A drippy day, thought Will. All mucky and yucky and soggy and boggy. It's raining on the mountains, it's raining on the sea, it's raining on the roads, it's raining...when I pee!
The boy made himself giggle as he stared out the window of the second grade classroom, humming off-key and making up silly rhymes as he took in the downpour occurring outside. He didn't realize that Mrs. Murphy had caught him daydreaming until he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder, frowning as he looked up at the patient smile the teacher employed to gently nudge him back on task. Will dramatically sighed as only a child can before returning to his sheet of construction paper, swinging his sneakered feet absently above the ground as he grabbed a colored pencil and continued drawing. It wasn't that the boy was bored by the activity, far from it. His young mind nearly burst with ideas when Mrs. Murphy marveled at how little of the school year was left and asked her students to draw a picture of something they wanted to do over the break. The class, giddy at the reminder of just how close they were to summer freedom, were so excited that it was a good minute (and Mrs. Murphy flicking the lights on and off) before they could be calmed down enough to get to work.
Will smiled as he leaned back and admired his progress. He'd never been much of an artist but it wasn't as though the boy was holding himself to any aesthetic standards – he was just delighted that he'd created a reasonable approximation of himself and everyone important to him. There he was smack dab in the center, his black smudge of a grin matching that of Liam's, who, of course, was right by his side. Beside his brother was Jane, whose fiery hair and flashy fuchsia nails Will lovingly rendered. He'd also drawn Julio smiling over Will's shoulder, the boy hoping that the preteen would still be friends with him even with the new age difference between them. It occurred to Will that Julio's parents might reclaim him again, and though the thought made the second-grader sad he could at least see the silver lining of having that much more time to play with the kind, shy boy. They all shared a clearing within a deep forest on a sunny day, and as Will added details he grinned from ear to ear at the thought of how much fun a real hike with his friends and family would be.
“That's pretty good.” Will looked up to see Amanda appraising his drawing, the blushing boy shrugging as though he wasn't delighted by her praise. “That's you and Liam in the center, right?”
“Yep! And there's my big sister Jane, and there's Julio – he's a boy from fifth grade that I'm friends with.”
“Wow!” Amanda declared, properly impressed by Will knowing such a big kid. “What about your mom?”
“...I was gonna draw her next.” Will managed after a moment, changing the subject by nodding at the girl's work. “Is that the big lake at the foot of the mountain?”
“Uh-huh! Did you know that it's called Mowich Lake? I guess that was, um, the Native American word for deer which makes sense 'cause there's toooooooooons of deer out there, one time my dad and I...”
Will half-listened as Amanda launched into the tale of the deer she and her dad once saw, distracted by thoughts of mom. Abby, he reminded himself with a wince. Her name is Abby and she's NOT your mom. The boy had had plenty of time to consider what he'd learned since playing spy, but no matter how much Will tried he just couldn't work up the righteous fury that had nearly caused him to blow his stack at the park the evening prior. Will now saw Jane's point of view much more clearly after the incredibly fun evening she put together for him and Liam, unable to totally hate the reclamation program if there were people as kind and loving as her so committed to it.
He frowned as he refocused back on in his own page, realizing he had begun to absentmindedly outline the striking form of Abby on the far right of the construction paper. He stopped mid scrawl, directing his pencil to the opposite end of the page to start again. He furrowed his sandy blond eyebrows in concentration as he pressed hard against the paper, carefully sketching the shape of a new figure: petite, not stocky; tired old stick-thin arms, not sturdy middle-aged biceps; straight silver hair tied tightly severely back in a practical bun, not frizzy auburn locks.
Adding the finishing touch in shimmering golden yellow, the little St. Christopher medallion she always wore around her neck, Will looked down half in pride and half in melancholy at the likeness of his mother. Not Abby, not the mawkish overbearing café owner who’d forced this second childhood upon him – his real mother, with all her faults, all her frailty, all her hopeless optimism, and all her boundless oceans of endless unconditional affection. The boy compared the image to his half-complete depiction of Abby. The two women couldn’t look any less alike, but Will couldn’t escape the truth that there were similarities there, parallels which couldn’t be demonstrated in juvenile second grade simulacrums. Their calloused work-weary hands, their devoted doting smiles, the way it felt when they kissed him on the forehead and told him it was going to be okay.
The boy blinked in confusion as he regarded the happy scene he’d rendered, his eight-year-old brain incapable of unravelling the impossibly tangled knot of emotions paralyzing his heart. He should have been crying, he should have been inconsolable with grief, his face should have been as wet as the nearby window pane – but he simply wasn’t. Instead, he only felt misty and bewildered, the dense heavy weight in his tummy indistinguishable from the pain he might experience from a particularly nasty bout of constipation, or from gobbling down too much chocolate on Easter Morning.
His futile philosophizing was interrupted as Amanda slapped down a worn scrap of paper in front of him. He picked it up and examined it curiously, seeing a series of clumsily written children’s names written in pencil under those of various teachers printed out in comic sans: Mr. Byrd, Fifth Grade; Miss Jones, Third Grade; Miss McKenzie, Kindergarten.
“What’s this?” He asked, unable to decipher the purpose of the mysterious register.
“Wet play sign-up.” Amanda explained jovially. “Put down for Miss McKenzie! That’s what I put.”
“Kindergarten?” Will said with bewilderment, Amanda’s cryptic words leaving him no less baffled.
“Yep! They always have the best toys, and Miss McKenzie has the best ideas for games by far. Guess that’s whys she’s the Kindergarten teacher…”
Will put down the paper, his pencil hovering just under Amanda’s own scrawled signature. “What am I signing up for again?” He queried, still a little confused.
“Wet play!” Amanda repeated, letting out a giggle of amusement when her companion continued to stare at her with adorable open-mouthed ignorance. “It’s too wet to go out, so all the teachers are gonna be doing activities and stuff in the classrooms.”
Will brightened a bit at this, thankful for the distraction from his ruminations. In honesty, he'd been staring out the window because he'd been wondering what would become of recess with the rain showing no signs of slowing. It may have been a blessing in disguise that they wouldn't get to go outside, as Will didn't know that he'd be able to keep himself from making a beeline to Julio the instant he had the chance. The fifth-grader deserved to know the number of times Viridia had reclaimed him...didn't he? The queasy feeling returned to his tummy as he considered whether it was right to involve Julio any further, if doing so would do anything but burden his friend with knowledge he'd never be able to act on. Will hastily scribbled his name beneath Amanda's just so he could keep the sheet moving and stop thinking about it, figuring that there'd be no way he'd run into a big kid like Julio in the Kindergarten class.
It was right as the paper left his stubby fingers, however, that Will realized spending recess in the Kindergarten class meant being confronted by the sight of its three newest additions. He thought about yanking the sheet back but it'd already made its way to the next pod of desks, now too far from Will for him to retrieve it without causing a scene. The boy slouched in his seat as he tried and failed to return to his drawing, grimly fantasizing over the humiliating details of the morning Lucas and his friends had suffered through thus far. Though Will only vaguely remembered being eleven the first time, he knew without a doubt that his fifth-grade self – who'd been so proud of his approaching adolescence – would've been shattered by waking up one morning too young to get through the day without a nap. Will's stomach tied itself in knots as the midday break approached, stealing pouty glances out the window every few minutes in vain hope that the sun would suddenly appear and drive all the yucky weather away. No such miracle was in coming, however, and when the bell rang it was with a forced smile that he followed a giddy Amanda towards the door.
“Hey, wait up!” The pair had nearly gotten out into the hall when Liam called out, offering Will a grin and Amanda a more...neutral look as he hurried up to them. “Are you guys on your way to the baby room?”
“It's not the baby room,” an annoyed Amanda huffed. “You're only two years older, stop acting like you're so much more mature.”
“Whatever.” Liam countered with a roll of his eyes. “They may just be little kids but Miss McKenzie definitely has the best games, so let's go before it gets too crowded.”
The trio turned to see a blushing Damon tiptoe his way up to them.
“Can I come with you guys?” He peeped, barely able to meet the eyes of his hopeful playmates. Will and Liam, too surprised to say anything, just looked at one other. Amanda, meanwhile, just became more annoyed than ever, stomping off while loudly echoing Liam's declaration that they needed to hurry to the Kindergarten classroom. Damon – whose interest was clearly in her and not in the group as a whole – scuttled sheepishly after Amanda, leaving the brothers behind to catch up.
“Jeez.” Liam snickered as he and Will scampered down the hall, careful not to run quickly enough to catch the warding eyes of the teachers monitoring traffic. “If that's what you act like after a girl breaks up with you, then I'm never gonna get a girlfriend in the first place.”
“Like they'd want anything to do with a stinky dork like you,” Will teased as he gave the boy a playful shove, the pair giggling as they hand fought and bragged about how they would totally have more girlfriends than the other.
Rounding a corner, the four kids soon arrived at the end of the hall, cartoonish cut out letters stapled to a kaleidoscopically decorated display board prominently advertising the slogan Welcome to Kindergarten! Below, an exhibition of clumsy finger-paint self-portraits was on show – each abstract likeness mounted against a colorful corrugated cardboard frame and with the names of their respective little artists printed underneath.
Amanda led the way, opening the door to unleash a tremendous swell of high-pitched giggles, cheerful shrieks, and boisterous bellowing. The majority of kids were already sitting in a circle on the big fluffy alphabet rug in the center of the class, but a few stragglers were giggling maniacally as they pushed toys around the outskirts, chased each other through the sea of low plastic chairs, or hurried around happily on their hands and knees beneath the workstations.
Whatever they were doing however, the little scamps were far from quiet. It was quite a hullaballoo, the classroom packed to the brim with wide-eyed Kindergarteners and what must have been at least three quarters of the first-grade class. Kids from the higher grades were few and far between, with only a few other kids he recognized from second grade and perhaps one or two who looked as if they might belong in third. Anyone older had preferred to migrate to the classrooms of Miss Jones or Mr. Byrd, thinking the asinine activities of the Kindergarten class far below their sophisticated status.
Towering above the tiny tykes, however, Will was surprised to see the face of a familiar fifth grader. Julio was holding court amid a small semicircle of cushions nearby to the teacher’s desk, smiling broadly and signaling dramatically with his hands as he narrated a picture book to an attentive group of enraptured kindergarteners. Entirely forgetting his prior reservations, Will perked up at the sight of his big boy best friend – figuring that the activities in store couldn’t possibly be that babyish if Julio was here.
Overwhelmed, the foursome took a few tentative steps forward before a rotund older woman with graying blonde hair and golden-rimmed half-moon glasses glided through the chaos to greet them at the doorway.
“Amanda! Damon!” She enthused. “So good to have back two of my favorite students!”
“Hi Miss McKenzie!” Amanda chirped. Damon gave a curt nod, clearly a little embarrassed by the praise.
“And you brought friends!” Miss McKenzie continued. She peered down the end of her lenses, inspecting Will and Liam curiously. “I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of you boys in my class before.”
“Err, no.” Will sheepishly confirmed. “We’re new. I’m Will, and this is my brother Liam.”
“Brothers!” Miss McKenzie observed whimsically. “That’s wonderful! I’m sure you’ll be two perfect little darlings.”
“What are we going to play, Miss McKenzie?” Amanda butted in, practically hopping up and down in excitement.
The teacher gave an adoring tut at the girl’s impatience. “Well, that’s a very good question. I thought we’d get things started with a little game of Duck, Duck, Goose. How does that sound to you kids?”
“Aw, I haven't played that in forever,” Liam enthused before casting a doubtful look at the chaos around him. “But aren't there too many kids to play at once? The littler ones won't even be able to make it around the circle.”
“Very well reasoned, dear.” Miss McKenzie declared, drawing a shy grin from Liam with her warm, appraising smile. “Why don't the four of you go and see if those play with the three in the back want to play while Julio and I organize some other games? They’ve been a little shy today, but I I think they might open up a bit if some super-cool big kids were nice enough to hang out with them.”
While Amanda skipped off in that direction – with Damon nipping at her heels like a lost puppy and Liam shouting at them to wait up – Will was frozen to the alphabet rug as he saw the trio for the first time, the small, sullen boys having to that point blended into the background against the mad explosion of sound and color that surrounded them. The three tykes were huddled up in the comfy cozy cushions that lined Storytime Corner, forming a tight semi-circle in which they hung their heads while idly drawing shapes in the carpet with their stubby fingers. Though the second-grader suddenly felt as though there were anywhere else on the planet he'd rather be, he didn't have an answer to the curious look Miss McKenzie gave him when he hesitated. And so Will obediently trotted after his classmates, coming to the table just as Amanda was attempting to introduce herself and her friends to the frowning Kindergarteners.
“Hey guys!” Amanda chirped in a syrupy tone clearly inspired by Miss McKenzie's effortless cheer. “I'm Amanda, this is Liam, and, oh, here's Will! It's so nice to meet you!”
“I'm here too,” Damon mumbled with miserable defiance.
“And Damon's here too,” Amanda waved her hand dismissively as she beamed again at the unimpressed little ones. “What are your names?”
They swallowed whatever answer they would've given when Will came up to the table, all three straightening up and going white at the sight of the boy. Though Will winced at this, he supposed he couldn't blame them – no doubt they were terrified at the prospect of he and Liam getting revenge for what the former preteens had done to them the day prior. Any hate Will might have still held in his heart towards the bullies, however, disappeared when he took in the adorably pitiful sight of Lucas, Mark and Hunter cowering beneath him.
The ringleader of the trio, in particular, was too cute for words. His short-cropped blonde hair had become a garland of golden curls and his stockiness at eleven had turned into an outright chubbiness at six. For his first day back in Kindergarten, Lucas' mommy had chosen for him Velcro sneakers with lights in the heels, a blue and white striped T-shirt, and a pair of denim shortalls with a cartoon bulldozer sewn into the front and whose hem was cut just above rounded knees that now held no trace of a cut or scrape. Though his friends were darling in their own way, Lucas' cuteness was enhanced by the fact that he looked small even for his new, impossibly young age. Both Mark and Hunter held a couple inches of height on their utterly humiliated friend, making it look all the more like the pouting tot had just stepped out of preschool.
“Uh, hi...” Will managed after a moment, Amanda and Damon both confused as to why an awkward silence had descended on the corner of the classroom. Liam wasn't sure what was going on either until his eyes went wide in sudden recollection, Will shooting his brother a sharp look telling him to keep quiet when he suddenly donned an unbelievably smug grin. “You guys don't have to tell us your names if you don't want to – the teacher only asked us to come over and see if you'd like to play Duck Duck Goose with us. Does that sound like fun?”
“O-Okay…” either Mark or Hunter, Will still wasn’t quite sure which was which, squeaked out – his voice as smooth and sweet as oozing sticky honey. Whoever he was, Lucas shot the ex-goon a horrified glare at his acquiescence to the childish suggestion, pulling weakly against the boy’s arm in protest.
Amanda cooed adoringly at the sight; mistaking Lucas’ terrified trembling for typical toddler-esque timidity. “It’s alright sweetie.” She comforted the smallest boy, speaking to him in the same cloying tranquil tone that she might reserve for her two-year-old brother. “It’ll be fun, I promise!”
“We don’ wanna.” Lucas insisted, ushering urgently once again for his companion to re-join him. The boy continued to hover above the cushions however, seemingly stuck half way between his loyalties to Lucas and the tempting allure of a fun rambunctious game.
“I wanna play…” the other boy still seated on the cushions suddenly declared. The former ringleader shot him a warning glare, still possessing some degree of authority despite his pint-sized frame.
Liam tittered under his breath at the childish dispute, earning himself another reproachful glance from his brother. He eventually managed to contain himself, biting his lip.
“There’s no need to be shy. We don’t bite!” Amanda continued to coax. She turned to the first boy still standing by her side. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Mar –” he began to state confidently, but Lucas shot to his feet as if he’d just been shocked with a 200-voltage live wire, reaching up to place a stubby set of fingers over Mark’s mouth and cut him off.
“Don’t tell them your name!” He mewled, but a commanding voice calling out from across the room soon put an end to his hopeless attempts to contain the critical information.
“Lucas…” Miss McKenzie scolded lightly, marching across the carpet accompanied by four more little boys and girls. “What did we say about personal space, sweetie?”
Damon let out an audible gasp when he heard the name of the infamous schoolyard bully, shooting a wide-eyed disbelieving smile at his fellow second graders as if to ask whether the adorable golden-haired tot whimpering pathetically at their chest level could really be the same blond terror who had, over the years, tormented practically the entire school. Despite one more disapproving glare from Will, Liam couldn’t help but confirm Damon’s suspicions with a slow gloating nod – prompting the boy’s’ grin to twist into a cruel predatory leer. Amanda, meanwhile, simply raised a single intrigued eyebrow – barely taking a second to recalibrate her perception of Lucas from petrifying playground tyrant to pitiable kindergarten pup.
“Sorry Miss McKenzie…” Lucas peeped dutifully, looking up in dismay at the knowing expressions worn now by all four second graders. He fell heavily onto his bottom again, scrunching his knees up to hide the hot red blush burning conspicuously on his pudgy smooth cheeks.
“Got some more takers here for Duck, Duck, Goose!” Miss McKenzie declared, indicating the small gaggle of kids she’d managed to wrangle up following behind her like ducklings. “Ready to get started?”
Amanda shook her head. “Lucas doesn’t want to play.” She explained. “I think he’s still a little shy.”
“Oh, poor thing.” Miss McKenzie sympathized, approaching the distraught little boy and kneeling down beside him. She laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, exchanging a few hushed words as Lucas continued to obstinately shake his head and hide his face behind his hands.
Meanwhile, quick to take charge in the absence of a teacher, Amanda got to organizing the small group of kids into a loose circle on the alphabet rug. They were just discussing who should be It first, when Miss McKenzie came to join them, an obviously teary Lucas clinging to her arm.
“He’s feeling much better now.” She reassured, ushering the boy over to the circle. “Why don’t you sit down in that space there? Damon will take care of you. He’s a nice boy.”
Will narrowed his eyes in concern as Miss McKenzie indicated a little space between himself and Damon, the sniffling little boy shuffling uneasily into the gap. He was soon distracted as the game got underway however, a red headed kindergarten boy starting to make his way ponderously around the circumference of the circle – patting each kid on the head in turn.
“Duck, duck, duck, duck…”
“Hiding a diaper under there, cry-baby?” Will heard Damon whisper viciously to his sniveling blond neighbor, prodding invasively at the hem of Lucas’ shortalls.
“Damon.” Will hissed, drawing surprised looks from both the bully and the bullied when he intervened. “Knock it off.”
“Make me.” Damon jeered, so enjoying his sense of superiority over the playground legend that he practically dared Will to tattle on him – or to do something about it himself if the boy had the guts.
Will was deciding which of the two to go with when his thoughts were interrupted by an indelicate thwomp on his head from the tiny ginger lad, the circle breaking into hysterics when the madly giggling Kindergartener dashed away from the stunned second grader. The boy's legs seemed to move of their own accord as he sprung from his cross-legged seat, grinning from ear to ear as Amanda and Liam cheered him on while the littler kids rooted passionately for their peer. It was only when he'd caught up to the small boy three-quarters of the way around the circle that Will seemed to come back to himself, so caught up in his boyish competitiveness that he nearly blew right by the lad. He pulled up just in time to make the finish close, the Kindy boy shouting in triumph as he plopped into his reclaimed space in the circle.
“Whoa, I can't believe you beat me!” Will gushed, beaming at the way the little boy wiggled in delight at the praise. “You're faster than the Flash!”
“Him too!” The second-grader snickered, tousling the tyke's wild maroon mane before hurrying back to his spot. Will's chest puffed with pride at having made a kid's day – pride that disappeared when he returned to his seat to find Liam prodding at Lucas more cruelly and insistently than ever. Here he was, playing a game literally made for preschoolers – and having the time of his life in doing so – while the latest victim of reclamation was suffering right beside him. Will shook with shame, and it was only the thought that Lucas still needed his help that kept the boy from succumbing to his stomach-churning disgrace. The game intervened once more before Will could take action, however, Damon drawn reluctantly from his subtle torture of Lucas to accept the challenge of the first-grade girl that'd tagged him. After doing so with ease – seemingly never considering taking it easy on the smaller child – then came Damon's turn to pick...and though the boy drew out the suspense by lollygagging around the circle, Will knew for certain who his sights were set on.
Though Lucas seemed to be just as aware that it was coming, the tiny blonde boy – already misty-eyed from Damon's teasing – looked near crying again when the second-grader popped him on the head a little harder than necessary. It was only because everyone in the circle (including the three other second-graders) were cheering Lucas on that he managed to stumble to his feet and chase after his tormentor. For a moment it looked as though Damon had learned a shred of mercy, that he'd slowed down to let Lucas sneak ahead – only to reveal that he'd done so to give him an excuse to dive for his spot at the last second, shouldering the newly-minted Kindergartener out of the way and sending him tumbling to the carpet as he did so.
“Damon!” Miss McKenzie scolded as she rushed to Lucas' side, doing her best to calm the boy that'd burst into tears the second he hit the ground. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I'm so sorry!” Damon gasped as he made a show of comforting the bawling tyke by patting him on a heaving shoulder. “It was an accident, I would never hurt such a cute little guy on purpose!”
“You shouldn't be hurting anyone on purpose, Damon, cute or not.” The teacher chided him. “And I know you didn't mean it, but you have to be gentle when playing with someone so small. You can sit out the rest of the game while I take care of Lucas, young man.”
As the game got under way once more, Damon didn’t seem particularly perturbed to be missing out. He reclined back leisurely on the cushions in Storytime Corner, displaying an intimidating leer to Mark and Hunter as if to communicate that they could be next. The adorable ex-thugs, rudely awoken from their giggly playful trance by Damon’s cowardly assault, exchanged two terrified fretful frowns at the sight of his threatening visage before glancing over in dismay towards Lucas.
Their fearless leader, once so strong and stoic, was bawling uncontrollably in Miss McKenzie’s care. Heavy hiccupping tears flowing down his ruddy puffed-up cheeks, the little boy let himself be led lovingly by his hand towards the teacher’s chair. As Miss McKenzie took her seat, he pointed inarticulately towards a rugged red mark on his knee, no more than a carpet burn really, the denim-clad little darling struggling to properly express the agony that the cruelly-inflicted owchie was causing him. Eventually his stumbling nursery school speech descended into an incoherent babble of babyish blubbing, much too overwhelmed with pain and emotion to make use of his big boy words.
The preschool-style descent into wordless weeping would have been bad enough, but Mark and Hunter could only gape with second-hand shame as Ms. McKenzie comforted the tantrumming little lad. Her sweet cooing sympathy and comforting pats on the back failing utterly to stem the flow of snot and tears streaming down Lucas’ cheeks, the teacher had no choice but to let the tiniest of her kindergarten charges clamber up on her knee – burying his wet wreckage of a face in her cardigan and grasping for a cuddle with a demanding pair of pudgy soft arms. Dandling the boy on her knee and offering him a little cube of chocolate from her desk, Ms. McKenzie soon had Lucas laughing again; the capricious kid displaying a goofy grin from ear to ear and munching down greedily on his treat as any remnant of maturity seemed to seep slowly from his mind in time with the teacher’s playful rocking.
Soon enough, his demeanor was as giggly and gleeful as any other boy of his age – or perhaps even of a boy a year or two younger. Miss McKenzie set him down and sent him off to play with an encouraging swat on the bottom, Mark and Hunter blinking in disbelief as the one-time terror of the schoolyard toddled off happily towards a group of kids playing Telephone on another corner of the alphabet rug.
As the games continued, the cacophony in the classroom gradually swelled to an almighty roar – so much so that a few of the younger kids were actively covering their ears, looking rather anxious. Miss McKenzie clapped her hands together authoritatively – the sudden silence she imposed leaving only the sound of the relentless rain pelting against the windows and drawing dozens of pairs of attentive eyes towards the teacher.
“Alright everybody.” Miss McKenzie declared. “It’s getting a little rowdy in here, so we’re all going to play a game of Sleeping Lions.”
There were a few stifled groans, the older kids well aware that the preschool game was nothing more than a ruse intended to calm them all down.
“Don’t scoff.” Miss McKenzie was quick to reprimand. “There’s going to be a very special prize for whoever can keep the stillest.”
The mention of prizes soon elicited the opposite reaction, the children letting out high-pitched yips and yowls of excitement.
“Everyone find somewhere comfy.” The teacher instructed over the low din. “We’ll start in one minute!”
Will was grateful for the brief intermission, getting up from the alphabet rug and searching around the classroom for Julio, desperate to check in with his faithful fifth grade friend. He soon located the boy making his way steadily through a sea of yapping little ones vying for his attention, seemingly headed towards Miss McKenzie’s desk.
Will intercepted the boy before he could make it to the teacher, Julio stunned by his friend's appearance and by his distinctly more childish demeanor. The big kid was only frozen for a moment, however, donning a bright smile when he saw Will's irrepressible grin.
“Hey Will!” Julio said before turning to the little ones that were still tugging at his shorts and sleeves. “I'm sorry guys, I've gotta talk to my friend for a second. Go on now, you need to get ready for Sleeping Lions anyway.”
The gaggle of tykes whined and grumbled but did as they were told, several shooting envious glares Will's way as they wandered off. His heart swelled with pride just the same, feeling so special for earning the undivided attention of his older friend.
“Whatcha doing here?” Will asked once they were alone. “They've gotta be doing super-cool stuff in the fifth grade room, right?”
“I guess. Mr. Byrd got this huuuuuuuge sheet of paper and spread it out on the floor so everyone could paint or draw whatever they wanted on it.” Julio shrugged. “They're probably having fun but I always sign up for the Kindergarten class whenever we have a wet day. It's kinda cool to come down here and be treated like a hero for a while, especially since little kids have always liked me for some reason.”
Probably because you have so much experience being one.
Will's grin disappeared when that grim assessment popped into his mind, effervescent happiness draining away as he stared up at the fifth-grader's curious, oblivious expression. In an instant the boy was back at the council hall, the words spoken by Julio's parents – their casual, cheery admittance to reclaiming their son over and over again – ringing in his ears and drowning out every other thought. Reluctant as he was to burden Julio with what he had learned, Will found the words leaping to his lips as the stress of keeping the secret to himself became too much to bear.
“Julio...” Will began, lowering his voice and looking around briefly for eavesdroppers. “I've got something really important to tell you. Your parents – ”
“Julio, dear, what are you doing lollygagging over here?” Miss McKenzie asked, Will clamming up the instant she appeared behind the fifth grader. “I'm sorry to drag you away from one of your friends but I can't get all these little monsters to behave without your help.”
“Sorry, Miss McKenzie.” Julio piped. “I'll be right there.”
The teacher smiled and nodded before beginning the frustrating task of wrangling a classroom full of hyped-up youngsters. Julio made to follow her before turning back to Will as though just remembering that the second-grader was on the verge of revealing something critical.
“Can you tell me what it is after recess? I'll meet you in the hall so we can talk privately.”
“...sure.” Will managed a smile that vanished when Julio disappeared into the fracas. Truthfully he was grateful that he'd gotten a bit of a respite from what was certain to be a difficult conversation, going over in his mind how he would break the news to Julio as he returned to his second-grader peers and the trio of regressed bullies – all three of whom were gleefully chattering away with Amanda and Liam. Really, it was Lucas and the little girl that were driving the conversation, Amanda posing silly queries in her syrupy voice that the giggly Kindergartener answered with breathless rambling glee. Mark and Hunter were a little more shy but chimed in on occasion, while Liam was content to sit back and snicker at the silliness of the six-year-olds, contributing on occasion a bit of gentle teasing – such as making the trio grin and blush and shake their little heads in fervent denial when he asked whether any of them had girlfriends. The only one not participating was Damon, who sat off alone in his annoyance, every so often rolling his eyes or casting a scowl at the Kindergarteners when they got too loud.
“All right everyone, let’s begin.” Miss McKenzie declared, instantly silencing the last chattering whispers echoing around the classroom “Get comfy now. Julio and I will be making sure that you’re all as still and quiet as sleepy little lion cubs!”
“Nap time for babies.” Damon snickered under his breath as the three kindergarteners snuggled down obediently on the nearby pillows.
The comment could have come across as innocent enough, Amanda not even raising an eyebrow at the poorly disguised taunt as she found her own place on the rug, but Will was not so unperceptive. He laid down directly next to Damon, displaying his furious disapproving glare just inches from the bullying second grader’s face –but he just rolled his eyes at the threat. As a final hush fell across the classroom, a maniacal grin formed on the boy’s face, extending his arm to tickle irritatingly at Lucas’ squidgy exposed calf resting on a nearby pillow. The tiny tot’s mouth twisted into a pitiable pained frown, clearly desperate to escape his tormenter but also paralyzed by a singular juvenile desire to not lose the game.
“Damon!” Will hissed, making sure to stay quiet enough not to attract the attention of Miss McKenzie. “Leave him alone!”
“Why should I?” Damon spat back sadistically. “He deserves it. All three of them do.”
Will let out a hum of stumped dissatisfaction, thinking on Damon’s assertion. As stomach turning as the trio’s regression was, he had to admit that he still felt a vague shameful sense of schadenfreude to see the boys who had so delighted in his own regression served a heaping dose of their own medicine. Indeed, there was a half decent chance that Lucas, who’d tortured his brother so relentlessly that he’d wet his pants, had himself woken up that morning in a soaked set of Goodnites. In many ways, what had happened was almost karmic justice. But no – he couldn’t let himself be drawn into such callous perverse logic. Whatever they’d been before, Lucas and his buddies were now no more than fragile trembling tots – that much was clear enough. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t kind.
“It’s not fair.” Will insisted, shaking his head with grave determination. “He’s only little now.”
“I was only in Kindergarten when they started picking on me.” Damon shot back “I’m just returning the favor.”
Still smirking cruelly, Damon reinvigorated his assault on Lucas’ leg, eventually prompting the tyke to let out a loud whimper of discomfort. “Stooohp.” He mewled, quickly attracting the attention of the teacher.
“Lucas, sweetie.” Misss. McKenzie called him out at once. “Little lion cubs don’t talk. I’m afraid you’re out, honey.”
The boy didn’t even try to dispute the ruling – and he was much too terrified to tattle on Damon. Instead, he simply rose dejectedly to his feet, trudging across the classroom to join the other awoken lions playing quietly at the teacher’s feet. Lucas soon got over his sulk however, quickly enraptured by the presence of a small collection of LEGO bricks.
“Jerk.” Will spat as Damon smiled gloatingly at the sight of Lucas’ defeat. “I told you to leave him alone.”
Damon scoffed, still looking entirely unmoved by Will’s incessant moralizing. “You still haven’t given me a good reason.” He sneered.
Will furrowed his eyebrows furiously, deciding a more coercive approach was the only thing to breach the boy’s swaggering arrogance. “Because if you don’t,” he began in a voice just a little more forceful than his previous breathy whisper. “I’ll have you sent all the way back to diapers!”
Damon blinked stupidly, clearly taken off guard by the outrageous threat. “You can’t!”
“I can.” Will insisted, adopting a menacing gravelly growl. “Who do you think got the three of them sent back here in the first place? They were picking on me and my brother, so I got my mom to have them reclaimed. Simple.”
Will punctuated his fiction with a self-satisfied snort, glad to see that Damon looked sufficiently terrified. To his confusion however, the boy’s frightened blue eyes were directed not at him but slightly off to the side. Will spun around, distraught to see the shocked face of Julio hovering over them – seemingly having heard the whole thing.
“Julio, it's not...I didn't...” Will stammered stupidly, so chilled by his friend's look of heartbroken betrayal that he couldn't find the words to explain his foolish, braggadocious lie. Not that the fifth-grader gave him much of a chance – it was but a moment after overhearing Will's appalling claim that Julio turned strode stiffly out of the classroom, not so much as looking at Miss McKenzie when the baffled teacher called after her dependable big-kid helper.
“Julio! Julio, sweetheart, where are you going?” The woman cried as the boy disappeared into the hall, starting to go after him before seemingly recalling that she now had a room full of rowdy runts to handle on her own. The worried, disapproving look she cast after the disturbed boy disappeared as she turned back towards the tittering class, Julio's sudden departure disrupting the game to the point where there was no point in carrying on.
“All right everyone, all right, let's settle down now.” Miss McKenzie instructed as a note of warning crept into her voice. “We've only got a few minutes of recess left, so let's have some nice, calm free play until the bell rings, okay?”
Though some of her young charges heeded the nice and calm part, others took her declaration of free play to go even wilder than before. The sighing teacher moved swiftly to get the most rambunctious of them under control, a spectacle Will watched until he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and realized that Damon had gotten up off the carpet. He stalked over to a mock coffee counter and huffily plopped onto the plastic stool behind the faux cash register, pouting down at his tightly crossed arms.
Will checked to see whether Liam and Amanda would notice his absence and found – having lost all three of their Kindergarten companions to LEGO – that they were deep into a conversation whose particulars the boy couldn't quite make out over the ruckus of the classroom. He could ask his brother about it later, but for now he had to use what little recess time he had left to try and make things right with Damon. The brooding boy seemed so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't notice Will's approach until his contrite peer sat shyly on the stool opposite his.
“...go ahead and tell them whatever you want.” Damon mumbled after a moment, much to Will's surprise. “I don't care anymore. I'd rather be a baby than have to keep pretending like everything's okay.”
“What's wrong?” Will gently prodded, recalling Amanda's assertion that her former boyfriend had been much kinder when he was younger – which was backed up by how joyously Miss McKenzie welcomed her and Damon back to the classroom. “You don't have to be scared if it's about...you know. I'm not going to tell anybody.”
“Yeah, right. You only want me to talk about it so you can tell the council that I was blabbing.”
“Fine, be that way.” Will snapped in a flare of irritation, ashamed of himself for losing his temper but too upset by Julio's sudden departure and Damon's stubbornness to keep his cool. “But whatever's on your mind, I bet I'm the only person in the whole world you can talk to about it. So you can either spill the beans or we can sit here in silence, either one's fine with me.”
Though Damon initially seemed happy to take the latter option, his stony visage softened the longer Will regarded him with patient compassion. A minute passed before the conflicted boy growled in frustration, uncrossing his arms so he could express his aggravation by fiercely messing up his neat, sienna brown pageboy hairdo.
“It's just...why is everyone pretending like he never even existed?!” Damon cried, Will rearing back at the sudden show of emotion from the boy. “I'm not stupid – I know that he was reclaimed. But it's been months now and I've never seen him anywhere in town. He's never even tried to get in touch with me.”
“My cousin.” Damon spat reluctantly. “Theodore.”
Will gave a start of surprise. He had heard that name before. He narrowed his eyebrows in concentration, delving past the forgetful fog of silly childish play that dominated his memories of the previous evening and recalling Abby’s words at the council hall.
You’re the one who proposed that Theodore boy…
That was it. Theodore was Teddy, Amanda’s new little brother. He cringed at the memory of the diapered little tot grunting mindlessly as he squatted down to do his business. But no, surely not. There must been half a dozen Theodores living in Viridia. Surely it was simply a coincidence.
“What are you gawking at?” Damon harshly demanded, clearly perturbed that his self-appointed consoler was staring off vacantly into space while he laid bare the most closely held concerns of his little head.
Will blinked, taking a deep shuddering breath to restore his composure. “Err…nothing.” He said dismissively. “What were you saying?”
“Theodore.” The boy repeated. “He was sixteen, but we were best friends. He always used to pick me up from school and take me to the park and restaurants and stuff. Two months ago, on my birthday, he was meant supposed to come to my party, but he never showed up. No one would tell me anything, even my parents. They all just told me not to worry about it. Eventually we went round to my aunt and uncle’s house, but when I asked my aunt, she was just sobbing and saying over and over again that he’d been sent away for stealing.”
An RC Car…a birthday present for his little cousin…
Will gulped, unable to avoid the obvious conclusion. Amanda’s little brother, the same giggly two-year-old who’d been having the time of his life jumping up and down on his daddy’s knee and slobbering all over Will’s t-shirt, was also Damon’s teenage mentor; the big kid best friend responsible for keeping the boy on the straight and narrow, and whose sudden disappearance had led to such radical alteration in the second-grader’s temperament. Frowning, he turned back to Damon, only to see that the little boy was hiccupping out little half-suppressed sobs.
“It’s stupid!” He declared, stubbornly wiping back his tears. “He never even liked me in the first place. He was only hanging out with me ‘cause he had to, ‘cause he was my cousin. Now that he’s with some new family, he probably doesn’t want anything to do with me. He thinks I’m just some little kid. Not like his friends at high school, or middle school, or wherever they sent him....”
Despite all of Damon’s cruel taunts over the course of the last two days, Will couldn’t help but feel his heart break at the sound of the boy wallowing in self-blaming sorrow. He offered a comforting hand across the narrow strip of cardboard that served as the pretend coffee counter, but Damon didn’t take it.
“Damon….” Will began uneasily, not quite sure how to break the devastating news. “Do you know Amanda’s little brother?”
“Yeah.” The boy confirmed. “Teddy. What’s he got to do with anything?”
“Yeah, I played some games with him.” Damon admitted, the tone of his voice revealing that he shared an affection for the toddler despite his persistent pensive pout. “Not that it matters. Amanda’s never going to let me come over to her house again.” He broke out of his morose mood for just a moment, casting an aggressive accusatory glare across the counter. “Not after what you did.”
Will ignored the accusation, knowing that the last thing the despondent boy needed right now was a reminder that Amanda broke up with him because she'd gotten fed up with his bullying. What was more important was that, in talking with Damon, Will had circled in on why he'd started acting out in the first place. Though he'd some idea of how devastating it must've been for Theodore's friends and family to have the well-meaning teenager ripped away with them, Damon's recollection of his devastated aunt – to say nothing of how shattered he'd been by the disappearance of his best friend – drove home the barbaric consequences of the council's corruption.
“I'll help you patch things up with Amanda.” Will promised. “I think...I think it's really important that you spend as much time with Teddy as you can.”
“...because that's Theodore, Damon. Teddy is Theodore.”
“...you're a liar.” Damon whispered after a moment, Will wounded not by the name-calling but by the hint of doubt in his furiously defiant expression. “There's no way they'd make him that little and send him away just for stealing some stupid toy car.”
“I don't know what they usually do,” Will admitted, “but I know what happened because I was spying on the council during their meeting yesterday.”
“No way.” Damon's disbelieving eyes went wide when he saw no hint of dishonesty in Will's expression. “...so what'd they say?”
“You know that Amanda's mom is the town treasurer, right? Amanda told me that the council assigned her a baby just because she wanted one. When I was listening in on them, Mr. Green admitted that Theodore was reclaimed and sent away because he owed Amanda's mom a favor, not because he stole something for you.”
“But...but...” Damon sputtered, growing increasingly upset as he became more and more convinced that Will was telling the truth. “Why would the rest of the council be okay with that?”
“Because they're all corrupt.” Will said with simple solemnity. “You know that fifth-grader I was talking to earlier? His parents used their spot on the council to reclaim him a bunch of different times. And Abby, my mom – I mean, my foster mom – she was the one who pushed for Lucas and his buddies to be sent back to Kindergarten before they even got a chance to grow up in the first place. They say they care about the town but some of the things they're doing are completely insane.”
A pale, stone-faced Damon took a moment to absorb this, boring a hole into the plastic play countertop with his numb, unblinking stare. Then – so suddenly that Will nearly leapt from his seat – Damon brought both his little fists down onto that countertop with such force that the whole playset shook.
“Shhhh!” Will looked over his shoulder and let out a thankful exhale when he saw that Damon's shout, buffered by the buzz of the raucous classroom, hadn't made its way up to Miss McKenzie's desk. A few little ones turned and frowned in the direction of the second-graders, but none stared for more than a moment or two before returning to their games. “You know you can't say stuff like that!”
“I don't care!” Damon insisted as he brought himself once more to the verge of tears. “Maybe if I get them mad enough they'll make me a stupid little baby too, at least then I can play with Theodore and not think about what they did to him.”
“Damon. You know you don't really want that.” Will didn't give the boy an option this time – he put his hands over the Damon's tightly-clenched fists and held them securely even as he flinched and tried to pull away. “Is joining Theodore in the crib really going to help him?”
“Who cares? There's nothing I can do anyway.”
“That's not true. It's going to be hard, but you've got to be there for Theodore while he grows up. Remember all that stuff he did for you when he was the bigger one? Now it's your turn to do that for him – to make him as happy as he made you.”
“I…” Damon began unsteadily, his defiant features quarreling momentarily before hardening in stoic determination. “I could do that.”
Will nodded solemnly, reassuringly squeezing Damon’s scrunched up little fists. “You can do it. I know you can.”
The boys were still sharing a silent gaze of wordless mutual understanding when they realized that the din in the classroom had dulled to a few disparate chatters. The older kids exchanged final muted quips as they finished up their games and headed leisurely towards the door, while the native Kindergarteners settled down criss-cross applesauce on the rug for their afternoon lessons. Miss McKenzie approached the pair of boys seated seriously at the pretend coffee counter, easily breaching their barricade of severity with a warm welcoming smile.
Will flushed red with embarrassment, suddenly feeling mortified by the idea that anybody might think the two were actually playing with the childish make-believe set. “We were just talking.” He insisted, dismissively pushing away a nearby undersized plastic tea cup to emphasize his point.
Miss McKenzie chuckled. “You don’t have to be embarrassed.” She reassured. “You’re never too old to pretend.” She smiled down adoringly at Damon, regarding his place on the coffee shop stall with wistful nostalgia. “Playing with the coffee shop set was always your favorite game when you were in my class, Damon. My cheery little barista.”
The boy mewled in dissatisfaction at the unwanted attention. “We weren’t playing.” He contradicted, sounding equally embarrassed. “Like he said. We just wanted to talk.”
“Well, whatever you’re doing it’s time to wrap up.” The teacher said playfully. “Mrs. Murphy will be expecting you.”
Will nodded obediently. “We’ll head off in a second.” He reassured, his words enough to placate Miss McKenzie and prompt her to deal with another group of bickering kids in the corner. He didn’t get up from the counter just quite yet, wanting to wait until the morose little boy opposite was ready before he abandoned their safe space. Damon was still staring thoughtfully down at the ground, his tense fist bundled up under Will’s hand. He was content to sit and brood with the boy, but their silent contemplation was soon interrupted once more as Amanda and Liam skipped towards them.
“Hey, Amanda.” Will greeted, his words prompting a swooning sweet smile from the girl. “That was fun, I’m glad I signed up.”
“I told you Miss McKenzie runs the best games!” Amanda agreed happily, although her face contorted into a frown of confusion as she caught sight of Damon sulking sorrowfully on his stool and Will comfortingly clutching at his hand. “Listen, you and Liam should come to my house after school.” She proposed, pausing before she added a final caveat. “And…I guess Damon can come too, if he has to.”
Will gave an apologetic frown. “Sorry, but I don’t think we can make it. I’m supposed to go and see my sister, and then me and Liam have soccer practice. You and Damon could still hang out, though!”
Amanda hardly seemed attracted by the notion of hanging out with Damon on his own. She regarded the dejected boy with disgust, crossing her arms dismissively. Meanwhile, Damon made no effort to promote his own cause, still mournfully staring at the ground.
“Look…yesterday with me and Damon and Liam was only a stupid fight.” Will appealed. “I’m not mad, and Damon’s sorry about all the other stuff he did as well, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, um...” The penitent boy tried to meet Amanda's gaze but brought his eyes right back to the floor when he saw that she was barely tolerating his presence. Damon pressed on just the same, his voice small but clear with conviction. “Listen, Amanda, I'm really sorry for being such a jerk. I'm never gonna bully anybody again, promise.”
Though Amanda didn't dismiss the boy out of hand, the expectant look on her face told him that he'd have to do a little better.
“...and...and I'll go apologize to everyone I was mean to, too.” Damon added, the softening of her expression giving him the courage needed to keep his eyes locked on hers. “So...can we give being boyfriend and girlfriend another try? Please?”
“...I'm sorry, Damon, I just don't think we're right for each other.” Amanda precociously declared, pausing and sighing when she saw how deeply she'd devastated him by doing so. “...but...if you're serious about being nice again...then I guess we could just be regular friends.”
“Okay!” Damon chirped, frankly looking relieved that the two of them had excised the more complicated part of their relationship. “Thanks, Amanda. Oh, and thanks Will.”
“Sure thing.” Will beamed as he watched the pair make their way out of the room, talking and laughing as they went. Still reeling from the complicated feelings stirred up by his conversation with Damon, Will's thoughts were elsewhere when Liam clapped his brother on the shoulder out of nowhere.
“Scaredy cat.” Liam snickered as Will yipped and jumped in surprise. “What was all that about?”
Spellbound, he listened as Will revealed where Amanda's family had gotten Teddy from and how he'd shared that discovery with Damon.
“That stinks for him,” Liam said once Will was finished. “I mean, it's cool that Damon gets to be the big brother now, but now he's gotta spend time with a baby until Theodore grows up again.”
“I don't think it's that bad,” Will countered. “Would you stop being my friend if that happened to me?”
“You better believe it. We can hang out again once you're potty trained, pal.”
“Oh, I see how it is. If I get turned into a toddler now I'm gonna be extra annoying just to spite you.” Will proclaimed, he and Liam snickering and playfully shoving one another as they made their way down the hall. “What were you and Amanda talking about?”
“I wasn't talking about anything. She was blabbing my ear off with gossip she got from her mom.” Liam grumbled. “I guess because she's the treasurer she heard last night that Mr. Green was really mad about something. Amanda said she figured out what made him so angry when she saw how little Lucas and his friends got. I was thinking like, yeah, duh, but I didn't say that because it just would've made her mad.”
“Don't wanna risk her mom having any more favors to call in.” Will said, soberly. His momentary sense of triumph at having reunited Damon and Theodore – however obliquely – was ripped away by the reminder that anyone who crossed the council was at risk of sharing the former teenager's fate. It was just one more part of his life that was now out of his control, the boy realized as he made sure to slip back into his second-grade classroom before the bell rang...as he obediently returned to his seat for an afternoon of gentle lessons.
