I am so glad you all like this story! It has really helped me with writing it and become inspired. So please keep up with those reviews! They are a wonderful thing for an author to receive.
Disclaimer: I only own the characters that I have made up. Everything else belongs to Disney.
The Additions (11?)
Over the next few weeks, Ana slowly began to learn more words. Dr. Barish had really helped her with her body language as well. Ana was now able to let Troy and Sharpay know what she needed either by pointing to the object or in the general direction that the object was in.
It was now the end of August and time for school to begin. Troy and Sharpay had decided to enroll Larissa in preschool and place Ana in a special preschool which would meet her needs. She would still learn what a child her age would normally learn; she was just going to learn at a slower pace.
"I don't wanna go!" Screamed Larissa as Troy attempted to take her and get her into the car.
"Honey, you're going to love it there, and besides your cousin will be at the school in the afternoons, when kindergarten lets out," Troy said. The preschool that Larissa would be attending had a 'K-Club' in which kindergarteners from certain schools would be picked up by one of the staff members of the preschool and taken over there after they were done with school for the morning. (A/N: At the preschool I work at, we have this and it's really great, especially for working parents!) Since both Ryan and Gabriella had to work, Theresa would be coming to the school after kindergarten.
"I don't care," whined Larissa as she crossed her arms. "I don't want to go!" She attempted to run from Troy, but was blocked by Sharpay who was walking in her direction.
She scooped the little girl up. "You are going to love it," she said as she gave her a kiss. "Besides, what would you rather do; spend all day doing absolutely nothing and being completely bored out of your mind with your dad or me or go to a place that has tons of toys and so many other kids your age?"
Larissa thought for a moment. Her mother did have a point. She then though about having to make friends with people she had never seen before in her life. "Go with you!" She exclaimed as she tried to get out of her mother's grasp and run to her room.
"Nice try," Sharpay said as she hung on to Larissa. "You will love Albuquerque Country Day Preschool (A/N: I know, real original name, LOL), I promise." Sharpay handed Larissa over to Troy and walked into the kitchen and picked up Ana who was playing with her cereal. "I think we're all done here," she said to Ana who had somehow managed to squirt her sippy cup full of milk on her shirt. "Come on; let's get you changed before school." She walked upstairs with a protesting Ana.
"See, Ana don't want to go either," Larissa said.
"It's 'doesn't' and yes she does, she just hasn't been there yet, unlike you. Don't you remember last week when we went to the school and you got to play in the classroom," Troy asked as he picked Larissa up.
"I don't wanna go!" She screamed once again, this time in Troy's ear, making him wince.
"Well, you're going and I am sure you will love it." He turned to face the stairs where Sharpay and Ana were coming down. "So are you ready," he asked Sharpay.
"Yeah, and so is Ana, aren't you?" Ana just smiled as she hugged her bear. "See Larissa, Ana can't wait to go to school."
"She is just happy 'cause of her stupid bear," she said with a frown.
"Hey what did we say about not saying that word," Troy said becoming serious.
"Um, not to?"
"That's right, young lady," Troy said, not exactly happy with her tone of voice. "All right let's just go before either one of them can escape."
They walked into the garage and each placed one of the kids into her car seat. As Larissa was being strapped in, she was secretly hoping that something would prevent them from going to school. She then remembered the day before when Sharpay had wanted to go shopping but couldn't because something was wrong with her car. Larissa grinned slyly as Troy and Sharpay got into his car. "I want mommy's car," she announced.
"Sorry, you're already in daddy's car," Sharpay said. "Besides you know that…" She looked over at Troy. "We have a devious child here," she said with a smirk.
"Yes, we do," he said trying not to laugh. "How does she remember these things?"
"Well I did make a pretty big deal about it when I couldn't get to the store," Sharpay said.
Troy chuckled, "Yeah that you did. You made me come all the way home for two hours while you went to the store."
"It was either that or not have anything to eat," she said as Troy pulled out of the driveway.
"Yeah, yeah," he said as he drove to ACDP.
He pulled up in front of a brick building that had a big sign with smiley faces and flowers on it. "Here we are," Troy said as he got out of the car and undid Larissa's seatbelt.
"I'm not going," Larissa said as she pouted, angry that she didn't get her way…again.
"Yes you are," Troy said as he managed to pull the little but rather strong girl out of the car. "Larissa, this is ridiculous," he said as he repeatedly had to take her hands off the door handle. He would get one hand off, and then she would place her other hand on the handle. This went on for at least five minutes. Troy finally decided to take both hands at once, thus making it impossible for her to grab on to the door handle. He carried her into the school kicking and screaming.
Sharpay walked with Ana who was oblivious to her surroundings until they got inside; once there, Ana noticed all of the other children around her and grabbed her mother's shirt for dear life and started crying. Sharpay turned to her, "It's all right honey, no one is going to hurt you, you're okay," she said softly, knowing that wasn't going to help. Ana continued to scream and cry. Sharpay had remembered that social situations were going to be very difficult for Ana to deal with; especially ones with a lot of distractions, which was why she and Troy had decided to place her in a different setting where there weren't as many distractions.
"Larissa, calm down," Troy said to his daughter who was now making herself hyperventilate from all her hysteria. "Look, we're at your room." He turned and walked into a room that was decorated with pictures on the walls, toys scattered on the floor from other kids who were already in the room, and two teachers.
Larissa looked at the room for about a second before burying her face into Troy's shirt. "I don't want to stay!" She said with a muffled voice.
"Hello," a woman with dark, shoulder-length hair said as she walked towards Troy and Larissa. "You must be Mr. Bolton, right," she asked.
"Yes, it's nice to meet you," he said as he extended his free arm. "I'm sorry, I know we met, but I forgot your name."
"I'm Linda," the woman said. "But all the kids call me Miss Linda, and over there is Miss Jessica," she said warmly. She then looked at Larissa. "And you must be Larissa," she said as she tried to get Larissa to look up from Troy's shirt.
"Yes, this is Larissa," Troy said as he set Larissa down. She protested and grabbed his shirt and tried to crawl her way back up into his arms.
"Up, daddy!" When Troy shook his head 'no,' she started to cry.
"Don't worry, Larissa," Miss Linda said as she knelt down to her height. "You are going to have so much fun here. We will be doing lots of art projects, have music, gym, and we will even get to go out on the playground. You also have your very own cubby," she said.
Larissa stopped trying to climb up Troy's shirt. "Really?"
"Yes, really; come here and I'll show you." Larissa allowed Linda to take her hand and she led her to what looked like a drawer, only vertical. There was a small space on the top and then there was a place where you could hang your coat and at the bottom was a bin for clean clothing, just in case someone had an accident. (A/N: I'm basically describing what the cubbies at my school look like, just so you know) "Look, it even has your name on it," she said as she showed her a name on the inside of the cubby.
"This is mine," she asked, becoming interested in the cubby.
"Yes, this is yours. This is where you will get to put all of your artwork to take home for mommy and daddy to see and where you will hang your coat when it comes time to need one and where your mommy or daddy will put some extra clothes, just in case."
"Just in case for what," Larissa asked, confused.
Linda was about to explain that part when Sharpay motioned for her not to say anything, knowing that it would make Larissa feel embarrassed, since she had two accidents the day before. "Just in case you spill something on your shirt or pants," she said as Sharpay gave her a 'thumbs up' sign and mouthed a 'thank you.'
"See, doesn't this look like an awesome place to hang out," Troy asked. "I think that if you are so set against it that I might want to stay," he said as he walked into the room and sat in one of the very small chairs, Larissa following him.
"Daddy, you're too big," Larissa said with a giggle.
"I am? Well maybe mommy would want to stay. Then you could go to her school."
"No! Mommy's too big too!"
"Then who is this place just right for? Hmm, maybe Ana would like to stay," Sharpay said as she walked into the room with a now calm Ana in her arms.
"No, Ana is too small!"
"Well then who is just right for this room," Troy asked, pretending to be baffled.
"Me!" Larissa smiled and sat in the chair. "See, it fits me better than you," she said as she showed her dad how well she fit in the chair.
"Wow, you're right," Sharpay said, pretending to be shocked. "I guess you're the one who gets to go here then, huh," she asked with a smile.
"Yep, I am the only one that fits in the chair," she said proudly.
As she said this, Sharpay had snuck out of the room and placed some clean clothes into Larissa's cubby. When she came back, she tapped Troy on the shoulder. "I think we need to get Ana to school," she said quietly.
He nodded and turned back to Larissa. "Okay honey, mommy and daddy have to go take Ana to school now and then go to our boring jobs," he said, emphasizing the word "boring."
Larissa looked at him with tears starting to sneak back into her eyes. "When will you come back," she asked.
"At 4:00," he said. "You get to take a nap and everything here."
"In a crib?"
"No, you get to sleep on a cot," Linda said, making that sound exciting.
"Really," Larissa asked as she wiped some loose tears.
"Yes, and you even have a sheet and blanket to put on it," she said as she looked at Troy who put his hand to his head.
"Oops, in all the chaos at home, we kind of forgot that," he said. "Can we bring them tomorrow?"
"Of course, besides we always have extras, just in case."
"Thanks," Sharpay said. "Okay, daddy and I really need to go now, honey. We have to take Ana to her school."
Larissa got up from where she was sitting and looked at Sharpay. "Okay mommy," she said quietly. "Will Ana have a cubby too?"
"I'm sure she will, but…" She leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "It probably won't be as cool as yours." Larissa smiled as she said this.
"Hey, can I have a hug," Troy asked, his arms spread out.
Larissa nodded and ran to him and gave him a big hug. She then did the same with Sharpay and even kissed Ana on the head.
"Love you," Troy and Sharpay said at the same time.
As they left the room, they could hear a very small whimper from Larissa. Sharpay started to turn around, but Troy stopped her. "We have to let her get used to this," he said as he put his hand on her back.
She nodded and wiped a tear from her eye. "I just hope she's okay," she said as they headed out to the car.
They drove to another school that wasn't very far from Larissa's where Ana would be going. It was a much smaller building, but still had an inviting presence to it.
Sharpay got Ana out of the car and walked with Troy into the building. "Hi, we're here to see a Mrs. Daniels," she said as they approached a woman.
"That would be me," the woman said. She looked to be in her mid-30s and had light brown hair.
"Oh hi, it's nice to meet you," Sharpay said. "I'm Sharpay and this is my husband Troy."
"Hello." The woman didn't seem very warm at all, at least not compared to the teacher at Larissa's school. "Let me show you where your daughter will be." She led a very nervous Sharpay and Troy to a room that had barely anything on the walls and not many toys in the room. There were about three other kids in the room, all doing separate things. There was a very young looking teacher in the room. She was working on something when she saw Troy, Sharpay and Mrs. Daniels enter. "Dana," Mrs. Daniels said, getting the woman's attention.
She looked up and saw who was at the door. "Oh, hello," she said as she walked over to them. "It's nice to meet you." She gave Troy and Sharpay a small smile. "And who is this young one," she asked.
"This is Anastasia," Sharpay said, becoming defensive.
"Shar, it's okay," Troy said quietly to her.
"Hello there, sweetie," Dana said as she tried to get Ana's attention. Ana was busy focusing on the walls.
"So, are you going to be her teacher," Troy asked.
"Yes, and Jessica will be in soon. She is my assistant."
"How many children are in this class," Sharpay asked, still nervous.
Dana looked at the roster. "Let's see, including your daughter, there are five. We like to keep the class sizes small."
Troy nodded, still nervous, but glad that there weren't too many other kids in the class. "Well, how do you like it, Ana," he asked her as she looked around the room and then up at Troy and Sharpay.
"I think she will like it just fine," Dana said with a smile.
"Where can we put her stuff," Sharpay asked.
"Oh I'm sorry, she has a cubby. It's over here," Dana said as she led them over to a coat rack that had been transformed into several cubbies. "You can put her coat over here and her extra clothing down here and her diapers go in here," she said, pointing to an area on the top of the cubby.
"Thanks," Troy said as he placed Ana's diapers on top and her clothes inside the cubby.
After another 15 minutes of looking around the room with Ana, Troy and Sharpay hesitantly decided it really was time for them to go; yet they were still nervous about leaving Ana at the school. "Something just doesn't feel right," Sharpay whispered to Troy as they headed for the door.
Not wanting to make Sharpay more nervous agreeing, he simply hugged her. "Okay," he said to Ana. "Mommy and daddy have to go now." He picked Ana up and gave her a kiss and a hug and then handed her over to Sharpay.
"Goodbye, sweetie," she said. "We'll see you at 4:00, okay?" She gave her a hug and a kiss and set her down.
Ana seemed to know that her parents were leaving because as soon as Sharpay set her down, tears started to slowly fall down her cheeks. As Troy and Sharpay walked away, she started to wail. Sharpay wanted so badly to go and pick her daughter up and hold her, but she knew that if she did, she'd only make it harder for Ana to adjust. She gripped Troy's hand as they walked to the parking lot.
"Troy, do you think she'll be all right," Sharpay asked as the two got into the car.
"Yeah, I think that once Ana notices the other kids in the class, she'll start to enjoy it," he said, unsure of the situation himself.
Dun, dun DUNNNN! So, what do you think about Larissa's school compared to Ana's? Let me just say this: expect something … interesting to happen in the next chapter. Until then, please R&R!