Chapter 48: First Day Do Overs

When Alex and Ariana had returned home Alex didn't hesitate to ask what was going on with her daughter and why Rachel had any reason to pick on her. For the next hour Ariana explained to Alex (and Mitchie when she had gotten home) what had been happening since she had started school in Dallas.

"Honey, why didn't you tell me or mommy?" Alex asked.

"I don't know." Ariana replied. In truth Ariana kept the bullying a secret from her mother's because she believed if they went to the principal about it, Rebecca and Lauren would only bully her more for telling on them.

"Well if they do it again, you have to tell us okay?" Mitchie said. Ariana nodded and the girls left it at that(or so Ariana thought, in reality Mitchie and Alex had phoned the school once the office was opened and told them what had gone on and they promised to keep an eye out on the girls). When school started up 2 weeks later Ariana arrived at the school grounds very nervous about Rebecca and Lauren finding her and instantly starting to pick on her, but she knew standing up to the girls was something she had to do. When the bus doors opened Ariana said a quick goodbye to Jaiden who was sitting beside her and was one of the last students off the bus. As she walked away from the bus stop Ariana began to look for Ava, Charlotte or Mandy but instead was met by the very two girls she was trying to avoid.

"Oh look, four eyes is back." Lauren snickered.

"Where's your friend from summer camp four eyes? Did he see what a loser you were and stop hanging out with you?" Rebecca asked. The two girls began to laugh and Ariana finally found the courage she had needed since she had arrived at Jameson Elementary.

"Guy's, quit it! Quit calling me four eyes, quit making fun of my friends just quit it!" Ariana exclaimed, quickly ending the girls laughter.

"Why should we listen to you four eyes? We can do whatever we want." Rebecca snapped.

"No, you can't, not when you're picking on other kids, that's wrong." Ariana replied making sure to firmly stand her ground.

"What did I ever do to you anyway?"

"Nothing, you're just a four eyed loser that…" Rebecca was about to go on but an adults voice broke through hers.

"What was that Rebecca?" one of the supervisors asked.

"I…Um…" Rebecca tried her best to come up with something but came up short.

"Rebecca I'd like you to come to the principal's office with me, you to Ariana and Lauren." The supervisor asked and the three girls were whisked into the principal's office and brought in one at a time to talk.

"So, Ariana, what exactly was Rebecca saying to you?" Principal Sheppard asked.

"She was calling me a four eyed loser." Ariana replied.

"And saying that my friend Jaiden didn't hang out with me anymore because he saw I was a loser. Lauren was saying that too, that Jaiden didn't like me anymore"

"Is this the first time either of them had done this?" Principal Sheppard asked. Ariana didn't hesitate to shake her head.

"They've been doing that since last year when I moved here." Ariana replied.

"I was asking Rebecca why she picked on me when Ms. McKessie got there."

"Don't worry Ariana, I'll make sure both of them stop picking on you." Principal Sheppard promised.

"You are free to go, do you think you could ask Rebecca and Lauren to come in please?"

Ariana nodded and left her seat and when she opened the door she was met by two pairs of glaring eyes.

"Principal Sheppard wants to see you guys." Ariana said without an ounce of fear in her voice, something she wasn't quite used to when talking to Rebecca. The girls continued to glare at her as they got up from their seats and headed into Principal Sheppard's office while Ariana headed to class.

"Hello, you must be Ariana, I'm Mr. Williams and I'll be your teacher this year." Mr. Williams introduced as Ariana opened the door.

"May I ask why you're late?"

"I was talking with Principal Sheppard in his office, I'm sorry it won't happen again." Ariana said.

"That's perfectly fine Ariana. We just started working on our U.S map for Social Studies if you'd like to start." Mr. Williams said showing Ariana her desk behind a boy named Carlo and he handed her a blank map and an atlas for checking to see if she was right. Just as Ariana was beginning to check over her map, Principal Sheppard walked in with Lauren and Rebecca beside him. Mr. Williams walked over and after a few whispered words between the two teachers Mr. Williams called Ariana over to the door.

"Ariana, Principal Sheppard and the girls would like to talk to you for a minute outside." Mr. Williams told her and Ariana was brought outside with the Principal and two girls.

"Ariana, Lauren and Rebecca would like to say something to you." Principal Sheppard said.

"Lauren, Rebecca."

"I'm sorry Ariana." Rebecca apologized. Ariana searched for any signs that the girl was faking her apology but she saw nothing.

"Me too, I'm sorry." Lauren followed, again Ariana found no sign of the girl faking so she eased up.

"Thanks you guys." Ariana said.

"No if I hear of you two picking on Ariana again I will be calling your parents in." Principal Sheppard warned. Both girls looked up and nodded nervously at their principal.

"You may head to class now girls." Principal Sheppard told them and both Rebecca and Lauren headed down the hall to their classroom (much to Ariana's relief both Rebecca and Lauren were placed in the other 4th grade class) and Ariana headed back into class where they were going over their maps.

"Okay everyone after recess we'll take a look at what we'll start covering what we'll do in Language Arts." Mr. Williams said as the lunch bell rang and all the students were dismissed.

"Ari!" Ariana heard a familiar voice call from across the school grounds. Ariana looked over with a huge smile on her face and turned around to see Mandy running over to her.

"MANDY!" Ariana shrieked as she too started running and brought Mandy into a huge hug.

"Where were you this morning? I was looking all over for you, so were Ava and Charlotte." Mandy asked.

"I was in the principal's office. One of the supervisors caught Rebecca picking on me and they had to apologize after I told Principal Sheppard that it wasn't the first time they picked on me." Ariana explained.

"Well at least they got what was coming to them." Mandy said. Ariana just laughed and the girls headed off to the swings to tell each other all about their summers since they hadn't seen each other since early July before Mandy went on her summer long vacation to see her dad who lived in Chicago.

"So do you think that Rebecca and Lauren are actually going to leave you alone?" Mandy asked.

"I don't know, it seemed like they were sorry but I don't know if they'll stop picking on me." Ariana replied honestly.

"I hope they do, I'm tired of them calling me four eyes and a loser."

"Don't worry, if they try to pick on you again just go to Principal Sheppard again." Mandy advised.

"Yeah he said he would call their parents if they were caught picking on me again." Ariana said, trying her best not to laugh remembering the look of terror on the girl's faces when their parents were brought into the situation. The bell rang and the two girls said goodbye as they headed off to their respective classrooms.

"Okay everyone pull out a note book to start our journals." Mr. Williams asked and everyone pulled out a fresh notebook from their desks. For their first journal everyone had to write about what they had done over the summer and some of the students were asked to share their stories with everyone. Ariana was chosen to read hers aloud and she had written about how her siblings had turned 3 and they threw a small party for them once the Reid's had arrived, how she had helped the Reid's move into their new house just a few houses away from them and finally her experience at the week long summer camp. Everyone applauded once Ariana was done reading and the little girl beamed with pride, so far, fourth grade was turning out to be a much better year than 3rd grade. After everyone was dismissed for lunch Ariana once again headed off with Mandy, Ava and Charlotte to play and within no time the first day of school was finished. As the bell rang Ariana was called to the office and there was a message from Alex saying she would be picking her up after school and to not get on the bus. Ariana waited about 5 minutes with her friends before she saw Alex's car coming down the street

"I'll see you guys later!" Ariana called out as she saw Alex pull up in front of the school.

"See ya!" the three girls called out and Ariana rushed over to the SUV and hopped in with her mom.

"How was your first day honey?" Alex asked as her daughter shut the door.

"Good, we did a map and I was the only one to get all of it right!" Ariana smiled proudly.

"That's great Ari." Alex beamed.

"Yeah, and Rebecca and Lauren tried to pick on me again but the supervisor caught them and we got sent to the principal's office and when I told him what happened he told them if they picked on me again he'd call their parents." Ariana told her.

"I'm so proud of you baby. I'm glad you finally told someone and they did something about it." Alex said giving her daughter a hug.

"Okay, now we have to go pick up Jaiden and then Trent, Anna and Caitlin." Alex said.

"Jai and Caitlin are coming over?" Ariana asked.

"Yeah, Aunt Ali phoned me earlier and asked if they could stay over for a little while, Aunt Ali just started at her new job and Uncle Chase will be at work late too." Alex replied.

"Mama, how come you came to pick me up today and I didn't have to go on the bus?" Ariana asked as they drove over to Jaiden's school.

"Well I found out this morning that now I'll be able to do a lot more of my work at home and only have to be at the office in the morning so now instead of catching the bus every day in the morning and after school you'll only have to grab the bus in the morning and I'll be able to pick you up after school." Alex explained. They pulled up outside Jaiden's school and Ariana saw him wave to a few of his new friends (or so she assumed that's what they were) and he jumped into the vehicle.

"Hey kiddo, how was your first day?" Alex asked as Jaiden shut the door.

"It was good, the guys in my class are really cool." Jaiden replied with a smile.

"That's good, okay so we just gotta go pick up the twins and your sister and we'll head to our place okay?" Alex asked. Jaiden nodded and they drove off to the day care center about 5 minutes away.

"Hey Alex." The daycare center manager, Tiffany, greeted as Alex, Ariana and Jaiden walked in the building.

"Hey Tiff, this is my older daughter Ariana and her friend Jaiden." Alex introduced.

"Hi guys." Tiffany greeted the two children.

"Well the kids are just in the next room if you wanna follow me I'll bring you to them." Tiffany said she led them down the hall and into one of the play rooms.

"Anna, Trenton, your mama's here." Tiffany said and the two children looked up and saw their mother standing in the door way.

"Mama!" both toddlers shrieked as they ran the best they could over to their mother.

"Hey guys. Caitlin sweetie you're coming with us too." Alex said to the almost 2 year old who was playing with some of the other kids.

"Cai's comin'?" Anna asked her mother, a huge smile on her face.

"Yeah Jaiden and Caitlin are over to play for a bit." Alex replied.

"Yay! Come on Cai!" Anna said making her way through the group of toddlers and taking the younger girls hand and bringing her with her over to Alex.

"We go now?" Anna asked still holding onto Caitlin's hand tightly.

"Yep we can go now, let's get our stuff on and head out to the car now." Alex said trying to grab Anna's hand while Ariana grabbed Trenton's.

"No, hold Cai's hand." Anna said not even trying to grab onto her mother's hand. Alex watched in amusement as her youngest daughter toddled along with Caitlin to get their stuff on(of course Anna took the liberty of helping the younger girl get her jacket and shoes on) and then they walked with each other to the SUV but when Anna tried to open the door she couldn't quite get it open.

"Mama, help!" Anna called out and Alex only laughed and opened the door for the two younger girls. Alex buckled the three toddlers into the car seats and with that they headed off to the house, everyone's first day back at school and daycare a complete success.

Hey guys! So I'm way excited to be writing this story again, took me a bit to get into the swing of writing this fic again but I'm pretty sure I can do it haha. I know this seems a bit of a fillerish chapter, especially for the first one back, but don't worry, I got new plans up my sleeve that I hope y'all love

See ya Friday!

R&R!