Freddy stood, leaning against the wall opposite the classroom, where he watched the kids now file into. He smiled, greeting each of them. It wasn't until all the children were inside, and the door had closed, that Freddy finally pushed away from the wall, and started walking down the hall, remembering that Norah, the head Supervisor, had asked him to take a look at the heater in the basement. He opened the door, as he hummed lightly, venturing down the staircase to the darkness below. After flipping the light switch, freddy squinted, allowing his eyes to adjust to the bright light; he grabbed the tool case, making his way to the machine.

After tinkering with the heater for a while, Freddy finally closed the the small metal door, and stood up, rubbing his hands together. School will be out soon He thought, checking his watch.

Making his way back up the stairs and toward.. Well, for lack of a better word, the faculty room (really, it was just a small room with a desk and a mini fridge,) Freddy figured he might find Norah in there, before she went home for the weekend. His suspicions were confirmed when he walked in to find the woman on the phone seemingly with one of the parents.

Well, she's not a bitch to just me, then. Freddy noted as Mrs. Chamberlain was all but arguing over the phone.

~oOo~

It had been the second time, that week, and the fifth time that month that Ms. Holbrook, Nancy's mother had called to "let them know" she'd be a little late, usually meaning she'd arrive over an hour after school was over, and the teachers would leave... Most of them, anyway, seeing as Norah would always have to ask one of them to stay behind and wait with Nancy, this time was no different, of course.

"Ms. Holbrook, I'm sorry, but you Can't keep doing this, we're no-" She looked up, hearing someone come in.

She sighed, giving the maintenence guy, Mr. Krueger, a wave of acknowledgement; "Look, Marge, I'm just saying we're not a daycare. You need to keep a better schedule, or maybe you have a friend that can pick Nancy up after school?"

~oOo~

"Okay...o-Okay, Marge, this is the last time I'll do this, though." Mrs. Chamberlain huffed through the phone. Freddy sat quietly, leaning against the doorframe, putting his dirty hands back into his pockets, waiting for the phone call to end. After another moment, she dropped the phone onto the reciever, with a loud Click, "Is there something you needed, Mr. Krueger?" She spat, folding her hands together, as she looked up, not at him, but toward the clock on the wall, which now showed it had been about 20 minutes, since school had ended, and the halls were, for the most part, silent.

Freddy shrugged, nonchalantly. "I think i fixed the heater; i'll keep an eye on it, over the weekend, to be sure. I came to see if you needed anything else done." He replied, almost with almost a monotonous tone. He'd been there for almost 2 years, now and just learned to deal with Norah's catty personality.

"Actually, I do. You know Nancy Holbrook? She's in Allison's class." He nodded, as Norah finished her sentence. "That was her mother I was talking to, and she'll be late picking her up... Again." She muttered under her breath "Anyway, can you just... I don't know, make sure she doesn't eat glue, until someone can pick her up?" Freddy wondered why this woman was even in the schooling field, given her clear detest of children, she almost reminded him of the principal from the movie Matilda. "Yeah, I'm not busy." He replied, as he watched her stand from the desk. "Great, l'll let Allison know."

Freddy followed Mrs. Chamberlain down the hall, towards the classroom. "wait here." She ordered, when they were outside the door; she walked in and began explaining the situation.

"But.. Are you sure you want to leave her with him?" the teacher asked, lowering her voice. It proved futile, since Freddy could still hear them. "That guy just gives me the creeps, Norah.. Are you sure there isn't anybody else?"

"Of course not, John and Lisa already left, and I'm sure you want to leave, to get ready for tonight, right?"

"I- what about you?"

"I...have things to do, as well, I'm a busy woman, I don't have time to babysit kids."

He heard Allison give a sigh of defeat, and started to smile. At least the kids like me, I guess.. He thought to himself, as he crossed his arms, and turned to enter the classroom.

After they'd said goodbye, and left, Freddy turned back to look at Nancy who'd sat back in her chair, at the large round table. "So your mom's late again, huh?" He asked, sympathetically. Nancy nodded, and looked around, noticing the clock; Freddy looked as well, and noted it had only been about 5 minutes since the phone call, meaning Nancy's mother wouldn't be arriving for another half an hour, IF she even bothered to hurry. He lightly shook his head, with smirk, "I'm gonna do some things, for Mrs. Chaimberlain, do you wanna just stay here, and make more pictures for your mom?" Nancy shrugged, already bored, and Freddy gave a light chuckle. "Well I won't be doing anything exciting, but you can help me clean up, if you want."

"Okay." Nancy stood up, following Freddy out, and around the school, where he proceeded to lock all the doors, save for the front door, and make sure other things were taken care of.

As they finished picking up toys from the playground and storing them in the large cargo bin at the edge of the lot, Freddy closed up the bin, locking it with a hefty sigh. "That wasn't too bad, was it?" he asked, looking back down at little Nancy, who shook her head, in reply. "Do you wanna go play on the jungle gym, then? Your mom probably will be here, soon." He said, as he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of the back pocket of his pants, tapping it against the palm of his hand.

" 'Kay." Nancy said, running off to the playground. Freddy watched her begin to climb up the steps, as he lit up, taking a long drag.

He leaned back, against the brick wall of the building, as he enjoyed the serenity of the moment, all there was to do, was enjoy his smoke, and watch out for Nancy... His little Nancy, who was smart, and clever, like himself... And often just as misunderstood. He frowned, thinking about what it must be like, for the girl, with a home life consisting of a mother who was never around, and friends who, according to Nancy, always had someone better to play with.

He was almost at the end of his cigarette, when he saw the car finally pull up. Nancy's mother scowled, before jumping out of the car; Clearly she'd been expecting someone else.

"Where's Miss Petinsky?" She asked, while beconing Nancy to her, from the playground. "She left, about 40 minutes ago.. With Norah. " Freddy replied, as he stepped on his cigarette butt, having thrown it on the ground.

Nancy ran over, grabbing Marge's outstretch hand, and was immediately pulled behind her mother. "I'll be having a talk with Norah." She said, as she began to turn "I don't want you anywhere near my child." She added, as they began to leave. Nancy turned around, to see Freddy give a quiet wave, with a sympathetic smile, and returned the wave, as quietly. Freddy watched them pull out of the parking lot, and down the road, before making his way back inside, shaking his head, with a sigh.

Hope you guys like it; please review and let me know.