The first half of the day went by slow. I couldn't focus. Not on school anyway. River kept poking me in the shoulder when I stopped focusing. Mr. Brunner was talking about the reading we were doing. It was some stupid book called My Brother Sam is Dead. I think. Something like that. I hated reading. It was hard and made me sleepy. It just took too long. I had other things to do.

Like today. Today was Tuesday. The day before garbage day. That meant it was the best day to go collect cans and bottles and take them to Bubba at the recycling center. The center closed at six. Then after that I needed to go to the grocery store. Mr. Phil was working today. He was the owner of the small place and was nice. He didn't give me dirty looks when I had to use food stamps or WIC for Tyler's food.

When we started taking notes on the books, I stopped paying attention again and was scribbling a list of stuff we needed from the store. Tyler needed more diapers. They were so freaking expensive. Stupid diapers.

"Ms. Pfeiffer, I need your assignment," said. I jumped slightly. I didn't even know he was near my desk. I kept my head down and passed him the half done worksheet. He looked it over and then took River's. The look on his fast must have been funny because the other kids were laughing at me. Not like I wasn't used to it. I was. I hated everyone in the class. Except for River.

The day didn't get any better after that. We did math next and it was so frustrating I took the bathroom pass and stayed in there for most of the lesson. I hated math. It was as bad as reading. When I finally went back to the classroom everyone was getting ready for lunch. Once we had lined up, Mr. Brunner led the way. When we reached the cafeteria, though he held me back.

"Why don't you get your lunch and bring it back to the classroom and we can have a little chat," he said. I scrunched my brows. I wasn't in the mood for this crap.

"Okay," I muttered. I did as I was told. It didn't help today that the food was gross spaghetti. It was all mushy. I was used to gross food though. This wasn't anything new, really. I went back to the classroom. Mr. Brunner was sitting at the desk and soft music was playing. Sinatra. I liked that. The thrift shop always had a lot of old Sinatra CDs for really cheap.

Music was probably the only thing I could say I really liked. Or was really good at, though I never really sang in front of anyone except my brothers and that was just lullabies.

I guess I had stopped moving when I heard the music.

"Is my taste in music that abhorring to the youth these days?" he chuckled. I looked up and shook my head.

"No. I like it. Frank Sinatra, right? Ol' Man River, right?" I asked and he seemed a little impressed, or surprised. Maybe both.

"Correct. Come, sit," he said motioning to the desk he had pulled up, I guess to near the teacher's desk. I did so hesitantly. I never really got along well with adults. They thought I was a troublemaker. Maybe I was. My usual scowl deepened as I thought about that. He must have noticed because he asked me why I looked so angry. "Is something the matter?"

"No. This is just my face," I muttered as he looked away from him.

"You have a very old face," he commented as he picked at the salad that was in front of him. I just scowled a bit more.

"Am I gonna get detention again for not having my homework? I can't do it today. I got things to do," I told him as I stared at the nasty lunchroom food in front of me. I was too angry to eat.

"Like going to the grocery store?" he asked as he held up my worksheet. I guess I had scribbled part of list on that instead of actually answering the questions.

I just stared at him. I felt uncomfortable. I really didn't want to talk to him about that. There was a moment that passed where we just stared at each other. I had gotten used to such stare downs. I'd had a lot.

"And why is an eleven year old worried about diapers?" he asked.

"Because I got a little brother that wears 'em."

A look of concern crossed his face and his brow furrowed. "You have a brother still in diapers?"

"Yeah. His name is Tyler. He's only like four months old. And then I have Jake He's five," I told him.

Then he asked the weird question. He asked about my dad. "Are you all by the same father?"

"Yeah," I told him though just the thought of my father made me angry. I hated him, I figured. "Haven't seen him since Ma was pregnant though and she told him. Not surprised. He only comes around once in a while." This seemed to really upset Mr. Brunner. I don't know why. I don't know why I just blabbed about it. There was something weird about Mr. Brunner. He was nicer than other teachers. He hadn't yelled at me yet. That was good, right?

Something was off though. Maybe I just wasn't used to trusting adults. They'd never done much for me before.

"Well, if he does, will you tell me?" he asked. I don't know why he took such a peculiar interest in me and my brothers, but he did. Maybe I shouldn't trust him? I don't know.

"You know my dad?" I asked hesitantly. He stared at me for a moment. Then he slowly nodded.

"I did," he said, but there was something about his tone that made me wonder if he was lying. Or maybe he just didn't think he knew him anymore. Like maybe he had been a different person when he was younger. Guess maybe he did. Would be a surprise though to find someone was as big a jerk as my dad. I wanted to ask him another question, but couldn't figure out what, so I just scooped up some of that mush that was on my plate and put it in my mouth.

"How old are you, Analiese?" he asked after I had managed to shove a few more bites of food into my mouth.

"Eleven. Be twelve in a couple of months. In August," I told him as I poked at the remaining bits of food on my tray.