Forging Monsters

New School

Zee was awoken by someone quietly knocking on her bedroom door. Bleary-eyed, Zee looked at the clock and saw that it was only 6 am, much earlier than she was used to waking up. Zee groaned and stretched while the knock sounded again. Zee sat up and put her feet on the cold wooden floor at the same time as her bedroom door opened a few inches, just enough for Emma to poke her head around the door.

"Oh good, you're awake," Emma said cheerfully.

Zee rubbed the sleep from her eyes and turned to look at Emma, blinking. "I wasn't"

"Gino dropped off Magen's identity papers," Emma said, waving a stack of papers and ignoring Zee's statement. "You can get Magen enrolled in school."

"Oh crap," Zee said as she stretched her arms and legs before standing up. "Will you make some coffee, Emmie?"

"Already brewing," Emma smiled. "Unlike you, I'm used to getting up early." Emma turned and went back downstairs to the kitchen. Zee walked into the bathroom between her room and Magen's and took a shower and then picked a sleeveless sundress out of her closet, it was lightf blue with sunflowers all over it.

By the time Zee went downstairs, Emma had breakfast ready, consisting of bacon, eggs, and toast. Zee piled up a plate and poured herself a cup of black coffee before she settled at the kitchen table across from Magen.

"So kiddo, are you ready for your first day of school?"

Magen bounced in her seat excitedly. "I can't wait! Can I go today?!"

Zee grinned at her enthusiasm. "We are going to get you enrolled today, and you can start classes tomorrow."

"Yaay!" Magen shouted and clapped her hands.

"Emma will you come with me? You know about this stuff, I don't"

"I can't, I have a doctor's appointment, they are booked out, I won't be able to get a new appointment for a while, so I need to keep this one. Then I have to go grocery shopping."

Zee grimaced in apprehension.

"I'm sure you can handle it, I have confidence in you," Emma reassured her. "I'll bring a plate downstairs," Emma said as she filled a plate and walked to the door. "Call me and let me know how it went."

"Ok," Zee said, as she looked through the documents Emma had given her. There was a social security card, birth certificate, immunization records. "I'm not sure how genuine these are, and I'm not going to ask," Zee thought.

Zee looked up elementary schools and found that Park Elementary was the closest, only six minutes by car. "We'll enroll you in this one," Zee said, showing Magen the pictures of the school that Zee had pulled up on her phone.

"Kids!" Magen pointed and clapped excitedly when she saw a picture of kids playing on the playground in front of the school. "That looks fun!"

"It does look fun," Zee agreed. "It's less than a mile away, we could even walk there on nice days. Don't forget though, we are going to tell people that you are my niece, and that your mommy is in heaven."

"I remember." Magen looked a bit sad at the mention of her mother, so Zee decided to try to distract her.

"Let's walk there today since it is a nice day, how does that sound?"

"Ok," Magen said, and went to put her shoes on.

The air was hot as they walked down the steps, but there was a slight breeze blowing. "I love being outdoors," Zee said, holding Magen's as the little girl skipped down the sidewalk. "Me too!"