worried about all the other stories.
Cammy walked over to the corner of the gym nervously, and waited impatiently as Kendall read over the two lists. She hoped, prayed even that Ms. Patterson would be her teacher two years in a row, but when Kendall turned to Mrs. White. She gently pushed Cammy forward.
"Why don't you introduce yourself?" she suggested to Cammy, but before the little girl could say or do anything, Mrs. White looked to her and then scoffed loudly.
"I know you," she said, turning her head away. "You're that foster kid."
Cammy was a little taken aback that Mrs. White already knew her. There were plenty of kids in the school and she had never interacted with her new teacher before. She didn't know how to respond to the comment. Fortunately, Kendall seemed to step up. She pulled Cammy back, putting her arms around her as she looked to her sister's teacher.
"Actually, Camille was adopted earlier this year."
"Doesn't matter. Once a foster kid, always a foster kid," the teacher said, then pointed to the line of students behind her, none of which seemed too happy they were placed with her. "Don't worry about your daughter. I'll figure out something to do with her."
"She's actually my sister," Kendall corrected. "And I'm sure Cammy will surprise you with just how eager she is to learn."
Mrs. White looked to Cammy, then back at Kendall. She pulled her glasses down slightly to stare directly at the scientist.
"I've been teaching since before you were born. I have seen kids from every walk of life come through my classroom. Kids like her always struggle, and they always give me the toughest time. I don't expect much from your... sister. It bodes well for you to start lowering your expectations now."
Kendall felt her muscles all tense up and her blood boil, and she had no idea what pissed her off more: the fact that this teacher, an educator of children, had already dismissed Cammy because of her upbringing, or because on the every first day of school, before officially meeting her student, she had already written her off as a failure. Kendall hugged Cammy a little closer and thought carefully of the words she used as she spoke.
"If you underestimate my sister's potential, I will make this the most challenging year of your teaching life," she growled. Mrs. White looked back at her.
"Is that a threat?"
"You'll decide how the year goes," Kendall said and then knelt down and smiled at Cammy. "You're going to do great this year, Cam. All you need to do is your best, got it?"
"I wanna switch teachers," Cammy whispered. Kendall shook her head.
"You're going to be fine," she promised. "Chase has already promised to make you ice cream after school. Bring some of your friends along too. Just focus on that today if things get a little tough, alright?"
"I guess."
"No matter what happens, at 3:30, you'll be at the museum with me and the others," Kendall promised her sister. When Cammy nodded her head and walked off nervously to join her new classmates in line, Kendall glared at the teacher.
"I was in foster care," she told Mrs. White. "And now I own a museum and am widely respected in my field. If Cammy comes home from school today discouraged, you will hear from me again."
"I've dealt with worse parents than you."
"I'm not the parent," Kendall said. "You're lucky they aren't here today."
With that, she wished Cammy a good day, glared at Mrs. White one more time and then walked out of the school. She didn't want to show any weakness in front of Cammy's new teacher, but her stomach lurched. She hated the thought of leaving her little sister in the destructive hands of an unprofessional. She wanted to pull Cammy for the day, from the class, and even from the school, but she couldn't. Cammy's reputation as a foster child was likely to follow her around for the rest of her life. She couldn't be taught to run away from it.
However, she was still too young to stand up for herself. Kendall was determined to fight in her sister's place. She just hoped the year wouldn't come down to that.
