Chapter 13

Five years later

"Sam, get up. Your mother has breakfast ready."

Ten year old Sam groaned into her pillow. "Ah, Dad, I don't want to get up."

Matt walked into her bedroom to pull open the drapes. Sam quickly covered her head as the sun's rays illuminated her bedroom. He then walked over to her bed and pulled her comforter off of her entire body. "Come on, Sam. We don't have much time. You can't be late for your first day of school."

Reluctantly, Sam pulled herself out of bed and padded to the kitchen. She flopped into a chair and put her elbows on the table to prop her head in her hands. "Good morning, sweetheart," Alexis greeted. She placed a bowl of cereal in front of Sam.

"Morning," Sam said reaching for the milk.

"Are you ready for your first day of school?"

"No." Sam replied point blank. "I don't want to go to that school."

"Why not Sam? It is one of the best schools in Manhattan."

"Fine, you go there then. Can't I go live with Grandma and go to school there? Please?"

"No, Sam. You are not going to live with your grandmother. There is nothing wrong with Wesley School. You will get a wonderful education. And I would rather you didn't attend public school?

"Why not? Dad went to public school and he turned out okay," Sam argued.

"Whoa, whatever this debate is, don't drag Dad into it." Matt said as he entered the kitchen. He moved across the room to give Alexis a kiss and hug.

"Dad, please tell Mom that there is nothing wrong with Public School and I would get a good education anywhere."

"No way, Sam." He answered putting cream and sugar in his coffee. "I agree with your mother. Now eat your breakfast."

"I'm not hungry," Sam pushed her bowl away. She crossed her arms in front her and began to pout. "It's not fair. You drag me here away from my friends, just so you two can become hot shots. I want to go back home."

"Samantha," Alexis began, "this is home now. So if you're going to pout, I would appreciate it if you would multitask and pout while you are getting ready for school. We are leaving in 30 minutes."

Sam twisted her mouth in defeat. "Hmph…fine I'll go, but I not going to like it." Sam left the kitchen and stomped to her bedroom.

"I wouldn't expect anything less…"Alexis called after her. "Where did she get this attitude all of a sudden?"

"It's not all of a sudden, Lex. It was 10 years in the making. Don't worry about her she'll be fine. She'll come around."

"She always has to push the issue."

"She's a kid, that's what kids do…so do you want to meet for lunch today?" he asked trying desperately to change the topic of conversation.

"I can't I have a deposition at 11:30 on the East side. I'll be lucky if I get out of there in enough time to pick up Sam."

"Don't worry about Sam. I'll get her. She can come to the office and do some filing for me after she finishes her homework. She'll enjoy making ten bucks."

Alexis got up from the table and put her bowl in the sink. She leaned over to give Matt a kiss, "you are wonderful, do you know that?"

"Yeah but I love to here you say it," he teased.

"Samantha, let's go…"

"May I help you?" the secretary in the school office greeted. It was the first day of school and she had already looked frazzled. She had a pencil sticking out from behind her ear and her hands were covered in blank copy machine toner.

"Yes, Hi…I'm Alexis Davis and this is my daughter Samantha."

"Oh yes, the principal told me that you would be in. You had enrolled over the phone."

"Yes, he asked me to bring copies her birth certificate and her health records."

"Great…" the secretary said taking the copies. "I need to you sign this release of records from her previous school. And here is your schedule dear." Sam looked at the schedule but she did not pick it up from the counter. Instead she stood next to her mother tapping her fingers in a bored rhythm. Alexis quickly put her hand on top of Sam's to stop the tapping.

"Your homeroom is 107, Mr. Kearns. Do you need a bus route assignment?" the secretary asked as she finished the paper work.

"No," Alexis answered quickly. "I spoke with the principal about that. She will be dropped off and pick up only by myself or my husband. Under no circumstances is she is not to leave with anybody else."

"In that case, Ms. Davis, you or your husband will have to enter the school and sign her out every day."

"Understood…" Alexis replied turning to Sam. "Do you understand, Samantha? Me or Daddy, no one else."

"I got it, Mom."

"Okay then…"she turned her attention back to the secretary. "Is there anything else?"

"No, Ms. Davis, that is everything."

"Thank you…okay Sam. Have a good day, I want to hear all about it when you get home. Remember, Daddy is picking you up today…"

Sam nodded then turned to the secretary, "where do I go to wait for my Dad at the end of the day?"

"Oh you just come to office, honey."

Alexis gave Sam a kiss on the forehead and watched her disappear into her classroom. "Thank you," she said once more and waved good bye to the secretary.

Sam's morning had been pretty uneventful. The first day in this school had been like the first day in any other school that she had been in; handing out books and being told what they were going to learn throughout the school year. She also noticed that they girls all had their clicks. And from what she could tell, she didn't fit into any of them.

She ate her lunch under a tree in the court yard. Every once in a while she would catch a girl staring at her. But they would quickly turn away when they realized that she saw them. How could she feel so alone in such a big city? As she looked around the court yard she saw some girls playing jump rope, others playing hopscotch, and another group was standing in the corner laughing and giggling over what looked like a note.

On the other side of the court yard was small basketball court with the ball laying in the grass adjacent. She retrieved the ball and started shooting and running lay-ups like her cousins had taught her at the farm. She was completely oblivious to the blonde haired girl standing next to the court. She didn't get Sam's attention until the little girl asked her if she was a boy or a girl, "because only boys play basketball."

Sam stopped in her tracks and passed the girl the ball as hard as she could. She aimed straight for the girls face, just as her cousins taught her. Only Sam knew that the little girl was not going to catch the ball. As the little girl started crying Sam saw blood dripping down her face. The teacher on duty heard the girl scream and came running demanding answers.

"She hit me on purpose," the little girl cried with her hand cupping her nose.

"No I didn't," Sam protested. "I thought she wanted to play so I passed her the ball. How was I supposed to know that she doesn't know how to catch a basketball?"

"Okay that's enough girls, LeeAnna go see the nurse. She'll give you an ice pack." The teacher instructed turning to Sam, "You, go sit down until it is time to go back to class."

"But I didn't do anything wrong…"Sam protested.

"I'm not saying that you did, I telling you to go sit down for five minutes."

Sam walked over to the picnic table and sat down propping her head in her hands. "Way to go…" she heard a girl's voice behind her.

"What?"

"I said way to go, we've been trying to shut LeeAnna up for a while now…"

"Oh…" Sam replied non-enthusiastically, "glad I could help."

"My name is Hannah, what's yours?"

"I'm Sam."

"Is this your first time in New York?"

"No, I lived her until I was four. Then my parents moved to New Haven so they could finish school."

"New Haven? Yale?"

"Yeah…" Sam replied just as the bell rang.

"Mine too," Hannah replied, "Hey why don't you sit at our table for lunch tomorrow."

"Thanks," Sam accepted walking back into the school with her new friend.

The rest of the day was as uneventful as the beginning except that people were talking to her and introducing themselves. Everyone seemed rather happy that Sam smacked LeeAnna in the face with a basketball. And she was surprised that she didn't get in trouble for the whole thing.

At the end of the day she was shocked to see her father in the office waiting and talking to the principal. She cringed when she walked through the office door.

"Hey, kiddo."

"Hi Dad," she said looking at the ground.

"Did you have a good day?" Sam just shrugged in response, but the principal jumped into the conversation.

"There was little mishap at recess, but otherwise okay." She said.

"What kind of mishap?" he asked directing the question more to Sam than the principal. But the principal answered.

"Sam was playing basketball and she threw the ball to another girl and hit her in the face."

"Samantha," Matt said in a disgusted tone.

"Dad, I thought she wanted to play, I didn't know…"

"Alright, come on Sam…" he interrupted, you can tell me about it on the way to the office. "Mrs. Metz, is the girl alright?"

"Yes, we sent her home and her mother was going to take her to the doctor."

"Thank you, come on Sam." He led her out of the office and to the car. On the way to his practice Sam told Matt the truth of what happened. She explained that she had to defend herself. Although he was not happy with the way she chose to handle the situation, he was glad that she didn't back down.