Sorry this chapter is so short and kind of pointless but I wanted to do another Muriel chapter and this is what I got. I'll try to get another chapter out soon.

Just to let you know Gus will be making an appearance soon. I haven't had him yet because I thought it would be a little to convenient if they all went to the same school.

Chapter 12

Muriel POV

"Where are you Hank?" Why isn't he here yet? This isn't like him at all. I look out my window into the empty school yard hoping to see any sight of Hanks old pick up butstill nothing.

It was my first day back to school although it was against the doctors' wishes as well as Hanks. I'm fairly sure that Spinelli wasn't too fond of the idea but she didn't comment since I think she understood the need to get everything back to normal.

Spinelli and I were like that. Who ever would have thought that we would understand each others needs so well. But we did.

I had understood perfectly when she had wanted to get away from here after the accident. I hadn't agreed necessarily of her running away but I had understood that she no longer felt like the same person and that it would be best for her to start a new. It had hurt more than I think she ever realized to let her go.

And now even though I had to fight against my doctor and Hank about getting back to my normal routine Spinelli had stood in my corner; silently perhaps because although Hank is an easy going guy you still don't want to get on his bad side.

Staying in bed had made me feel old and incapable of doing anything. I just couldn't imagine spending one more day taking it easy. I am used to chasing little hooligans around and yelling for the hell of it. Taking it easy just goes against the grain. And Spinelli had understood that.

Before Hank had dropped me off this morning he had made me promise not to volunteer to be lunch monitor. He knew that I wanted to; he knew that recess was my favorite time of day. I loved watching what antics the children could get in, I loved playing the ogre, and I loved watching how carefree the children were. And Hank knew all this although if he ever said any of that out loud I would have denied it. I did have a reputation to up hold after all.

I looked back out at the playground were old rusty still stood and could see in my mind all the children I had watched over the years play on that play set. It was always amazing to watch what became of them, what those little hooligans ended up doing with their lives.

When Spinelli's friends had graduated from elementary school I had employed Randall to keep me updated on what they ended up doing. I had always been so sure that that group of friends would stay together.

I knew that when kids went to another school they normally stopped being friends and found other kids that were interested in more of the same things. But I had been so sure that TJ's gang would stick together. They had all been so different but during elementary school they had stuck together like no other kids I had ever seen before or since. But sadly like everyone else they went there own ways.

I guess that was to be expected since they had begun to drift apart slowly during the last couple years of elementary school but it still saddened me that they hadn't kept up there friendship. I don't think they ever released how rare a friendship like there's was. They had all been so different but had complemented each other perfectly.

A familiar beat up old truck rolled into the staff parking lot and honked. What did Hank think he was doing? He never honked. Grabbing my bag I stormed outside to give him a piece of my mind. How dare he honk at me! Reaching the car I look up at Hank and froze. It wasn't Hank looking at me but Spinelli. She grinned cheekily as I stared at her in horror. For that must have been my expression. We had taught Spinelli how to drive on one of our many road trips and the best we could both say about her driving was that she some how always managed to keep us all in one piece.

It had been one of the most difficult things Spinelli had ever learned to do. She hadn't been like most of the other kids her age eager to learn to drive for obvious reasons. After a lot of arguing we finally got her behind the drivers wheel. After several days of being extremely nervous and cautious much to the annoyance of the other drivers around us she slowly began to enjoy it. And as she got more comfortable the worst her driving got.

"Get out of the car I'll drive" Is she shaking her head at me! Why that little brat.

"Sorry can't do that Muriel, you know that you aren't allowed to drive until you get the okay from the doctors" I didn't think it was possible but her grin just got more cheeky.

"But if I let you drive I'm going to have another heart attack" I mumble as I get into the passenger seat. As soon as my seat belt is fastened she takes off and I grab on to the handle in front of me.

"Where's Hank?"

"Hm.. Oh they had an emergency in the girls bathroom. Someone thought it would be funny to purchase lots of lady bugs and release them in all of the girls bathroom" she finishes and begins to laugh as well as swerving slightly into the opposite lane.

When Hank and I had started a serious relationship we had decided that it would be best if one of us left the elementary school and he had wanted to be the one.

"Watch out" I yell as a car comes towards us which she quickly swerves to miss it. How someone passed her on her road test is beyond me. I really must remind myself not to talk to her when she's driving. For all of her talents multitasking is not one of her strong suites.