In a dark room, early in the morning, a small white cat lay sleeping peacefully in her bed. Though she slept fine now, she had been kept up most of the night. Today was a big day, perhaps the biggest day of her life so far, one that would shatter the status quo. Going to bed early really hadn't helped much, all it did was give the girl more time to mull over what terrors might await her in the morning. What would she do with herself? Her mother wouldn't be there. She wouldn't have her brother. She didn't have any friends. It would just be her, and her alone. Even though her mother had talked up how much fun she would have, Lucy couldn't fit the idea in with all her worries. Preschool would be a nightmare, one she would be awake to experience.
It was such a big step, and a part of her childhood would now be lost. She remembered her brother going to preschool before her. Jordan would disappear for hours and return with all sorts of stories of things he had done and friends he was making. He had a high opinion of it too, just like his mother, but it sounded like so much to Lucy. If she was going to be playing with toys anyway, why couldn't she just stay at home? That way her mother would always be nearby… she wouldn't have to worry, or be afraid. Furthermore, Lucy hadn't been the best at making friends. Others found her a bit too rambunctious. Even her mother had to agree, she didn't much act like the other girls her age, or any other kid for that matter. She had this aggressive streak that she didn't mean to have, but it would sometimes slip out and scare others away.
So little Lucy laid awake for hours in her little bed, with all the things that could go wrong circling in her little mind. Eventually, she grew too exhausted to think, and drifted off to sleep. It was good for her, her brain finally taking a break from all the worry and strife. All too soon, it would come to an end, and the next step towards the rest of her life started with the flick of a lightswitch, and the voice of a caring mother who was admittedly just as anxious to see her little girl go off on her own as she was. When the light came on, Lucy frowned and tried to block out the light by squeezing her eyes shut as tight as she could. Her mother smiled and spoke to her. "Come on, cupcake. Time to get up! You have a big day ahead of you."
Closing her eyes tighter was proving to be a fruitless effort, so Lucy resorted to pulling the blanket over her head with a groan. "Now now, don't be that way, dear." Her mother said, gently pulling the covers back. The smaller white cat looked up with a pouty face as her refuge was taken from her. "We must be leaving soon!" Lucy groaned again as her mother walked out the bedroom door. "I want you down for breakfast in five minutes! Jordan is already up."
Lucy still frowned, and her fear of preschool began sinking in again. While she couldn't put into words any of what she was feeling, she knew she didn't like it. She hopped out of bed, head still groggy from just having woken up, and headed downstairs to get something to eat. Her stomach was tied up in knots, though, and she didn't much feel like eating. Jordan was already chomping down on some sugary cereal, and her mother was putting the box away. "Lucy, eat." She nodded to a small bowl with the same cereal in it.
"Are you excited for Kindergarten, Jordan?" The mother asked the boy.
"Yeah! I can't wait!" He said, mouth full of cereal chunks. Some of it sprayed out as he talked.
"See Lucy, Jordan is excited. And, don't eat with your mouth open, dear." Said the mom, getting some paper towels to clean up the mess.
It didn't exactly fill the khao manee with much confidence. She loved her brother, but he was kind of an airhead sometimes. Besides, everyone always seemed to like him. He cast a long shadow over her, and she felt like there was this unspoken expectation for her to be like him. She didn't want to be, thank you very much, but she still couldn't help that something was missing…
They all finished eating and their mother insisted that Lucy come see her brother off to school. Jordan talked to some of his friends while they waited at the bus stop. Lucy stood by her mom, partially hiding behind her legs watching the scene unfold. Jordan always made it look so easy. When the large yellow bus finally arrived, the older brother put on his brave face, hugged his mother, and a reluctant Lucy, and ran up into the bus.
"That'll be you next year, sweetheart." Her mother said, a little choked up that her little baby boy was growing up. "I know you'll love it!"
The little khao manee pouted. Lucy very much didn't even like the idea of Kindergarten either, let alone love it. She didn't even want to go to preschool. Her mother wiped a stray tear from her eye. "Well, it's your turn now, honey. Let's get going."
Lucy's heart sank. Preschool really was inevitable. She took her sweet time getting into her carseat, anything to hold off a little longer. When she was all buckled in, her mother said, "I'll be right back, okay dear?"
Her mom went inside and returned with something wrapped up in some decorative gift tissue. Lucy tried her best to see what it was, but it was no use. Her mother had wrapped it up tight. On the way to daycare, Lucy's curiosity for the little package bore into her, distracting her from her impending doom. The ride was shorter than she would have liked, and in the blink of her little blue eyes she was surrounded by a bunch of other kids her age, all yelling and laughing and carrying on. Lucy held her mother's hand as she checked in at the front desk. The receptionist and her had a few words, none of which Lucy paid any mind to. She was far too focused on all the racket around her.
Her mom gave her hand a little tug, and Lucy followed her lead. She stuck close, her little heart beating rapidly as she walked down the hallway, which only seemed to get longer and longer as she walked. The walls were high, the floor was cold and tough. They stopped at a door part way down and entered it. Inside were even more rambunctious kids, all around her age.
The teacher came over to greet them. "Ah, you must be Agatha! And this must be little Lucy too!" The older dog woman smiled at the little white cat, who was hiding behind her mom's legs much like she'd done at the bus stop.
"We are! It's wonderful to meet you!" Lucy's mom said. "Just dropping off Lucy and I'll be on my way!"
"If you have any questions, let me know, okay?" The teacher said, and she went back to watching over the rest of the class.
"I hope you like preschool, sweetie." Her mom said. Lucy stuck her tongue out with a 'bleh'.
Her mom smiled wearily at her little girl. "Oh, Lucy…" She took out the little tissue wrapped gift from her purse. "I have a present for you."
Lucy's eyes went wide as her mom unwrapped it. It was a bright pink bow. The mother knelt down and wrapped it around her neck. "I know it's all a little scary, but remember.." She finished tying it off. "Mommy's always going to be with you."
Lucy inspected it as well as she could with it being behind her head. Her mom admired her daughter's new look. "If you ever feel lonely, this ribbon'll remind you how much I love you."
Truth be told, it did bring Lucy some comfort. She hugged her mom. "Thank you, mommy! I love you!"
Her mom got the same lump in her throat she had when she bid Jordan farewell. "I love you too, sweetheart. I'll miss you."
They broke the embrace and her mother waved goodbye. Lucy tried to mimic the same brave look Jordan had, but to mixed results. Just like that, her mom was gone, and it was just her. And her bow. And her thoughts. Lucy stood in the middle of the chaos, looking around for something to do. It was almost like there was too much to choose from.
A little ways away, she saw some girls playing together with a large dollhouse. It was even bigger than the one her mom got her. This one was also still intact, as Lucy's had been destroyed when she dressed up as a dinosaur during Halloween and smashed it to oblivion. It was as good as any group to talk to, so she walked over.
"I hungwy!" Said one of the girls, a striped orange cat who was playing with a girl figurine. It didn't look like it belonged with the house. Upon closer look, the set seemed to be a mish mash of several different toys all brought together.
One of the other girls, holding a woman doll who was missing chunks of hair, spoke up. "Okie, I will get yew some food." She made the doll faux walk by hopping it back and forth to the kitchen area.
"Hello.." Lucy said to them, and they looked up. "Can I play?"
The other girls looked at each other and then back to Lucy with a smile. "Yeah!" Said the one holding the woman doll. "You can be the dad!"
Lucy took the man doll (who was missing an arm) and sat down with the girls to play. It was pretty boring for Lucy. Just pedantic life stuff, cleaning house, making food, going to work, excetera. Lucy tried to come up with a war story about the man's missi ng limb, but neither of the girls were fans of it. Preschool was worse than Lucy feared, it was lame and boring. That was, until she had an idea. She'd seen something on the news recently about an earthquake somewhere in the world, and thought it'd be a cool idea to recreate it.
Without warning, Lucy grabbed the house and started shaking it. "Earfquake! Earfquake!" She yelled. The house bounced around and all the little pieces in it hopped out onto the floor. Lucy laughed as the house fell into disarray. The other girls did not find it so funny.
"That's not how yew play house!" Said the girl with the little girl doll, who frowned at Lucy.
"Yew ruined it!" Said the other, picking up the pieces.
Lucy stopped her rampage. "I was just…"
"Go away, meanie!" They chimed in unison.
Lucy felt hurt, she wasn't trying to mess up their fun time, just make it more exciting. She let go of the house and walked away. So much for that. That's when she heard some boys making some explosion noises. "Plane incoming!" Yelled one, who was flying a plane into a truck.
"Oh no!" Said the other, who made another explosion noise with his mouth as he flipped the vehicle over. Lucy smiled, now this was a game that SHE could play. She walked over and grabbed a tank.
"Here I come!" She said excitedly, rolling it across the ground to the truck. The two boys pulled away from the toys and looked at her like she was crazy. Lucy noticed they stopped playing along. "What?"
"We dun wanna play with you!" The larger of the boys said, taking back the toys. "You're a girl! You got cooties!"
Lucy's cheeks went red hot as her temper rose. A few of the kids around them looked up at the commotion. "No I'm not!" She balled her little hands into fists.
"Yes you are!" The boy called back, sticking out his tongue. "Just an icky girl!"
Lucy was tired of being pushed around. This was the last straw. "No! I'm! NOT!" Lucy raised a fist up and brought it down on the boys' head. The boy stopped jeering, as well as his friend who was laughing at his antics. There was a brief moment when everything went dead silent, and the large boys' lip trembled.
"WAAAAAAAHHHHH!" He cried, loudly. "SHE HIT MEEEE!" He punctuated this with a finger point to the white cat.
Everyone in the room looked at Lucy with fear and worry. It didn't take long for the teacher to come running to the child's aid. Lucy stood looking down, hands to herself as she felt all the eyes in the classroom boring into her, judging her. The teacher was well versed on how to handle these types of situations, so she took care of it. First, the crying boy was inspected for injury, and though his head hurt from Lucy's fist, there seemed to be nothing else wrong. As for Lucy, the teacher asked a simple question, "Lucy, did you hit him?"
The girl was struck, terrified of what consequences awaited her. She wanted her mom. She wanted to disappear. She wanted to be back at her house, playing in the living room. All she could do now is look sorry and try to hide her trembling. "Just be honest." Her teacher coaxed. Lucy nodded. "Was that a nice thing to do?" Lucy shook her head.
"But- he- I…" She sputtered, trying to defend her actions.
"Now now, Lucy. It isn't nice to hit others. We can use our words instead." Her teacher gave her a look that only made the girl feel worse. "Can you use them to say sorry?"
Lucy hugged herself. She didn't very much think she needed to apologize for anything. The little jerkface deserved what he got. Looking around, Lucy saw nobody else believed that. Lucy frowned, looked at her feet, and said, "Sorry…"
"Thank you Lucy. Please be kind to your friends here, okay?" The teacher stood up and walked away from the sniffling boy. Lucy gave him a frown before walking off herself to find someone else to play with. Unfortunately for her, she had no luck.
Nobody wanted anything to do with her after her outburst, let alone play or be friendly. When approaching someone new, or a group, the laughter and smiles would die away and they would draw into themselves. Some simply moved away, refusing to engage. As the day dragged on, Lucy gave up trying to talk to anyone, and with all the toys being taken, she sat by herself in the corner, facing a wall to hide her tears. She hated preschool. She hated everyone else. Why did her mother make her come here? It was like she feared things would be, lonely and cold.
A mother korat and her son came into the room hurriedly. The teacher smiled and walked over to greet them. "Ah, I thought I was missing a student. This must be Michael." She said, smiling at the boy.
The korat boy smiled back and waved with a friendly "Hello!"
"Sorry we're late, this sleepyhead took his time getting ready." The mother korat looked down at her son, who smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry…" He said.
"That's quite alright!' The ever cheerful teacher said. "We still have plenty of day ahead of us! Feel free to find something to play with, Michael."
His mother knelt down to him. "Bye, sweetheart, have fun today! I love you."
"I love you too, mommy!" Mike hugged her.
The mother hugged him back and stood up. "I'll be back later. Bye bye!" With that, the mother left, leaving her son to go about his day.
The teacher showed Mike around, showing him the different areas as she had done for the rest of the class earlier that day. Mike took it all in, and afterwards the teacher let him go off and do his own thing. It was quite loud in there, which hurt his little sensitive ears, but he grinned and beared it. Mike wandered around the room to the different kids playing with toys. They all seemed too wrapped up in whatever they were doing to pay the soft spoken boy much mind. After a few failed attempts at joining a play group, he resigned himself to do something on his own. It wasn't anything personal against him, but seeing as the last time someone joined a group it ended in someone getting hit, they weren't too keen on letting a newcomer in, as friendly as he was.
That was okay with Mike, he was happy doing something on his own. He took a few building blocks and sat to the side. Preschool wasn't so bad. All he had at home was his baby sister Haley, and she couldn't do much at all. Here he was around kids his age, people he could be friends with. As he settled down with his blocks, a new sound drifted through the dynn and made its way to his ears. Mike looked up from his stack. It sounded like… crying? Nobody in front of him was crying, and he was in the back of the classroom. He looked behind himself, and his eyes laid upon Lucy for the first time.
Lucy hugged herself, eyes closed and trying to pretend she was home. It wasn't working at all, there was so much noise. And then… "Why are you crying?"
Lucy nearly jumped out of her fur. The voice came from right behind her. She did her best to wipe away the evidence. "I-I wasn't… crying's for babies…"
"But I heard you." Mike sat down next to her. "What's wrong?"
"How d-did you hear me?" Lucy asked, trying to avoid talking about what was upsetting her. She rarely let her sadness show, even rarer still talk about it, and to a stranger? Unheard of.
"I can hear good." Mike pointed to his ears. There was a crash nearby as some kids rammed some toy cars together. Mike winced. "Sometimes it hurts."
The boy had such a genuine warmth about him. His big smile, the way he talked to her, she felt a little more at ease. She folded her arms and looked away. "Nobody wants to be my friend." She whispered.
Mike frowned. He knew how that felt. An idea struck him, though, and he found his smile again. "I'll be your friend!" Lucy looked at him with big blue eyes. "My name's Mike! What's yours?"
A small redness came across Lucy's face. "L… Lucy…"
"Lucy? I like that name!" Mike said. "Do you want to play blocks with me?"
Lucy smiled for the first time that day. "I do."