Demonic Regime

Chapter 11: First-Grader

I waited in line with a nervous first-grader in the backseat. Rudy had his blanket and was trying to hide the fact he was sucking his thumb again. I pulled into an open parking spot and turned in my seat.

"Ready?"

Rudy shook his head.

"It won't be bad. Look and see." I pointed at the window.

Little pups in human form were running toward the school. Rudy perked up a little. He still seemed unsure.

"I can go in with you."

Rudy nodded.

Climbing out of the car, I walked around and opened the door. Rudy unbuckled his seat and jumped out.

"The blanket needs to stay in the car."

Frowning, he put it in his seat. I helped him put on his backpack.

"Ready?" I held out my hand.

"Yeah." He grabbed it and watched the other children.

We crossed the parking lot and headed for the main door. I entered the building and took Rudy to his classroom, where he had already met his teacher a couple of nights before. Rudy was starting to perk up as every child was in human form. It was a good thing we waited until it was mandatory to be in human form. Kindergarten would've been too hard on him.

"Hello, Rudy." My son's teacher stooped down. "Are you ready for your first day?"

My son shook his head.

"What do you mean?" she said with a smile. "A tough little dominant like you, I'm not that scary, right."

"No." He picked at his lips.

"It's new, right? School is full of new things, but that doesn't make them scary." She snapped her fingers. "I know what we can do. Case," she called. "Can you come here?"

A boy with brown hair and really tan skin wandered over.

"Case, this is Rudy. He sits right next to you."

Case nodded.

"Can you show him where to put his book bag?"

The boy's eyes lit up. "Is that battle bots?"

Rudy grinned as he turned to show the boy his bookbag. "Yeah."

"That's my favorite. I have Big Blue on mine. Come on." He grabbed Rudy's hand and dragged him into the classroom.

The boys ran over to the bookbag area. I smiled as Rudy started to perk up and laughed with Case as they compared bags.

"It's normal for them to be nervous." The teacher gave me a smile.

"Did they tell you?"

She nodded. "You have a very special pup, and we're going to make sure he feels just as special as he is."

Clearing my throat, I waved at Rudy. Grinning from ear to ear, he waved back. This was harder on me than him.

"Thank you." I nodded to the teacher. "I'll be back at two-thirty to pick him up."

Leaving the school, I hurried to my car. Slipping behind the wheel, I gripped it and let out a deep breath. It was done. Rudy was in school.

Closing my eyes, I laid my head back. "Please, let them be nice to him."

***

"Look, Mom! Look!" Rudy held up the picture he colored today. "We learned about the letters."

"That's great." She took it from him. "Wow, you like blue."