Chapter Text
The building was absurdly medieval-like. It had grand columns, weird gargoyles, and shiny steps that led to a fancy, frosted glass door. The walls were painted a royal blue, the gargoyles eerily decorating its roof. Manicured lawns, sculpture-like bushes, and spouting fountains granted the perception of luxury. It was a flashy building; meant to impress the average person.
If Cater hadn’t double checked the address twice and read the large sign out front, he would have doubted that this building was a school—much less a kindergarten.
Granted, the kindergarten building was part of a much larger all-boys school (Night Raven Academy) that housed elementary, middle, and high school grades.
Talk about rich, Cater thought as he climbed up the steps. He felt jittery, and he paused just outside the door to collect his breath. Nervous hands adjusted his collared shirt and ran through his light colored hair, which was pulled into a tight ponytail.
This was his first job after college. After years of studying and a brutal education exam, he was finally a certified teacher. Somehow, he’d been hired for a super fancy school shortly after graduation. For kindergarten, which he didn’t plan, but he wasn’t going to complain.
Plus, little kids weren’t too bad. Cater hoped.
With another deep breath, Cater pulled open the large doors.
Immediately, he was hit by the scent of disinfectant, grape juice, and oranges. A strange combination, but not unpleasant, and fitting for a place of small children. The inside looked much cozier and appropriate for a kindergarten than the outside. The floors were lined with plush carpet, littered with colorful play rugs; the walls decorated with paper art and posters; small, round tables were pushed together in one area while full bookshelves and play bins congregated in another corner.
There were no kids yet, given that it was still early in the morning.
A tall, young man at the front of the room jerked his head up at the sound of the bells on the door jingling. He had thick, black glasses, dyed green hair, and a small clover hand-painted on his face. Prior to the interruption, he’d been busy peeling stickers off his red apron.
“Oh!” The man said. He straightened and looked at the clock on the wall before turning back to Cater. “You’re our new hire, right? You’re on time!”
“Uh,” Cater said. “Yes? Is that bad?”
“No, no." He strode forward, sticking a hand out for Cater to shake. “The last person we hired was always late, so I was keeping my expectations low. I’m Trey Clover, one of the teachers here for the kindergarten class.”
“Cater, but you already knew that,” Cater quipped, shaking the hand. “We're the only two Kindergarten teachers?"
Trey gave a half-smile. “It’s mostly just us, but we have three teachers in total. Mr. Crewel is our science and arts teacher that comes twice a week—he’ll be here today. Night Raven is pretty selective, even for its kindergarten level, so we don’t have many students. But they are a handful, and Night Raven likes its low faculty to student ratio.” He gestured a hand behind him. “Wanna get a tour of the place? The kids won’t be here until later. I can show you our curriculum and weekly agenda after?”
Cater agreed, taking off his scarf and jacket to hang on a nearby coat rack. Despite the frigid winter air outside, the inside of the kindergarten was pleasantly warm. He followed Trey further inside the building, taking in the soft colors and vastness of the classroom. Just last week, his classmate from college complained how his school was terribly underfunded and that the classroom’s walls were peeling. Compared to his classmate, Cater felt incredibly lucky.
“This is where our students store their belongings,” Trey explained, gesturing to a space that had muted yellow cube shelves stacked together. Name tags were stickered over each cube with a child’s name scrawled into the space. “We encourage them to take off their shoes too. We provide them their own indoor shoes.”
Cater’s eyes glowed at the sight of tiny shoes lined up on a rack next to the shelves. OMG. Their feet are so small!
“Usually, the first thing we do with the kids is settle them into circle time,” Trey said as he led them to a central area of the classroom where there was large, blue circle rug. “Just to take attendance and sort out the day.”
“Makes sense,” Cater said, surveying the area.
The rest of the tour went quickly. Cater found it hard not to take pictures of the incredibly outlandish kindergarten. They had their very own kitchen for snacks in the back, the newest enrichment toys and gadgets, a small crafts room full of supplies for their science projects (that Mr. Crewel apparently leads), and iPads decked with all of the most recommended education apps. There was a door in the east side of the room, which, Trey explained, connected to the rest of the building that housed the elementary school grades. That door was locked at all times to avoid wandering strays.
“We also have a private nap room,” Trey said, his voice suddenly hushed. He carefully slid open royal blue curtains to reveal another room full of small futons, twinkling lights, and soft blankets. “This is where they take their naps. We provide their bedding, but sometimes they bring their own blanket or comfort item.”
Cater poked his head in to briefly look around. Man, it would have been nice to have this nice of a nap room when he was a kid. He started to step back through the curtains, but something at the corner of his eye caught his attention. “Uh, Trey?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s already a kid sleeping here.” He pointed to a small lump buried underneath a blanket near the front of the room. Face hidden by the blanket, Cater could only see tufts of shining hair.
Trey followed his gaze and chuckled. “That’s Silver, one of our students. His father has to work early and knows the headmaster personally, so Silver usually stays with us in the early morning. He’s a good kid.” The last part was said fondly, eyes crinkling as he offered another grin towards the sleeping child. “He’ll wake up when the other kids get here. Should we sit down, and I can explain how our class works?”
Cater blinked and looked back towards Silver, even as he was being dragged away. They hadn’t been particularly quiet ever since he’d entered the building, and nothing separated the nap room from the main room except for curtains. How deep can this kid sleep?
They eventually settled at one of the large tables. Trey took a moment to dig around in a file cabinet before pulling out several items.
“First thing’s first: your uniform!” Trey passed forward another bright, red apron, identical to the one he was wearing. But instead of TREY embroidered into the front, it read CATER in blue letters. “Just a warning, it will be defaced with multitudes of stickers by the end of the week.”
Cater couldn’t help but grin. He grabbed the apron and held it out in front of him. “This is awesome.”
“And here’s basically the run down of our school, our curriculum, and the faculty,” Trey said, sliding over a thick binder. “Don’t worry about memorizing everything right away. Take it home with you and review it at your own pace. Today you’ll just be mostly observing and introducing yourself.”
“Right.”
“Our curriculum is the standard for our region, but we do have enrichment areas. The headmaster explained how our school works?”
Cater nodded quickly. He remembered the odd interview he’d had with a quirky man, who he found out later was the headmaster, and the explanation of Night Raven Academy that went with it. “Right. You guys are an EDK?”
“Yes, we go past the maximum four hours, the same as our elementary school children,” Trey clarified. “But of course, we don’t work the children the entire time. Sometimes, we have collaboration days. That’s when the first graders join us for the day.”
Cater laughed. “Sounds lively.”
Trey laughed softly in reply. “It is.” He opened his mouth to comment further, but the push of the front door and jingle of bells interrupted them both. They turned their heads in time for Cater to see a tall man wearing the biggest and furriest coat he’d ever seen in his life walk through the door. He had perfectly slicked hair, high cheekbones, and sharp eyes to match. His entire face was contorted into a scowl.
“I caught a few stray puppies loitering outside the school,” the man growled, yanking off his scarf and hat. “Trein’s been failing to teach them manners, I see.”
“Those high school students again?” Trey sighed and stood up. Cater scrambled to stand, too. “I told you that students are allowed to stand wherever they want before school hours.”
“Hmph! Not on my watch.” The young man fitfully adjusted the cuffs of his jacket before cutting his sharp eyes towards Cater. “Who are you?”
“He’s the new hire,” Trey said. “Remember? Crowley said we’d be getting another teacher.”
“Cater,” Cater quickly filled in. “Cater Diamond. I look forward to working with you!”
“Diamond, huh?” The man smirked and extended a gloved hand. “Divus Crewel. I don’t do the heavy lifting around here like Clover does, but I teach these brats the most important lessons. That is, the art of science.”
Cater stared at the extended hand for a moment before firmly grasping it. “Ah-h, right,” he chuckled awkwardly.
This guy is a teacher? What’s more, a kindergarten teacher? Seriously?
“Well, puppies, I haven’t had my coffee. And it’s cruel to deal with untrained puppies before coffee.” Crewel waved a disinterested hand and made his way towards the kitchen.
Trey watched Crewel disappear into the kitchen and then offered Cater an exasperated smile. “Crewel is rough around the edges, but he’s actually good with kids…and strangely enough, the kids like him.”
Cater scratched his head. “Honestly? No comment.”
Trey snorted. “It’s about time for the students to start trickling in. I still have to prepare today’s morning snack. Can you wake up Silver, introduce yourself, get him settled on the circle?” He nodded towards the nap room. “Out of all our kids, Silver’s probably the easiest.”
“No problem,” Cater said. Wrapping his apron around him, Cater entered through the blue curtains of the nap room quietly.
Silver was still asleep in the first bed, despite the noise. Now that he was closer, Cater could see that the small boy really did have shining, silver hair and a round face to match. He knelt down next to the bed. With hesitant hands, he grabbed the boy by the shoulder and began gently shaking him awake.
“Silver,” Cater sang. “Wake up, buddy.”
At first, Silver didn’t budge. But after a few more persistent shakes, the small boy shifted. He squeezed his eyes before opening them up sleepily, revealing round, brilliant colored eyes. Cater waited with bated breath as Silver gave a small huff and rubbed a part of his face with a tiny fist.
“Papa?” Silver murmured drowsily. He squinted in the dark room.
“Uh, no,” Cater answered, hoping it wouldn’t result in tears. “You’re at school, remember? Your papa dropped you off.”
“Oh, yeah,” Silver easily replied. The small boy pushed himself upright with a yawn. He blinked a few times up to Cater, finally realizing that this was a man he’d never met before. “Who are you?”
This is the most adorable kid I’ve ever met in my life! Cater cried internally. He coughed to control himself and replied, “I’m Cater. I’ll be your new teacher starting today if that’s okay?” Cater offered his hand to shake.
Silver stared at his hand. Then, with a giggle, he grasped parts of Cater’s fingers in an attempt for a handshake. “It’s okay,” he approved happily. “I’m Silver.”
Cater smiled. “Nice to meet you, Silver. Should we go out to circle time and get your morning snack?”
Silver nodded and held his arms up from the bed. After a moment, Cater realized. “You want me to carry you?”
Silver nodded again. With a shrug, Cater stood from the floor and picked Silver up. He was smaller than other kindergarten kids Cater had met—and lighter, too. Silver automatically settled within his arms. They walked out into the main room together, the smell of apple juice and oranges growing stronger with each step towards the circle rug.
When Trey, organizing the juice boxes, spotted them from the snack table, he huffed out a laugh. “Cater…you were supposed to wake him up.”
“Huh? But I did—” He’s asleep?! Cater stared in disbelief as Silver dozed on his shoulder, completely the opposite of how he was just a minute ago.
“Silver can fall asleep anywhere, anytime,” Trey said. He walked over to gently tousle Silver’s hair. “Silver, come on, don’t you want your snack?”
“Mm,” Silver sleepily murmured, opening his eyes. Cater caught one smack to his nose as Silver adjusted his arms and rubbed his face. “What snack, Mr. Trey?”
“Oranges,” Trey offered. He held a peeled cutie under Silver’s nose.
Cater dropped the boy down gently onto the circle rug. Silver crisscrossed his legs before accepting the peeled cutie with both hands.
“Thank you!”
Trey smiled.
“Those middle school dogs never delivered the supplies I needed for today’s project,” Crewel growled, suddenly appearing in the kitchen’s doorway.
“G’morning, Mr. Crewel,” Silver waved a sticky hand.
“Yes, yes, good morning, puppy,” Crewel waved a hand back while he moved towards the eastern door. “I’m going to Sam’s to get the supplies.”
Trey sighed and nodded. “Get some glue sticks too, please. We’re running out.”
Crewel only snorted. Cater took that as a ‘yes’, considering Trey’s unfazed response.
The front door’s bell jingled for the third time that morning. Cater turned his head in time to watch one of the most beautiful men he’d ever seen walk through the door—with a pouting child attached to his side. The man was tall with perfectly styled, dyed blonde and purple hair, pulled back neatly by a carefully color-coordinated hair clip. He wore a fitting turtleneck paired with a chic jacket (hold on, is that the new, limited Burberry jacket that was just released a month ago?) and designer pants (Italian wool, definitely expensive) to match. Despite the man’s height, he was wearing heeled boots that clacked loudly against the entrance floor.
Cater frowned. For some reason, the man felt extremely familiar, but he couldn’t remember why.
“Mr. Schoenheit!” Trey greeted, approaching the pair. “Good morning to both of you.”
Schoenheit…Schoenheit…Wait! Not the Schoenheit, up-and-coming actor and model? Cater, watching from Silver’s side, resisted from dropping his jaw. Just yesterday he’d been stalking the model’s Instagram page because of the newest released magazine spreads.
The man sighed and pushed up his sunglasses. Despite the glare he was sending, he held a constant, refined air about him. “Trey, how many times do I have to tell you? My father is Mr. Schoenheit. Are you trying to say that I look my father’s age?”
The child besides him laughed. “Mr. Trey says you look like Grandpa.”
“No, no,” Trey sweated. “I simply forgot. Sorry, Vil.”
Vil wanted to roll his eyes. Instead, he looked down at his child and scolded, “Epel! Stop pulling your hair. You’ll waste my efforts.”
“But Pa,” Epel pouted, releasing his hands from his hair. “Ya made it too tight!”
If Cater hadn’t known beforehand that Vil Schoenheit had a son, he definitely would have mistaken the child for a girl. Epel was a small boy, similar to Silver’s size, but like his father, had a sparkly aura to him. He had identical purple hair, a round face, and long eyelashes. His hair was carefully braided towards the back in a crown-like fashion. Even though Epel looked adorable in his mini designer clothes, Cater couldn’t help but wonder the comfortability the clothes offered for a kindergartener.
“Do not call me ‘Pa’, and it’s ‘you’ made it too tight,” Vil corrected. “Honestly, you should stop watching those cartoons. It is not too tight. I tied it just enough so that it stays in place. Even though you somehow manage to ruin your hair by the end of the day.” Despite the sharp words, Vil knelt down to gently run his hands through his son’s hair and loosen the braid. He ended the motions with an affectionate pat on the head. “There. Go put away your belongings.”
“’Kay!” Epel yelled and ran off to the yellow shelves. He swung his lunch box and backpack along with him.
“Do not run,” Vil warned. He put a hand to his forehead and gave Trey an annoyed look. “No matter how hard I try. Just a few hours with the babysitter, and he loses his manners.” He turned his head towards Silver and Cater’s direction and, as if noticing Cater for the first time, asked, “Trey, who is this adult man I don’t know, and why is he with Silver?”
Silver smiled and waved at Vil. Coincidentally, his dad was quite close with Epel’s dad.
Cater jumped up from his frozen position. With a nervous smile, he scrambled forward to join the adults at the entrance. “I’m Cater Diamond,” he said, trying to maintain whatever professionalism he had left.
“He’s our new teacher,” Trey supplied.
“A new teacher?” Epel yelled from the corner. The kid was sitting on the floor, trying to tug off his expensive boots. “That’s so cool! Wanna see my trucks?”
“Epel! You will not behave in a barbaric manner,” Vil chided. Epel pouted. Vil ignored the look. He turned back to Cater and reluctantly took Cater’s outstretched hand. “Well, Mr. Diamond, I’m sure you already know who I am. I’m also sure Crowley warned you of the discretions you must take while employed at Night Raven?” Vil’s hand around Cater’s tightened, and his violet eyes shined in warning.
Cater nodded quickly. “Of course! Your identity and your son’s identity will be kept confidential.”
“Hmm.” Vil let go of Cater’s hand and checked his watch. “I’m running late. Epel, behave. If you get even one drop of juice on your clothes, I’m selling your toys.”
“Bye-bye!” Epel waved. He was already sitting on the circle, next to Silver (who looked very much like he was falling back to sleep). “’ave a g’day at work!”
“Behave,” was all Vil said in return before he rushed out the door.
Cater stared at his hand. He wanted to tweet that he had just met Vil Schoenheit. Of course, he wouldn’t; he took the safety of children very seriously. But he just shook hands with Vil Schoenheit, the top five most followed people on social media!
“I’m sorry,” Trey apologized, mistaking his nervousness. “I should have warned you of how high-profile the parents of our kids are.”
“No problem,” Cater reassured, blinking out of his stupor. “Are there any other…surprises I should be aware of?”
Trey straightened out Epel’s shoes. “Well…”
It turned out, almost all of the parents of Night Raven Kindergarten were, in some way, famous. For example, one of the most celebrated quarterbacks in the country, Leona Kingscholar—who notably led his team to victory eight years in a row—came in with his son, Jack, shortly after Vil had left. Cater didn’t really keep up with football, but he did occasionally see news about Leona on social media and therefore immediately recognized the man when he entered the building.
The man looked just as handsome as he did on the Internet. His brown hair was tied back, revealing sharp collarbones and wide shoulders. His green eyes shined even when squinted angrily at his phone. He looked exactly what people imagined a star quarterback of a famous football team looked like.
Leona hadn’t been particularly interested in Cater. The football player looked to be short on time, barely glancing up from his phone to grunt at Cater and Trey.
“Yeah, sure, nice to meet you. Oi, Jack, quit hogging my leg already and go join the brats.” Leona glanced down at his son, who was unusually shy at the presence of a new person and holding on tightly onto Leona’s gym shorts. He was tall for his age with spiky hair and shared the same bronze skin as his father. “Seriously, I gotta go. Ruggie’s gonna pick you up today.”
“Okay,” Jack muttered, reluctantly letting go of Leona’s shorts. “Bye, Dad.”
Leona gave an absent pat to his son’s head and headed out without giving another glance towards Cater. Jack gave a shy wave to Cater before he ran over to the yellow shelves to store his backpack.
Riddle Rosehearts came in next, with his loud twin boys. Cater actually didn’t know much about Riddle Rosehearts, except that in addition to being a pediatrics doctor, he ran the largest medical company in their region. And, as Trey explained, he was Trey’s childhood friend.
“Quit pullin’ my hair!” a red-headed boy shouted as the three entered the building. “I’ll bite you!”
“If you bite me, I’m kicking you!” the navy-haired boy yelled back.
Despite the difference in hair color, the boys were obviously twins. They each had a hand smushed against the other’s face while their other hands fought over a robot toy. Adorably, the two had matching outfits, coordinated to fit their color schemes.
“Deuce, let go of Ace’s hair, now. Ace, do not bite. I’m confiscating this!” A short man with similar red hair bent over to snatch the robot toy out of their hands. “If you two continue fighting, I’ll take away your beds!”
Cater squeezed his eyebrows. Beds?
“Please don’t take away their beds,” Trey sighed, approaching the now two sullen boys and his friend. “Come on Ace, Deuce. Go take off your shoes.”
“Yes, Unc Trey!” the twins shouted. Immediately forgetting their previous spat, the boys held hands and sprinted over to their corner.
Riddle glared at Trey. He shoved a glass dish into Trey’s arms.
“You left your baking dish at my place last night.”
Trey looked at the empty baking dish. “Right, and where’s the rest of the brownies that were left?”
“The boys ate them.”
Properly looking at Riddle—with his dark red suit and heeled boots that tried to mask his height—Cater would have called him cute. But he valued his life, so instead he stepped forward to introduce himself for the thousandth time that day, “Hi there! I’m—”
“Cater Diamond, yes,” Riddle filled in. He gave a kind smile and shook Cater’s hand. “You graduated nearly top of your class at Heartslabyul, didn’t you? I read your file from Crowley.”
Why do I feel like he’s done more than that? “Well, that saves me another introduction,” Cater said easily. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Dr. Rosehearts.”
“Riddle, and please don’t let my two fools drive you off,” Riddle said, looking down at his watch. “I have a meeting to get to in 13 minutes. Ace, Deuce! Behave, or I’ll make you sleep outside.”
“Don’t make them sleep outside,” was Trey’s response.
By this point, Cater felt a little overwhelmed. Trey must have noticed, because he shot the new teacher a sympathetic smile and patted him on the back. “First days are always hard. Usually once everyone is settled, it gets easier.”
The next—and last—student to be dropped off was Sebek. His parents were, thankfully, quite normal. A pair of well-respected dentists who greeted Cater kindly. Sebek, however, came in with a scowl and tears. He was wearing a green scarf that engulfed him and complimented his black long-sleeve that had a dragon on the front. He glared at Cater when he stomped off to the cubbies, muttering under his breath something about “boring adults.”
Trey only raised an eyebrow and told Cater, “Sebek has basically declared almost all adults his enemy.”
Makes sense.
Cater surveyed the full roster on the circle rug. Like Trey mentioned, it was a small class, but it was already very lively. Ace and Deuce were fighting over an orange slice. Epel looked like he was pressuring Jack to give up his orange. Silver had been dozing, until Sebek came in like a train and shook the poor boy awake, yelling something about not wasting education by sleeping. The children weren’t really even in a circle, just spread throughout the circle rug in whatever position they wanted.
Trey slapped his back and Cater stumbled forward. When he looked back, Trey gave him a wary smile. “Ready to start your first day?”
“Ready,” Cater answered uneasily. Talk about hashtag nervous!
Trey clapped his hands twice to gather the noisy children’s attention. “Everyone! Everyone, eyes on me, please.” To Cater’s surprise, the children quieted momentarily to look up at Trey. “Did everyone get their snack?”
“Why’d we just get oranges today?” Ace demanded, shaking the last slice of a cutie in his fist. The juice of the orange ran down his arm, but the child didn’t seem to care.
“Because that’s all we have,” Trey answered patiently. “Now that you all have your snacks, I’d like to introduce you to someone.”
“Is it that weird man next to you?” Deuce pointed right at Cater.
Epel yelled, “’s our new teacher!”
“Deuce, don’t call people weird. Epel, inside voice please. But yes, remember how Mr. Brown wasn’t very nice? Well, he’s gone, and Mr. Diamond is going to join us as our new teacher. He’s very nice, but you have to treat him nicely, too, understand?” Trey gestured over to Cater, who stepped forward eagerly.
Clearing his throat, Cater knelt down to be eye-level with the curious children. “Hi, everyone! You can actually call me Cater. Mr. Diamond sounds so stuffy. I’m looking forward to being here with you guys from now on. It’s my first day, and I’m pretty confused. So I think I’ll need your help learning the ropes around here, is that okay?”
The children gazed at him in awe. Them? Help a teacher? Their eyes sparkled.
“We can help you!” Ace shouted, bouncing in his crisscrossed position.
“Yeah! I’ll show you where the trucks are!”
Deuce waved a hand. “I’ll show you around, Mr. Cater!”
Jack said eagerly, “I can show you the playground.”
Sebek: “I guess I’ll help an adult out.”
Silver dozed.
Trey clapped again to demand attention and pointed to the whiteboard. “Okay, everyone, settle down. You guys can give the tour to Mr. Cater during break. Let’s go over the schedule today. Someone, wake up Silver.”
Since he was mostly observing today, Cater took a seat on the rug, right next to Epel. The small boy gazed up at Cater uncertainly, but at Cater’s friendly nudge, he grinned. He dug around for a bit in his pockets before fishing out a miniature toy truck. Epel held up the truck like a prize to be seen.
Cater winked, pulling out his own mini toy car he stuffed in his pocket before circle time. He clinked it against the truck.
Epel giggled.
Apparently, today was science day, which was why Crewel was teaching. He came back into the classroom carrying several boxes of supplies and a strange contraption that resembled a volcano. The children were already excited from finishing a previous lesson—an art project involving The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Trey had read them the story slowly, introducing the new sounds in cat-er-pill-ar.
Cater learned very quickly why they only had blunt, tiny scissors in the classroom. Two minutes into making their paper caterpillars, he had to frantically step in between Ace and Deuce to stop Ace from cutting Deuce’s hair. Five minutes in, he caught Epel attempting to cut his Lafayette 148 sweater into pieces because it was “too stuffy.”
That sweater costs more than my first paycheck, Cater sweated.
Crewel slammed all of the materials down on the table up front. He made sure to put his contraption in the middle of the table, and Cater realized it really was a mini volcano, made out of clay.
Crewel whistled. “Silence, puppies! Leave your caterpillars, as dreadful as they are, to dry. Eyes on me.”
The entire class seemed amused by Crewel’s temperament, giggling as they ran to sit in front of Crewel’s table. Trey and Cater stayed behind at the arts and crafts table to clean up after the paper scraps.
“Today, we will be making volcanoes erupt! Can any one of you tell me what a volcano is?” Crewel crossed his arms, casting an expecting glance to the crowd.
Jack raised his hand. “It’s a big mountain with—with—hot water?”
“Lava!” Sebek corrected with a scoff. Before today, Cater didn’t know a kid could look so haughty. “It has lava!”
“And rocks!” Epel added eagerly.
“And it has a bi-i-i-g hole at the top!” Ace said, his arms wide.
Crewel gave a pleased nod. He grabbed a detailed picture of a volcano from the table and showed it to the children, pointing to the different parts. “Essentially correct. I see you lot aren’t a lost cause, yet. A volcano is an opening in the Earth’s crust (remember last week we talked about Earth’s crust?). As you’ve all mentioned, it has lava and rocks, but most importantly, it has gas trapped inside.”
Trey and Cater had finished cleaning and were standing towards the back, watching Crewel. Cater was impressed and semi-perplexed. The topic seemed a little complex for kindergarteners. Did the children even understand?
He hadn’t realized he’d said it out loud until Trey chuckled and replied, “These kids actually understand more than we think. Crewel knows that. One time, he gave a presentation on the water cycle. The next time it rained, all the students talked about was ‘precipitation’ and ‘evaporation.’”
Crewel shot them an annoyed look, as if he could hear them talk, before continuing, “Sometimes, the gas inside the volcano can’t escape. Pressure builds, and the volcano has an explosive eruption. Lava and rocks and gas can shoot up to the sky from the volcano.” The children woooah’ed on cue. “That’s what we’re going to imitate today.”
Crewel circled the table to stand behind his volcano contraption. “This is a volcano. In this glass—” he held up a transparent beaker with a red liquid. “—is vinegar and red food coloring. And in this glass—” he held up another beaker with white powder. “—is something called baking soda. Watch what happens when I pour the two together in this volcano.”
The teacher dumped the baking soda in first. Then, slowly, he poured the red vinegar inside, and everyone could hear bubbling inside the volcano. Within seconds, the mixture bubbled upwards until it erupted, red foam spilling over the edges and sliding down the sides of the volcano.
The children reacted immediately. They shot up from their seats and surrounded the table with a mixture of woaaah! no way!
Silver, who surprisingly stayed awake during the lesson, raised his hand and asked softly, “Mr. Crewel, why does the vin-ger and bake soda do that?”
“Good question, Silver. When these two ingredients mix together, they release a gas called carbon dioxide. It creates bubbles, and just like in a real volcano, the gas expands and has to erupt.” Crewel rummaged through his box of supplies to pull out three more volcano sculptures, only this time, miniature. “You all will be making your own volcano eruption today. There are only 3 volcanoes, so grab your goggles and partner up! Your ingredients are on the table. Diamond and Clover will assist you. And do not waste my ingredients, or I will send you outside to be retrained, am I understood?”
“Yes, Mr. Crewel!” the children chorused.
Deuce immediately pointed at Ace and declared, “I don’t wanna be your partner! You always mess things up!”
Ace looked genuinely hurt by his brother’s comment. He quickly turned angry and declared back, “I didn’t wanna work with you anyway! Loser!” He stomped over to an unsuspecting Silver and grabbed the boy’s arm. “C’mon, Silver! We’ll be partners!”
“Okay,” Silver said easily. He let himself be dragged to one of the three tables set up for the experiment.
“S’bek, wanna be partners?” Deuce asked.
Sebek nodded. “Fine, but I wanna pour in the vin-gar.”
“Then Jack and I will be partners!” Epel said. He grabbed Jack’s hand, who immediately blushed.
(Jack may or may not have thought Epel was a girl for the first three weeks of school, despite the fact that Night Raven was an all-boys school.)
Trey sighed. One of his cheeks had a sticker on it, courtesy of Epel during the caterpillar activity. “Why don’t you assist Silver and Ace’s table? I’ll help Jack and Epel.” Crewel was already at Deuce and Sebek’s table.
Cater agreed. He headed over to their table just as Ace and Silver were putting on their goggles. They’re tiny, adorable, little scientists, he internally cried.
“So, which color do you guys want your lava to be?” Cater asked with a smile. “We have blue and red food coloring.”
Ace pulled on his red hair, thinking hard. “Red! I think it should be red!”
“I like blue,” Silver offered. He pointed to his own blue shirt, as if Cater needed a reference.
Ace considered the option and said, “Then let’s do both!”
“Both?” Cater said, scrunching his eyebrows. “Just so you know, if we do both, it will turn purple.”
The two boys looked at each other, their eyes shining in wonder. They turned back to Cater and excitedly said, “Purple! We want purple!”
Cater laughed and grabbed the two food color bottles. “Alright then. Purple it is. Let me mix that with the vinegar, and then we can pour it into the volcano, hm?”
Silver and Ace watched closely as Cater dropped the food coloring into the vinegar and carefully swirled it around. They gasped when it visibly turned purple. He then measured the baking soda and poured it into a separate beaker. “Alright, who wants to pour in the baking soda, and who wants to do the vinegar?”
“Do you wanna pour the vin in, Silver?” Ace suggested.
Silver looked between the two beakers seriously, and then nodded. “Okay.”
“Then, Ace first.” He handed the baking soda beaker to Ace, who grasped it with both hands tightly. “Pour it right inside the volcano. Careful, though.”
“I got it,” Ace said stubbornly. With shaky hands, he raised the beaker above the volcano and turned it upside down. A third of the baking soda didn’t quite make it into the hole, spilling over the sides, but enough went in for Cater to call it a success.
He gave the next beaker to Silver. The small child approached the volcano like it was a life-or-death mission, eyebrows furrowed, lips pressed. Cater was about to remind him to breathe when Silver unceremoniously dumped the vinegar into the volcano all at once.
Like clockwork, the reaction was instantaneous. Purple foam bubbled over and spilled down the volcano. Silver laughed at how funny looking it was, while Ace jumped up and down, cheering.
“That was so awesome! We made it explode! It went whoosh! Thanks for your help, Mr. Cater!” Ace stopped jumping just long enough to hold up an open hand.
Cater grinned. He bent to slap his hand against Ace’s. “Nice job, kid.”
The end of the day couldn’t have come fast enough. Nap time wasn’t a huge affair, even though Cater was sure only Jack and Silver took actual naps. The children after were told to pick out their favorite picture book and ‘read,’ which was really an excuse to keep them occupied while they waited for their parents to pick them up. Cater was asked to supervise them while Trey cleaned and reset the classroom.
“Look, Mr. Cater.” Cater felt a tug on his pants, and he looked down to find Jack holding open a picture book. It was a book depicting different sports. The page Jack had it on was football. “My dad plays football.”
“Wow, really?” Cater smiled, studying the picture of a cartoon person throwing a football. “That’s awesome. Do you want to be a football player like your dad?”
Jack’s face immediately fell. He closed the book and slumped his shoulders. “I guess,” he said sullenly.
He...guesses? Cater frowned, about to ask another question when the bells on the door rang. A man entered the classroom, wearing a jersey and shorts, his lips curved into a half smile. He had a sports bag slung over his shoulder. Cater immediately recognized him (from social media, of course) as Ruggie Bucchi, middle linebacker of their football team.
“Oi-i-i, Jack,” Ruggie called, spotting the tall kid easily. “Time to go.”
“Hi, Uncle Ruggie!” Jack greeted, his previous demeanor vanishing. He shoved the book into Cater’s hands and scrambled to the yellow cubbies for his belongings. It wasn’t long before he stood by Ruggie’s legs, bouncing on his toes. “We going to Dad’s practice?”
Ruggie smirked and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Yup. Your dad’s waiting, so let’s go. I’m kidnapping the kid, Trey and guy I don’t know. See ya!” The man gave a half-hearted wave and pushed Jack out the door, following closely behind.
“See you tomorrow, Jack!” Trey called with a roll of his eyes just before the door closed.
All of the parents eventually came to pick up their children. Riddle had smacked Ace and Deuce’s heads for already arguing over who got to sit on the right side of the car, and then gave a friendly smile towards Cater on their way out. Vil came in briefly to pick up Epel. Cater could hear the man scolding the child all the way out into the parking lot for ruining his hair and Epel’s whines in response. Sebek was picked up shortly after, and then, just like this morning, Silver was the only one left.
“Silver’s father sometimes works late, so it’s not unusual,” Trey explained while sanitizing the arts and crafts table. Crewel had long left to prepare for a Night Raven Academy event.
Cater offered to join Silver in playing with his toy swords, but the boy declined, preferring to slay the imaginary dragon on his own. So Cater settled on sweeping the entrance way, stealing glances every so often at Silver. It was entertaining to watch the small boy practice sword poses, jump, and slash through the air with the rubber foam sword.
Abruptly, the door swung open, smacking Cater in the back. He stumbled forward, barely catching himself.
“Oh,” a deep voice said. “Are you alright, young man? I apologize, I should have been more careful.”
“No, no, it’s all...” Cater turned around, fully expecting a grown man behind him. Instead, he found a teenager standing in the doorway. The kid was short, with spiky black and pink hair that reached his chin and brightly colored eyes. Strangely, he was in a suit and tie, though his face held mischief and amusement. “Sorry, kid. Are you lost? The main school is actually on the west side of the building.”
The amusement on the teenager’s face deepened. “No,” he said slowly. “I’m here to pick up my son.”
Son?!
“Papa!” Silver giggled, dropping his sword to run over to his father. Cater’s jaw dropped.
The father’s face split into a wide smile. He bent over to meet Silver’s tackle before picking him up easily in his arms. “Hello, little love,” he said, pressing a kiss to Silver’s forehead. “Did you enjoy yourself today?”
“Yes,” Silver said seriously. He put tiny hands on either side of his father’s face. “We got a new teacher.”
“My, I can see that.” The father looked over to Cater, who was still reeling over the fact that this teenager was a father.
Night Raven Academy has teen fathers? I mean, good for them, but who would’ve thought?
“I’m Lilia, Silver’s father,” Lilia offered, shifting Silver in his arms. “You’re Cater, I presume?”
“Y-yeah,” Cater winced. “Sorry. I didn’t know you were Silver’s parent.”
“Quite understandable,” Lilia said. “I didn’t get to meet you this morning, after all. I usually drop Silver off early.” At the mention of his name, Silver smiled and wrapped his arms around Lilia’s neck. “Do you have your belongings, Silver?”
“They’re right here,” Trey said, appearing besides the two with Silver’s backpack. “He was great, today. Even helped Jack cut out the shapes for his caterpillar.”
Lilia pressed another kiss to Silver’s head. “Good boy. Come, let’s go home. Malleus is joining us for dinner tonight.”
“Yay,” Silver mumbled, already nearly asleep on Lilia’s shoulder.
Cater watched the two leave the kindergarten. The minute they were out of earshot, Cater turned towards Trey and said, “You never told me we had a teen dad in the class.”
Trey gave him an odd look. “Who’s a teen dad?”
Cater gave him an odd look back. “…Silver’s dad? Lilia?”
They held their odd looks for a solid minute. Silence permeated the kindergarten class. It was broken by Trey’s sudden, loud laughter.
“You—you—” Trey wheezed, staggering to hold himself up by the edge of a table. “You think Lilia is a teenager?”
“He’s not?” Cater asked, shocked.
Trey’s laughter roared louder. “He’s—he—” Trey managed to choke out between laughs.
“Hey, Trey?” Cater glared at the wheezing teacher. “I know I just met you today, but I will knock you over with this broom if you don’t tell me what’s so funny.”
It took another minute for Trey to calm his laughter enough to look at Cater properly. By then, Cater had grabbed a water bottle from the kitchen and come back with an expectant look.
“Lilia,” Trey said slowly, chuckles still escaping from him. “is our oldest parent here at Night Raven Academy. There’s rumors that he even knew Headmaster Crowley’s grandfather before he died.”
Cater spit out his water and immediately started coughing violently.
#WTF?!
