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Most of her students blurred together and faded away, but there were a few she knew would always stand apart. Teach long enough, like she had, and there were bound to be some. To be honest, most of the memorable ones were transfer students, already set apart from the crowd. Aleah remembered her first year of teaching, long before marriage and kids of her own, there was a little boy with dimples and puppy dog eyes. Sam Winchester was his name, and even forty years later, she could remember just about every interaction she had with him.
A transfer student midway through kindergarten was rare. Aleah gathered as much from the reactions that rippled through the staff room. The Winchester boys had been registered by their dad and would start in their new classrooms on Monday. She had Sam, and Mr. Prescott had Dean in his fourth-grade class. Aleah hoped she could integrate her new student seamlessly; they had just found their rhythm after Christmas, and she would hate to see that get thrown off.
Monday morning came sooner than she hoped. Aleah got to school early, unsure of the protocol for transfer students. Did she meet them in the office? Did the parents bring him to her classroom? Her questions were answered when the secretary, Ms. Alverez, knocked on her door. She was holding hands with a small boy with tousled curls.
“Hello, Ms. Wyatt! I have a new friend here, Sam.”
Aleah knelt in front of her new student and smiled as he seemed to take it all in. “Hi there, Sam! It’s so nice to meet you. Would you like to go pick a cubby for your things?” The boy nodded and followed Aleah’s gesture to the cubby’s that lined the wall. Once he was out of earshot, she turned to Ms. Alverez in confusion.
Ms. Alverez sighed, “Their dad had to get to work, so he dropped the boys off with me first thing. I had a heck of a time convincing them to split up too, Sam seemed to think going to school meant staying with Dean all day.”
Before Aleah could respond, there was a tug on the end of her cardigan. She glanced down to see Sam. “I picked the one on the end, Miss. It has a green tag and green is my favourite!”
Aleah felt herself melting at his earnestness. She smiled briefly at Ms. Alverez and took Sam’s hand. She had a feeling this new student was going to be a wonderful addition to her class.
A few weeks later, her students gathered on the circle time carpet. It took a few minutes for them all to settle. She mediated an intense discussion about the front-most blue circle; it was in high demand today. With Michael sitting happily on the blue circle and Jennifer settled on the green with the promise of a turn on blue at next circle time, Aleah returned to the front of the room.
Sam waited with intent eyes trained on her. He was such a serious little boy. Not shy necessarily, but capable of focusing with a single-mindedness she had never encountered in a five-year-old. The other students squirmed, giggled and chattered at every opportunity, but Sam applied himself fully to every task she doled out.
To ensure everyone’s eyes were on her, she exclaimed, “Hocus pocus!” and held her hand up to her ear. “Everybody, focus!” the kids cried in unison. She smiled and jumped into her lesson about rhyming words. She pulled out the book they read yesterday, and they took turns finding words that rhymed. Sam raised his hand every single time, dimples appearing whenever his answer matched. He was such a cutie! She wrapped up the lesson by sending the kids to each pick a take-home book from her bins.
She dealt with Eric’s untied shoe and a meltdown (Lauren and Heather both wanted the same princess book. Luckily, she had a second copy!). She finished circling the room to see all her students lined up by the door. All her students except Sam Winchester, that is. Sam was still looking through the take-home books, frowning.
Aleah knelt beside him and asked, “Is everything okay, Sam?”
Sam turned his hazel doe-eyes towards her. “I wanna pick a book where I know all the words so I can read to m’ brother for bedtime. But I dunno enough words!”
“Well, Sam, that’s lovely! It’s okay if you don’t know all the words yet, though. Your mom or dad can help you practice before you read to your brother.”
Sam started shaking his head before Aleah could finish her sentence. “But Miss! My mom is dead, and Daddy works a lot. Dean reads to me every day and helps me practice my words. It’s his birthday soon, and I want my present to be me reading him a story instead of him reading to me like always! And if I have to practice at home, it won’t be a surprise!”
Aleah told Sam to wait at the table for a moment as she stood and dismissed her other kids to the playground. She and Sam spent that recess (and every recess for the rest of the week) practicing all the words in his chosen book.
After school on Friday, Aleah was on pick-up duty, so she was outside getting kids on buses and waving to parents in the carpool lane. She saw Sam run up to an older boy- that must be Dean! Sam grinned up at his brother as Dean bent down to listen to whatever Sam was saying. He was obviously excited, and Dean was a captive audience.
Dean grabbed Sam’s backpack, slung it over his shoulder with his own and pulled up the zipper on Sam’s jacket. He ruffled the younger boy’s messy hair. Dean laughed as Sam crinkled his nose, playing at being annoyed. Nobody was fooled though; with Sam’s sparkling eyes and a grin he couldn’t quite hide, it was clear he trusted and adored the older boy. Dean’s arm draped over Sam’s little shoulders as they turned to walk down the street.
Aleah waited all weekend to see how Sam’s surprise went over with his brother. She knew Dean would love it, but she couldn’t wait to hear the full story. Her excitement crashed down as a solemn Ms. Alverez appeared in her doorway first thing that Monday. Mr. Winchester pulled his boys out of school that morning; they were probably halfway across the state by now.
Most of her students blurred together and faded away, but there were a few she knew would always stand apart. Sam Winchester with his adoration of his older brother, and Dean with his devotion to the younger boy. Yes, Aleah would never forget them.