Chapter Text
Kindergarten (2020)
She was exhausted, or just about as tired as a five year old could get. Julie had barely slept a wink last night, she had been too excited for her first day of kindergarten. It was all her and her mom had been talking about for the last week, labeling her school supplies, deciding what she was going to wear, and last night they had packed the perfect lunch: leftover enchiladas from last night’s dinner, freshly fried plantains, a honeycrisp apple, and doritos---a little bit of everything, just the way she liked it.
Julie had even convinced her mom to fry extra plantains to share with one of her soon to be friends. Would they be a boy or a girl? She knew how to play with girls, with her best friend, Flynn, they played outside and climbed trees, messed around with her mom’s instruments, and played with their dolls. She had her younger brother, Carlos, but he wasn’t big enough to play with yet. Nonetheless, playing with boys her age couldn’t be that much different than playing with Flynn.
She had decided to pack her two favorite dolls just in case if a boy wanted to play with them.
“Julianna, if you want these braids to be good, stay still,” Rose quipped as she tightened her grip on her daughter’s hair. Julie winced, but stayed quiet because tight meant good and she wanted everything to be perfect for her first day.
“Mom?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Where’s Flynn? I thought her and her mom were walking with us to school.”
Her mom hummed as she worked the last of the hair into the braid before tying it off with a hair tie and spinning Julie’s stool around. Julie looked up her mom impatiently, she just wanted to know where her best friend was. “Honey,” Rose began placing her hands on her daughter’s shoulders, “Flynn’s mom called this morning and she said that Flynn woke up really sick with a bad fever, which means---”
“Flynn can’t come to school today.” Julie finished with a sigh, trying not to sound too disappointed. She let her mom bring her into a warm, reassuring hug.
“I’m sorry, honey. I know you and Flynn had big plans for today, but the question is, will you succeed?”
Julie blew out a breath and confidently met her mom’s eyes, “Yes, I will indeed. Ninety-eight and ¾ percent guaranteed.” Doctor Seuss had something to say about everything and in her time reading his books, Julie found that he was right about most things.
He was a doctor after all; as she followed her mom out the door, Julie prayed that his expertise covered the first day of kindergarten.
The walk to school seemed longer when they walked it yesterday. Soon enough, Julie spotted the play equipment, which seemed bigger than it did before. With Flynn, everything seemed smaller, more conquerable, but by herself, those things made her gulp anxiously.
“Do you want me to walk you to your room?”
Julie shook her head, “I should do it by myself, it’s what Flynn would do.”
Her mom squatted down and pulled her into one last hug. When she pulled away, Julie watched as a tear fell from the corner of her eye. “It’s just kindergarten, mom, I’m not dying.”
“Leave it to you to comfort me on your special day. Your heart is so big and your classmates are going to love you for it. Now, go have a great day and I’ll be right here when you get done.”
By lunch, Julie had some questions for her mom and Doctor Seuss because she had asked three different girls to play with her dolls and they had all said no. They didn’t seem that nice anyway so she chose a table spot that was far away from them. Flynn would be back soon, things would be better then, but for now, she was sitting alone and there was no way she’d be able to eat all of the fried plantain by herself.
“What’s that?”
She looked up and to the table to her right, to see a boy with big hazel eyes and messy brown hair, both reminding her of chocolate and he was eyeing the dessert with interest. “Fried plantain.” She giggled.
“What’s that?” He asked again.
“Fried bananas. They’re really good and taste like caramel.”
“I like caramel.” The boy grinned and pushed his chair away from his table before joining Julie at hers. Julie offered him her fork, which he took gladly and shoveled a huge bite into his mouth, and then another, and another, and another until the tupperware was empty. “Sworry,” he said through a mouthful of banana.
“It’s okay, I have more at home,” Julie giggled again, “what’s your name?”
He wiped his mouth and then swallowed, “If I tell you my name, will you bring more of this tomorrow?”
This boy made her laugh without even trying, Julie liked that so she nodded.
He extended his hand towards her, “I’m Luke.”
Julie took it without hesitation, “Julianna, Julie for short.”
Luke smiled and squeezed her hand, “I think I’m going to like you, Julie.”
Again without hesitation, she responded, “I think I’m going to like you too, Luke.”