A year later, Kate Beckett, now 4 years old, was putting her backpack together after getting up for her first day of Kindergarten. After putting her notebook in her bag, there was a knock on her door.
"Katie, are you ready?" Her mother called from behind the door.
"In a minute. I'm putting my folders in my bag." Kate did so, close her backpack and open the door. "Now I'm ready."
"Okay, then. Let's go."
Kate and her mother went down the stairs towards the door.
-meanwhile-
At his apartment, 5-year-old Kevin Ryan was tying his dress shoes as Karen came in his room.
"Hey, Kevin, You ready for Kindergarten?" She asks, picking his backpack.
Kevin puts on his watch. "Yeah, I can't wait to see Kate and Javier."
Stacey comes in. "Come on, guys. Breakfast is on the table."
"Okay."
Karen, Stacey and Kevin head out of the room.
-Other side of town-
Eating his breakfast, 4-year-old Javier Esposito checks the time on his watch.
"Donde esta papi?"
"He probably left for work. But he said good luck on your first day." His mom said while doing the dishes.
"Okay."
Javier gets up from his seat, picks up the empty bowl and cup and carries them to the sink.
"Need any help mami?"
"No, not necessary. Now, go finish getting ready for school." She takes the dishes as Javier picks up his backpack.
On his way to the door, he stops to look at his 7 month old baby sister, Maria Camille Esposito, in her playpen. "Hola, hermanita. Tengo que irà la escuelay yo teecho de menos." He leans over, gave her a kiss as she giggles and leaves for the door.
-On the way-
After getting in the car, Kate looks out the window as her mom pulls out.
"Mommy, is kindergarten like Pre-K?"
"No, kindergarten is much different from Pre-K. Kindergarten is when you learn much more. You get to read, learn the alphabet, paint or color, play house, even count. Pre-k is when you start coming to school. You understand, sweetie?"
"Yes, Mommy, now I do."
-outside-
Waiting for the bus, Kevin was feeling a bit nervous.
"Something wrong, Kevin? You're shaking like a jackrabbit." Stacey looks at him.
"I'm just nervous. I mean, Sister Abigail was nice in Pre-K, but what is the teacher for Kindergarten isn't?"
Karen places her arm around him. "I'm sure this new teacher is fun, unlike Sister Agatha." The name made the three siblings shuddered.
"Oh, here comes the bus."
As the bus pulls in, Karen, Stacey and Kevin got on.
-during the wait-
Outside his apartment, Javier spots a dark-skinned girl with black hair put into pigtails wearing a pique polo dress, Mary Janes, and carrying a backpack on her back, walking with a petite woman across the street towards him.
"Excuse me?" Javier turns to the girl with the woman. "Hi, is it okay if I sit here?"
"Yeah, sure." The girl sat next to him. "Are you new in town? I'm Javier Esposito, but you can call me Javi."
"I'm Lanie Parish, and this is my mom. We just moved here from Paterson, NJ over the summer." The girl smile as Javier's mom comes out.
"Oh, hello. I'm Teresa Esposito. I'm Javier's mother. You must be the new neighbors."
The woman shakes her hand. "That's right. I'm Arlene Parish. And this is my daughter, Lanie."
"Oh, there's the bus. Just wait till you meet my friend Kevin. He's a great kid." Javier gets up and picks up his backpack.
"Okay, I gotta go, Mom." Lanie gives her mom a hug.
"See you later." Arlene lets her go.
"You too, Javi." Teresa gets a kiss from Javier.
"Bye mom."
"Adios, mami."
Javier takes Lanie's hand and climbs on the bus.
"Hey, Kevin. There's someone I want you to meet." He lets go of Lanie's hand, offers her a seat next to him and Kevin and sat next to Kevin. "This is Lanie; she's the new girl in town."
"Hey, Lanie. I'm Kevin Ryan." He offers his hand and Lanie shook it.
"Nice to meet you, Kevin. I'm Lanie."
"Lanie lives across from me." Javier turns to Kevin as the bus pulls away.
Kevin looks at Lanie, then back at Javier. "So, you're gonna show her around?"
"Maybe."
-Outside of school-
At St. Ann of Sacred Heart, Kate's mother dropped her in front of the door.
"You're gonna be okay, now?"
"Yeah, I'm good." Kate hugs her mother's neck.
"Good luck, Katie."
Her mother smiles as she watches her daughter ran over to the doors.
Kevin, Javier and Lanie get off the bus just after it pull up to the building.
"So, Lanie, do you have a nickname?"
"Well, no. I just go by Lanie."
Karen and Stacey ran past them towards the door.
"Karen, you almost bump into Kevin!"
"Me? You're the one who was trying to race your classmates!"
Kevin hides his face in embarrassment and groaned. "Those two girls arguing are my sisters."
"Look, there's Kate!" Javier points at Kate, looking at the bulletin board.
Kate turns to see Kevin, Javier and Lanie coming in. "Hey, guys. Is this a new student?"
"Yeah, this is Lanie Parish. She just moved into town over the summer." Javier gestures Lanie over.
"Hi, I'm Kate Beckett. Are you finding everything ok?"
Lanie looks around. "Well, so far I haven't seen the entire school yet, but hopefully I will. I'm supposed to find Room 245 now."
"Oh, it's right down the hall. Come on."
Kevin, Kate, Javier and Lanie headed down the hall towards their class.
-Down the hall-
As they reached their classroom, Kevin, Kate, Javier and Lanie were about to head inside when Kate bumps into a boy who was running to the room.
"Hey! Will you watch where you going?"
"Hey yourself, if you weren't in…" The young boy stops to look at Kate as she looks up at him.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there."
"No, it was me. I was rushing to make it to class."
Kevin, Javier and Lanie help them up and pick up the boy's things.
"You guys okay?"
The boy, wearing a short sleeve polo under a dark blue blazer, double knee pleated pants, and Oxford shoes, dusted himself up and gather his stuff from Kevin and Javier. "Yeah, I guess I wasn't looking where I was going."
"Actually, that was me." Kate handed him his backpack.
"I'm Rick Rogers, just moved here from L.A." The young boy offered his hand.
"I'm Kate Beckett, nice to meet you. This is Kevin Ryan, Javier Esposito, and Lanie Parish." Kate shook Rick's hand.
A nun, a woman in her early 20s, peered out the door. "Come on, kids. Let's continue the introductions inside."
"Okay."
-In class-
As they got ready for class, Rick, Kevin, Javier, Kate and Lanie put their backpacks on the hooks, found their desks and organized their supplies.
"Hello, children, I'm Sister Jaclyn. Welcome to Kindergarten." The nun greets the class with a smile. "Let's begin with introductions from each student."
Rick stood up from his chair and said, "My name is Rick Rogers, but my real name's Richard, I'm 5 years old, and I recently moved from L.A. I like to read, and my favorite show is General Hospital."
Kate took a deep breath and got up after Rick. "My name is Kate Beckett, I'm 4 years old, I love to read, and bake something with my mom."
Javier stands up after Kate. "My name is Javier Esposito, I'm 4 years old, I have a baby sister, and I like playing sports with my dad."
When Javier was done, Kevin got up. "My name is Kevin Ryan, I'm 5 years old, I have two sisters, and I play the piano."
After Kevin sat down, it was Lanie's turn. "My name is Lanie Parish, I'm 4 years old, I just moved from Paterson, N.J., I have a brother or sister coming soon, and I love to dance."
When she was finished, other students got up to speak up.
-Lunchtime-
At lunch, Rick, Kate, Javier, Lanie, and Kevin grab their lunch bags and sat on a bench near the window.
"So, Rick, what's L.A. like?" Kate asked, taking a bite of her turkey sandwich.
"It's not really that big. My mom is an actress, maybe you heard of her, Martha Rogers?"
Lanie choke on a fruit punch and Javier patted her on the back. "Thanks. Your mom is Martha Rogers? My dad is a fan of her work."
"Yeah, well, she wanted a new fresh start so that's why we moved to NY."
"Wow. That's good." Javier takes a taco cup and bites it. "Hey, Kev, why are your sisters arguing?"
"I don't know, but they were fine before school started." Kevin munches on a grilled chicken sandwich.
Rick look sad as he chump on an apple slice. "Sometimes I wish I had a brother or sister, but I didn't know my dad."
"You didn't?" Kate faces him as he shook his head no. "Oh, sorry."
"No, it's okay. Because my mom said he was a great man when they met."
"Wow." Kate, Kevin, Javier and Lanie look in awe.
"Hey, Lanie, when did you learn how to dance?"
"When I was 2, my dad signed me up for ballet, and it inspired me to become a prima ballerina."
"Cool. My mom told me the best thing to learn to dance is by listening to music." Javier put his empty container in his bag.
"You can dance?"
"Yeah, wanna see?"
Lanie gets up from her seat, takes Javier's hand, and he gave her a salsa demonstration with a spin, a turn and lastly, a dip.
"Okay, students, time to head back inside." Sister Jaclyn called out.
Rick, Kate, Kevin, Javier and Lanie grab their lunch bags and head inside.
-Playtime-
During playtime, Javier and Lanie were painting when Sister Jaclyn came by to the art easels.
"I'm really impressed by your dance during lunch, you two." She gives them a smile and walk over the reading area.
Lanie turn to Javier. "How did you learn how to dance?"
"This may sound silly, but my mom said that she put on Latin music before I was born."
"Oh, and then she taught you how to dance?"
"Yeah."
Javier gave Lanie a smile before turning back to his painting and Lanie draws a small heart.
-After school-
Outside, Kevin, Rick, Kate, Javier and Lanie sat on the steps, waited for the bus to come.
"So, Lanie, how you like school so far?" Kate asked while shielding her face.
"It's going good, I'm even glad I met you guys."
"Really, because I heard Javier likes you." Rick puts a book he read in his backpack.
Javier turns around. "What? Where did you hear that?"
Kate twirls her ponytail in her finger. "I'm not telling, but someone mention it before we left."
Javier spun around to face Kevin. "What? I saw you looking at her during our reading lessons."
"So?"
"So, that means you really like her."
Javier rolled his eyes and groaned. "Say anything else and you're dead." he warned.
"Ooh, that's gonna scare me." Javier fixes a glare before Kevin murmured. "From the boy who's beginning to blush around her."
"That's it!" Javier growls before running after Kevin, screaming. "Get back here!"
"I better break them up." Rick goes after the two.
"Okay, so we shared a book during reading, but you think he likes me?" Lanie looks at Kate.
Kate shrugged. "Well, it's probably a friendly like."
"Yeah, maybe you're right."
The girls laughed as the boys ended running around them.