Uniqua leaped out of the car and stared at her new school, a sudden twinge of excitement filling through her. "Bye, honey!", Individua called out to her daughter, but a little too late. Uniqua was already at the door next to a tall, green cheetah. "Hello, little girl!", the lady said to Uniqua who was looking up at her. "I'm Miss Muffin, your teacher! Here is your seat number!" Uniqua walked into the room, nearly dropping her seat card. There were many tables with easles for paint in one corner, and there was a piano and on the board was the alphabet. Uniqua's eyes shone. So this was the heaven of kindergarden. Softly, she sang:
Kindergarden! Wow!.....Kindergarden.....
"Oh, for goodness sakes!" Uniqua looked over to the corner for circle time. She'd recognize that phrase anywhere! But right as Uniqua was going to call out Tasha's name, Miss Muffin came in and said in a loud but subtle voice, "Class, class, please get in your seats! Your seat is the desk with the number on your card!" Uniqua took a quick scan of the desks. "8", she mumbled, spotting the desk in the very back row. There were four kids to a table. Uniqua looked around hers. There was a black bat named Sheryl, a turqouse pig named Haluya, and an orange cow named Jerry. That meant....yep. At the other table was Pablo, Tyrone, Tasha, and Austin! And they didnt even see Uniqua at her table! They were too engaged in whatever was saying!
"Circle time!", Miss Muffin called out. All the kids rushed into the circle time corner, Uniqua sitting down last by Haluya.
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Meanwhile, Pablo took what he thought was a thorough check of the room. "I dont see her!", he whispered to Tyrone, Tasha, and Austin who were listening in a huddle. "I was almost certain that she'd be here!" Miss Muffin cleared her throat. "Is this something that you want to share, ?", she asked, putting aside her reading for the moment's scolding. Pablo shook his head. "Good. Well, the butterfly will go through many changes...."
They were talking about me!, Uniqua thought to herself. "Circle time is over!", Miss Muffin called out after what seemed like forever. "Aw,man!", Tyrone said, snapping his finger. "And we still dont know where Uniqua is!"
All: Where? Where? Where could she be?
Tyrone: Our friend Uniqua is missing, you see!
Pablo: We have no idea where she could be!
All: Where? Where? Where could she be?
Tasha: Sick at home?
Tyrone: She was fine yesterday.
Austin: Late to school?
Tyrone: There's no way!
All: Where? Where? Where could she be................
The kids sat back down at their desk, Tyrone finally looking over at Uniqua, who was looking down at her desk, clearly lonely. "Guys! Guys!", he whisper shouted, his friends looking up. "Uniqua's here!"
"Uni-", Tasha tried to shout. "NO!", Tyrone interrupted. "Lets try to surprise her to show that we would never ever forget about her!" The four smiled at the idea. "That's a great idea!", Austin exclaimed. "Nothing like what Pablo was planning!" Tasha and Tyrone looked over at Pablo curiously, who blushed, then shrugged. "Well, what should we do?", he asked, his cheeks returning to their normal blue color. A lightbulb flashed above Tyrone's head. "Tasha!", he exclaimed. "What?", she asked confused. "Let me see that list of yours!" Tasha eagerly passed him the long, doodled paper. Tyrone scanned it carefully. "What are you thinking, Tyrone?", Tasha asked, everyone leaning closer to the table. "Well, here's my plan...", Tyrone said, a mischevious twinkle in his eye....
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And then, they started laughing and smiling. Uniqua tried to look back down but it was SO HARD! She really missed her friends and would give anything to run over to the table and show them that she still existed. "Uniqua!", Miss Muffin called from her desk. "Could you come over here for a minute?" Uniqua got up carefully. Oh-no! Im in trouble!, she thought. When she got to Miss Muffin's desk, her teacher asked, "Uniqua, is there something bothering you?" Uniqua didnt know if she should tell her teacher about her personal problem. "You can always tell me if something is bothering you, dear!"
"Um, its nothing.", Uniqua said and looked down. Miss Muffin nodded and told Uniqua she could go finish her work. Uniqua stopped halfway and went to the piano.
Uniqua: Why are my friends being so mean?
Why am I so unseen?
They were the ones I could go to when i was feeling sad....
Why, why do I feel so bad?
This has never happened before,
this was never thought of before
but now its real!
my friends dont even see me
or they choose to be mean to me
but why oh why??
am I?
Sooo unseeeen.........
Uniqua got up from the piano and went back to her desk. She looked back over at Miss Muffin's desk where Pablo, Tyrone, Tasha, and Austin were standing. Had they been called up during her reverie? They then sat back down, and Miss Muffin went up to the front of the room. "Ok, class! It's Show and Tell Time!"