"Veni, Vidi, Vici"
greyeyedgirl
Summary: She came, she saw, she conquered.
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There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very very good,
But when she was bad she was horrid.
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The small raven-haired child made her way past the playground of her new elementary school, a tight hand encompassing her tiny fingers. The tall brick building caught the girl's attention considerably; her large almond-shaped eyes slowly took in the large double doors, both swarming with children. Shouts and chants were heard, a tall fifth-grader's laugh, songs of "Alex and Amy, sitting in a tree..." drifting across the sidewalk leading to the school. The girl took another step forward, her nanny's grip on her hand tightening.
"K-i-s-s-i-n-g."
"Come on, Cristina," Fiona said, "Your class doesn't start for almost half an hour, but you said you wanted to get there early, didn't you?"
"First comes love, then comes marriage."
"Will the teacher be nice?" Cristina asked quietly, looking up at the nanny.
"I don't know, Cristina," Fiona responded. "I'm sure she will be."
"Then comes the baby in the baby carriage."
The tall overbearing woman led her forward through the hoards of kids, swinging open the door. Cristina counted the tiles as they walked down the hallway, hearing the clippety-clop of her new dress shoes as Fiona finally stopped, looking at a bright red door that had a sign attached to it that said in block letters:
Mrs. Applebaum, Room 7"Ap-ple bomb," Cristina whispered quietly to herself, her lips pushing together for each new syllable. "Yes, Cristina," Fiona told her. "That's your teacher."
Cristina nodded, silently, and stood patiently as Fiona reached out her free hand, slowly turning the doorknob. Cristina's first thought was that they were the first ones there, but she realized almost immediately that that reaction was incorrect; there was a tall, thin woman with hollow cheekbones and shoulder-length brown hair wearing a pink skirt and tank top. Cristina inspected her silently, not looking into the woman's eyes.
"Well, hi, there," the woman said pleasantly, stepping forwards to shake Fiona's hand, and then reaching down to shake Cristina's. Cristina barely glanced at her, keeping one hand in Fiona's and the other firmly balled into a fist.
"What's your name, Sweetie?"
"Cristina."
"Hi, Cristina," Mrs. Applebaum said softly, smiling down at her. "I'm Mrs. Applebaum. Is this your mommy?"
Cristina shook her head. "No. She's my nanny, Fyo-na. Mother is at home, 'cause I didn't want her to bring me." The small girl stood perfectly straight, and though there was youth in her voice, she spoke clearly and strongly.
Mrs. Applebaum stood up from where she'd bent her knees to be at Cristina's level. She smiled at Cristina's nanny. "Well, Mrs..."
"Evans. But really, Fiona is fine." Fiona smiled, then looked down at Cristina. "I'm sorry to be here so early. But Cristina has been up and roarin' since four, and she just couldn't wait any longer."
"Oh, that's fine," Mrs. Applebaum said pleasantly, grinning at Cristina. "Are you excited about school, Cristina?"
Cristina put on the smile that she had been practicing several times an hour for almost two weeks, when she had first been told that she would be attending kindergarten.
"Yes, Mrs. Applebaum. But I already know how to read, count, add, subtract, and multiply all the way to 9."
If Mrs. Applebaum was surprised, she managed to hide it. "Well, it's excellent that you said that, because the first thing we're doing today is giving you a little test to see how much you've already learned. I know you already took a test last week, but this is just more in depth. Will you come with me to this table?" Samantha Applebaum led the small girl to the table, followed by Fiona, to one of several round wooden tables, which was surrounded by six multi-colored chairs. Mrs. Applebaum stayed standing, waiting for Cristina to choose one, and after the small girl dropped her new purple backpack down on the floor, Cristina sat down in the blue chair, and Mrs. Applebaum sat down next to her in a green one.
"By the way," Mrs. Applebaum said, glancing sideways to Fiona. "Just in case you missed the letter, orientation for parents and children is for the first hour today, and then there's three hours where we'll get some class time in, see how the children react without their parents, and so on."
Fiona smiled, nodding. "Yes, that's exactly what the letter said," she confirmed. Cristina tapped one shoe impatiently, staring out the window distractedly. Mrs. Applebaum seemed to notice this, for she opened the manila folder she had been holding and showed Cristina one of the papers.
"Can you read these for me, Cristina?"
Cristina looked down at the paper in front of her.
"Ant. Bear. Bee. Can. Car. Cat. Dog." She continued for almost fifteen more seconds, before Mrs. Applebaum hastily took the paper from her, setting a different one in front of her. "This is the advanced list," she explained.
Cristina looked at the paper. "Airplane. Antelope. Bick-er-ing. Catapult. Ell-ef-ant."
Mrs. Applebaum watched her in amazement. "Well," she said finally. "It's obvious you're an apt reader. You like math, Cristina?"
Cristina's eyes lit up. "Yes."
"What's 4 plus 4?"
"8," Cristina said automatically.
"7 plus nine?"
"Sixteen."
"Thirty-seven minus fifteen."
Cristina paused for only half a second. "Twenty-two."
Mrs. Applebaum watched her intently for a moment, then looked at Fiona. "In all honesty, Miss Evans, I'm not sure what else I can teach her. Kindergarten teaches basic reading and writing, counting, and makes sure they are ready for first grade." She paused, and then handed Cristina a pencil and paper.
"Cristina, can you write your name on this paper?"
Cristina moved the paper closer, leaning over it and printing "Cristina Nicole Yang" in large letters. Mrs. Applebaum nodded. "Can you write my name?"
Cristina thought back to the sign on the door, before printing "Applebaum."
"Can you write..." Mrs. Applebaum paused, then spoke slowly. "The red fox jumps over the lazy dog?"
Cristina copied it onto the paper perfectly, even adding a period at the end. Mrs. Applebaum looked back at Fiona.
"She would have to take a standardized test...but I truly believe that Cristina might be better off in first grade."
Fiona paused. "She's only four."
Mrs. Applebaum nodded. "Well, listen. We'll keep her here for a week, and then see what happens and how it works out. All right?"
Cristina sat back in her chair, staring out the window and listening to the adults talk about her, unsure about the little smile playing at her face.