First Day of School

 

Tori walked down the polished hallway with a businesslike stride.  She was so excited, and so ready to start school she could hardly stand it.

 

They had begun preparation for this day weeks ago.  While in Texas for the Fourth of July, she had gone shopping with Auntie Melissa and Gramma and Mama for just the right outfit to start school in.  It had taken nearly all day, and they ate lunch in a beautiful restaurant where the waiter had seated each of them and placed a cloth napkin in each lap.  None of the boys had come along, and she had even helped Auntie Melissa pick out shorts and shirts for Geoff and Robbie that they would be wearing to school.  But the most fun had been finding this outfit she had on right now.

 

They found the skort first.  It was black, with two little stripes down by the hem in pink and green.  Mama had approved because it was a skort, not a skirt, so she could play easily in it.  Then Gramma had found a pink sweater that was just the same color as the pink stripe.  Mama and Auntie Mel had briefly argued about long sleeves in August in Florida, but finally Mama was convinced that the school would have air conditioning and it would be all right to have the matching sweater.  There was also a scoop-necked top in the same black as the skort with trim in pink and green.  Auntie Melissa found the little backpack which was pink and black zebra striped and furry.  It wasn’t as big as the backpack Auntie Mel picked out for Geoff, but Tori loved it.  It had plenty of room for a little notebook, a pen and a pencil, the princess pencil sharpener she had gotten from Disney World, and a brand new box of crayons—the pack of twenty-four, just enough to give a variety of colors without being too big.  She had bigger boxes of crayons at home, but this was the size she always picked when she traveled with her daddy.  It would be just right for school.

 

Shoes had been the hardest.  She didn’t want the big plastic sneakers, even pink ones.  She liked the little shiny black shoes that matched her outfit, but Mama said they weren’t practical for school.  They went to three different stores.  Finally Gramma took them to a big store that played soft music and all the clothes looked so silky and lovely.  Gramma had a talk with a nice man who brought out a box that held the prettiest black shoes.  They buckled just like the shiny ones had, but were a soft black with black rubber soles.  They looked almost like dancing shoes, but Tori knew she could run and jump and sit on the floor and everything and they wouldn’t get scuffed like the shiny ones.  They were perfect.  The man asked if she wanted to wear them home, but she told him no.  She was saving them for her very first day of school.

 

And now the day was here.  Daddy came to wake her up, but she was already awake and dressed when he knocked on her door.  She came downstairs and ate breakfast with Daddy, and he even let her have a little bit of coffee in her milk.  Mama saw him and gave him that look that Tori knew meant that she would fuss if she didn’t love Daddy so much.  Tori felt very businesslike when Daddy packed his briefcase and she picked up her backpack, all packed with everything she needed, including the check she was supposed to give the lady in the cafeteria for her lunches.  

 

Mama and Daddy walked behind her, holding hands.  She couldn’t wait for them.  They had come last Thursday night and found the classroom and met her teacher, so she knew just where to go.  She walked right up to Mrs. Flowers who was standing in the door to the classroom. 

 

“Good morning, Mrs. Flowers,” Tori said, holding out her hand and greeting her just like Daddy taught her to greet people when they traveled to Washington and New York. 

 

Mrs. Flowers had kind eyes and her voice was silky and soft.  Her skin was the color of melted chocolate chips.  “Good morning,” she said, leaning down to take Tori’s hand in hers.  “You’re Victoria Koenig, aren’t you?”

 

“Yes, ma’am.”  Tori looked past her into the classroom.  Other children were sitting on a rug with a stack of large cardboard blocks, standing by a cage with some little animals in it, and there were a few sitting at tables, coloring. “I’m Tori.”

 

“Come right in, Tori.  We have several centers you can join, or you can choose a page to color and take it to your seat.  Do you remember finding your seat last week at open house?”

 

Tori nodded.  Her seat was just to the right, on the other side of Mrs. Flowers desk.  She turned and let Mama and Daddy kiss her goodbye, then headed for the table and her assigned seat.  They spoke to the teacher while Tori found her seat.  She looked around the large room and could see the other classrooms in her pod.  Geoff was in the next class, sitting on the floor by another little boy.  He looked up and met her eye, but made no sign of recognition.  Neither did Tori.  He teased her sometimes, but she knew that if she needed him, he wasn’t far away.  She liked that.

 

There were four stacks of papers sitting on the table.  She picked up one of a teddy bear holding a sign in one hand and placed it on the table next to the card that said “Victoria”.  She took her backpack from her shoulders, unzipped the largest pocket and removed the new box of crayons from the bag.

 

A little girl with blond hair sat next to her.  She was carefully coloring the flowers next to the bear.  She reached into the box of broken crayons at the center of the table, looking for a yellow crayon that wasn’t marked with other colors.  She wore faded blue overalls and a shirt with pink roses scattered over it. 

 

“Do you want to use my yellow?”  Tori asked. 

 

The little girl looked at the brand new crayon Tori held out to her.  “But it’s new.”

 

“That’s okay.  It’ll color better than that one,” Tori pointed out.

 

The little girl nodded and smiled.  She took the crayon from Tori.  “I’m Christie,” she said.

 

“I’m Tori.”

 

Soon the two little girls were chatting away like old friends, sharing the new colors happily.  School was going to be a wonderful adventure.