School...
The best years of one's life are when you're young, when you haven't got a care in the world. And when you're happy, time seems to fly. For Aei Lynn, her happiest moments were times spent with her father; for the past five years Couvea was able to work from home and at the same time watch, train, and play with his rambunctious five year old. They'd moved back to the states when Aei was two and she quickly adapted to it. Living in a two bedroom apartment with a nice little backyard, she often played outside on the swings he put up out there.
Couvea sighed as he sat at their kitchen table, watching her and filling out registration forms. Any day now this September she was going to start school, and he was to go back to his office job. ~One day I'm going to haul off and quit. Then start my school, with Aei as my star pupil.~
The money was still coming in and it wouldn't be too much longer before he could make his dreams come true. He'd train other, older psychic mutants first, then bring Aei into his world. He would be what she needed most first.
~Kindergarten shouldn't be too difficult, the children are her age and they don't learn about real dislike until they're older, until their parents set an example. Until they see it.~
"Daddy!" Aei shrieked happily as she bounded inside. She quickly closed the screen door behind her and in seconds was in his lap with her arms wrapped around his neck.
"Did you have fun out there, Aei?"
"Yes daddy," Aei said, smiling. She looked down at the map of the school. "That looks big."
"You're only going to one building. The whole school is for kindergartners through fifth graders." ~.....Fifth graders? *That* may be a problem.~
"Oh," Aei smiled a little. "Good. Do you think it'll have swings Daddy?"
"Yes. And a slide and jungle gym. You'll enjoy it Aei, kindergarten's fun."
"I can't wait. When does it start?"
~All too soon...~ "Tomorrow. And I'll drive you there and pick you up."
*****
"Now remember Aei, when school is over meet me here and I'll take you home. All right? Don't forget," Couvea said, looking to his daughter as she tugged at her seat belt in an effort to get out of the car.
"Okay daddy, I won't forget."
Couvea smiled slightly, "That's my girl. You have everything?"
"Yup. Lunchbox, blankie, crayons, pencil, eraser, paper, notebook, and backpack; check," she said, ceasing her fight with the seat belt and looking at her father.
"Good," he said. "Now have a good day, behave. Not that I need to tell you that. I love you Aei Lynn."
"I love you too daddy. Have a good day at work. Um, daddy? Could you take this off?" Aei nodded to the seat belt as she picked up her backpack.
"Oh! Of course," Couvea said as he unclipped the seat belt. He watched her open the car door, climb out, and put her backpack on. She disappeared for a moment when the door closed but came back into view when she made her way toward the building for kindergartners.
When you're very small everything around you is at least ten times bigger if not more. And doing something new that you've never experienced makes it all the more frightening. Aei Lynn took slow steps, turning once to see if her father was still there. Nope. Apparently he'd driven off just a few moments ago and now a different car was in his place with a different parent and their kid. A mom, saying the same thing to her son that Couvea said to her. That was all she needed to see despite the boy was her age.
She continued her walk along the school's campus. It was rather early and she wanted to see if this place really did have swings. A few older kids were standing just outside the playground's fence, talking amongst themselves. Seasoned fifth graders ready for the start on their final year before moving on to bigger things. They glanced to her a moment, three guys and two girls. The two girls were slim, one with straight black hair and the other with wavy brown curls. The two wore blue jeans. The girl with straight hair wore a white shirt, clean cut and conservative. Curly wore a sleeveless black shirt. The guys were fairly tall, built like future football players. Black jeans, three different color shirts; blue, white, and red. They all had the same hair style, like they were part of a collective. They certainly weren't triplets. The group chuckled after pulling their gaze away from Aei Lynn.
That's when she started hearing thoughts that were not her own. The thoughts belonged to the two girls and three guys, all running together.
~Blue hair on a kindergartner...Ugh. What a freak. They start younger and younger.~~What a great year this'll be. Maybe this year Jerry and I will hook up.~~When we get out of here I am *so* joining the junior high's football team.~~What is that little girl staring at?~~Need a cigarette. Need a cigarette *now*.~
The bell rang for school to start. The thoughts stopped coming and the older kids headed for their building.
"That's the bell to get to class in five minutes," said the girl with the straight black hair. Her voice matched the thought that had commented on her. It seemed to Aei Lynn this girl was being nice to her face but in reality disliked her for no reason.
"Thankyou," Aei Lynn said, then headed to her building. ~That must have been a fifth grader. I hope not all of them are like her...I hope I don't act like her when I reach that age.~
She reached the kindergarten building and walked inside, noticing that there was a list of names next to each door. Finding her name next to the door that read K-17, she walked inside and looked around. There were at least twenty other children in there besides Aei. Thoughts started coming to her again until the teacher came over to her.
"Hello there," said the teacher. She looked about Couvea's age with sunny gold hair put up in a bun and wore a flowery dress. The woman smiled warmly, looking down at Aei.
"Hello," Aei replied, shyly smiling back.
"My name's Ms. Taylor, and you are?"
"Aei Lynn Devasc."
"Ah yes, welcome to class. Do you go by Aei Lynn or just Aei?"
"Aei. Nice to meet you Ms. Taylor."
"The pleasure's mine Aei. Go ahead and find yourself a seat and then we'll get to know everyone."
Aei nodded and smiled, going to the empty desk in the second row. To the right of her sat the little boy she'd seen earlier, who had been dropped off by his mother. He'd been coloring a picture of a cartoony looking lion in a cartoony jungle setting. To the left, a girl with curly blonde hair who was examining her nails.
"Hi," the boy to the right said, noticing Aei and perking up. "My name's Kyle."
Aei looked at Kyle; he seemed nice enough. "Hello, I'm Aei."
"That's a cool name...Hey, I saw you this morning at the parking lot. How come you left so quick?"
"I wanted to see the playground."
"Nice isn't it? My dad helped build it."
Aei nodded. ~He's got a dad *and* a mom...Lucky...~
"Aei, is your hair really blue?"
"Yep." ~Great, someone else is going to dislike me for my hair color...~
"That's really cool!"
~He's being sincere; he really *does* think my hair is cool.~ "Thankyou," she said.
"Hey Aei," said Kyle. "I think this is the start of a great friendship."
"Friends," Aei said, smiling.
*****
Aei met her father at the parking lot, waving goodbye to Kyle as he got in his mother's car. She climbed into the front's passenger seat and buckled up, then smiled happily at Couvea.
He smiled back, "Good day?"
"Yup. I made a friend, his name's Kyle. Daddy, we have lots in common and we shared our crayons and we split our lunches because he can't eat a *whole* tuna sandwich and at naptime neither one of us could sleep so we pretended to and stared at the ceiling and whispered to each other the whole time and at recess he stayed inside with me when I got dizzy and---"
"Aei, slow down," Couvea chuckled. They stopped at the red light. "I'm glad you had such a good day, but when were you dizzy? And go slower this time."
"Well, this morning after you left I went to go look at the playground and when I got there some older kids were there. I could hear what they were thinking. And at recess it happened again but I heard more then just five. I heard the whole playground and it made me dizzy."
"I see. Aei, that was telepathy. It's what I've been trying to teach you, when I think of something and then ask you what I'm thinking. You don't have to be afraid of it and we'll work on it. Now tell me more about this friend of yours."
The best years of one's life are when you're young, when you haven't got a care in the world. And when you're happy, time seems to fly. For Aei Lynn, her happiest moments were times spent with her father; for the past five years Couvea was able to work from home and at the same time watch, train, and play with his rambunctious five year old. They'd moved back to the states when Aei was two and she quickly adapted to it. Living in a two bedroom apartment with a nice little backyard, she often played outside on the swings he put up out there.
Couvea sighed as he sat at their kitchen table, watching her and filling out registration forms. Any day now this September she was going to start school, and he was to go back to his office job. ~One day I'm going to haul off and quit. Then start my school, with Aei as my star pupil.~
The money was still coming in and it wouldn't be too much longer before he could make his dreams come true. He'd train other, older psychic mutants first, then bring Aei into his world. He would be what she needed most first.
~Kindergarten shouldn't be too difficult, the children are her age and they don't learn about real dislike until they're older, until their parents set an example. Until they see it.~
"Daddy!" Aei shrieked happily as she bounded inside. She quickly closed the screen door behind her and in seconds was in his lap with her arms wrapped around his neck.
"Did you have fun out there, Aei?"
"Yes daddy," Aei said, smiling. She looked down at the map of the school. "That looks big."
"You're only going to one building. The whole school is for kindergartners through fifth graders." ~.....Fifth graders? *That* may be a problem.~
"Oh," Aei smiled a little. "Good. Do you think it'll have swings Daddy?"
"Yes. And a slide and jungle gym. You'll enjoy it Aei, kindergarten's fun."
"I can't wait. When does it start?"
~All too soon...~ "Tomorrow. And I'll drive you there and pick you up."
*****
"Now remember Aei, when school is over meet me here and I'll take you home. All right? Don't forget," Couvea said, looking to his daughter as she tugged at her seat belt in an effort to get out of the car.
"Okay daddy, I won't forget."
Couvea smiled slightly, "That's my girl. You have everything?"
"Yup. Lunchbox, blankie, crayons, pencil, eraser, paper, notebook, and backpack; check," she said, ceasing her fight with the seat belt and looking at her father.
"Good," he said. "Now have a good day, behave. Not that I need to tell you that. I love you Aei Lynn."
"I love you too daddy. Have a good day at work. Um, daddy? Could you take this off?" Aei nodded to the seat belt as she picked up her backpack.
"Oh! Of course," Couvea said as he unclipped the seat belt. He watched her open the car door, climb out, and put her backpack on. She disappeared for a moment when the door closed but came back into view when she made her way toward the building for kindergartners.
When you're very small everything around you is at least ten times bigger if not more. And doing something new that you've never experienced makes it all the more frightening. Aei Lynn took slow steps, turning once to see if her father was still there. Nope. Apparently he'd driven off just a few moments ago and now a different car was in his place with a different parent and their kid. A mom, saying the same thing to her son that Couvea said to her. That was all she needed to see despite the boy was her age.
She continued her walk along the school's campus. It was rather early and she wanted to see if this place really did have swings. A few older kids were standing just outside the playground's fence, talking amongst themselves. Seasoned fifth graders ready for the start on their final year before moving on to bigger things. They glanced to her a moment, three guys and two girls. The two girls were slim, one with straight black hair and the other with wavy brown curls. The two wore blue jeans. The girl with straight hair wore a white shirt, clean cut and conservative. Curly wore a sleeveless black shirt. The guys were fairly tall, built like future football players. Black jeans, three different color shirts; blue, white, and red. They all had the same hair style, like they were part of a collective. They certainly weren't triplets. The group chuckled after pulling their gaze away from Aei Lynn.
That's when she started hearing thoughts that were not her own. The thoughts belonged to the two girls and three guys, all running together.
~Blue hair on a kindergartner...Ugh. What a freak. They start younger and younger.~~What a great year this'll be. Maybe this year Jerry and I will hook up.~~When we get out of here I am *so* joining the junior high's football team.~~What is that little girl staring at?~~Need a cigarette. Need a cigarette *now*.~
The bell rang for school to start. The thoughts stopped coming and the older kids headed for their building.
"That's the bell to get to class in five minutes," said the girl with the straight black hair. Her voice matched the thought that had commented on her. It seemed to Aei Lynn this girl was being nice to her face but in reality disliked her for no reason.
"Thankyou," Aei Lynn said, then headed to her building. ~That must have been a fifth grader. I hope not all of them are like her...I hope I don't act like her when I reach that age.~
She reached the kindergarten building and walked inside, noticing that there was a list of names next to each door. Finding her name next to the door that read K-17, she walked inside and looked around. There were at least twenty other children in there besides Aei. Thoughts started coming to her again until the teacher came over to her.
"Hello there," said the teacher. She looked about Couvea's age with sunny gold hair put up in a bun and wore a flowery dress. The woman smiled warmly, looking down at Aei.
"Hello," Aei replied, shyly smiling back.
"My name's Ms. Taylor, and you are?"
"Aei Lynn Devasc."
"Ah yes, welcome to class. Do you go by Aei Lynn or just Aei?"
"Aei. Nice to meet you Ms. Taylor."
"The pleasure's mine Aei. Go ahead and find yourself a seat and then we'll get to know everyone."
Aei nodded and smiled, going to the empty desk in the second row. To the right of her sat the little boy she'd seen earlier, who had been dropped off by his mother. He'd been coloring a picture of a cartoony looking lion in a cartoony jungle setting. To the left, a girl with curly blonde hair who was examining her nails.
"Hi," the boy to the right said, noticing Aei and perking up. "My name's Kyle."
Aei looked at Kyle; he seemed nice enough. "Hello, I'm Aei."
"That's a cool name...Hey, I saw you this morning at the parking lot. How come you left so quick?"
"I wanted to see the playground."
"Nice isn't it? My dad helped build it."
Aei nodded. ~He's got a dad *and* a mom...Lucky...~
"Aei, is your hair really blue?"
"Yep." ~Great, someone else is going to dislike me for my hair color...~
"That's really cool!"
~He's being sincere; he really *does* think my hair is cool.~ "Thankyou," she said.
"Hey Aei," said Kyle. "I think this is the start of a great friendship."
"Friends," Aei said, smiling.
*****
Aei met her father at the parking lot, waving goodbye to Kyle as he got in his mother's car. She climbed into the front's passenger seat and buckled up, then smiled happily at Couvea.
He smiled back, "Good day?"
"Yup. I made a friend, his name's Kyle. Daddy, we have lots in common and we shared our crayons and we split our lunches because he can't eat a *whole* tuna sandwich and at naptime neither one of us could sleep so we pretended to and stared at the ceiling and whispered to each other the whole time and at recess he stayed inside with me when I got dizzy and---"
"Aei, slow down," Couvea chuckled. They stopped at the red light. "I'm glad you had such a good day, but when were you dizzy? And go slower this time."
"Well, this morning after you left I went to go look at the playground and when I got there some older kids were there. I could hear what they were thinking. And at recess it happened again but I heard more then just five. I heard the whole playground and it made me dizzy."
"I see. Aei, that was telepathy. It's what I've been trying to teach you, when I think of something and then ask you what I'm thinking. You don't have to be afraid of it and we'll work on it. Now tell me more about this friend of yours."