I walked up to the school and opened the doors. I made my way to Mrs. Harrison's classroom. I opened the door and saw Mrs. Harrison already in there. "Hi, Olivia!" she said. "Hi Mrs. Harrison." I said. "Gosh child! I've told you about a quarter of a million times, call me Jo-Ann." she laughed. "Sorry." I giggled, "So what are we doing today?" I asked. "All right. So we were gonna work on the kid's subtracting skills, work on their endangered species animals, and since Christmas is coming up and I thought it would be adorable for the kids to write letters to Santa, and then have a fifth grade class pretend to be Santa's and write back. I have Mr. David's class lined up to write them. What do you think?"
"Oh that sounds awesome!" I said all excited. I loved writing to Santa when I was little. I found out he wasn't real when I turned eleven. I had woken up in the middle of the night and saw my mom putting presents under the tree with her friend Jennifer. She told me that if I promised to not tell anyone, she would still leave presents from Santa under the tree. To me, a present was a present so I agreed. Little did I know that it was my last Christmas with my mom.
"So is there anything I need to set up?" I asked. "Actually, yes. I was wondering if while I set up, you could play some music and sing for the kids. They love it so much." she said. "Say no more. I'll do it. Can I get the guitar from the music room?" I said. "Oh, yes. Mr. Killian should be in there." she said. I got up off of leaning on a student desk and went down the hall to the music room.
"Knocker, knocker!" I said as I went into the music room. "Hey, Olivia!" Mr. Killian said. This guy was the coolest guy ever. He always wore jeans and a t-shirt. He was very laid back for a thirty year old guy, who was a single dad to two daughters ages three and seven. "So what you need today darlin'?" he asked. "Guitar and some sheet music." I said. "Alright! Doing some music in the classroom today?" he asked. "Yeah. I need to occupy the lil' crazies while Jo-Ann finishes fixing the project that they are gonna work on."
"Here ya go Ms. Olivia." Mr. Killian said. He handed me the guitar and some sheet music. I thanked him and went back to the hallway. I had ten minutes before they opened the doors to the students. I went back to the classroom and set up the guitar and the music stand. "Want me to do the board?" I asked. "Oh yes! Thank you!" she exclaimed.
I went over to the white board and opened a black Expo marker. I smelt the faint scent it gave off. I put the marker to the board and wrote "Today we will be making music, writing letters to Santa (YAY!), working on our subtraction, and learning more about our endangered species." I stood back and admired my hand writing. I had been told the I wrote like my mom, having to have every letter perfect and in proportion with all the other ones.
I heard the first bell ring and could already hear the stomping of footsteps by the hundreds of students. Within seconds, the door was pushed opened by some of the eighteen students in the class. "Miss Olivia!" a little girl yelled. Her name was Piper Kryston, she had long, wavy, red hair that went to her hips. She always reminded me of a modern day Annie. "Hello Piper!" I said as she hugged me. "You look very pretty!" Piper said as she twisted a lock of my hair around her finger.
"Oh thank you! You look very pretty too." I said. She smiled and then ran off to go sit with the other kids. I could already hear their excited chatter about writing to Santa. I couldn't help but smile when my favorite kid came in. I know your not supposed to have favorites, but I couldn't resist little Amie. Amie was short for Amethyst. Amie was the bravest girl I ever met. Amie had leukemia and had been fighting the battle since she was in preschool.
"Hi Amie!" I said as she put her book bag away. She turned to me and smiled. She had brown eyes, a purple scarf tied around her bald head, and wore a pair of purple overalls and a white t-shirt. I loved that about Amie, she always coordinated her scarf to her outfit, it was so cute. "Hi Miss Olivia." she said glumly. That wasn't like Amie. I guess I would have to ask. I didn't want to fear the worst.
The second bell rang, signaling that all kids should be in their classrooms. The kids started scrambling to their seats. Mrs. Harrison stood up and smiled, "Good Morning!" she chirped. "Cole, will you say the pledge?" she asked a little boy, Cole. Cole smiled and said the pledge as everyone followed with their hands over their hearts. Some had their hand in the right spot, others didn't.
"Hey guys! Come over here and let's make some music!" I said happily. I wore a mask of happiness every Monday. The kids ran over and sat down in a semi-circle around me. "So does anyone have any news from over the weekend?" I asked, pulling the guitar in my lap. I was hoping Amie would raise her hand and she did. I didn't want to be too obvious yet, so I first picked on Chase. A boy who had hair that was as wild as his personality.
"I caught my first fish on a fishing trip with my dad!" he yelled happily showing off his missing front tooth. "That's awesome!" I said smiling. "Amie, how bout you?" I asked. Amie looked down as she said, "The doctor said I had to do chemo again.". My face saddened. Amie had been through so much. "It'll be okay Amie. We'll be there for you." said one of Amie's friends. It was a little girl named Genesis, who was very pretty for a seven year old. The two hugged and it was like a Hallmark moment.
"Oh, Amie, I'm sorry to hear that. Genesis is right though, we'll be there to help you. With that being said I want to dedicate this song to you." I said. I checked the guitar and pulled out the sheet music for Annie's 'Tomorrow'. "Guys, I can't promise that everything in the world will be perfect. None of our lives are perfect. What I can promise is that the sun will come out tomorrow and you'll have a shot at happiness. If you know the words to this song, go ahead and start singing along." I said, and started strumming.
The sun will come out tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow
There'll be sun
Just thinkin' about tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow
'til there's none
When I'm stuck with a day that's grey and lonely
I just stick up my chin and grin and say, oh
The sun will come out tomorrow
So you gotta hang on
'til tomorrow, come what may!
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow
You're always a day away!
When I'm stuck with a day that's grey and lonely
I just stick up my chin and grin and say oh
The sun will come out tomorrow
So you got to hang on 'til tomorrow, come what may!
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow
You're only a day away
Tomorrow, tomorrow I love ya tomorrow
You're only a day away
I smiled through the song as little voices joined in. I saw the smiling faces of the kids that brightened my Mondays. I then thought of Beckett. She promised me that she would never leave me and be there for me, the same promises I made these kids. I was just now realizing how much the promises I made to those kids meant to them. And how much the promises that Beckett made to me...meant to her. I was finally starting to see just how much I meant to her.
Crap, now I'm the Hallmark card.
YOU ARE READING
What She's Made Of (Castle)
FanfictionFifteen year old, Olivia Belle is pretty much nothing special. She's no genius, not really depressed, unfortunately no family either. She just lives as happily as she can in the halfway-house she is supposed to call home. Olivia was an only child...
