Through the Cracks

Kelly McKay rubbed her hand across her forehead, frustrated. "I don't know what to do." She said, shaking her head. "I feel like I'm failing my students."
Alice Perry smiled. "You're doing fine, Kelly." She said patiently. "It's normal to struggle when the 'honeymoon' period is over."
"The honeymoon period?" Kelly looked at the more experienced teacher in confusion. "What's that?"
"It's when the newness of the school year wears off and the students start acting out." Alice informed her. "Just be firm with them and things will calm down."

"I hope so." Kelly said, frowning. "I don't know how much more I can take."
Alice laughed and set her mug down. "Which students are giving you the worst time?"
Kelly shook her head. "I don't know. Jack, Tate, Kaia—"
"Kaia? Really?" Alice asked, surprised. "I had her last year and she was always well behaved."

Kelly frowned. "She seems like a nice enough child, but she's always so distracted. She never pays attention, she doesn't do her work, she doesn't listen when I talk to her. Sometimes it seems like she's doing it on purpose."
"Has her mom been in yet?" Alice asked. "If you can talk to her I'm sure she can help. Maybe she can talk to Kaia about her behaviour. Same thing with Jack. He's a nice kid, but if you don't watch him like a hawk he can get into so much trouble." Alice laughed, remembering some of the trouble Jack had gotten into the year before. "He was in Vanessa's class last year—you should ask her some of her stories about Jack."

Kelly smiled despite herself. "I'll have to ask her some time."
Alice added another sugar to her coffee. "Now, Tate is another story. Jack's good natured but mischievous, but Tate—he's a little hellion."
Kelly groaned. "I know. He cut off a piece of Julia's hair yesterday and today he pushed Jessica out of her chair and made her cry."
Alice shook her head, tasting her coffee. "Yes, he likes to target the quieter students."
"I feel like I need to have twenty pairs of eyes so I can watch everyone at once." Kelly said regretfully.

Alice shook her head. "It's all about the desk arrangements." She told the novice teacher. "A good classroom setup can make all the difference in the world."
Kelly nodded. "That makes sense. Like maybe put Tate with a well behaved boy so he can't target anyone."
Alice nodded as the bell rang. "Exactly. Change it up a bit and see what works. But no matter what, be firm. Let them know you are in charge. Let the, know clearly what is appropriate and what won't be tolerated."

As Kelly went to her classroom she moved a couple of desks around. Tate was with Josh, a no nonsense boy who liked to follow the rules. She separated two chatty girls, and moved Kaia's desk next to Jack's. At least if they're together I can keep an eye on both, and hopefully Jack will stay out of trouble if he has no other boys around.
By the time her students came in the desks were settled and Kelly felt a bit better about the day.
"Hi, Mrs. McKay." Jack said, putting a bright red apple on her desk.

"Hello, Jack." Kelly responded, smiling at his freckled face. "Thank you for the apple." She said, touching it. My first apple as a teacher. She thought with a smile. It's so cliche it's adorable.
"We went apple picking last night." Jack told her before taking his seat.
I might keep the seeds and plant them. Kelly thought with a smile. It will grow as my teaching career blossoms. It was cheesy, but she kind of liked the idea.
Tate pulled Allie's pigtails as he came in and Kelly called him out on it, directing him to his new seat.
"Grade threes, find your seats." Kelly said. "We're going to be reading from the book on your desks."

Kaia came in last, a scrawny little girl with big eyes and perpetually messy hair the colour of caramel. "Hi, Mrs. McKay." She said quietly, heading towards her old seat, only to find Allie sitting there.
"You're next to Jack now." Kelly told her, pointing to Kaia's desk.
The little girl looked surprised, but she took her seat next to Jack.
"Open your books, and we'll begin reading." Kelly told the children, opening her copy. "Julia, you can start us off."

As the children took their turns reading, Kelly kept her eyes on her challenging children, trying to gauge whether the changes were beneficial. Julia kept talking to her new desk mate, but Allie was paying attention for the first time. Maybe I'll put Julia next to one of the boys. Kelly thought, looking at the options. Maybe next to Ben. Or Michael. She didn't like the idea of separating the girl from her friends, but she was constantly distracting others, and it was becoming a problem.
Jack finished reading his page and there was silence. "Kaia." Jack whispered, nudging her book.

Kaia started, surprised at the interruption to her thoughts. "Billy threw the ball—" She began reading.
"Kaia, we are on page twelve." Kelly said crisply. "You would know this if you were paying attention."
The little girl's pale cheeks went bright red as she flipped to the correct page and began reading.
Kelly frowned as Kaia's soft voice read the passage nearly perfectly. She knew the work. She was a bright child. It would be different if she were just struggling to understand the material, but she gets it. She just chooses to not do the work.

The morning passed quickly as they moved on to writing. Tate tried to get a rise out of Josh, but Josh just ignored him. Jack seemed to be on his best behaviour, but Kaia was still distracted. Kelly was starting to think there was something wrong with the girl. By the time lunch rolled around Kaia had only written two sentences, while most of the children had at least a page. Jack had three pages, all about his new puppy.
When the bell rang for lunch the children all went to their cubbies to get their lunches, but Kelly called Kaia over to her desk.

"Kaia, what's going on?" She asked, holding out the paper where her two hastily scribbled lines were written. The child didn't say anything for a long time.
"I'm hungry." The little girl said finally, looking towards her cubby.
"You can have your lunch in a minute, Kaia, but we need to talk about this now." Kelly said firmly. "This is not okay. You had an entire period and all you wrote was--" She frowned at the misspelled sentences. "Mimi likes to bake cookies. I like to bake cookies too."
"We used to bake together." The little girl said hesitantly.

"Mimi's her mom." Jemma said helpfully as she came up to the desk. "Can we sit together at lunch, Mrs. McKay?"
Kelly shook her head in frustration. "Sit wherever you want." She said, setting the paper down. "I expect more from you this afternoon, Kaia."
Kaia nodded. "Can I get my lunch?"
Kelly waved her hand dismissively. You'd be better off focusing on your school work than your lunch. She thought in annoyance. She grabbed her bag and headed to the staff room, irritated.

In class, Kaia grabbed her lunch bag, taking a seat next to Jemma. She and Jemma had been best friends since kindergarten, and they'd almost always been allowed to sit next to each other.
"I'd rather sit next to you than Allie." Jemma said, pulling out a turkey sandwich and raspberries. "She's not as nice as you are."
Kaia shrugged, pulling out a small brown bun. "I wish I could sit with you. I don't want to sit next to Jack." Although Jack and a few other boys often played with Kaia and her friends, it wasn't the same sitting next to him as it was sitting next to Jemma."

Jemma opened her yogurt and added granola. "Maybe she'll move us back."
Kaia nodded, licking a bit of chocolate off of her bun. "I hope so."
"Want to play on the playground equipment at recess?" Jemma asked, drinking from her bottle of water. "We could play 'camping'."
Kaia nodded and took a big bite of her bun. "Okay."

The lunch teacher walked over and opened Allie's organic juice for her. "Healthy stuff first, girls." She reminded them before moving to the next table.
Kaia watched as one of the boys threw out an unpeeled banana. "Maybe next year you can come camping with me." Jemma suggested as she added mustard to her sandwich. "I'll tell my mom to tell your mom. Do you think Mimi would let you?"
Kaia looked at her friend for a moment, her eyes wide. "Maybe." She said noncommittally. "I'm going to go to the bathroom."
When she asked the lunchroom teacher the woman nodded distractedly.

Kaia collected her empty baggy and walked across the room. She darted a look around the room and, seeing no one looking, she snatched the apple off of Mrs. McKay's desk and headed into the hall. She tucked her baggy into her pocket and headed to the bathroom.
I'll eat it in the bathroom. She decided. No one will catch me.
Inside the bathroom, Kaia chose a stall and went inside, clutching her prize. She locked the door and took a big bite of the pilfered produce. I wish I could go apple picking. She thought vaguely as she ate the apple.

Once she finished the apple, Kaia took the core and dropped it down the toilet, flushing twice to get rid of the evidence.
She washed her hands and went back to class, tucking her empty baggy into her backpack before sitting next to Jemma.
"Where's your lunch?" The lunchroom teacher asked, coming over to her table.
"I ate it." Kaia said automatically.
Jemma and Allie looked over curiously.

"When did you eat it?" The teacher asked, frowning.
"I had some of it at recess." Kaia lied. "And then I had a sandwich and a banana. And yogurt."
The teacher frowned. "You didn't just eat your junk food, did you?"
Kaia shook her head. "I ate it all."
The teacher was distracted by a child asking for help opening her snack pack, so she nodded and turned away.

Jemma ate her last bite of sandwich before gathering up her remaining snacks and putting them in her lunch bag.
"Jackets on." The teacher told them. "It's a bit windy out."
Jemma pulled on her thin jacket. "Last one to the playground is a rotten egg." She joked.
While the teachers in the hallway cautioned the children to slow down, they practically ran to the playground.
"First!" Jack yelled as he slapped the playhouse.

"Second." Jemma said, slapping one hand against the railing, her blonde hair blowing in the strong wind.
"Kaia's a rotten egg!" Julia shouted as the skinny girl made it to the playground last. "Kaia's It!"
Everyone squealed and ran away from Kaia who was staring at the ground in front of the playhouse. Darting a look around her, she kicked leaves and sand back in the hole under the playhouse, and turned to chase Allie as she came close. Kaia missed, but managed to tag Jack as he tried to dodge around her.
Having done her part, Kaia sat down on the edge of the playhouse door, watching her friends run around.

When the children grew bored of the game Jemma and Allie made their way over to Kaia. "We want to play camping." Jemma told Allie.
"I went camping this summer." Jack told them. "I can be the one to build the fire."
"I''ll put up the tents." Jemma suggested, dragging her toes in the sand to mark out the lines. "Kaia, you can make the smores."
"I wish we had real smores." Allie said, her eyes wide. Kaia's stomach grumbled at the idea. "We get to have birthday cake tonight because it's my brother's birthday."
"Lucky." Jack said as he and Liam collected twigs for the pretend fire.

Although Kaia participated, she wasn't her usual self. A year earlier she had been a leader among her friends, always the one with the creative ideas and story lines, always excited to play. On that day, however, her energy was waning, and she seemed to be out of ideas. Instead of finding rocks and leaves to make her smores, she just pretended to make them, and afterwards she just sat on the playhouse steps watching the trees and thinking.
"Kaia, the bell rang."

Kaia looked up in surprise. "I didn't hear it." She admitted, following Jemma to their line.
"Allie's not as much fun as you are." Jemma said loyally. "Maybe we can have a playdate this weekend."
Kaia perked up. "Maybe we can have a sleepover." She suggested.
"That would be so much fun!" Jemma predicted, smiling. "I'll ask my mom if she can call your mom to arrange it."

Kaia didn't answer as she took her seat next to Jack.
"Open your math books to chapter two, grade threes." Mrs. McKay told them. "We're going to learn about place value."
The lesson went exactly as Kelly had planned. Because she could use the smart board it was fun and interactive. The numbers on the screen reacted depending on whether the child put them in the right spot or the wrong spot, and it seemed to draw the children's interest.

"Good job, Julia." Kelly said after the young girl put the three in the tens column. "That's exactly right."

Kelly looked at the class as Julia took her seat. "Kaia." She said, seeing the skinny child staring vacantly at her desk. "Can you find which column the three goes in? Kaia?"
The tiny child looked up the second time her name was called, but Kelly could tell she'd missed the question. "Can you tell us where the three goes?" Kelly repeated.
"After the two?" Kaia guessed, her cheeks turning red when her classmates laughed.
"Up here, Kaia." Kelly said, trying to bite back her annoyance. She held out the smart board marker for Kaia to take as she approached the front of the classroom.

Although Julia had just answered the question, and the entire lesson had been about this, Kaia got the question wrong, putting the three in the ones column.
Kelly took a deep breath, trying to not explode. "Kaia, please take your seat and pay attention." She said firmly. "You need to know this information."
Kaia nodded, her eyes wide.

The lesson continued and then Kelly assigned the first five questions at the end of chapter two. She walked around the class, praising the children who were getting it, and helping the children who were struggling.
When she got to Jack she was surprised to find that he had already finished all of the questions.
"Good job, Jack." She said, impressed. She wrote 100% on the top of his page. "Do you know what column the one is in?" She asked with a smile.

Jack looked at the number for a second. "The hundreds." He told her.
"That's right!" Kelly said, happy that he was doing well in his new seat. She put a smiley face on his page and turned to Kaia. The skinny girl's hair hung in her face, tangled and knotted. The first question was answered correctly, but the rest of the work was unfinished as Kaia drew a picture of what looked like a banana and a cookie.

"Kaia, what are you doing?" Kelly asked, irritated. "You're supposed to be working on the math questions."
The little girl started, her messy hair spilling to one side as she looked up at the teacher. "What?" She managed to get out.
Kelly shook her head as she looked the girl's dirty, bony neck. "Kaia, this is not okay. Maybe it's time I talked to your parents." She frowned. "What do you think your parents will think when I call home?"

Kaia's eyes got wider. "Please don't call home." She begged. "I don't want you to."
Kelly was about to tell the girl that she should have thought of that before she wasted the entire period, but the bell rang before she could speak. "Okay, class. Whatever questions you have left will be for homework. Jackets on before you go out."
When Kaia started to put her math book away Kelly stopped her. "Please wait, Kaia. We need to have a talk." She felt satisfied when the child looked suitably nervous as Kelly went back to her desk.

When the sounds in the hall petered out, Kelly gestured for Kaia to come up to her desk. "Kaia." Kelly began, trying to be calm. "This is not okay, you can't expect to get by in life if you refuse to do any work."
Kaia nodded, eyes wide.
"You need to start paying attention in class." Kelly went on. "This day dreaming will not be tolerated."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. McKay." Kaia said, dropping her gaze. "I'll pay attention. Can I go outside now?"

Kelly shook her head, remembering Alice's claim that Kaia had been a good student the year before. "Kaia, what's going on?"
"I'm hungry." The child said softly, looking at the door.
"Yes, I know you're missing your recess, Kaia, but I need to know what's going on with you." Kelly frowned. "You had Mrs. Perry last year, and she said you were a good student."
"She did?" Kaia asked, sounding pleased.

"She did." Kelly reassured her. "But this year something's changed. You're not doing the work."
Kaia dropped her gaze again. "I'm trying." She said quietly.
"Is there something bothering you?" Kelly asked, trying to figure the child out. "Is everything okay at home? Are you struggling with understanding the work? Are you having trouble hearing?"
Kaia shook her head and Kelly felt frustrated.

"I can't help you unless you let me know what the problem is, Kaia." Kelly pointed out, deciding it was a waste of time to continue harping on the little girl. "When you're ready to talk, let me know." She said seriously, straightening her desk as she prepared to go to the staff room. She frowned, realizing the apple that Jack had given her was missing. "Do you know where my apple went?" She asked.
She hadn't really been expecting Kaia to know, but to her surprise the skinny girl's cheeks suddenly went bright red, her eyes darting away guiltily.
"Did you eat my apple?" Kelly asked, shocked.

Kaia froze for a second before shaking her head, her guilt written all over her face.
Kelly saw red. "That was my apple." She said, furious, knowing it wasn't really about the apple. "Refusing to do your work? Lying? Stealing? I think it's time I called home, Kaia." Kelly said angrily, standing up. "What will your mom think when I talk to her?"
Kelly was strangely satisfied when Kaia burst into tears. "You can't talk to her." The child spluttered, putting her hands to her face. "You can't."

Kelly shook her head, glad that Kaia finally seemed to understand the gravity of the situation. "I can, and I will, Kaia." She told her, feeling only slightly bad that the little girl was bawling. "You can go to the bathroom to clean up if you'd like, but then go outside for recess."
With sobs still wracking her thin body, Kaia went down the hall to the bathroom while Kelly watched her walk away. Hopefully now she knows how serious this is. Kelly thought. She didn't like making children cry, but if that's what it took to make a child take her education seriously then so be it.

With a sigh, Kelly went to the staff room, wishing she had her apple. I'll grab some groceries on the way home. She decided, grabbing a granola bar out of her bag. And maybe some fast food.

The afternoon went by quickly, and before Kelly knew it the bell was ringing. "Don't forget your homework." Kelly reminded the children as they gathered their things. "Have a nice afternoon."
She meant to watched Kaia leave, hoping to have a chance to talk to her mom before she left but the little girl disappeared into the crowd of parents too quickly.

"How was your day?" Alice Perry asked as the crowds petered out.
"It went well." Kelly answered honestly. "I changed some of the desks around, and I think it's going to work." She frowned. "I'd been hoping to talk to Kaia's mom, though. She's still having trouble concentrating."
Alice looked thoughtful. "I think Kaia walks home on her own." She said after a moment. "Her mom used to walk her to and from school, but in the spring last year her mom got sick, and Kaia started walking on her own. I guess her mom, Miriam, must have figured that Kaia was able to do it on her own since she managed it while Miriam was sick."

Kelly nodded. It made sense. A lot of the children walked to and from school. It was a safe neighbourhood, almost always populated by children and families walking to and from the school. "Do you think I should call her? Kaia didn't pay attention to anything today, and it's starting to impact her work."
Alice nodded. "Definitely. See if you can set up a meeting. Miriam was always receptive to discussing Kaia, and she's not one of those moms who blindly defend their child."

Kelly nodded, already trying to figure out the best way to word things.

Several blocks away, Kaia tugged her backpack into place as she walked along the sidewalk, starting her usual route. She hadn't been able to do her normal routine since she was in school, so her stomach was rumbling. She hoped the blonde lady was working at the coffee shop she frequented.
She'd have to shorten her route since she was starting so late, she decided.

Kaia bypassed the front door of the coffee shop and walked to the back, making sure no one saw her. Once back there, Kaia went to the big green compost bins and opened one of the lids. Kaia carefully untied the knot on the top of one of the plastic bags and was happy to find that the baked goods inside looked edible. The blonde lady must have been working, she knew. She was the only one who put the baked goods into the bags neatly. Kaia was pretty sure the other woman who put out the compost stepped on the baked goods to compress them before composting them.

Kaia pulled out the sandwich bags she'd folded up into her pocket and carefully selected baked goods for each of the bags. She put a slightly stale bun into one bag, and a bagel with a smudge of chocolate into another, and a slightly flattened croissant into the last bag, tucking each item into her backpack. She picked out another bun and put a corner of it into her mouth while she tied the plastic bag up again, and closed the lid. The rest of the bag was soiled by the brown, coffee-smelling dirt she always found in the bins. Only the food above the coffee dirt was ever good. The rest tasted so bad it made her choke.

Once the lid was down, Kaia took the bun out of her mouth and looked around cautiously. Satisfied that no one was around, Kaia continued her trek behind the coffee shop, through the back alley to the next street over, nibbling her bun as she went.
She ducked down an alley, quiet and empty, as usual. There were four giant dumpsters along one wall. Kaia walked between the first two, concealed from the road. She pulled her skinny, seven-year-old body up onto the first dumpster, her feet braced against metal bracket used to dump the skip. She had gotten so used to the movement that she now did it easily.

There were a lot of dumpsters in the city, but Kaia liked this one because the garbage was usually sorted. This dumpster was attached to an apartment building. The people in the apartments threw things down a chute, straight into the dumpster. Though she didn't know it, the chute was narrow, which meant that the people inside the building could only throw out small bags. Generally, this meant that kitchen waste was thrown out separately from bathroom garbage, which was thrown out separately from the rest of the garbage.

It also usually meant that the bin was full most days, so Kaia could usually reach a few of the bags. She fished three out and dropped them carefully to the ground beside her, before dropping down as well. She had a feel for which bags contained which materials, and by now she was almost always right. Kitchen garbage usually contained food waste, and bathroom garbage contained all sorts of gross things, none of them useful, so she aimed for the other bags.

She untied the first bag and found paper, an empty Kleenex box, lots of plastic, and an old dog toy. The second bag contained similar items, but the third one was a bonanza. She pulled out some useless odds and ends, a t-shirt, a nickel, and a pair of scissors. As Kaia neatly packed the scissors away in her backpack she examined the t-shirt carefully, searching for stains or rips. When she found none, she folded the t-shirt and packed it in her backpack with the nickel.

"You're getting full." Kaia said to her backpack. "Time to go home." She pulled her bag back onto her back and turned toward the street.

From across town, Kelly McKay picked up her phone and dialed the number she'd gotten from the office, looking at the script she'd written.
"Hello?" A male voice slurred over the line.
"Hello?" Kelly was momentarily thrown off her script. There hadn't been any mention of a man in Kaia's file. Was this her stepdad or something? "Hello. This is Kelly McKay calling from Kaia's school?" Kelly said, cursing herself for sounding so hesitant. "I'm calling about Kaia."

"That girl." The man said, sounding annoyed. "I don't know where that girl went."
Kelly paused. The call was already not going the way she'd intended. "Well, we've been having some challenges with Kaia concentrating in class, so I was wondering if we could set up a meeting? Is Miriam available?"
The man barked out a humourless laugh. "Miriam hasn't been available for months." He said, his voice thick. "I don't know what happened to the girl. She's not my responsibility."

Kelly wasn't sure what to say. "Is there a better time I could call to talk to Miriam?" She tried again, feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment.
"Miriam's gone." The man slurred nearly incoherently. "I don't care what that kid's gotten herself into. She's no good. Don't listen to any of her lies."
Kelly frowned, realizing there was no point in continuing the conversation. "Okay. Thank you for your time." She said politely, hanging up.

Kelly stared at her cell, not sure what to do. Is that Kaia's step dad? She wondered, completely thrown off. She looked at her script, realizing she really hadn't hit any of her key points. But maybe Kaia's having trouble sleeping or something. Maybe I'll call back tomorrow and get her mom on the line. I'll mention the importance of a good night's sleep.

Kaia shifted her backpack up higher on her back. There were people lined up outside a movie theatre, but Kaia walked by, not a part of the crowd. Mimi had taken her to a movie once. Kaia couldn't remember what the movie was, but she remembered the exhilaration she'd felt when the movie started, hot popcorn in her hand, the sound so loud it was almost deafening.
The crowd in the line were almost as loud as the movie had been, and Kaia liked the sound of their laughter fading into the distance as she turned down the next alley.

This alley had only one dumpster in it, and it was old, rusty, and out of use, its lid locked tightly with chains. There was a big pile of wood leaning against it on one side, although Kaia had dug through it carefully once, she hadn't found much useful. She wondered if she could build something out of the wood, but dismissed the idea. She didn't know how to build, and didn't have anywhere to build it anyway.
It was getting dark so Kaia disappeared down the alley as quickly as she could, and almost bumped into someone coming out of the apartment building.

"Sorry!" Kaia squeaked, startled.
"Careful." The person warned, sounding impatient.
"It was an accident." Kaia said, looking up to see a girl she'd seen before on this street.
"Of course it was." The girl grumbled, but she didn't really sound annoyed. She rolled her huge amber eyes and raised one eyebrow at the younger girl.
"Little late for you, isn't it?" The girl asked, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. "You're usually here before now."

Kaia's eyes widened. She had seen the girl many times in passing, but hadn't realized the girl saw her too. She was so beautiful, with long blonde hair, bronzed skin and huge golden eyes. Mimi had had brown eyes, while Kaia had blue. She'd said Kaia got her blue eyes from her real mom.
The girl with the cigarette always wore makeup and was always dressed up, and for a moment, Kaia was tongue tied.
"I—I had school." She finally managed to get out.

"Kindergarten let out late today?" The girl asked, blowing a smoke ring into the air. "What's your name, kid?"
"Kaia."
"Do you parents know where you are, Kaia?" The girl asked, leaning closer to her. "All by yourself all the time?"
"I'm not alone all the time." Kaia protested.
The older girl leaned back against the wall of the apartment building, taking a long drag on her cigarette. "Often enough."

"Karisa, you're looking fine as hell."
Kaia turned and saw an older boy leering at the amber-eyed girl.
"And you're looking broke as hell, Jimmy." Karisa said, giving him the same smirk she'd given Kaia. "I'm not interested in charity cases."
"No charity. Just a good time between friends."

Kaia, used to being invisible, melted away from the pair as they continued their banter. She needed to be heading home anyway. She looked up at the darkening sky. There were dark clouds, threatening rain. Kaia's heart fell at the thought. She pulled her backpack tighter against her back and hurried, cutting her route short. She didn't want to be out when the rain fell.
She ducked under a fence and down a well worn path. Her abbreviated route had looped around back to the playground behind the school. The sun had disappeared, the streetlights were on, and the park was nearly empty. A man was walking his dog at the far end of the park, so Kaia was cautious about approaching the playhouse, taking care to make sure the man had not seen her.

She went into the playhouse and set her bag down. She pulled off her t-shirt and pulled the new shirt out of her bag, slipping it on quickly. She pulled a sweater out of her bag and pulled it on too. She neatly folded her old shirt up and tucked it into her bag next to a pair of socks. With a smile she pulled the socks out and set them on the playhouse floor. They had cartoon bears on them, and they were well worn, but when Kaia had liberated them from a garbage bag a week ago she thought the bear on them reminded her of her old teddy bear. She had stuffed one sock into the other, and had planned on using them as a spare pair of socks, but more often than not she ended up curling up with them at night.

"I went to school today, Socks." She said as she ate the bagel she'd found. "Jemma and I played together, and my new teacher is very nice. I couldn't do my whole route, though because I was at school today." Kaia wiggled the sock bear around for a bit, pretending to make it dance, but she was really too tired for playing.
Kaia contemplated using her flashlight to read the newsletter her teacher had sent with each child, but she didn't want to draw attention to the playhouse. She pulled out her water bottle and drank, running her tongue across her teeth.

She pulled out her small zippered baggy of change, wondering how much a toothbrush would cost. Maybe tomorrow. She thought.

She gathered up her things and tucked them back into the bag. She peeked out the window of the playhouse to make sure the park was empty, and slipped to the ground. Cautiously, she knelt and pulled the mulch she had moved during recess out of the hole beneath the playhouse, and swept away some of the sand. With one last glance around she crawled under the house. It was a tight squeeze, but once you were past the bottom lip of the playhouse there was a small gap underneath the structure. Kaia was in quickly before anyone could notice, feeling around until she found the blanket she'd stashed under there.

When she'd first come to the playground she'd used the playhouse itself to sleep in, but she quickly realized it was too open when a late evening dog walker spotted her and questioned her about why she was at the park so late.
Kaia shivered involuntarily as she spread the blanket on the cold sand. The day had been colder than usual, and with Kaia going to school, she was later than she normally was, so the warmth of the day had already leached out of the small space. She pulled the blanket tighter around her, shoes still on, and Socks clutched to her chest, backpack strap looped on one arm.

Despite the cold of the sand, Kaia soon warmed up in her blanket, and she drifted off, dreaming of Mimi.