Throughout the Years

Chapter 3: Kindergarden

When we got back inside Miss Rose collected our pictures and told us she was going to read us a story. We sat down "criss cross applesauce" on the carpet in a circle while Miss Rose read us Green Eggs and Ham. I could feel Cat giggling at just about every sentence. It was kinda annoying, the book wasn't even funny! It was about a dude named Sam who didn't want to eat abnormally colored food. Hahaha. (Sarcasm)

After story time Miss Rose had us get our blankets from our cubbies and spread them out around the room for nap time. I HATE nap time. When my parents used to try and put me down for naps I'd run away and hide in small places where they couldn't get to me. Eventually they just gave up and let me be. Sometimes I wish I had just let them put me down for a nap, even if I had just pretended to be asleep. I remember them having arguments about me and my behavior. They would blame each other saying they couldn't control me. I feel like I'm probably the reason they got divorced.

So anyways I wasn't too excited about this nap thing. I walked next to Cat and spread my black blanket out. Her's was pink, purple, and green. Ew.

Miss Rose turned off the lights and put on a classical CD. I hate classical music. There was no way I was gonna just lay there listening to Mozart so I turned on my side to talk to Cat.

"Hey C-" I stopped myself, her eyes were closed and her breathing was deep and slow. Of all people I was sure Cat would be awake! She's always so hyper and talkative! Until now I wouldn'tve been able to picture her as a quiet and peaceful little girl. Her mouth twitched up into a smile as she exhaled deeply and shifted positions. I guess she was having a nice dream, I'd have to ask her about it later.

I sighed and turned onto my back. Now what was I supposed to do? Count the ceiling tiles? Well, there was nothing else to do so... 1, 2, 3, 4-

"Hi" a small whisper interupted my extremely entertaining activity. Hahaha, more sarcasm.

I flipped onto my stomach seeing the small Indian boy a few feet away, looking at me. What was his name again? Peck or something?

"Hi" I said after checking to make sure Miss Rose wasn't looking. She was sitting at her desk, nose burried in a book.

"My name's Beck. You're Jade, right?"

"Yeah" The fact that he remembered my name made me kind of happy... I don't know why, don't ask.

"Cool. I don't like naps, they're boring".

"I don't like them either, I'm not even sleepy".

"Wanna make stuff with play dough instead?"

"But they don't have any here".

Beck gave me a sly smile and reached into his jeans pocket. "That's why I brought these to school" he said pulling out two mini containers of play dough. They were green and black. "Which one do you want?" he asked me.

"The black one" I said, remembering my favorite color.

Beck handed me the black container. "What are you gonna make?"

Hmm... I didn't know. I never really made anything with play dough. Nothing I made ever turned out the way it was supposed to look, so at home I would just mix the colors together.

"I don't know. What are you gonna make?"

"A turtle" He seperated his green ball of play dough into two and began rolling one of the halves in his hand.

I watched Beck make his turtle for a little longer as I racked my brain for ideas. I don't know why but something about this kid just made me want to impress him. He was calm and seemed to simply radiate a cool atmosphere. Plus his turtle was turning out pretty nice, he was accenting its shell using a staple he found on the floor. Show off.

I looked around the room for some ideas. Our classroom was very colorful. Every wall had a giant bulletin board plastered with all sorts of posters. There was one of the alphabet, the color wheel, numbers 1-100, a world map, list of presidents, dinosaurs, a list of-

Wait a minute...

"I'm gonna make a dinosaur".

Beck's brow furrowed "But dinosaurs aren't black".

"You don't know that" I said, forming the t-rex's head.

"Yeah I do"

"No you don't"

"Yeah I do"

"Have you ever seen a dinosaur?" I asked, raising one eyebrow.

"W- well... No. But-"

"So then you don't know". I began to form my t-rex's tiny arms.

"Well you've never seen one either!" Beck whispered loudly.

"You don't know that".

"Yeah I do!" Beck spoke a bit too loudly this time, causing Miss Rose to look up from her desk. Beck and I quickly lowered our heads, closed our eyes, and breathed slowly, pretending to be asleep; a useful skill for kids of all ages. I peeked open one eye to see if she was still looking. She wasn't so I poked Beck.

"Don't talk so loud!" I whispered harshly.

Beck looked really annoyed and slightly embarrassed. It was a pretty enjoyable sight seeing someone seemingly so cool all flustered. "Well it's your fault for trying to make something that doesn't even exist".

"It's better than a boring old turtle".

"Turtles aren't boring. You're just too UNboring".

"That's not even a word!" I protested.

"You don't know that" he gave me a smile that said "Ha! I used your own phrase against you".

Oh so he wanted to play like that did he?

"Yeah I do" I said doing a mocking version of his voice. It was a pretty funny imitation and we both eneded up trying to smother our giggles with our hands.

Beck, who was still smiling, managed to stop laughing first. "I don't talk like that!"

I did the voice again "I don't talk like that!"

The rest of nap time went on like this with me and Beck arguing and giggling. Eventually Miss Rose turned the lights back on at around 12:00 and told us to get our backpacks. The first day of school was over (we were the AM kindergarden class which was from 9-12. PM was from 1-4).

I got up and handed Beck his play dough back. "Bring it again tomorrow".

"Kay", he said stuffing it back in his pocket. Just then Sam and Cody came over and started talking to him about some spider man tv special or something. I walked over to the cubbies to put back my blanket and get my backpack. I noticed a bright pink and red one two spots over from mine. It must've been Cat's. I grabbed it and walked over to where she was still curled up in a little ball, sleeping. Everyone else was awake and making plenty of noise.

I leaned over her "Cat wake up".

"Hmm?" her eye lids fluttered and she turned onto her back.

"Nap time's over", i said dropping her backpack on her stomach. She made a noise that sounded like "oof" and winced.

"Ouch Jade" she said sitting up and rubbing her tummy.

"Yeah, well come on. Get up."

She stood up and stretched, letting out a long yawn as she did so. "So how did you sleep?"

"Fine". I don't know why I didn't tell her about Beck. It wasn't a big deal or anything. I guess I was just being lazy.

"Did you have any dreams? I had the best dream! I was at the beach and there were dolphins EVERYWHERE! They were jumping in and out the water and one of them asked me to come swim with them! They were so nice too! One was named Charlotte and another was Fio-" suddenly Cat paused and got a funny look on her face. Her nose twitched and her mouth began to open.

"Cat?..."

"Achoo!" she sneezed right in my face.

"Ew Cat that's so gross!" I was wiping my face on my shirt.

"Oh I'm so sorry! When I wake up I always sneeze a lot! Sorry sorry!"

"Ugh, ew just cover your mouth next time. You're so weird."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I was taken aback by how offended she sounded. "N-nothing, just that not many people have to sneeze like that when they wake up".

"Oh. Ok!"

So Cat finished telling me about the rest of her dream until her mom came and picked her up. And that's how the whole rest of the year went. I'd come to school, sit next to Cat at our table while Miss Rose "taught" (all we really did was color, build things with blocks, and finger paint). Everyday at lunch I'd trade Cat my turkey sandwich for her ham, everyday at recess we'd play together whether it was tag, soccer, hide and seek, or just sitting on the swings and singing. Then at nap time I'd argue with Beck as I built stuff with his play dough. Once nap time was over I'd wake up Cat and listen to her tell me about her dreams until her mom came to pick her up (my dad was always late picking me up).

School wasn't so bad with Cat and Beck. I mean, it was actually kind of fun always having Cat there with her hyper perky self. Her rapidly changing thougts and emotions kept me on my toes, the day never got boring. By the time nap time came, I was looking forward to the small break from her. I know that sounds mean but I'm allowed to say that, she became my best friend. Besides, talking with Beck was fun. Teasing him was entertaining, but he would always find a way to turn the situation around and come up with some smart some back.

I found myself with tears in my eyes as I hugged Cat and waved goodbye to Beck on the last day of school.