Hey, Thanks for all the great reviws, and now, back to outside the school...
Max, Ishi, Mai and Lei walked across the playground towards the school building. Mai and Lei wanted to go play in the playground around back, but Max told them they would have to wait until recess. They walked into the building out of the rain, and immediately took off their wet jackets. Ishi and Max carried the children's book bags and coats, while they carried their own lunches and held tightly to the adult's hands. They easily found the kindergarten classrooms by the group of parents and small children, but once there they discovered Mai and Lei were in different classes. Max asked the teacher about this and was told it was to cut down on competing between siblings. They decided that Max would go with Mai and Ishi would stay with Lei, so they said good-bye and split up.
Inside Mai's classroom were six tables with four small chairs around each. Near each chair was a bigger one for the parents that had been invited. They noticed in each spot were some crayons and a coloring page with each child's name written on it. They found Mai's spot and sat down. Four other children sat at different tables coloring, one had an adult sitting beside her, while the other parents stood in the back of the classroom talking. Mai just sat looking around the classroom, so Max picked up a crayon and started coloring.
"Hey." Mai objected.
"What? You don't seem to want to color, so why waste this perfectly good page with your name on it?" Max chose another crayon. Mai took it from her hand and started coloring where Max had left off, she smiled and looked at the other names around the table. Paul, Toby and Molly. Glancing at the other tables, Max noticed there were two boys and two girls at most of them. She picked up another crayon and joined Mai in coloring, this time she didn't object.
About five minutes later, a few more children had joined them in the classroom, all of the adults now stood in the back of the classroom talking. Max thought of joining them, but decided against it. She was much younger than all of them, and some of them seemed to be staring at her. She used her exceptional hearing to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"It's a shame." One of the ladies said.
"I know, can you imagine? She's so young." Another added. The third in the small group spoke up.
"She can't be more than nineteen. I know there are teens that get pregnant, but she must have been a baby herself!" It finally clued into Max that they thought Mai was her daughter. Max didn't know what to do, all these people thought bad of her, should she say something to them. She desperately wished she had been brought up to be tough, what would Kade have done? As Max sat there worrying and coloring, she didn't notice that her and Mai had been joined at the table, until Mai spoke up.
"Hello, my name is Mai, what's your name?" Max looked up into the eyes of a man sitting behind another little girl.
"My name is Molly." She heard the girl say.
To Be Continued...
Max, Ishi, Mai and Lei walked across the playground towards the school building. Mai and Lei wanted to go play in the playground around back, but Max told them they would have to wait until recess. They walked into the building out of the rain, and immediately took off their wet jackets. Ishi and Max carried the children's book bags and coats, while they carried their own lunches and held tightly to the adult's hands. They easily found the kindergarten classrooms by the group of parents and small children, but once there they discovered Mai and Lei were in different classes. Max asked the teacher about this and was told it was to cut down on competing between siblings. They decided that Max would go with Mai and Ishi would stay with Lei, so they said good-bye and split up.
Inside Mai's classroom were six tables with four small chairs around each. Near each chair was a bigger one for the parents that had been invited. They noticed in each spot were some crayons and a coloring page with each child's name written on it. They found Mai's spot and sat down. Four other children sat at different tables coloring, one had an adult sitting beside her, while the other parents stood in the back of the classroom talking. Mai just sat looking around the classroom, so Max picked up a crayon and started coloring.
"Hey." Mai objected.
"What? You don't seem to want to color, so why waste this perfectly good page with your name on it?" Max chose another crayon. Mai took it from her hand and started coloring where Max had left off, she smiled and looked at the other names around the table. Paul, Toby and Molly. Glancing at the other tables, Max noticed there were two boys and two girls at most of them. She picked up another crayon and joined Mai in coloring, this time she didn't object.
About five minutes later, a few more children had joined them in the classroom, all of the adults now stood in the back of the classroom talking. Max thought of joining them, but decided against it. She was much younger than all of them, and some of them seemed to be staring at her. She used her exceptional hearing to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"It's a shame." One of the ladies said.
"I know, can you imagine? She's so young." Another added. The third in the small group spoke up.
"She can't be more than nineteen. I know there are teens that get pregnant, but she must have been a baby herself!" It finally clued into Max that they thought Mai was her daughter. Max didn't know what to do, all these people thought bad of her, should she say something to them. She desperately wished she had been brought up to be tough, what would Kade have done? As Max sat there worrying and coloring, she didn't notice that her and Mai had been joined at the table, until Mai spoke up.
"Hello, my name is Mai, what's your name?" Max looked up into the eyes of a man sitting behind another little girl.
"My name is Molly." She heard the girl say.
To Be Continued...