Chapter Text
It’s a very quick journey to drive she and Jack down to one of her bespoke favorite restaurants; a locally owned branch of a Tex-Mex franchise where they know she and Maddie by name as well as their usual orders. Something inside Millie can’t help but to glance over to Jack as she speaks with these friends of hers, wondering if she really was just imagining that chilling look before, but he makes no other indications of being bothered or one-edge whatsoever as she gets seated and orders lunch.
“I don’t want to irritate an already sensitive subject,” she says slowly as she sets her menu to the side. “But I really do hate that you’re not able to eat right now.”
“That just means I have something else to hopefully look forward to!” Jack says optimistically, swaying his legs gently side to side as he sits across from her at the two-seater table.
Millie nods appreciatively, adjusting her earphones once more and playing with the body of her phone. “Hmm…would you wanna…maybe play 20 Questions? We have some time to burn while we wait.”
“Ooh, I love playing games! That’s an extra good one as we get to know each other better- you’re a total natural at finding the fun in everyday situations, Sunshine,” Jack chirps, each kind word dripping like honey from his smiling mouth.
Her cheeks feel hot again and she wonders if her poor face muscles will ever know peace again with him around. “Having a young child makes you get creative in a hurry, I think.”
“Well, sure,” he concedes. “But not everyone does it as effortlessly as you do! I didn’t even have time to wonder about how to pass the time before you came up with a solution.”
The praise is so eager and genuine that she feels bad for rejecting it whatsoever, but Millie ruefully smiles and points out, “That also comes from having a young child around. Few things on this planet are more dangerous than a bored or under-stimulated kid.”
“Oh, don’t I know it!” Jack exclaims with an easy laugh. “God knows I got up to plenty of mischief when I was younger with the precursor of being mind-numbingly bored.”
Now that seriously piques her interest right away! “Mister Sunny Day Jack getting up to mischief and mayhem? I don’t know if I can believe that!”
Jack looks damn near as shocked that he said anything about that aloud as she feels about it having allegedly taken place, but he recovers almost instantly with a small concessional smile. “I’m afraid that it’s true, Sunshine. I wasn’t always the wholesome, responsible clown I am today.”
“Oh? That’s a perfect first question, then,” she says with a wink. “What kind of mischief exactly did you get up to back in the day?”
Millie takes a couple of moments to get a drink of soda, noticing right away how legitimately uncomfortable he now looks. He’s squirming slightly in his seat even more now, head lowered as he appears to be lost in thoughts (and presumably countless memories.) A pang of guilt spikes through her chest for causing him duress, and she tries to reel the situation back before anyone gets more hurt.
“Jack, you don’t ever have to answer anything you’re uncomfortable with,” she says as she rests a hand on his nearest forearm. “Twenty Questions or not, your consent comes first.”
He seems almost startled by her touch, but before she can fully retract her hand he catches it and gives it a reassuring squeeze, as if she’s the one in need of any comforting right now. “Don’t worry, Sunshine, it’s nothing like that! I was just wondering what I was willing to admit to right here and right now!”
They share some easy laughter, but Millie’s not so sure that’s really all his stalling out just now was. “Seriously, Jack, we can drop it immediately and I won’t bring it up again.”
“And I’m being just as serious,” Jack says while his amused smile fades into a lighter one. “I know you’re worried about me like any good friend should be- and I’m extremely grateful for that, I really am!- but I want you to know that I don’t mind talking to you about anything you want, this included. It’s just been a long time since I’ve thought about all that, that’s all.”
Just like before, she is a bit hesitant to move on as swiftly as he is, but Millie does have to remind herself that there was no point insisting on what was only a hunch on her part. Besides, part of respecting his autonomy was not pestering him for anything that he didn’t want to talk about, regardless of whether or not it was truly the case or if he is just trying to naturally move the conversation along.
She swallows back the traces of misgivings trying to impose their will and takes another sip of her Dr. Pepper. “Well then, tell me all about it!”
“Let’s see…” Jack hums while thoughtfully (and cartoonishly) stroking his chin. “Well, there was that time that I snuck into Honey-Belle Stacy’s garage and painted the whole thing with red and yellow stripes…”
“Oh my gosh, you didn’t!” It seems almost impossible for the cheerful clown before her to have done something as scandalous as vandalizing property! “Why would you even want to do something like that?”
He grins a bit bashfully but self-admittingly. “Well, she’d made it so our townwide weekday curfew was a whole hour and a half earlier in the night! It was only right that she experience the righteous fury of a bunch of teenagers…at least in our minds.”
“Well…I’m not saying that vigilante justice was the way to go for that, but I can certainly sympathize with that incurring pushback from you guys. Why would she do something like that in the first place?” Millie tilts her head to one side and leans in closer, thoroughly invested in this lore he’s dropping about his more troublesome days.
“Cloudy-Belle Sue- that’s her daughter, and one of my best friends- was always breaking her own curfew, so she decided to take it out on all of us,” Jack says with an eyeroll that’s delightfully sassy and absolutely proves he’s still salty about what happened all these years later. “She said she figured that there was no reason why we’d actually need to be out so late, anyway, and this way we’d be forced to be in at a ‘reasonable hour.’”
“But what if some of you had jobs, or other life responsibilities that meant you needed to be somewhere other than home once the early curfew rolled in? What if there was an emergency?” As a mother herself- albeit not to a teenager, but that wasn’t really here nor there- she wanted to sympathize with Honey-Belle Stacy on this matter, but it didn’t sound like she’d really thought about all of the nuances to enacting a townwide policy like that.
“Oh my golly gosh, exactly!” Jack throws his hands up in exasperation, something that makes her giggle into one of her hands. “Needless to say, I’d never seen her go many different shades of red in my life, and I’m pretty sure nobody else had, either, including Sue. We were cleaning that up for three weekends in a row!”
“Oh noooo!” Millie exclaims with more giggles pouring out of her that she’s completely failing to stifle. “It sounds like you all must’ve learned that lesson the hard way, then?”
The eyeroll he responds with at first is legendarily sassy, but then he gives her a small victorious grin and shrugs his massive shoulders. “Well, what can I say, Sunshine? We did crime and paid the time, but the curfew did ease back up after we had that garage even cleaner than we found it…”
“Wow, Cloudy Town really was based,” Millie muses as her giggles die down slightly. “I’m pretty sure if anyone here did anything like that, the best they’d get is not getting caught at all, because otherwise they’d probably at least be grounded until they were dead if not thrown in juvenile detention.”
Jack sighs and folds his arms over his chest in a non-characteristic-but-still-highly-endearing pout. “Ahhhh, juvenile detention, where they shove all the kids they don’t want to bother with rather than actually helping, dooming them to a life geared toward crime.”
This makes her laughter stop all together, Millie leaning in closer despite trying to largely appear like she’s talking through her earbuds to someone on the phone. “You…had juvie in Cloudy Town?"
The way his face flushes and he immediately looks away reminds her of the few times she’s caught her Maddie in a lie. “A-ah, well, not…not in Cloudy Town, no! Cloudy Town is a very special place full of very caring, attentive adults who all work together to keep the peace, and nurture and raise every little sunshine to their highest potential! But, but, ah, not everywhere in the whole world I’m from was…quite so nice.”
To say the absolute least, Millie doesn’t believe he’s telling the truth- at the very least not the complete truth- but she is hesitant to push it too much when she’s already made him feel antsy. Whatever the whole truth is, she considers that Jack must have his personal reasons for not outright saying it, and when this is not something major that would concern Maddie or herself directly, she elects to let it be for now. Besides, the truth always comes out eventually, and she wants to put her trust into him enough to grant him the benefit of the doubt on his mentioning anything too major (such as if he himself has ever gone to juvie.)
“I think the biggest mischief I ever got up to was with my graduating senior class in high school,” she muses to not linger in brief silence. “We rigged up a bunch of confetti in cheap netting and let it all loose during our final football pep rally. I’m almost positive that they’re still finding pieces of it to this very day!”
“Oh my goodness!” Jack laughs brightly, and she thanks her lucky stars briefly that doesn’t have to explain an admittedly bizarre concept of a ‘pep rally’ to someone who may have never heard of them. “That’s so fun! What were the pieces shaped like? Or were they just normal little thin-paper rectangles?”
“Oh, we went all out. It was our ‘official’ Senior Prank, after all!” Millie says a cheeky grin. “I think most of us pitched in at least a handful of little designs, but I remember working on a lot of them with about eight or nine other kids. They needed volunteers to really get this little class project on its’ feet, and I was…well, I was glad to take any and all reasons to be out of the house, I’ll put it that way. I’m pretty sure the majority of what I cut out were little cat heads, our graduating year’s number, and pirate ships; our school mascot was, well, The Pirates. Our mascot was a buccaneer named ‘Jolie Sealegs.’ It used to be Jolly Roger, but a bunch of Karens said it was promoting a bad message from the school district- the mascot’s name being chopped was a compromise so we don’t become The Bluejays or something else basic.”
Jack listens intently to everything that she says; not a surprise given his behavior overall up until now. But when he listens, he is obviously doing more than just receiving the information and processing it while giving the occasional indication he’s still receptive. He leans in like she and he are the only two people in the world, his eyebrows rising and falling and the sheen in his eyes shifting with every new piece of information she gives him.
His enthusiasm and care is extremely refreshing, but it’s also just a little suffocating when she’s so used to the kind of sincere but even-tempered engagement of most other adults. All the same, Millie is far, far too polite to ever truly allow herself to reflect on those feelings, much less dare to voice them in any capacity. She’s probably the toxic one for being ungrateful, anyway, she tells herself sternly.
“It’s your turn to ask a question now,” she says as a means to shoo away her rapidly tangling thoughts. “Lay it on me!”
“Let’s see here~” Jack rubs his chin again as he thinks over potential queries. “What’s your favorite season of the year?”
“I know it’s the basic answer, but fall,” Millie answers with a bit of an embarrassed smile. “The leaves changing colors, colder temperatures, bonfires, hayrides, spooky season, pumpkin carving…there’s just so much to love.”
“Oh, I love fall too!” Jack agrees cheerfully before pausing. “Ah, but…forgive me for the possibly silly question, but what does ‘basic’ mean in this context?”
“That’s not a silly question at all!” She assures before taking a few moments to consider how to succinctly explain it. “Being basic is like…saying that it’s the most common- and thus, the most boring- option. Another example would be if I said pumpkin spice coffee is my favorite flavor- which it isn’t, but that’s not the point- or if a man said his favorite alcohol is beer. It’s…kind of an insult, but not an egregious one.”
“Sunshine, don’t let anyone make you feel bad for the things you like,” Jack says with a bit of sudden intensity, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand and make sure their eyes lock. “Some people may call it ‘basic’, but there is nothing even remotely bad or condemnable about enjoying things that many others enjoy. There’s a reason popular things are well-loved by a lot of people, so it’s absolutely absurd for people to subscribe condemnation for the sake of wanting to appear hip.”
“You’re right on the money,” Millie says with a fresh smile, one as easy as breathing. “It’s especially obnoxious that most of what people call basic are things that women in particular like. It’s extremely cringey to feed into misogynistic bullcrap.”
Jack visibly considers her words for another moment or two before nodding decisively. “You can say that again! Your turn next for another question, Sunshine.”
“Well, wait, you didn’t answer your own question yet,” she points out lightheartedly.
He tilts his head ever-so-slightly to one side before blinking a couple of times in surprise. “Oh, gosh! You’re so correct- my apologies, sunshine. Well, I’d have to say that my favorite season is summer! School’s out, giving both the kids and everyone who works at the school some well-earned vacation time…hot weather with nice, refreshing pools to jump in, or even waterparks to run around…cold ice cream, and road trips to brand new places…the whole world is alive with activities and fun!”
Millie smiles, because it’s him and it’s hard not to think of things positively when he’s got such an infectious energy, but her growing mass of anxiety and darkness keeps surfacing like some kind of anti-lifejacket. Summertime for her growing up may have once been a time for fun and relaxation in equal parts, but those younger idyllic days are heavily faded and largely out of reach. In their place is the cocktail of monotonous stall-outs and vitriolic tension that always soaked her to her bones for a torturous three months, the mixture slowly growing more and more shaken with direct contact with those who hated her more than any of her school bullies until it exploded into violence and destruction. It was rinse and repeat, where all throughout she’d been counting down the days until the barrier of required education and every extracurricular possible could keep her away from her abusers for nearly the entirety of every day. School from Grades 5-12 was purgatory, but school ‘vacations’ were time spent directly in Hell.
“I take it that you…have had a lot more bad experiences with that time of year than good?” Jack is looking into her eyes again, his own worried and confused.
She sharply demands of herself why she keeps making him concerned and tries to maneuver around the subject. “W-well, not anymore.”
Now it’s Jack’s turn to be unconvinced. “Oh, yeah?”
“It’s true!” She insists, puffing up her cheeks slightly in a pout that immediately makes his attempted-neutral expression slip into a smile. “I used to find summers to be miserable b-because...ah, well, I…I am not the best with a bunch of exposure to the sun; I burn like a peach. But I love it now because Maddie loves it so much, and because that’s when her birthday is.”
Millie knows that her dodging the real reasons for her previous disdain of the months of June-August was hardly clean or particularly believable, so she silently thanks God for Jack not pointing out her half-lie. “That’s right! She said yesterday that it’s in June, and that it’s coming up pretty soon!”
“Did she?” Millie smiles warmly as she thinks about how thrilled her baby always is for holidays, especially for her big day (and Christmas, and Halloween.) “That’s not surprising- she’s going to get a proper pool party this year, and she’s been talking about it ever since I let her know that a couple of months ago.”
“It’s absolutely adorable how excited she is,” Jack says with about as much adoration as she feels in her heart. “And I bet her friends are just as pumped for it, too! I just hope you grown-ups aren’t too stressed!”
“Oh, I’m not…” She pauses before amending. “I’m not as worried as I could be. All of the children at Maddie’s school received swimming lessons early on as part of their curriculum, so I know they’re all fairly experienced swimmers who know the rules in both pools and natural freshwater.”
“That’s very good to hear!” Jack says with a determined nod. “Safety first!”
Millie nods with as much conviction, glancing around to make sure no one is actively watching before stealing a playful tap on his red nose. “Boooop~”
Jack’s eyes brighten further with amusement, and he grabs her wrist playfully; it barely constitutes as a hold. “You’re feeling cheeky, are you, Miss Millie?”
Giggles tumble forward as she allows him to very lightly ‘manhandle’ her. “You got it~ And there’s nothing you can do about it, Mister Sunny Day!”
“Oh, there’s nothing I can do?” Jack exaggeratedly widens his eyes and drops his mouth open. “Well! Then I suppose it’s no use, even if I~?”
He dips his face down and plants a small raspberry on the sensitive underside of her wrist, the one just beneath her palm. Millie promptly bursts into proper giggling laughter, ducking down her head into the arm set onto the table to muffle the sound of it. That was totally cheating, she thinks amidst her light hysterics.
“O-oh shoot, I’m so sorry, ha, the waitress is coming!” Jack’s voice stage-whispers through his own laughter.
Thankfully, she’s able to pull herself together quite quickly, swallowing her remnant giggles and cheerfully assure said waitress- Hazel was her name, one of the staff Millie’s known for the entirety she’s been coming here- that she didn’t need anything else while she waits for her food. Once Hazel’s gone on her way, Millie lightheartedly gives a quick Look to the primary-colored clown that’s grinning with mirthful guilt.
“I better go ahead and think of another question before you make them worry about my wellbeing,” she says jestfully as she adjusts her earphones and hair.
“Maybe~” Jack drawls just as lightly as he gets the last of his giggles out.
“Alright, well, what’s one skill you have always wanted to try, but never have?” Millie says after several long moments to think.
“Ooh, that’s a toughie!” He chirps, leaning forward on his elbows and resting his chin atop his steepled hands. “Hm…maybe pottery? I’ve always thought it’d be pretty fun to work with clay, especially when it looks so relaxing to shape it on a spinning wheel, but I also don’t know if I have the eye for it, heh.”
“From everything you’ve shown me about yourself, J, I’m inclined to say there’s not too much you can’t do,” Millie says good-naturedly. “Like, everyone has their weak points, but you’re pretty great.”
Perfect, her subconscious urges her to say. Certainly far more so than she could ever dream of being.
The subsequent blush on his face is something she’s positive she’ll never get tired of seeing! “Sunshine, you’re very kind, and I absolutely love that about you, but I’m not perfect. I…I try r-really-’
He cuts himself off to clear his throat, fidgeting with one of his jacket wrists. “I try to be as good as anyone can be, but I don’t know about perfect. It’s…an awfully high standard to live up to, that’s all.”
“I’m sorry, Jack, I didn’t mean-”
Her next words die on her lips as he gets a weird, distant look in eyes, followed extremely abruptly by him blinking rapidly, like he’s clearing his vision despite their seemingly being no obstructions in sight.
“I…don’t mean to take things in such a serious direction,” Jack finally says with a small apologetic smile. “Sorry about that, Sunlight…and for interrupting you with my actions so rudely, too.”
Millie wants to immediately pardon him of his perceived wrongdoings, but it just so happens that her food arrives before she can. After thanking Hazel, she picks up her utensils and begins to eat her chimichanga and rice, allowing the subject to be dropped when it seems like Jack is giving cues for as much. Instead, she talks about how she wants to try owning an aquarium ecosystem someday, and the kinds of fish and plants she might keep. As she continues her meal, they also talk about what weird food combinations they each like (Jack’s next question, much to her surprise,); hers are pizza and ranch as well as watermelon and feta, his are peanut butter and jelly with salty chips and mac n cheese with maple syrup.
They talk about what kind of job they’d like to have for a day between her paying for her meal and thanking the staff. It turns out that hers is an airline stewardess to get a ‘free’ trip across the globe for a vacation, and his is a weatherman, though he admits he wouldn’t know the first thing about actually reading the weather, just reporting it in front of a ‘fancy green screen.’ On the way to their next stop, they tell each other what their go-to shower song is, which then naturally leads to an impromptu karaoke session wherein neither of them try particularly hard to stay in-tune and there is a lot of shared laughter.
“Look, I’m sure you could give Freddie Mercury a run for his money,” Millie says playfully as she parks the car, silently hoping in the back of her mind that Jack isn’t paying enough attention to where they are to get antsy before she can explain. “I am a soprano and you still came closer than me to hitting the highest note!”
“Did I actually? Or am I just shameless enough to swing for it at full capacity, even when I know I’m gonna miss it by miles?” Jack replies with a wink.
“Maybe a little of both,” she says lightly.
“Probably,” he agrees with one last little mini-huff from the exertion of laughter. “So…I know now is a heck of a time to ask, seeing as we’re here…but what’s this next stop entail?”
“Well, ah…I want to go ahead and get you a phone of some kind,” she begins hesitantly, wincing when he immediately crinkles up his nose and furrows his brows. “I know, I know- I mean, I know what you said to Maddie, at least, but I really think this is for the best just in case. I mean, what if I go somewhere where you wouldn’t want to come with me, like the gynecologist or therapy? You wouldn’t want to be stuck without any way to get in touch with me.”
“I wouldn’t mind going with you anywhere,” Jack says, the first few words rushing together in a way to indicate it was a struggle to not interrupt her to say as much. “I’ll give you your privacy, Sunshine, especially when it comes to things as sensitive as doctor visits, but why couldn’t I just wait in the designated area to do so? I promise you I could keep myself entertained just fine, or even Maddie if she’s not in school!”
“That’s another point,” she reasons. “What if I’m somewhere like work and you’re at the apartment with Maddie? You can’t be two places at once.”
There is an audible pause; she doesn’t actually know if he can be. By the look he’s now wearing, he is just about certain about his physical (or lack thereof?) capabilities.
“I don’t know if I’ll be much good at it,” Jack finally says with a small huff. “Why are the buttons so small? What even is an ‘app’? Why does the keyboard go away sometimes; what if I need it? Where is the landline cord? I mean, golly, Maddie was tapping away like an old pro, and she’s only seven! I don’t know if I can keep up!”
“Then I will help you, J,” Millie says with a smile she hopes is comforting, catching one of his hands to give it a comforting squeeze after he scrubs it through his cerulean hair. “That’s what friends are for, yeah? Don’t stress about it so much. We don’t even have to get you a smartphone if you really don’t want one.”
He hardly looks completely swayed, but he seems to resolve himself to her words enough after a heavy sigh and a trepidatious smile. “Well, I trust you, Sunshine. Let’s get at it!”
“Mrs. Gracie, look!” Maddie excitedly holds up her latest masterpiece for her beloved primary teacher to behold.
“Oop, give me juuuussst a minute, okay sweetheart?”
Mrs. Gracie looks up from where she’s been helping a few other students with weaving flower crowns after about forty-five seconds and smiles. Maddie knows she waited patiently like her instructor asked, so her own smile grows as she gets her requested attention. Being nice and considerate is good on its own, but it’s also definitely something that should get her at least one or two stars! And she gets to show off her artistic genius, so what isn’t there to dance around excitedly in place about?
“This is very fun and expressive, Maddie,” Mrs. Gracie says with a proud smile. “I especially love your use of three different glitters for the weather in the sky and the clothes! You’ve got yourself here…”
She points to the correct person on the page and Maddie beams; Mrs. Gracie is always the best at knowing who’s who in her drawings, right after Mama! “Yep!”
“And this your mama…”
“Yeah!!”
“And your two cats…”
“Mhm!”
“Would you like to tell me about this new friend you’ve drawn here?” Mrs. Gracie points to the tallest figure.
“That’s my mama and I’s newest friend! His name is Jack!” Maddie proudly announces. “He’s real big and strong and has blue hair and came out of our TV!”
“Whoa! That’s really awesome! Do you think he always lived in your TV, or did he just magically find it one day?” Mrs. Gracie asks in a way that makes the young girl not doubt for a moment that she believes her.
“Hmm…I think he was always in it! Or was in it for a real big long time!” Maddie says after thinking about it for a few moments.
“Well, I’m sure happy that he came out so that you and your mama could have a new friend,” her teacher says with a chuckle. “And thank you for waiting so patiently for me to finish up the step I was helping our friends here with- go ahead and put two more stars on your sheet, okay?”
Score! “Yes Mrs. Gracie!”
Maddie speed-walks (not runs, cause running inside isn’t safe!) to her binder, which is in her cubby. She pulls it out and flips it open to her Star Tracker, which is the very first page, and sets about choosing which color star stickers she wants to live on the page with all her other stars from this past week. It’s impossible for her to know if she’s the very best in the whole class at earning stars when everyone’s is for their own eyes and the teachers’ only, but she is very proud of how regularly she gets them, and thusly how often she gets a prize from the different treasure chests. She’s almost to being able to use her saved-up stash for an extra-good prize from the biggest chest, too!
“Hey there, Maddie.” The familiar voice of one of her other teachers- Miss Vanessa, who teaches Crocheting and Gardening- brings her out of her concentration.
“Hi Miss Nessie!” Maddie chirps, though her smile automatically dies down at the sight of the girl at the teacher’s side. “…Hi Becca.”
“Hi,” her temporarily-not-friend in question replies quietly.
“Becca here has something she wants to tell you, and she just wants me here for support,” Miss Vanessa explains, gently putting an encouraging hand on Becca’s back. “Nobody is in any trouble. The floor is yours, Becca.”
“Um…” Becca glances between her and their teacher, then continues half-muttering before clamming up again.
Maddie frowns and looks to Miss Vanessa. “I can’t hear her good!”
“Remember not to mumble, friend,” Miss Vanessa says just to Becca, then looks back to Maddie. “And remember to talk to Becca instead of me, friend. Neither of you have to be scared- I promise nobody’s going to bite.”
Their instructor’s little joke makes both of them giggle, and Becca pipes up more audibly this time. “’m sorry for, um, tattling on you a’fore.”
“Oh, okay!” Maddie smiles and nods. “I forgive you, Becca! Everyone makes mistakes, ‘n I know you’re not usually a tattletale.”
“Nobody wants to play with tattletales,” Becca says as if scandalized. “...But, but I wasn’t a tattletale! You took my jump rope!”
“Nu-uh, cause you weren’t even playing with it anymore!” Maddie exclaims with an immediate frown. Why is she even apologizing if she is still going to be a butt about it?!
“Easy does it, friends,” Miss Vanessa interjects. “Before we do anything else, let’s take a calm down breath together.”
“But-!” Becca begins, but she stops protesting when their teacher gently motions to shush with her finger over her mouth.
“No, no friend, it’s time to catch a bubble and a breath,” she chides, but she- exactly like the other teachers- isn’t at all mean about it; nothing like weird grown-ups that neither Maddie or her mama like much.
Both girls take a deep calm-down breath as instructed, breathing in through their noses, then out through their mouths alongside Miss Vanessa. Their beloved together then gets down on their level, kneeling on both knees and giving them both a reassuring smile.
“Now, let’s talk about this. Becca, what’s your side of the story?” She asks Maddie’s currently-not-friend.
The other girl rubs one hand up and down her other arm, her hazel eyes flitting uncertainly between their teacher, Maddie, and the ground. “Um…I was, I was going to play with the jump rope again, but Diana asked me to draw her a big flower cause I draw real good flowers and she wanted to be a buzzy bee takin’ a nap in one cause Miss Gracie showed us about, um, how bees sometimes nap in flowers after, uh, um, pollinating them!”
“Okay, so I’m hearing that you took a break from the jump rope to draw for Diana,” Miss Vanessa repeats. “So you set the jump rope down, or were you still holding it?”
“I, I put it down,” Becca says with more slow but nervous rubbing to her opposing arm. “But I was gonna go back to it!”
“I understand that you were planning to play with the jump rope again,” their teacher assures with a nod. “Now, let’s hear Maddie’s side of the story. Maddie, the floor is yours.”
“That’s not fair, Becca! Cause if you put down a toy and it’s not in your space then you can’t hog it!” Maddie exclaims with a very annoyed huff.
“Hey now, let’s not raise our voice or try to be bossy,” Miss Vanessa interjects. “Do you need some time to calm down, or do you want to try again now?”
Maddie considers her options before taking another calm-down breath. “I wanna try again now please…”
“Alright, sweet girl. Go ahead.”
Maddie thinks about how to speak without being mean for a couple of moments, then says, “I wanted to play jump rope cause I’ve been practicing real hard to do a spin while jumping without stumbling or steppin’ on the rope, but all of the ropes were token, so I was waiting my turn when someone got done! And then Becca put hers down and walked a few feet away, and it wasn’t her space, so I took it before someone else could, and then she tattled on me when I didn’t even do nothing wrong, Miss Vanessa!”
“So your side of the story is that you were waiting patiently for a jump rope, and since Becca was clearly done using hers for the time being, you went to take your time,” Miss Vanessa repeats, to which Maddie nods rapidly.
Miss Vanessa turns to look at Becca, who is avoiding both of their eyes again. “Well, Rebecca, you know that the rule is that if you are done using something, and that if it’s not in your space or your property, then you have to give others a turn.”
“Yeah, but it only was gonna take a minute to draw!” Becca whines, obviously knowing she’s caught in her mistake but not wanting to admit it quite yet.
“I understand that, but the jump ropes belong everybody in school,” Miss Vanessa points out with a tiny smile. “So what do you think might have been the better thing to do instead of run to a teacher to tell on Madison?”
Becca fidgets and groans a little before saying, “Asked her for the jump rope back…?”
Maddie wants to jump in and correct her, but she holds her angry words back while Miss Vanessa makes a so-so rocking motion with one hand. “Well, that’s one thing you could have done, but do you think there’s something even more kind and fair to Madison you could have chosen to do?”
Becca seems to consider this before admitting, “Um, asked for a turn after she had her turn playing with it for a while..."
"Yep, I think you’re right on the money,” Miss Vanessa confirms. “So, what can you say to Maddie now to show her you understand where you made a mistake and that you will try to do better next time?”
Becca finally meets Maddie’s gaze again, her eyes welling with tears. “I-I’m sorry for bein’ a tattletale, a-and, and I won’t do it again…”
Maddie feels bad for her friend immediately and throws her arms around her, cupping the back of her head with one hand like her own mama does when she’s sad and rubbing up and down her back with the other. “It’s okay! No more rainy days!”
“S-so we can be friends again?” Becca whispers quiet enough for Miss Vanessa to not hear.
“Mhm! Here, you can help me decide what color stars I wanna put in on my star tracker!” Maddie chirps, taking her friend’s hand and stepping with her to where the star stickers are kept in their big bin.
“Wonderful work from both of you,” Miss Vanessa praises, patting both of them on the head. “You can go ahead and add two more to each of your star trackers for being such communicators and problem-solvers.”
“YAY!” Both girls cheer at once, excitedly huddling around the bin to choose together.
The End of the School Day Circle is around ten or so minutes later, where all of the kids take their assigned spots on the carpet to listen to any last announcements ore reminders. Right after that is time to clean and pack up, and it’s also when the kids who have enough stars to go to the treasure chests get called to do so, as it’s Friday. Maddie has gotten called up for four whole weeks now but chose to save up, so she feels kind of like royalty as she hurries to wait in line outside of the area where Miss Gracie has the treasure chests set up.
When it’s her turn in line, she wastes no time to hurry up and presents her star sheet, followed by her rummaging excitedly around for the prize she’s been saving up for. It’s too big to fit exactly in the treasure chest, so it’s a piece of paper called a ‘voucher’, but it has the picture of toy pack in question, so she finds it pretty fast to hand to her teacher. She then dances around in place eagerly as Miss Gracie grabs it from where it’s been stored in a closet that’s locked otherwise, telling the other kids nearby all about her special big chest choice.
When Miss Gracie emerges with the pair of beautiful, glittery, blue/purple/pink fairy wings- the kind to be worn like a backpack- and complimentary toy tiara, Maddie can’t possibly get them onto her back fast enough. She proudly parades back to her cubby to show them off to everyone, answering questions and letting everyone touch them with ‘nice hands.’ She absolutely feels like royalty now- no, with this tiara she reasons she is a princess!- and so she walks as proudly and fancy as she can when the bell rings for everyone to head outside.
She gets to properly show off to all of her good friends for a few minutes, but then she spots Mama’s car get to the front of the line and waves to all of them with both hands. “I gotta goooooo! Byeeeeee, see you guys on Monday!!”
“Except for us!” Wren pipes up with a fresh grin, squeezing the hands of his sister, Keiko, and his very best friend, Chrissy (all of which are in Maddie’s group of besties,) as Chrissy hoists them all up into the air.
“You’re gonna see US tomorrow!” Chrissy yells excitedly.
“YEAH! Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow!” Keiko shouts while jumping up and down.
“Uh-huh, yep! See you tomorrow Wren and Chrissy and Keiko!!” Maddie agrees with a twirl of her own before running to Mama’s car and popping the door handle. “Hi Mama, hi Jack! Look, look, I got my big treasure chest prize today!!!”
“Wow! Look at you go! My very good girl!” Mama praises at once, leaning enough to kiss her forehead in greeting. “Do you think you can get your seatbelt on around your wings? You can put them back on as soon as we park if not.”
“I can do it!” Maddie asserts confidently, maneuvering the material forward to haul the buckle fastened.
She is able to successfully do so, but not without getting one of her wings someway tangled up in the holder that attaches to the side of the car. Not wanting to have to redo it or take off her wings, Maddie decides silently to just deal with the uncomfy way that the accessory holds her fast to the back of her seat. Just as Mama is pulling away from the school, though, Jack turns around in his own seat and quickly gets her wing loose and re-buckled. She sighs in immediate relief and whispers a thank you, which he responds to with a grin and a wink that makes her giggle.
“Well, you got to get your big prize today, so that’s really exciting and awesome, but was the rest of your day good?” Mama asks as they pull out onto the paved road.
“Yeah! We got to pull up weeds and add them to our compost pile, and watch a cool video all about animals in Africa, and I got to check out two new books from the school library!” Maddie explains while gently swaying her feet. “Did you and Jack do errands?”
“We sure did,” Jack says with a nod and a big warm smile. “I even got a super cool ‘cell phone.’”
“WHOA! Lemme see, lemme see!” The girl exclaims with fresh wiggles in place. She tilts her head in confusion when he reveals a small, bright blue plastic case that has a tiny screen. “Um, that’s…That doesn’t look like my phone or Mama’s phone!”
“This is what all cell phones used to look like,” Mama explains with a smile and a glance in the rearview mirror. “See, it flips open when you need to dial a number or send a text, and there’s a tiny keyboard for you to type on.”
“A very tiny keyboard,” Jack echoes with a crinkled-up face that makes Maddie giggle. “But anywhosies, I was hoping that you could help me decorate the outside with some fun stickers once we get home.”
Maddie gasps and beams while excitedly nodding. “Yeah!! I’ve got lots of real good stickers, don’t worry!”
“That will be a ton of fun,” Mama says with an appreciative nod. “But first, we’ve got to go to the library so Mama can take her college test. Maddie, I brought the book you were almost done with yesterday that you checked out, so if you finish it today while I’m working, you can check out another new one, okay?”
“Whoa! THREE new library books in one day!” The girl exclaims elatedly. “What a life!”
“It’s wonderful how enthusiastic you are about reading and learning!” Jack chimes in, and Maddie feels all warm and glow-y with pride at his approval. “Please never let that go, no matter how old you get.”
“I won’t!” She affirms with a big grin of her own.
The ride over to the library is a pretty short one, and though Maddie doesn’t quite know exactly how far it is from their apartment, she knows it isn’t a super far way away, so they gives her a bit more enthusiastic energy. She gratefully accepts Jack’s help getting out of her seatbelt, then hops down with both feet when he slides open her door for her. Since she’s adjusting her fairy wings and tiara, she doesn’t hear the quick, hushed conversation Mama and Jack have, and it’s over by the time she takes each of their hands to walk across the parking lot to the library front doors.
“Why don’t you both go right to the Children’s Section?” Mama suggests as they pause just outside the door, giving both Maddie and Jack a quick smile; the girl notices she’s got in one earbud but doesn’t think much of it. “Unless you happen to know about how an oxbow lake is formed, Jack?”
Jack pulls an even funnier ‘yuck’ face than before, though there is a couple of seconds pause that make both her and Mama do a double-take. “Haha, yeah, no…I don’t think I know could possibly know about something that advanced…um, like, sophisticated and…specific, heh.”
He then turns to Maddie more fully and playfully taps his pointer finger against one cheek. “But I bet I will be able to help Little Miss Maddie finding some really cool books to look at! Let’s just remember to use our Quiet Voices in the library…and best of luck to you, Sunshine! You’ve got this, I just know it!”
“Yeah!!” Maddie cheers in agreement to both, wrapping her arms around Mama in a big hug before excitedly following after Jack for a fun mini-adventure in the library!