A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing the previous chapter. I really appreciate it. I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter, just as much.
Disclaimer: I only own Simone Jasper and Alana Santos.
It was a cold winter morning in January, and the second graders entered their classroom, expecting to see their teacher, but instead, they were met with a stranger. A stranger standing at the front of the room.
The stranger was a tall and curvy, African American woman with very short dark hair, brown eyes and was wearing a white sweater with black dress pants, along with a nice pair of shoes. She looked about the same age as Alana, but maybe a little older. She smiled at each child and greeted them with a hello.
After the students sat down at their respective desks, the stranger did a quick roll call. After roll call, she introduced herself.
"Good morning class, I'm Simone Jasper, but you must call me, Miss Jasper. I'll be your teacher for the next six weeks," she smiled at the students. "I'm so glad to meet each and every one of you. Do any of you have any questions for me," she asked.
"Where's Mrs. Santos," asked Haley.
"Honey, Mrs. Santos is due to have her baby any day now. So she's at home, preparing for the arrival," Simone explained.
"Mrs. Santos is gonna have a baby," Luke asked in bewilderment. "How come she never told us about it?"
"She did tell us," said Jason.
"Really? When," asked Luke.
"On the first day of school," said Kate. "Don't you remember?"
Luke was silent for a moment as he appeared to be thinking. "Um… Nope. I can't say I do remember," he said.
"How can you not remember Mrs. Santos telling us that she's expecting a baby," asked Spencer.
Luke just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know," he said. "I guess I just wasn't listening to her."
"Miss Jasper, are you sure Mrs. Santos isn't in the school bathroom," asked Emily. "I mean, maybe she had too many bowls of chili for dinner last night and she's regretting it right now, as we speak."
Simone couldn't help but laugh. "Honey, I'm quite sure Mrs. Santos isn't here," she said. "Now how about we all get started with the first lesson of the day?"
"Does the first lesson of the day involve a nice long nap," David sounded hopeful.
"I'm sorry honey, but no," said Simone. "Our first lesson of the day is the history of the presidents of the United States. Now, who can tell me who the very first president was," all the children's hands shot up, as her eyes looked about the room. She called upon Kevin.
"George Washington," Kevin said with extreme confidence.
"That is correct, Kevin," Simone praised. "Now, can you tell me something that he had said to his father, after he had chopped down a cherry tree," she asked.
"Yes," said Kevin. "He said "I cannot tell a lie."."
"Very good, Kevin," said Simone.
"But that's just a myth," said Spencer. "According to various sources, President Washington never really said that."
"Right," said Emily. "In fact, what George really said was, "I cannot eat this pie without a tall glass of butter!"," she slammed her hand down on top of her desk, in dramatic fashion.
"You can't drink butter, can you," a confused look had crossed Alex's face. "I mean, how is it even possible?"
"Of course you can drink butter… as long as you melt it first," said Emily. "It'd be ridiculous if you tried to drink butter without melting it."
"Have you ever drank butter, before," asked Ashley.
"Who, me? No, I've never tried it before in my life," said Emily. "But Kate has."
"No I haven't," Kate suddenly said.
"Yes, you have. You told me that you did," said Emily.
"When did I tell you that I've ever drank butter," confusion was appearing on Kate's face.
Emily huffed. "Don't you remember? When we were three years old and we were at the park in France for a play date," she said.
"Uh… I just met you, this year and I've never even been to France," said Kate.
After a brief moment of silence, Emily finally spoke. "Oh, wait… Sorry, I got you mixed up with my cousin, Ima Ginary," she said.
"Your cousin's name is Ima Ginary," asked Maeve. "Are you sure she wasn't just a friend that only you could see and talk to?"
"You mean imaginary? Oh, wait a minute," Emily suddenly realized that her so called cousin's name spelt 'imaginary', when put together. "You're right, Maeve! No one except me, could see or talk to her! It all makes sense now," she exclaimed in excitement. "I always thought my family was crazy because they couldn't see or talk to her. Now, I know I was right."
"Okay, let's continue on with the lesson," Simone interrupted. "Now, does anyone know which President established Thanksgiving as a national holiday," her eyes scanned the room, as she saw a few hands go up. "Haley, I saw your hand first. Do you know who it is," she asked.
"Abraham Lincoln," said Haley. She was somewhat unsure of her answer, as there was very little confidence in her voice.
"That is correct, Haley," Simone reassured her. "Now, who can tell me which…"
"Wait, are you telling me that Abe is the reason why we get to murder fat giant birds and eat them," David interrupted Simone. "Awesome," he raised his fists into the air.
"Well no, not exactly," said Simone. "People have been killing birds, long before President Lincoln ever existed. He just made it to where, the entire United States gets to celebrate Thanksgiving as a holiday, every year in November," she explained.
"I wish people would stopped killing birds," there was a look of sadness on Jason's face.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. Sorry, Jason," said David. He then looked at Simone and mouthed the words, "Bird lover," in a whisper to her, while pointing at his classmate.
Simone nodded her head, letting David know she understood. "Okay, now, who can tell me a few things about President Thomas Jefferson," she asked. She saw that only Spencer's hand had gone up. So she called upon him.
"Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States. He loved books. He was one of the many men who signed the Declaration of Independence. He loved to write letters and is said to have wrote at least 19,000 during his lifetime," said Spencer. "Do you want to know more about him?"
"No thanks, honey. You've told us plenty about him," Simone kindly said. "You must know a lot about President Jefferson."
"I know a lot about all the Presidents," said Spencer. "I've studied them all, before. I can tell you anything and everything about each of the Presidents," he proudly said.
"I'm sure you can," said Simone. She was now holding a small stack of papers in her hands. "Alright, children, I have some worksheets on the Presidents for each of you to do," she announced as she began passing the papers out to each students. "Now, I understand that some of you may not know a lot about all the Presidents, but that's okay. This is not a test," she reassured the students. "Whether you know one thing or all things about the Presidents, it doesn't matter. All I ask of you, is that you try your best. Okay?"
The students all agreed with her. They soon began working on their worksheets. Some were working fast, while others were taking their time.
"Hey, does anyone know when President John Adams died," asked Aaron.
"Uh… I'm pretty sure he's still living," said Emily.
"No he's not. That's not possible," said Maeve. "He's been dead for almost two hundred years now. So, why would you even say he's still alive?"
Emily looked at Maeve with a nonchalant stare, as she folded her arms across her chest and said, "Because he's Spencer's next door neighbor and I always talk to him, whenever I go to Spencer's house. He's a very nice old man. He even told me that what helps him stay alive all these years, is that he eats a rock for breakfast every morning."
"President John Adams isn't my next door neighbor," said Spencer. "I live next door to some weird young couple and their pet armadillo. And besides, President John Adams has been dead since July 4, 1826."
"Finally," Aaron let out an exasperated sigh. He then looked at Emily and Maeve and said, "Seriously, was it that hard for either of you to tell me the answer? No. No, it was not," he answered for himself.
"Alright children, let's stay quiet and continue on our work," said Simone.
End of chapter nine. I'd really appreciate some reviews for this chapter. Good or bad, you know I'll accept both. Just don't be too cruel if you hated it. I'll have chapter ten posted as soon as possible.