All I Want Is This

19

Meredith peeked inside the classroom through the small window of the door. Children were gathered in groups and Mrs. Kendrick was closely watching one of them. As Meredith opened the door, the teacher immediately noticed her.

"Meredith!" Mrs. Kendrick came, greeting with a cheerful smile.

"Mrs. Kendrick," Meredith smiled, uncomfortable with teacher's friendly greeting.

"Madeline," Mrs. Kendrick corrected her, smiling. "It's good to see you again."

Meredith started feeling even more uncomfortable now. She nodded, smiling at Mrs. Kendrick and then she looked around her hoping she would spot Alicia immediately. She spotted her indeed, but to her surprise, Alicia didn't look very happy to see her; it wasn't a frown of displeasure and Meredith understood that as she remembered what Mark had told her about Alicia's lie.

"Hey, Ally!" Meredith smiled, waving at her.

Alicia came running to her and landed in Meredith's open arms. "Let's go!" She said swiftly and took Meredith's hand, trying to pull her towards the door.

"Wait," Meredith stopped her, laughing. "How about your backpack?"

"I'll take it tomorrow," Alicia replied quickly, still struggling to take Meredith out of the classroom.

"Aww, Ally," Mrs. Kendrick laughed and knelt at her level. "I know you're excited to see your kitten, but it won't take you long to gather your things."

Alicia shook her head frowning.

"Go, Al," Meredith grabbed her by her shoulders and twisted her around, pushing her towards the closet where all the children were keeping their backpacks. "Don't worry," she leaned in down to her and whispered to her ear.

Alicia looked back at Meredith with distrust. She didn't know what Meredith was talking about, so her fear of having her lie revealed was terrifying. She ran towards that closet and started stuffing different things in her bag, barely paying attention to the things she was taking as her eyes were watching carefully Meredith and Mrs. Kendrick.

Meredith could read easily the panic from her eyes.

"She's extremely excited with this kitten," Mrs. Kendrick stated, chuckling as she and Meredith were watching Alicia.

"Yeah, she is," Meredith muttered.

"Caroline wants to have Alicia in a play for our Christmas festivity," Meredith turned to look at her confused. "Her ballet teacher," Mrs. Kendrick cleared that out as she saw Meredith's confusion.

"Oh," Meredith smiled, impressed. "What kind of play will it be?"

Mrs. Kendrick smiled slightly embarrassed. "I have to say that I'm not sure yet. I know it will have a Christmas theme. I know Caroline is choosing the children for the play and she wants to have Alicia. Josef is also very satisfied with Alicia's performances."

Meredith couldn't help but smile at the news and feel proudly.

"You have a wonderful daughter, Meredith," Mrs. Kendrick said.

Meredith chocked and coughed nervously as she heard Mrs. Kendrick's compliment. Probably Alicia had heard it too, because she was at Meredith's side in a flash, taking her hand and looking pleadingly at her.

Meredith looked up at Mrs. Kendrick, smiling, feeling her cheeks burning. "Thank you," she muttered. She closed her eyes briefly, trying to understand how she could say that, though it wasn't hard to know why. She inhaled and exhaled slowly and then she looked down at Alicia. "Ready to go?" Alicia answered with a firm nod. "It was nice seeing you again... Madeline," Meredith smiled politely at her.