Do You Remember?
" I can't believe it!" Called Juanita when she rummaged in the big crate and pulled out a little kid's suitcase with the stuff inside. She laughed when she showed it to Penelope. They were at Juanita´s home in the attic, Penelope helped her to clean out some old stuff.
The black-haired chipmunk girl straightens her sunglasses on her forehead and blinks. " What important stuff is inside that?"Juanita laughed again. " There must be some pictures and toys from our first school years inside! You remember it?"
Penelope smirks too when Juanita opens the suitcase and pulls out some papers and photos, some toys were inside too. A photo slipped from the staple and landed on the floor.
It shows both chipmunks with the other girls from their cheerleader team and their families, they have all known each other since the first day of elementary school.
While a little Juanita sat in her fathers' arms, both smiling together with her mother and Cody into the camera, Penelope looks a bit more serious while holding her adoptive dad´s hand. It was the enrollment day when both met for the first time.
And became best friends, with some up and downs. Juanita claps her hands and grabbed a very worn rag doll. " Magdalena, m first puppet!" Penelope sat down beside her and grabbed the staple of photos. " Dios Mio, that was something that time!"
Juanita nodded. " Do you remember?"
...Several years ago
" Papa, where are you, vamonos!" Juanita Montoya had jumped out of the car and ran with her bag over her shoulder and her favorite doll in her hand through the entrance of the elementary school. Pablo Montoya laughed when followed her, wrapped his arms around her, and picked her up. " My little angel, just wait for us!" He turned around.
" Brenda, Cody! Let's go, seems someone here can´t wait to go to school!" His wife laughs, while she takes her sons' hand. Cody laughed and pointed at the building. " This is so huge, Mommy!" He was amazed, even Juanita widens her eyes. " It is bigger than kindergarten!"
Her father pinches her softly into her nose, she giggles when he nodes. " You are even bigger now! so it has to be bigger than kindergarten!" As Juanita was still very short because she was a chipmunk. She only reaches her father´s knees, but what was missed in size, she overtakes by energy and joy.
She kept her parents busy, but both loved the lively girl so much.
When Brenda was pregnant with Cody, the doctors said a second pregnancy could cause a lot of problems and could be dangerous. So she and Pablo decided to adopt a second child. In an orphanage in the next city, they found Juanita. A little girl in diapers, but still a little whirlwind and babbling all the time. Brenda was blown away by the little girl and they adopt her promptly. And never regret it.
When the Montoyas entered the entrance, they heard a kid's voice. " Juanita, hello!" The chipmunk girl turned around with a smile, two other girls came over. The first was not much taller than her and wears bright green dungarees, which was a contrast to her red hair. She chews a chocolate bar and laughed. The other one was taller, had brown hair, and was dainty. Juanita laughed happily. " Look, Papa, Wendy, and Lucille from my kindergarten class!" The three girls hugged each other and laughed, Wendy, wiggled from side to side. " Do you think we get into the same class?" " That will be great!" Answered Lucille. The parents of the two came over and greeted the Montoyas.
Wendy´s dad Aiden and her mother Helen reached Pablo their hands. " It´s so nice to see you, how were the summer holidays, hope all went fine?" Asks Helen, her youngest kid Jordan in her arms. Juanita´s father nodes. " Si, we spend three weeks with my cousin, she owns a farm near the Mexican border! The two little ones played the whole day outside, we sat with cocktails on the veranda in the sunset and enjoyed life! And how's your summer?" " Well, we were in Florida, at my mothers'' house! The kids has a lot of fun!" Laughed Aiden, Lucille´s father Jose raised his hand for greeting, his wife Marina hugged Brenda. " Hola, you have to visit Washington D.C. and the Smithsonian, it was fantastic! Ramon and Lucille pelted the museum guide with questions!" While the adults talked, the three girls babbled about their holidays too.
Together with other parents and kids, they walked along the hallway to the auditorium, where the enrollment ceremony would happen.
When they arrived, Juanita pulls he dad´s trouser leg. " Shh, Papa, look!" Pablo looks down with a smile. " What is it, my little angel?" Juanita points somewhere. " There is another chipmunk!" He followed her view.
Indeed, not far away stood a man in the middle of his twenties, a chipmunk hiding behind his legs. It was a girl with black hair, that peeps out behind the man with big eyes. He wears black pants and a blue shirt. It hesitates when Juanita looks at her. Juanita waves and laughs, the girl hides again behind the man´s legs. The little Montoya looks at her father. " Is she scared of me, Papa?" He shook his head. " No, I guess she is shy! Maybe she knows here no one! Do you wanna say hello?" Juanita nodded. " Oh yes!"
The girl with the brown hair walked over to the man and the other girl. It eyed her carefully when she stopped in front of the man, who seems to be surprised. " Hola, young lady! I guess you wanna greet my little Penelope!" He turns to the girl that clinches to him. " Look, my little sparrow, a chipmunk, like you! Come on, be kind and say hello! " Juanita smiled and reached for the girl with her hand. " I am Juanita Montoya, over there are my Papa, my Mama, and my Hermano Cody! Your name is Penelope? Sounds very beautiful!" The girl took a step toward her and looked up at the man. He nodes encouraging. "Let's go, my little sparrow! No fear!" The girl nodded, took a breath, and grabbed Juanita´s hand. " Penelope Alvarez and this is my dad, Mister Alvarez!" Juanita grins. " Nice to meet you, Penelope!" Her parents and Cody came over, and her brother smiles. " Hey, what´s up? Penelope hides again behind her father, Pablo reaches him his hand. " How small is the world! Pablo Montoya!" The man smiles and shook his hand. " Carlos Alvarez, I´m the new supervisor teacher for the Santa Giuliana Middle School! Can I ask you how your daughter came to you?"
Brenda smiles. " Well, that´s a short but sweet story! I was pregnant with Cody and the doctors said a second pregnancy could be dangerous for me and the baby! So we decided to adopt a kid, so Cody doesn't grow up alone." Pablo nodded. " And in an orphanage not far from here we found our little angel and Brenda falls head over heels for that little whirlwind! And your story?" Mister Alvarez sighs. " Not so sweet like yours! I was in Santa Fe, a half year ago. My purse got stolen, I was at the precinct to report this! and then two officers came in, the little girl here with them, they found her on the street! She lived there for several years on her own! That these little ones are very clever so early in their life, you should have seen for yourself!" The Montoya´s noded, Brenda giggles. " Yes, for a young little one she was a lot babbling and running around!"
The teacher nodes again. " Well, same with Penelope! But she get caught by the police, they would put her into an orphanage! Well, I wanted kids, but no luck with the chicas! And I saw something in that little one, so I offered to adopt her. And a week before the summer holidays the whole paper stuff was done! Now we are here!" Juanita's parents were speechless, Pablo took a deep breath. " She spent several years alone on the streets? Unbelievable!" He bows down to Penelope, who stares at him with big eyes. " No worries, my dear! There is nothing better than having a loving family!" Juanita lowers her head to the side and looked at Penelope. " That must be very hard living on your own!" The other girl nodded slowly. " It was! Where can I sleep, where get I some food? I have worked for , cleaning up or carrying stuff, for example, I could sleep in the storage of Ol´Ted!" Juanita sighs. " Did you have friends who were playing with you?" " Friends, no, I played with the cats on the streets!" Juanita stepped over to her and showed her her doll. " That sounds sad! This is my best friend Magdalena, I can talk about everything with her." Then she smirks. " But she´s only a doll, she doesn't respond and I can't play with her, like some ball games! But we can play together! And if you want to, we can be friends!" She points to Wendy and Lucille, both waving while the redheaded girl snacks little pretzels from a bag, she was always hungry. " And that are my friends Wendy and Lucille, I´m sure they play with us too! Will be fun!"
Penelope hesitates and looked up at her dad. " Can I?" He nodes. " Of course, we live in the town now, it will be nice if you know other kids and spend time with them!" Penelope smiles over her whole face. " Bueno, will we sit together in the class?" Juanita laughs. " Sure, why not?"
Then it went silent when a woman in a grey dress entered the stage. " Ladies and gentlemen! I am the principal, Miss Turner! And kids, welcome to your first day in elementary school! We build up the classes now!" Juanita, Penelope, Wendy, and Lucille came together in their class.
..Next day, lunch break
During the lunch break the kids waiting at the desk, Penelope looks at the whole foodstuff, seemingly confused. Juanita pokes her into the side. " Are you alright? You can choose what you want!" The black-haired girl looks over at her. " I...I am not familiar with choosing my food! Mister Alvarez asks me what I want when he makes lunch or dinner! And that he gives the school money for the food, this is new for me! Before no one asked me what I want to eat." Juanita thinks for a moment. " Choose what you find tasty! You´re next if Wendy ever gets finished!" She giggles, even Penelope smiles.
Wendy get a bit from everything and asked for some more. The woman who serves had shrugged and gave her a bigger portion.
It was the first day after the enrollment.
Juanita could count some numbers and write her name, she likes writing. Penelope sat silently beside her mostly, but to her surprise, she could count a lot more numbers. The teacher asked how far they could count, Penelope reaches the highest numbers. When Juanita asked her during the break why she was so good at this, the black-haired girl shrugs. " When you live on the street and work for your food and money, you must learn to count! Otherwise, someone tricks you!" During the break, they played with Wendy, Lucille, and a smart girl named Mary-Sue, who´s new in town.
Now it was Penelope´s turn, she took a deep breath. Then she looked at the woman and pointed at some food" Hola, I want the little potatoes there, the tomato salad, the meatballs, an apple, chocolate pudding, and orange juice please!" The woman nodes, Penelope get her food and followed Wendy to the table, Lucille and Mary-Sue already sat there. Juanita get her lunch, came over, and sat down beside Penelope.
They started to eat ( Wendy already chewed since she get her lunch ready) when Lucille gasps and stares at Penelope. Juanita stops and looked over at the other chipmunk girl. She widens her eyes.
Penelope didn´t eat, she devours her food, Juanita grabbed her hand and pulls it. " What are you doing? We have an hour for lunch!" Penelope wallows a bite and looked down, ashamed. " Mister Alvarez scolds too when I do that! He too says, I have time and no one touches my food! In the past, it was different, one time a dog stole my steak!" The other three girls seemed to be shocked, Lucille pats Penelope´s hand. " Here this wouldn´t happen! It´s your lunch, no one touches it!" Mary-Sue looks over to Wendy. " Well, I´m not sure with her, she could eat up all of our lunch!" The redheaded girl glares at her, while she chews. " What nonsense! I get a second portion from that lady if i want to!"
For a moment it was silent, then the others burst into a burst of laughter, even Penelope giggles. Wendy was a blast.
Suddenly someone approached their table. " Hola, girls, is here a place for us?" Two girls stood in front of them. One had a black ponytail and seems to be very self-confident, the other one was blonde and very tall. Juanita looked around, then she nodes. " Sure, sit down!" The two girls took a seat and they were all introduced to each other.
The black-haired girl was Carmen, her parents owned the local bakery shop, so she must often look over her younger brothers. The other girl was Nicole, she and Carmen were friends for years. Nicole loves to play Basketball and was proud that she could defeat older kids caused of her size.
The girls go on with their lunch and talked about their time before school, Penelope eats now without a hurry, seemingly she enjoys every bite. Carmen and Nicole found her story exciting and scary at the same time, the black-haired girl with the ponytail shivers. " Woah, living alone in such a big city! My respect, seems you did very well! I like you girls, do we wanna play some games next break?" Nicole cheers. " YES, basketball!" Carmen rolles her eyes. " and defeating us all, winning the whole time? I think more of play catch or hopscotch!" The others nodded, Nicole is a bit reluctant.
Since that day all seven girls played together during the breaks. Penelope started to be more active in the classes. As she only played with the other girls she knew, no other kids. They even spend time together after school which makes Mister Alvarez very happy.
With Juanita she gets very well, they spend a lot of time together.
A week later came trouble.
It was the break after lunch, the seven girls played in the schoolyard when they heard three voices, one very angry, two sounded scared. " Hey, leave us alone!" " Go away!" " So you two blondies, give me your lunch money! Otherwise, you will regret it!"
All seven changed a look, Carmen grumbles. " That´s this guy, Victor from the third grade! He bullies us first graders, we must get a teacher!" The girls started to run, when Penelope ran in the other direction, toward the voices. " They need our help, he wanna get their money! Come on, we are more than him!" The others hesitated, then Carmen turned to Mary-Sue. " Get help, we follow Penelope!" The girl with the glasses nodded and ran away, the others followed the black-haired chipmunk girl.
When they came across a corner, they saw a tall brown-haired boy, who held two similar-looking blonde girls in their arms. Carmen looks over when Penelope speeds up and aims at the boy. " LET THEM GO!" He looked up in surprise when she hits him at full speed. He stumbles and lets the two girls, seemingly twins, go. Penelope fell on all four, but she jumps up, her fists clenched. " Search for someone as stupid as you, coward!" She hisses, and the others stopped beside her. Wendy shivers. " Penelope, stop, he´s taller than us!" She whispers, and Penelope grumbles. " That´s no reason to treat others like that!"
Carmen nodes. " Let the two go, Victor! We called for a teacher!" The boy laughed devilishly. " You tell on me? You will regret this!" He took some steps toward the girls. All of them, except Penelope, stepped back.
Then Juanita took a deep breath and stepped beside Penelope, who shows no fear. " You are so mean, Victor! I, I´m not afraid, we are more than you!" For a moment it was silent, then Lucille, Wendy, Carmen, and Nicole stepped beside the two chipmunk girls. Even the two blonde twins join them. Victor grumbles. " Do you think I´m afraid of first graders? I show what i-" He gets interrupted when he gets pushed to the side.
A chubby, brown-haired girl stood beside him, she looks angry at him. " I guess you will regret what you did!" She stepped over to the other girls. All nine confronted Victor now. He seems a bit nervous when someone else ran over to them. A woman´s voice could be heard. " Victor Jameson, that´s enough! You get detention again! Come with me to the principal, now!" A teacher came over, Mary-Sue beside her, who had a big grin on her face.
Victor grimaces when the woman takes him into the building. The girls looked at each other, and Carmen smirks. " My father said, together we are strong!"
All ten giggled, then they introduced themselves to each other. The twins were Gina and Tina, the chubby girl Bonnie. And all stood around Penelope, Juanita hugged her. " That was amazing! How you ram that guy, you are so brave!" The others are noded. " That was great!" " You are so cool!" " Thank you, that you help me and my sister!" Penelope blushes a bit and smiled embarrassedly. " Nah, that´s nothing special! I learned that in Santa Fe!"
Carmen put her hand in the middle of the group. " Do we ten wanna be the best friends, helping each other and be there, whatever comes?" One after another every one of them put her hand on the others, as the last came Penelope. She looks around, then she smiles happily. " Friends forever? YES!" She put her hand on top. All the giggled when it rings to the next class.
The ten girls play together and go to the park or an ice cream parlor.
As different we are, we like each other,
you are for me like a sister or brother.
Friendship crosses borders, no one can stop it,
cause together, we get on the top.
They celebrate birthdays together, sports events, and holidays.
We are a bunch, wild and free,
cause we are friends, and it used to be.
One strong, one pretty, and one is clever,
we are friends, now and forever.
All ten stand there and laugh and giggle.
...Back in the present
"...and since that day we are the best friends!" Juanita laughed and hugged Penelope who smiled a bit embarrassed. " Enough of this huggie-thing, that´s awkward!" The black-haired girl smirks and straightens her sunglasses.
Both went on to look through the photos when Juanita's mother came through the hatch of the attic. " Are you ready, Micky and Xander are here! What are you looking at?" " Mama, these are photos from our school enrollment!" Juanita laughed, her mother smiled. " I remember my little sunshine! You can show the photos to the boys if you want to!"
" Oh no, I don´t show my boyfriend photos of my childhood, look how awkward I looked!" Penelope said. " He should see me now, how good I´m looking!" Juanita shook amused her head. " You´re so vain! But you´re right! Mama, not now, maybe someday I show them to Micky!" Penelope giggles. " When you are married with a lot of kids!" She teases her. Now all three laughed, Juanita pinches Penelope in the side. " Ha, ha, funny! Let us go, we wanna go swimming with the boys!" The black-haired girl nodded. " Yes, I must use the time, tomorrow I´m on a trip with my dad!" The girls followed Brenda down from the attic when Juanita stops.
She still got the doll and the photo from the enrollment in her hands.
For a moment she thinks about it, then she rushed into her bedroom and placed both things on the small sideboard at the wall, beside the white teddy bear. Penelope´s voice came from downstairs. " Where are you, dally girl? Your Micky waiting here!"
Juanita laughed and ran out of her bedroom. " I´m on my way!"
The end
