I Fall Apart

Nora

It always felt nice to go back to school after being sick for a few days.  I'd have tons of homework, of course, but at least I had the weekend to do it.  I was most excited about being well enough to get together with Aaron tonight.  His parents were out for most of the night.  I would tell Dad that I was hanging out with friends.

I tried hard to pay attention in class since I'd missed some of the material.  The classes at Hunter go really fast, especially my AP History class.  The make up work would take me hours this weekend.  I had fantasies about punching my teacher.

In the middle of math class, the fire alarm went off.  Everyone jumped and automatically stood up and began to stream out of the classroom and then down the steps.  It was our monthly drill.  Nothing to worry about.  I yawned as I filed out with my classmates in a single file line.  It was getting a little nippy, so I rubbed at my bare arms to warm them up.

A few minutes later, we went back inside and the teacher got right back into what we were doing.  The classroom phone rang and she answered it, then hung up.

"Nora, you're needed down in kindergarten," she told me.  I crinkled my eyebrows and stood up.  She wrote me a quick pass and I walked to the other wing of the school.  As I approached the kindergarten rooms, I saw Sebastian sitting outside his classroom with one of the aides.  He was crying and obviously upset.  The aide looked relieved to see me.

"Sebastian got a little scared during the drill," she explained, giving his shoulder a little squeeze.  "He requested his big sister."

I smiled as I sat on the other side of him.  The aide got up to give us some time.  Sebastian immediately climbed into my lap and I wrapped my arms around him.

"It's okay, bud," I told him, squeezing him tightly.

"It was loud!" he complained through his tears.  I realized this may have been his first fire drill.  It was incredibly noisy, so I didn't blame him for getting scared.  I could hear a few more tears coming from the classroom.

I pushed his hair back a little as I continued to cuddle with him.  I tried to distract him by talking about other things.

"What did you do in class this morning?" I asked him.

"We learned about the letter 'j' and we sang a song and we went to art class," he told me.

"Fun!  Did you make something in art?"

"We colored a pinwheel and the teacher's gonna lamate them and put them in the grass," he told me proudly.

"Oh, she'll laminate them?" I gently corrected him.  "That'll look pretty.  What colors did you use?"

He stopped crying as he named off the colors on his pinwheel.  We chatted for a few more minutes as he got himself together.  I had to admit, it felt nice to be called down to help my little brother.  I felt needed and appreciated.

I'd sat with him for about ten minutes and I decided he should try to go back to class.  I patted his leg.

"Alright, Seb," I said, "Let's go back to class."

He stood up and I took his hand, walking him back into his classroom.  I kind of felt like staying for a while.  Everything was so happy and bright in kindergarten.  The kids were adorable and thought I was cool because I was in high school.

I walked Sebastian to his table, where his classmates were working on tracing the letter of the day.  Sebastian sat down and I squatted next to him to get him started.  As he worked, I rubbed his back and complimented him on what he was doing.  The other kids were anxious to have my attention as well, and they wanted to tell me all about the fire drill.  I talked with them for a couple minutes before telling my little brother goodbye, kissing him on the head.