"I wanna see the lions!" Adam exclaimed as he yanked on his teacher's hand, "they're ferocious!" His eyes filled with wonder and pure joy. He was a handful for sure, but it was hard to not love the kid.
She had to smile at the little boy's enthusiasm, "We will..we will. Slow down, Adam. We need to stay together."
He furrowed his brow, "Its taking too long!"
Tracey had no idea where he got the energy from, they'd been in the zoo for well over four hours now. Most of the children had started to show signs of exhaustion, they no longer ran from enclosure to enclosure, and their voices had all but disappeared. She was glad they had just the lions and a few other exhibits to go before lunch and then loading up on the bus to return back to school.
"The lions aren't going anywhere Adam. Now, either slow down or its back to holding my hand...your choice friend."
Adam groaned, "Fine. I will be slow. I don't want to hold your hand..I don't hold hands. I'm a big boy." He puffed his chest out a bit in attempt to prove his point.
"While that may be true when you're with your parents...but here..with me at the zoo? You'll hold my hand if need be, Adam." She was stern with him, she had learned from day one that Adam required a firm hand. He was the heartbeat of her classroom and he often set the tone for the day.
It was a wonderful trait to posses as an adult, but as a five year old? Not so much, he often came off like an asshole, but she knew that it was just the type of kid Adam was. He wanted to experience everything and anything and he wanted it all at once.
"Alright..but just yours...not London's" he was firm in his demand, "she's a girl...I don't want to hold her hand...that's just nasty. Girls are gross, Mrs.Worthington."
She suppressed a giggle, "Okay, Adam. You don't have to hold London's hand." She offered her other hand to the little girl.
London looked up at her, "I can hold this one?" She grabbed Tracey's left hand, "I don't like the lions...they're scary."
"Don't be a baby London!" Adam growled at her, "they can't get you...they live in a cage.."
"Alright, Adam. That's enough, let's catch up with the rest of the group." She nudged both children along, the rest of the group had moved towards the lion enclosure.
"Here..for you." Kevin set the Red Bull on the edge of Adam's desk, "I figured you could use it.." they'd been at it for hours and it seemed every lead they had turned into a dead end.
"You're a fucking Saint, Kev. A fucking Saint." Adam chugged half of it, he could feel her eyes on him, judging him. That he knew beyond a shadow of doubt, it had been an interesting few years for them.
"That's not gonna help you.." She told him, "matter of fact it's just gonna lead to you crashing in a few hours." She held up her cup, "this is what you need." She waved the smoothie in his face, "its healthy and so yummy."
Adam rolled his eyes, "Surely you remember I don't eat or drink green shit. It hasn't been that long."
She clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, "As if I could forget."
They had settled into some strange form of friendship, though that was a bit of a stretch. Work friends was a much better term, they were civil and even friendly with each other at work..once they left the confines of the 21st that all changed. They'd didn't hang out together, though she rarely hung out with anyone outside of work. On the off chance they did end up at the same social gathering they kept their distance from each other.
