Chapter 20 : First day of school

COCKADOODLE-DOOOOO

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COCKADOODLE-DOOOO

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COCKA-

AGHHHHH!

Kieran woke up from the relentless rooster. It was now his mortal enemy. He tried going back to sleep multiple times, but the rooster was just stubborn.

“Damn chicken, I’m going to cook you into fried chicken one day”

He got out of bed, and walked out to the living room. He could smell something cooking, and it smelled nice. Ren was still in the room sleeping, even with the rooster crowing.

“Good morning, Kieran,” Sarah greeted. He was still not used to this treatment at all.

“Good morning, Aunt Sarah”

She was cooking breakfast, perhaps toast and eggs again. Mason was nowhere to be found, probably already headed to his post.

“Ren will be up in a bit, today you two are going to school together,” she said as she fried the egg.

“School? I thought school was expensive?”

“No, it’s not. It only costs a bit-” she paused mid way, thinking about what to say.

“Yeah, the textbooks and stuff cost a little bit, but the tuition is pretty pricey! But it’s okay, Mason and I are working our butts off to get the money, so don’t worry about it,” she said, changing her answer.

Kieran already knew that she said it only because his mother couldn’t afford to send Kieran to school. She was being taxed by the Village Chief’s brother, the one who had his customers “stolen” from her. He would threaten anyone who reported his misdemeanors, so he always got away with it. Kieran simply replied with an “I see.”.

CRASH!

A sound came from the bedroom, there was rustling, and soon, the door swung open. Ren ran out the door, and sat at the table. Just as he sat down, Sarah had finished making breakfast. Today was different, this time there was also bacon with the eggs and toast.

“Bacon!!” Ren exclaimed in joy. He seemed to like it a lot.

Sarah placed the food down on the table, and sat down with the boys. As they ate their food, Sarah had a chat with them.

“Boys, today is the first day of school, okay? Please, don’t cause any more trouble, Ren. Kieran, later I will bring you to school to get you ready, okay? You will learn many things here, and maybe you might like something, so pay attention okay? But also have fun.”

Though he was a stranger to their family, she treated him as if he were her own blood. Their kindness truly knew no bounds, their hearts overflowing with goodwill and gentleness. Kieran couldn’t say it, but in his heart he could not thank them enough.

After eating, Ren picked up his school bag, and put on his shoes by the door.

“C’mon, Kieran! Let’s go already! It’s so much fun, trust me, you’ll like school a lot!” Ren said enthusiastically.

Sarah also stood up, grabbed her hat, and motioned for Kieran to come. Kieran got up from his seat, finishing the last piece of bacon on his plate, and they all went out together. The school was not too far from their home. It took approximately 5 minutes to get there by walking. It was quite a large building. It was larger than Larry’s pub, and had three floors. It had a yard out in the front, where students seemed to play. As they walked in, they saw kids playing all sorts of things. Though they didn’t have basketball, football, or volleyball, they had something similar to dodgeball. Kieran saw kids playing these games from afar. Perhaps he could teach it to some kids, or maybe in the future create the sport and profit off of it?

They walked into the building, where they passed a library, many classrooms, though most were elementary school students. It was here when Ren said his goodbyes and went to class. Kieran walked next to Sarah, eyes forward. Sarah was a bit suspicious of Kieran. It made no sense how a 6 year old, whose mother died right in front of him, would be so calm. She remembered Kieran as a very shy boy, but for some reason, Kieran was doing the opposite. He may have not talked much, but he wasn’t shy. Something was different about the boy, and Sarah could tell, though she didn’t pay much mind to it. They reached the principal's office, where she knocked three times.

Knock

Knock

Knock

…

“Come in,” said the voice behind the door.

It was a small office, papers everywhere, and honestly quite a mess. Kieran couldn’t believe someone could be so messy. There was trash all on the floor, a lot of dust had also accumulated.
It was quite disgusting. And there, behind the desk, was a woman who seemed to be in her mid-forties. She had a mix of black and white hair, though it was obvious she wasn’t young, her wrinkles were not apparent. She wore a simple buttoned shirt, and had glasses. She had her hair tied up, her office may have been a mess, but at least she took care of herself.

“Hello, Sarah. What can I do for you today?”, the woman said

“Good morning, Principal Williams,” Sarah replied, “I have something I wish to talk to you about, if now’s an alright time?”

“Of course, Sarah. I’ll always have time for you, now tell me, what-” she stopped midsentence as she noticed Kieran. She looked back at Sarah, where she nodded to confirm that what Principal Williams was thinking was correct.

“Ah, I see. Yes, it should be possible,” she said.

“That’s perfect. Can he be put into a class today?” Sarah asked

“Hm… Yes, I believe so. Do you have the tuition fees for him? I’m sorry, it’s policy, even if we’re friends”

Sarah grabbed a pouch out of her handbag and opened it. Inside she grabbed a few silver coins. Kieran remembered from his memories that a hundred copper coins equaled a silver coin. His mother was barely scraping by, managing a single silver coin every day.

“Alright, this should be fine,” said the principal, “I’ll do the paperwork later, for now, let’s get him to his class.”

She stood up from her seat, she was actually quite short. Sarah seemed to be around 173cm tall, so she was probably around 150? Kieran couldn’t tell because he wasn’t used to this body, but he knew that she was a lot shorter than Sarah was. The principal called for Kieran, as Sarah went the other way. Before Sarah got too far,

“AUNT SARAH!” Kieran screamed.

She turned around, surprised

“THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING! I’LL LEARN HARD AND REPAY YOUR FAMILY ONE DAY!”

She laughed, and told him to go with the principal. She thought it was funny, the way he said it sounded like he would be going away for a long time.

The principal chuckled a little and teased the boy, where he stayed silent. He was embarrassed, but it was manners. The family took him in, and he couldn’t express his gratitude in any way at such a young age besides thanking them.

After a while of walking, they stopped in front of a classroom. He could hear children talking and laughing, and a teacher talking inside.

“Kieran,” the principal said softly to him, “I’m going to go in first, okay? Just wait here until I call for you okay?”

“Okay”

She opened the door and walked inside, not closing the door. The kids paid no attention to this, and continued their lively chatter. She seemed to be talking to the teacher inside, and he gave Kieran a glance. They both nodded and shook each other’s hands, and then Principal Williams turned around and motioned Kieran to come in.

Kieran took a deep breath, and exhaled. He got into the best University in the country. He was the student with the best grades, the best test scores, everything. This wouldn’t be hard at all. Though his peers would be underdeveloped babies with little to no common sense, he was sure he could ace the class.  With his chest up, he walked with confidence, and took a step into the classroom.