“Arlo! We’re going to be late baby come on! It’s your first day of school,” I called for my son and he came running, his light brown curls bouncing around his shoulders.

“Daddy, is mommy picking me up later?” he smiled at me, his missing tooth making me smile as he stared at me with his beautiful amber-orange eyes.

Arlo was nearly my twin, his hair a light brown where mine was dark, but we had the same eyes and crooked smile. He had freckles across his nose and was always silly, but incredibly intelligent and kind to the kids he met at the playground.

Sighing softly, I squatted down and spun him around pulling his hair into a ponytail and helping him put his backpack on, “you know she’s not. I’m sorry,” I kissed the back of his head and he nodded, turning around so I could tie his shoes.

Arlo’s mother was my first and only girlfriend, a kind woman named Ashley. We’d found out about Arlo when we were 21, and as soon as he was born, she decided she didn’t want to be with me anymore. Over the last 5 years, she had steadily pulled away from me, finally fully ending our relationship 2 years ago. I had full custody of Arlo and she was supposed to pick him up on Friday night to keep him for the weekends. That had been our visitation agreement. But she never once picked him up, canceling on me every weekend, and eventually moved across the country from us, going to New York, severing all of her connections to our son. I was now raising Arlo alone in a small town in Washington, teaching at the same elementary school he was going to be attending this year.

“Are you my teacher?” he bounced up and down happily as I gathered up my things.

“Not this year,” I laughed, grabbing his lunch and putting it in his backpack, “what grade are you in?”

“Kinnergarden!”

“Kindergarten,” I smiled, following him out of the front door and locking it behind us, “what grade does daddy teach?”

“Uh, 2!”

“Yes. Second grade. So you’ll be with Mr. Warner this year,” loading him into his carseat, I went around and climbed in as well, starting the car and pulling out of the driveway, “you have to be really good okay? Just stay in Mr. Warner’s class until daddy comes to pick you up.”

“Mmkay,” he nodded, looking out of his window.

We reached the school 20 minutes later and Arlo followed me to the office, knowing we were early.

“Hi Ms. Morgan!” he waved at the front office attendant.

“Well hello, Arlo! Happy first day of school,” Morgan smiled, waving back, “Elijah,” she turned to me, “you have a new student in your class. Late transfer in. Do you have enough desks?”

Groaning to myself, I nodded, “seriously? This has never happened before. Do you know the kid's name?”

“Aurora Sterling. Her dad will be bringing her to introduce himself and explain some stuff about Aurora.”

“Alright,” I nodded, “come on Arlo. I’ll show you where your class is.”

Arlo took my hand and I walked him to the first classroom in the school, right next to the entrance gate.

“Mornin Eli,” Arlo’s teacher Alexander nodded at me.

“Hey Alex,” I waved and squatted down in front of Arlo, “alright! You have a great first day okay? I’ll see you after school.”

“Daddy,” he whispered, “I’m scared.”

“You’ve already gone to preschool. You’ll be okay! You can make new friends and Mr. Warner is really nice. I’ll see you as soon as school is over okay?”

He hugged me tightly and nodded, before turning to look at Alexander, “hi.”

“Hey there Arlo! I’m Mr. Warner. I have a special table and all kinds of fun stuff set up just for you. Why don’t you head into the class? There are toys to play with until things start. Just hang up your backpack in the cubby with your name and put your lunchbox right in that box,” Alexander smiled.

Arlo nodded and went into the classroom, his nerves disappearing as soon as he realized he wasn’t alone.

Getting to my feet, I cracked my neck and sighed, “he’ll be okay. He was asking about his mom this morning and that always makes him emotional. But it’ll be fine.”

“I’ve got him. I can send him to your class at the end of the day if you want,” Alexander clapped my shoulder.

“Sure. Thanks, Alex,” waving, I walked over to my room and got everything ready for a new student to join my class.

I had only been prepared for 22 this year and had to print off a ton of new papers and get things together for Aurora.

At 740, I opened the door to my classroom to let my students come in. Some arrived with their parents, dropping off their backpacks before running out to the playground and others took spots around the room, looking at books and talking, clearly friends from the year before.

I had taken a head count as they came in and realized that the only person that I hadn’t seen was my new student and her father.

A small redhead girl came into the room, clutching the hand of a tall, broad blonde man with light blue eyes and a wide smile, the gap in his teeth showing. She smiled at me hesitantly before looking up at him.

“Go ahead, Rory,” he squeezed her hand and she walked over to me, waving a bit.

“Are you Aurora?” I smiled at her.

She nodded and handed me a small piece of paper which I read quickly.

Hi! My name is Aurora! I like to be called Rory. I know how to read, write and do all of my math but I don’t like to talk. Please don’t call on me during group reading. My daddy can tell you why.

Oh.

Selective mutism possibly.

Anxiety?

Trauma?

“Alright well, that’s perfectly fine. I’m Mr. Cruz! I put your desk in the front right corner, you can put whatever you need there and hang your backpack on the hooks by the door. You’re free to go play on the playground until the bell rings, or you can read in here. It’s nice to meet you, Rory,” I smiled and she nodded smiling back before bouncing over to her desk.

Her father came over to me and I led him to the back corner where I had my desk.

“Thank you for being understanding. My name is Wesley,” he held his hand out and I shook it with a smile.

“Elijah Cruz. Eli is fine. I need to know how to help her communicate though.”

“She has a small whiteboard she carries around in her backpack. She’ll write down what she wants to say or ask and tap on it twice to get someone's attention. She will talk to me, but rarely anyone else. It’s selective mutism. She has incredibly high anxiety and will keep to herself. We’ve been working with a therapist for a few years, but she stopped talking at 3 and hasn’t said a word to anyone but me since then. She’s polite though and kind. I’ve been homeschooling her for the last two years, they should have sent over all of that to your email, but I work at the hospital and can’t keep homeschooling her. We found this school and the principal told me you’d be the most understanding of the teachers. The most willing to help her,” he gave me a nervous smile and I nodded.

“That makes sense that she told you that actually. She’s my mom and my older brother was similar to Rory growing up. I was 14 when he finally spoke to me for the first time. Communicated through texts or small notes. I can understand how hard it can be better than anyone. I’ll explain it to the class. I tend to eat lunch here, so if she doesn’t feel comfortable going to the cafeteria or the playground with the other kids at first, she’s welcome to sit in here. I put cartoons on the projector. I always have a few kids who join me. My son probably will as well. He just started kindergarten. Um,” I went to my desk and grabbed a stack of papers, “these are for you. I just need them filled out and brought back to me tomorrow. Oh! Who will be picking her up at the end of the day? I sent out an email before school started, but you wouldn’t have gotten it. I ask that all kids be picked up here unless they’re in the after-school program or ride the bus.”

“I’ll be picking her up,” he smiled, “I might be a few minutes late but I’ll be here.”

“I don’t mind waiting. Make sure you include her other parent on the emergency contact if that is necessary or a grandparent or anything.”

“It’s just us,” he shook his head, “single father and all that.”

“I can relate.”

The bell rang and my students filed in, slowly finding their seats.

“Alright. If anything happens, I’ll contact you like I do every other parent. She’ll be fine!” I smiled at Wesley and he wrung his hands for a moment.

“Just weird to leave. But I have trust in you.”

“Good. I’ll give you a small report at the end of the day,” I waved as Wesley left and walked to the front of the class.

Attractive single father huh?

Eli!

Don’t think about your student's father like that!

“Hi everyone! My name is Mr. Cruz! Welcome to the second grade. We’re going to have a lot of fun this year, but there are some rules I need everyone to follow okay!”

“Okay!” the students yelled back.

I pulled my rules up on the projector and slowly went through them before passing out papers to everyone.

“This is just to see where we’re at math and reading-wise so we can go into groups. When you’re done, please bring your papers to my desk, and then you can read quietly.”

Taking a seat at my desk, I went into my email and found what Wesley had been talking about.

All of Aurora’s grades had been sent over, as well as her reading level and I stared at it in surprise.

She could already read at a 3rd-grade level, a year ahead of where she would need to be, and her math was far further than anything I was planning to teach this year.

Why is she in my class then?

Her age?

They could have easily pushed her up.

There was a gentle knock on my desk and I looked up to find Aurora with a soft smile, holding her papers out to me. That was the first time I noticed something I hadn’t realized earlier. She had heterochromia, one blue eye, one brown, and small freckles across her nose like Arlo.

“Oh, are you done already?” I smiled, taking it from her.

She nodded and wrote something on her whiteboard, turning it to show me.

I forgot to bring my book. Can I go to the library?

“We don’t have library cards yet, but I do have my own mini library in the corner by the board. What were you reading?”

A Series of Tragic Moments.

At 7?

Jesus!

“Oh! Here,” I reached under my desk and pulled my own collection of "A Series of Tragic Moments" books out, setting it in front of me, “you can borrow one of mine, for now, just make sure you give it back okay?”

She smiled brightly and grabbed the book she wanted, quietly heading back to her desk.

After setting the books down, I went back to my email and decided to send a message to Aurora’s father Wesley.

Mr. Sterling,

I’m curious as to why Rory is in my class this year. She’s far ahead of where she should be, I’m concerned she’s going to grow bored with my lessons. There’s not much I can teach her that she doesn’t already know. I can ask that she be bumped up to the third grade if you’d like her to be. Or I can talk with the principal about getting the work more appropriate to her level. Please let me know.

Elijah Cruz.

Rother Elementary

He emailed me back quickly as other students turned in their papers and I would smile at them, in between reading his reply.

Mr. Cruz,

Wesley or Wes is fine. She reads at a high level, but her spelling isn’t great as well as her handwriting. The principal thought it was more appropriate that she stay with kids her own age as she improved. This is the first time she’s spent time around other children as well, so I’m hoping she’ll be able to at least make one friend. I appreciate the thought, but she will be more than happy to do the work you give her. If you have any worries that it’s too easy, then please feel free to give her work for a different grade, but she’ll be more comfortable in your class. It’s taking all of her courage to be there.

Wesley Lucian Sterling.

Wesley,

Thank you for explaining. I appreciate that. I’ll keep an eye on her progress. Please just call me Eli. I only ask that the student call me Mr. Cruz.

Elijah.

Locking my computer, I went back to the front of the class and clapped my hands together three times to get my student's attention.

“Alright! Good job guys. You all did really well. I want to talk to all of you about something first okay? I know all of you went to this school last year, but we do have a new student. Her name is Rory. Please be kind and understanding of the fact that she chooses to write down what she wants to say instead of speaking. There’s nothing wrong with it in the slightest, everyone has their own needs and we are respectful of that right?”

“Right!” Everyone yelled as Aurora smiled at me.

“So I need everyone to promise me that they will not try and force her to talk, and if you see anyone being mean to her about it, you will tell me. We’re a family at Rother and especially in my classroom. We take care of each other. Does everyone understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good! I’m proud of you guys! Alright, it’s time for lunch. Go ahead and line up at the door. If you would rather stay in the class just stay sitting at your desk. Just listen to the bell to come back, then we’ll head to PE.”

All of the students but Aurora and a boy named Daniel stayed at their desks, both looking at me as the rest of the kids filed out of the room.

“Daniel, you don’t want to go eat and play?” I squatted down by his desk.

“I’m not supposed to until I get my cast off,” he frowned and held up his arm.

“Ah. That’s right. Well, you can eat at your desk and then draw on the whiteboard if you want.”

“Thank you, Mr. Cruz!” he jumped up and ran over to the markers as I got up and went over to Aurora who was eating her lunch already at her desk.

“Hi, Rory.”

She waved and smiled at me.

“Do you not like playgrounds?”

There are too many kids. It’s scary.

“Oh. I can understand that! When I was your age, I would sit under a tree and read during recess. I didn’t like being around the other kids. It scared me too. Do you want to help me with something when you’re done eating?”

She nodded enthusiastically, finished her sandwich, and followed me to a small table by my desk and I showed her 4 stacks of different colored papers.

“Alright. Can you take one of each piece of paper and make a stack? Then I’ll staple them and we can put them on everyone's desks.”

She started helping me, humming softly to herself and I smiled, glad I had found something fun for her to do.

“Thank you so much for your help, Rory!” I smiled and went to my desk, grabbing her a small sticker that looked like a rainbow, “do you like to help a lot?”

She nodded quickly and took the sticker, wiggling happily.

“If I found more stuff like this, do you want to be my classroom helper this year?”

She stuck the small sticker to her whiteboard and turned it to me.

Really!

“Absolutely! You’re a great helper!”

Thank you, Mr. Cruz. I like to help.

“Then you’re my helper for the year!”

The bell rang and Aurora went to her desk as the other students filed in, all talking and laughing.

The rest of the day passed quickly, adjusting to being at school again and at the end of the day, Arlo was walked to my class as my students were picked up.

“Daddy!” he hugged me tightly.