Once Upon A Time

Chapter 6

"So." Elkis said standing across from Nasha who was sitting on her bed. "Care to explain why you made plans to run away?"

"Well duh I wanted to leave. I still do."

"You know running away from your problems won't make them go away."

"I don't have any problems."

"That's not what your file said."

"Everything in that file is bull crap.  Alright so I misbehaved, what kid doesn't?"

"Nasha do you even realize how dangerous it is out there especially for a young girl who's on her own? If you were to run away you would get into all sorts of trouble. You could get kidnapped or injured or sick. You don't have a job so you don't have a means of supporting yourself. You'll starve and end up homeless."

"I can get a job."

"You're thirteen you're not legally old enough to have a job. No one would hire you. I know you think you can take care of yourself Nasha but the truth is you can't. Not now anyway. You're still a child and you still need a responsible adult to take care of you."

"And you want to take care of me?"

"I'm pretty sure I made my intention to do so clear last night. What do I have to do to get you to believe that I want to help you?"

"Nothing because I know for a fact that there is no one out there who really wants to help me. Who really wants to give me a home and a family. No one wants me! My own parents didn't want me!"

"You don't know that for sure."

"Oh yeah? You said you read my file? Did you read the part about where they found me? My so called parents didn't even drop me off at a hospital. They left me on the side of a road! What if no one found me? I would have frozen to death or something! It's bad enough that they didn't even want to take care of me but to just leave me somewhere to die! It's like they didn't even want me to exist!"

Nasha had tears in her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she had let herself cry like this or talk about her parents. It made her feel embarrassed and stupid. Like she was too old to be upset by this. That she should've moved passed this by now. Elkis on the other hand couldn't help but feel compassion for the girl. This breakdown had given her a little information about why Nasha behaved the way she did. She felt rejected. She felt like everyone in the whole world rejected her for some reason. 

She moved to comfort Nasha.

"Just leave me alone." Nasha said turning away from her. 

Not wanting to pry, Elkis respected her wishes. She left Nasha's bedroom and an hour later she asked a neighbor to watch her while she went to pick up Greige from school. She only hoped that it had been a better day for him and it was.

Miss Lockser's class seemed nice enough. The kids acted friendly like toward Greige and Miss Lockser tried to be as welcoming as she could be. He was able to get an understanding of the class lesson in almost no time and he behaved in the best way he knew how. His only problem was that he tended to be shy and wasn't sure what to say to the other kids. At recess he just sat under a tree and read his book, he didn't really feel like talking to anyone today. He would try to socialize better tomorrow.

"Alright class we'll pick up on pg. 26 tomorrow." Miss Lockser said after looking at the clock. "Have a good rest of the day."

The dismissal bell rang and the children left the classroom. Shortly after leaving Greige realized that he had left behind his notebook in his desk. When he went to retrieve it he saw Miss Lockser standing by an open window and in her hands she held a white dove, stroking it's feathers gently. The dove then moved to give her a peck of a kiss on her cheek and flew out the window.