Their names were on colorful papers, also with a bright blue sky, a big yellow sun, and no birds. Charlie found "Charles Thompson" written on one of those. There was a matching sticker next to it. It simply said Charles. He wrinkled his nose. Nobody never called him Charles.
Phil's desk was behind his. Phil raised his hand, and their teacher came over. "Teacher? Can I please switch places with Charles? I can't see very good."
Miss Day came over and asked Charlie if that would be okay. Charlie shrugged, then nodded, and they switched their desks around. Charlie opened his backpack to find the supplies. There was Colored paper, white paper, a notebook, and a pouch with dinosaurs on it. He opened the pouch to find scissors with rounded ends, glue, crayons, colored pencils, regular pencils with dinosaur erasers , and tape. Maybe this school thing would be ok? He pulled out the scissors with the rounded ends, wondering what he could do with them. They didn't look capable of anything. He pressed them against his hand. They didn't even poke him. He pulled out a piece of paper. Miss Day came over.
"Careful with those scissors! They're sharp!"
When Miss Day's back was to him, he opened the scissors and ran his finger along the edge. These were definitely not sharp. He wanted to tell Miss Day that his pocket knife was sharper, but she was too far away.
Miss Day asked them to put on their name tags. Charlie glared at his, then opened his desk again and grabbed a marker. He wrote a big 'ie" over the "es" the best he could, then did the same thing with his name tag on his desk. Then he felt a little better about putting on the name tag.
When the kids had gotten their desks organized, Miss Day had them put their jackets and backpacks on hooks labeled with their names, once again on bright blue paper with cold yellow suns. And once again it was "Charles." He'd have to fix that too. Having his name above that hook made Charlie feel like he belonged to that room. And he wasn't sure he liked that.
Miss Day had everyone come and surround her on a big brown rug. Charlie wondered why the rug was brown if everything else was so colorful. It should have been blue instead. His teacher introduced herself again as Miss Day and told them she was new too. It was her first time in kindergarten as a teacher. That made Charlie feel a little better. Maybe she didn't know how this whole kindergarten thing worked either. Maybe she'd even need a little help. And she did have a nice, sunny name.
Miss Day had the kids go around and introduce themselves. Charlie caught a few of the new names. Dylan. Kurt. Alex. Mallory. Tiffany. Nate. He already knew a few others from church. He'd seen Nate helping his dad, Doug, at the fortress. But he had his eyes on the girl with the brown pigtails, blue bows, and bright blue eyes.
When it was his and Phil's turn, Phil stood up proudly. "I'm Super Phil. My daddy works at the bank. And this is Chawwie Boy." Charlie blushed and ducked as some of the other kids giggled. He wasn't sure if he was going to get used to this. But if this was what he had to do to have a friend, then...When everyone had introduced themselves, Miss Day told the kids it was time for the opening exercises. Charlie lay down and started to do a sit-up. Everyone else laughed. His teacher had them recite the date. Tuesday, September 5. Then she showed them a chart on the wall and had them pick out the weather. She paused for a moment herself, then picked "cloudy." Charlie frowned. Everyone knew it wasn't cloudy; it was smoky. But maybe since his teacher was new, she didn't know?
The teacher showed everyone around the room that he would be trapped in for a whole year. At least it was colorful, and there were toys and snacks. But they only got to play with the toys and have snacks at the right time. Charlie worried about this. He knew he'd get hungry more than once, and wondered what they would do the whole time if they couldn't play with the toys.
Charlie started to feel like he needed to take care of something very urgent. He quietly stood up and headed to the door. Miss Day stopped him. "Where are you going..." she looked at his name tag and flushed a little at his correction, "...Charlie?"
Charlie flushed. Did he have to tell everyone?
Charlie looked at his feet. "I just, uh, have ta, uh..."
Miss Day looked kindly at him. "Have to do what? Use your words."
Charlie grew even redder under his tan. "I, uh, have to, uh..." What's the way to say this here?? His bladder made him settle on the quickest thing that came to mind. "I have to pee." Everyone burst out laughing.
Miss Day blushed, "Oh, well, you had better go. But be sure you ask for permission next time."
Charlie didn't wait for her to finish. He burst out the door and started running down the hallway, suddenly realizing he had no idea where he was going.
He heard a sharp voice as another dress-clad lady spotted him. "No running in the hall, young man!"
Charlie had no time for politeness now. He blurted, "Where's the bathroom? I gotta go bad!"
He tried to ignore the laughter from the room beside him as the lady pointed toward the bathroom with a stern "Walk!"
Charlie walked as fast as his legs could possibly go as he darted into the bathroom, not even stopping to wonder why there were no urinals, as he rushed into a stall, barely avoiding a disaster.
Charlie did up his belt and turned to see a very frightened girl standing in front of him. His eyes widened as he darted around her. She started screaming. "There's a boy in the bathroom!"
Charlie raced out of the girls' bathroom and almost crashed into an older boy. He swerved, but the boy grabbed his arm.
The girl ran out yelling after him, but stopped yelling and running when she saw the boy.
"Easy, pardner!" The boy, dressed in a Western shirt tucked into blue jeans, revealing a belt buckle he had earned, drawled. His jeans were tucked into scuffed cowboy boots. His face was tanned, but only to a line of pale skin where a hat would have been. Charlie made sure his shirt covered his own belt buckle.
The boy looked at Charlie closely. "You're new here, ain't ya?"
Charlie barely managed a nod.
The boy turned to the angry girl and grinned.
"It's alright, Whit! This first grader just got turned around, that's all."
Charlie noticed that the girl was blushing. "Oh, uh, it's no big deal. Sorry, I, uh, got upset. I'll just, uh, go to class now."
Johnny tipped an imaginary hat. "Oh, don't worry 'bout it, Whit. I'll be right behind ya. I'm jest gonna help our new friend back to his class."
The boy turned back to Charlie and held out his hand. "Johnny Williams."
Charlie's ears perked up. Williams? Was he related to Katie?
The boy looked at him funny. Charlie started, then shook Johnny's hand. "Nice to meet you, Johnny."
Johnny gave him a lopsided grin. "You gonna tell me who you are, stranger?"
Charlie laughed. "Sowwy. I'm Chawie Thompson." He tried to get the "r" right, but it just wouldn't come.
Johnny just nodded. "Say, you related to Amy Thompson?"
Charlie returned the nod. "She's my sistuh."
Johnny grinned. "So you're the crazy brother who's always getting into trouble!"
Charlie blushed and looked down at the ground.
Johnny slugged him in the shoulder. "I knew I was gonna like you!
Charlie grinned.
"What class you in, Charlie?"
"Miss Day's."
Johnny looked surprised. "Yer a kindergartner! I thought for sure you was at least a first grader."
Charlie's grin grew as they headed back to his classroom.
The lady in the hall walked toward them. "What are we doing out of class, gentlemen?"
Johnny gave the lady an innocent smile. "Charlie here was lost. I was just helpin' him to class, Miss Simmons. You know we're supposed to look out fer the kindergartners."
Miss Simmons rolled her eyes and smirked, but Charlie could see a hint of a smile. "Alright, just be quick about it."
Miss Simmons continued down the hallway, and Johnny turned to Charlie. "You're in the same class as my sister Alyssa and my cousin Kaie! Take care of both of them, will ya?" Then he gave a slight grin. "Not that they need it."
Johnny opened the door with the blue sky and big sun and no birds and waved as he ushered Charlie inside, then he strutted off down the hallway like he owned the school. Charlie watched him go, a look of admiration on his face.
Everyone's heads turned when Charlie walked in. Miss Day walked over. "Charles! Where have you been?"
Dylan spoke up. "He prolly just needed to take a really long poop."
Everyone laughed. Charlie turned red as eyes darted around the room and found Katie. She was looking at a horse. He wanted to know what expression was on her face. But he didn't want to know either.
Miss Day sighed. What had she gotten herself into? She had the kids sit down at their desks.
She went to the front of the room and smiled. "Ok, class, eyes on me!" She waited until everyone settled down. Even Dylan, who wouldn't stop talking.
When everyone settled down, she announced that they were going to need a class "captain" to help her out. Charlie's eyes went wide. A captain? Here? He'd love that. Would he lead everyone on dangerous missions and help fly the ship and keep everyone out of danger? Were there monsters in the room? Charlie started scanning the room, picturing himself clearing the perimeter...
Everyone started raising their hands. Charlie glanced around, panicked. What were they raising their hands for? Charlie raised his hand timidly, not sure if he wanted whatever it was that everyone else was trying to get.
Miss Day called on Phil, who walked up to the room, beaming. Charlie frowned. Of course, she picked Phil. Charlie heard a few murmurs around the room. Miss Day handed Phil a stack of papers. Charlie looked at them in anticipation, forgetting for a moment his frustration with Phil. Were these... mission logs?
Phil started around the room, handing out the packets, calling each kid by name and giving a compliment. Something seemed... weird... to Charlie about how Phil did it, but Charlie couldn't quite figure out what just yet. Charlie heard Phil over at Katie's desk. "Here you go, Katie. I like your Justin's, by the way."
Katie snorted. "They're Ariats."
Charlie snickered quietly as Phil gulped and moved on. Phil came over to Charlie's desk last, laying down the packet in front of Charlie, saying, "Here, Chawwie Boy..." in much the same way that Charlie addressed Wayne's dog. Charlie tried not to let it bug him. He needed a friend, and being the 'Captain's puppy was better than being poopie boy.
Charlie leafed through the packet. The paper was not quite white and had little flecks in it that kind of reminded Charlie of phenocrysts. There was a large open space at the top of each page. The bottom half was filled with alternating thick and thin blue lines. He tilted his head to the left and raised his right eyebrow. Then his eyes lit up, and he got a wide grin. They'd be writing their own mission logs!
Charlie looked around. Everyone else was looking at the front of the room. Miss Day was saying something. He was relieved when he learned that she had just been telling the kids they were going to draw. Charlie got excited again. He loved drawing! He wondered what he would draw. A castle? A Diplodocus, his favorite dinosaur? Both? No... that wasn't right. Those two didn't go together.
Charlie looked back to the front again. Miss Day was still talking. He focused on her again, worried that he was missing something else. He relaxed to find that she was just explaining that they would be drawing trees. Charlie got excited again. Trees! He loved trees! Would he draw the big pine trees? Or the group of cottonwoods with his treehouse? Or the lilacs in bloom? Or the big Russian olive with the tire swing?
Charlie could hear the teacher talking again. Oh no! He focused. She was drawing something on the board. He tipped his head to the right side. He supposed it was a tree, but he'd never seen one that actually looked like a big log with a green cumulus cloud on top of it. And it didn't have any birds. Then he remembered that Miss Day was new at this too. Maybe she didn't know how to draw a tree yet?
Charlie leaned forward, "Miss Day, twees don't wook wike that."
The room went silent.
Dylan snickered. "I'm sowwy Miss Day, twees wewwy wewwy don't wook wike that."
A few kids giggled.
Miss Day stiffened."Charles, I mean Charlie, you need to raise your hand and wait to be called on. But, yes, I... realize that trees don't really look like this. This just... represents a tree. You understand what that means, don't you?"
Charlie nodded, warming up, "Oh, yes. But that twee can't wepwesent awwl twees. Pine twees and junipews wook diffewent."
Miss Day blushed. The class started murmuring.
Dylan snickered. "Wewwy Miss Day, junipew twees don't wook wike youw twee, wewwy!"
Charlie stuck his tongue out at Dylan.
Miss Day looked around, then at the clock.
"Well, um, look at the time. Time for recess! Everyone outside!"
The room erupted into chaos as the kids rose from their seats, cheering and rushing for the door leading outside.
Miss Day rubbed her forehead and sighed as she followed the kids out the door.
Charlie yelled with joy as he ran with the other kids to discover a new kingdom, pulling his shirt over his head.
Miss Day called out to him. "Charlie! Keep your shirt on!"
Charlie looked confused. "But... wewe pwaying outside!"
Miss Day was already talking to someone. He pulled his shirt back down and scanned the playground for a wall or a hidden door, but found nothing. Either there was no garden out here after all, or they hid it really well. But... If Miss Day didn't understand trees... His shoulders sagged. There's no way that there was a garden anywhere near this place. Charlie went over to a swing, looking longingly at what could have been space ships and forts and castles, but they were all full of the other kids. No, they couldn't be spaceships and castles. Not today. Not any more than kindergarten could be a real garden.
A flash of blue caught Charlie's eye, and he sat up and smiled again. At least Katherine Dawn Williams was here, doing cartwheels in a dress.
Phil walked over and stopped Charlie from swinging as he flexed his arm. "Look, Charwwie Boy! I got bigger muscles than you!"
Charlie shrugged and looked back at Katie, who was crouched in the dirt, holding a worm.
Phil looked over. "Don't ya remember that they got cooties?"
Charlie shrugged again.
Phil got a mischievous look and pulled on Charlie's swing, stopping him. "Go pull her piggy tail!"
Charlie scrunched his eyebrows together. "No thanks."
Phil bit his lip. "I triple dog dare you!"
Charlie squinted. What did Scamp have to do with this? "But.... I don't have a dog."
Phil wrinkled his nose. "You dork. Paper, rock, scissors, then. If you lose, you have to do it."
Charlie stuck out his lip. "But I don't want to."
Phil leaned close. "Are you too chicken?"
Charlie sighed. "Fine."
They squared off, closed their eyes, and chanted the familiar words while slamming their fists on their palms. "Rock, paper, scissors... Charlie put down rock and opened his eyes, as Phil opened his eyes, called out "Shoot," and put down paper.
Charlie pointed at Phil. "You cheated!"
Phil bit his lip. "Did not! I hadn't called out 'shoot,' so you put yours down too soon. I win. You gotta do it."
Charlie stuck out his tongue at Phil, but a deal was a deal, and he didn't want to lose his friend. So he walked timidly over behind Katie. He looked carefully to make sure she didn't have anything to hit him over the head with. He turned back to see Phil, who gave a pulling motion with his arm. Charlie turned around and gently tugged that cute, dark brown piggy tail with its cute blue bow.
Katie calmly set her worm down, then her arm shot out and grabbed Charlie around his neck. Charlie pulled back, but she pulled harder. Charlie felt his heart flip over as he flipped forward and landed on the ground. She sat on top of him, laughing playfully as she looked down and met his hazel with her sky blue, grinning. Sadly, for him, Miss Day came over and yanked Katie off.
"'Young lady! Get off of that boy this instant!"
Charlie watched her go as Phil bent over him, grinning widely. "You got pinned by a girl, Charlie Boy!"
Charlie just lay there grinning, staring up at the sky, barely registering the eagle gliding high above him. He sighed. "Yeah, but what a giww!"