Miss Emily stood at the door to Madeline Brooks' office, awaiting a response to her question. As she did so, her eyes kept wandering to the black barn star that hung on the wall above Miss Madeline's desk. I hope it's on securely, Emily thought, If that falls, someone could get hurt...

Madeline was just finishing up some paperwork, when she glanced up at her protégé. "I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany you today, Emily. I simply have too much paperwork to do..." She coughed, then blew her nose into an already used tissue. Roughly a dozen of them were lying about her desk. "And I think I'm getting a touch of something..."

Emily nodded. "I understand. If you need to go home, by all means."

Madeline sniffed. "I think I will...after all this is done." She glanced up at the clock that hung above her office's door. "The children should be arriving soon. You should be out to greet them."

Emily glanced upward and gasped. "Oh gosh! Alright," she replied as she stepped out of the doorway. "I hope you feel better," she called as she made her way to the main entrance.

---

Me, too. Do feel better soon...

---

"I know you usually go to your Grammy's house, but it's like I told you, she and Pappy are going away until Thanksgiving."

Kenny sat in the backseat of his mother's sedan, morosely gazing out the window, watching his new home-away-from-home, Babbling Brook Daycare Academy, come into view. He didn't reply to his mother.

His mother, Lindsay, glanced into the rearview mirror, turning it so she could see her son better. "C'mon, Sweetie Pie... It's only going to be for a few weeks. If you don't like it, we'll never have to go again."

Kenny softly responded, "Really?"

"Of course, Sweetie." As they pulled up to the gate, Linsday gasped, as if remembering something. "That's right! Roger said that Robbie would be coming here, too! I guess he's dating one of the teachers here, or something. Anyway, you like Robbie, right?"

Kenny smiled and nodded.

Lindsay laughed as she got out of the car to let Kenny out. As she opened the door and unbuckled his seatbelt, she replied, "I can't hear your brains rattling around in there, Kenny. You have to use words." As Kenny hopped out of his seat, Lindsay tousled his hair and said, "Try to make some friends, okay? I'm sure you'll love it here if you get the chance. Miss Madeline used to babysit me, you know?" She spied Emily stepping out of the entrance to the daycare and said to herself, "Oh, that must be the girl Roger's dating. She seems nice." Then, she waved to Kenny as he opened the gate (all by himself!) and called out to him, "Don't be too much trouble! G'bye, Sweetie Pie!" She then got into her vehicle and left as Kenny wandered over to Miss Emily.

Emily crouched down and waved. "Hi, buddy! You must be Kenny Connors." She held out her hand. "My name's Miss Emily, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Kenny shakily grasped her outstretched hand and shook it. "Hello, Miss Emily..."

Emily let go of his hand and told him, "Your mommy's right, you're going to have a great time here, buddy. Once the other kids get here." She stood up and stretched her arms out to the sides. "Mi casa es su casa! The world is your oyster!" Seeing the confused looks Kenny was giving her, she coughed into her fist and chuckled, "Go nuts, kid."

Since Babbling Brook wasn't that far from their house, Robbie, Ivor, and Uncle Roger decided to walk there. Robbie and Uncle Roger were quite eager to get there. Robbie was eager because he knew that Kenny would be there and Uncle Roger was eager because he knew that Miss Emily would be there. "I can't wait to see Kenny!" Robbie exclaimed "We're gonna have so much fun together".
"I'm sure you will" Uncle Roger said before saying to Ivor "I hope I don't need to remind you that I'm counting on you to keep Robbie out of trouble".
"So long as we don't run into Paisley, I'm quite certain I can do that" the hump-back replied.
"That's going to a problem then" Uncle Roger said.
"That jerkface better not bother Kenny" Robbie said angrily "Otherwise I will vaporize her!".
"Remember what I said about vaporizing other kids, Robbie" Uncle Roger replied.
"Oh yeah" Robbie said "That's against the law".

They reached the entrance just as Kenny met Miss Emily there. "Kenny!" Robbie called out as he rushed over to meet him. He was really happy to see Kenny there. He stopped momentarily to say hello to Miss Emily before turning back to Kenny. "It's great to see you, Kenny!" Robbie said "We're gonna have lots of fun today!".
While Robbie was greeting Kenny, Uncle Roger had reached the entrance. Robbie wasn't listening to what he said, but what ever he said made Miss Emily blush and smile happily.

Quite like a small kitten, Leandra was sleeping. It wasn't in bed, thankfully, but in the car on the way to the daycare. The lived about 15 minutes away from the place, and that was enough time for her to fall asleep in the car. Her soft, brown curls were scrunched around her sleeping face as she dreamed. Her brother, William, was driving her to the preschool, as the highschoolers had a day off. It was silent, her brother sparing her from the torturous Rock music he enjoyed, until they got to the school, seeing two of the boys and possibly some teachers already there. William, stopped the car and lightly nudged Leandra, who was in the back seat.

"Leandraaaaaaa... Leandra wake up!" William began poking her in the cheek when she didn't wake up at first. When she did wake up though, he smiled at her and flicked her nose. "You have to go, Leandra. We're here."

She looked out the window and smiled brightly. The small child actually enjoyed preschool, most of the time, and she was excited for it to start up. Opening the door, Leandra jumped out, her plum colored dress flowing in the wind. She turned to close the door and grinned at William. "Bye bye Will!" He waved to her and as soon as she made her way pass the gates, drove off.

Approaching the others, Leandra picked up her speed. She said paused briefly to give her 'hello's to Miss. Emily and then walked over to the boys. She knew their faces, but wasn't quite familiar with them as she would like to be. "Hi! I'm Leandra!"

Robbie's ears pricked up when he heard Leandra speak. He always loved making new friends. Robbie turned to the new arrival and smiled. "Hi Leandra!" he said "I'm Robbie. This is my friend Kenny and this is my hump-backed assistant Ivor". As he introduced his human friend and imaginary friend, Robbie gestured to Kenny and Ivor respectively. "It's nice to meet you" Robbie said "It's always nice to meet new friends, especially since some of the girls I already know are complete jerkfaces to me and Kenny".

"Maaa, Peter pooped!" Paisley hollered from the car seat next to her brother's. "Paisley I told you before, you don't need to tell me these things. Mommy will take care of it." "Roll down the window! He stinks!" the little girl screamed, her youngest brother giggling cheerfully in return. "Stop laughing Peter, it's not funny!" she threatened, and the little boy paid no attention. Paisley reached over and karate chopped the boy promptly in the head.

Wailing ensued.

"Paisley Ann. Don't hit your brother, You are so lucky your father isn't in the car so help me." her mother yelled, giving a stern look at the little girl in the rear view mirror. "Don't you want to have fun today? Get to play with all the other kids?" her mother pleaded, as Paisley nodded her grey eyes shimmering with glee. Eventually Peter stopped crying, as they pulled up to the preschool.

Climbing out from the car Paisley's mother Ann, went around to Peter's side of the car first to change his diaper. Whilst that was occurring Paisley looked on towards the group of kids that were gathering around the front entrance. "Leannnnnnnnnnnnndra!" Paisley pounded on the window, waving frantically. She remembered the girl quite well, despite their less than pleasant visit.

"Stop pounding on the window Paisley!" her mom yelled, placing Peter safely back in his car seat and slamming the door. She walked around to the other side as she unbuckled her daughter next. The two walked hand in hand towards the door and in the front entrance before parting ways. Squatting down Ann took her daughter's face in her hands and spoke low and stern, "Be good today. Daddy will pick you up. I love you." she planted a kiss on her daughter's cheek receiving a huge grin in return. "I love you too mommy, see you later alligator" she called, turning towards the group of children that we're standing around.

A large toothy grin appeared on her face, head cocked to the side before barging directly into the group of kids. "HI Leandra. I saw'd ya from the window but you didn't say hi back. Who are your friends here? Who are you guys?" she rambled, her blonde hair bobbing with her head in excitement.

Robbie glared at Paisley as she barged into the group. She didn't seem to remember who Robbie or Kenny were. But Robbie remembered her. He remembered her calling Kenny a crybaby, he remembered calling her a jerkface in response, he remembered her attacking him as a result, and Robbie remembered planting his foot firmly between Paisley's butt cheeks (Figuratively) before Uncle Roger could break up the fight. "Hey!" Robbie said "Don't barge into us you jerkface! Who do you think you are?!".

Kenny smiled broadly when Robbie, his Uncle, and Ivor approached. When Robbie said about them having fun, Kenny replied with a nod. "I can't wait to see your new inventions!" Sure, Kenny's sword, shield, and helmet were cool, but they didn't let him fly, teleport, or become invisible...

Before he could say anything else, Leandra appeared and introduced herself. Kenny had seen her before, usually being chased by Paisley, but he had never known her name. When Robbie introduced Kenny and Ivor, Kenny smiled shyly and quickly waved. "Hi, Leandra." When Robbie described the other girls that he and Kenny knew, Kenny shrunk back and turned his toe in the ground. "They...they're not too bad... Mommy said that I should always be nice to girls."

Then Paisley arrived. And just that sentence deserved its own paragraph.

Kenny immediately shrunk back and tried to hide behind Miss Emily. When Robbie started to yell at her, Kenny waved his hands in an effort to calm him down. He didn't want Robbie to get punched by her again.

"Are you okay, Cassalia?" Papa glanced back at Casey through the rearview mirror. "I know it can be a bit scary at first, but trust me. You're going to have fun." He gave her a shaggy smile beneath his thick black beard and his eyes glittered with a warm, familiar glow. Casey nodded brightly and hugged Starlight, her ever faithful unicorn, close to her chest. "I'm not scared!" she boasted. "Princesses don't get scared." Despite her words, hints of worry showed clear on her face. Her statement was answered with a deep laugh. "Of course not, mi princesa. You're the bravest girl I know," Papa assured her. Casey's worries lessened at his words and she gave him a wide grin.

The little girl bounced excitedly in her seat. "Are we there yet?" she asked restlessly, peering out her window. The distance from the daycare to their house was, at most, ten minutes, but since they had to drop of Mama at the bookstore, it took at least fifteen. Normally not so bad for the average person, but an eternity for an energetic princess like Casey.

"Almost," Papa chuckled. The car pulled next to the daycare center and rolled to a halt. Papa exited the vehicle and opened up Casey's door, helping her out of the van.
"Thank you, good sir!" Casey said in her fanciest voice as she curtsied in front of her dad. It was a move she had picked from various shows, and it was apparently good manners. She stood straight up and hugged him. "I'm gonna miss you..." she said quietly. Papa smiled and bent down to kiss the top of her head. "I'll miss you too." He returned her hug and stood back up. "Your mama is going to pick you up later, okay? Now go and have fun! Love you!"

Casey grinned and hurried to join a group of kids. "Helloooooooo!"
Already her fears were starting to disappear. This was going to be a new kingdom, and she was gonna rule it!

"Hi" Robbie said before looking back at Paisley. Casey wasn't his biggest priority at that moment. His biggest priority was the jerkface who was mean to Kenny the last time they met. Robbie didn't like Paisley 1 bit, the look on his face showed it. And although Kenny didn't want to see Robbie punched again, Robbie welcomed the opportunity to get someone he hated in trouble.

“You can’t get me off the sofa! You can’t get me off the sofa!” This strange teasing chant came from the Sayles household, interspersed with fits of giggles. Inside the house in the cul-de-sac, Lily Sayles was laying defiantly on the living room couch, daring the children that were climbing on her. “You can’t get me off the sofa!”

“Yeah we can!” Tyler shouted before he pushed against her shoulder with all his might, which wasn’t much. His sister Miranda had wedged herself between the back of the couch and their Aunt Lily, and was laughing in spite of herself.

Tim Sayles suddenly found himself witness to this odd scene as her rounded the hallway into the living room. He stood perplexed before grinning at his immovable sister and asking, “New game?”

The kids groaned in disappointment as Lily sat up, a little embarrassed. “I guess it is!”

Tyler climbed down the couch cushions and ran towards his father, first wrapping himself around his leg then attempting to climb up. “Dad, we almost did it!”

Tim lifted his son up in one swift movement and held him, asking with exaggerated amazement, “Oh, wow! Really?”

“We really didn’t.” Miranda sniffed matter-of-factly, preening her black hair.

“Yeah we did, Mirandaaa!” Tyler whined from Tim’s arms. “Didn’t we Aunt Lily?”

Lily shrugged as she rose from the couch. “Well…”

“Hey, Doodle.” Tim bopped Tyler’s nose, changing the subject before a diplomatic disaster could occur. “You excited for your first day of Babbling Brook? Got’cher nice new clothes on?”

Tyler tugged at his shirt with a thin little paw and grinned toothily. “Mmmyeah…”

“Got’cher inhaler?”

“Uh-huh…” Tyler wriggled in anticipation.

“Got’cherrr...tickle armor?”

“My what?”

“Aha! Didn’t think so!” Tim shouted before tickling Tyler, send the boy into a fit of squealing high pitched laughter. After a quick glance at the time though, Tim stopped and put his son back down.

“Aww, Daaad…” Tyler groaned before following his father dutifully towards the door.

“We gotta go Tyler. Don’t want to be late now, do we?” Tim said as he opened the door. Tyler sped through the door without warning and trotted towards the car in the driveway.

“Can I go in the front seat? Pleeease?” Tyler asked, though he was already tugging on the handle of the locked door.

“No way, buster. And you know why not.” Tim stepped out of the door but peeked in the house again to have a few words with his sister before he left. “We shouldn’t be long. Miranda honey, promise to be behave for Aunt Lily?”

“Okay.” Miranda said flatly, cleaning her glasses.

Tim looked back at the car and saw Tyler’s leg planted firmly on top one of the car’s tires. “Tyler Garret Sayles, don’t you dare climb on that car!”

---

The car ride was boring for Tyler, who grown tired of kicking the back of the front seat and was now wrapped up in his own little world. He was unusually quiet as he rubbed his shoes together and picked his nose. Tim drove calmly as they neared Babbling Brook, although the dark circles around his eyes spoke of another late shift at the hospital. Tyler was too young to notice these things. He had his own concerns.

“...Dad?” He said in a small voice, lacking his usual enthusiasm.

“What’s up, Doodle?” Tim asked, his eyes fixed cautiously on the road.

“Um...what if the other kids there are mean and make fun of me?” Tyler asked, abandoning his nose and fiddling with his shoes.

Tim frowned from the front seat. “No way, bud. What gave you that idea?”

“Miranda was sayin’ how weird kids get bullied at school and how the other day a girl spit in another girl’s face and pulled her hair and stuff.” Tyler explained breathlessly.

Tim assured him, “Aw, don’t you worry about that. She’s in middle school, and you’re going to preschool.” Since they were now at a red light, he turned back to look at his anxious son, comforting him with his gaze. “And besides I asked her parents about it and I know for a fact that Leandra will be there, and as long as you have friends you’ll be alright, right?”

Tyler perked up, relieved that someone he knew would be going to Babbling Brook too. “Leandra’s gonna be there?”

“Yup!” Tim said, turning his attention back to driving, thinking to himself that he should have a talk with Miranda as well. “And I bet that other girl too...what’s her name? Starts with a ‘P’?”

“Paisley?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Paisley.”

Tyler peered out the window as their destination came into view. “She’d make a good pirate…”

“Recruiting already, captain? Yarrr!” Tim did his best pirate impression as he pulled up to the school.

Tyler crossed his arms as his father got out of the car and let the boy out. “Well, not ever’body gets to be on my crew.” As he climbed out of the car, he saw Leandra and Paisley hanging out with some other kids. He wasn’t sure if he’d seen them before or not. Tyler looked up at his dad again, excited.

Tim ruffled his son’s red curls, exactly like his own, and encouraged him. “Go say hi, Doodle. I’ll pick you up later, okay?”

“Mkay.” Tyler hugged his dad before trotting towards the gaggle of children. As he approached, he waved at the girls. “Hi Leandra! Hi Paisley!” He looked at the other kids and said, “Hi, I’m Tyler. You can call me Garret though.”

"Hi" Robbie said once again before looking back at Paisley. Much like Casey, Garret wasn't Jacoby's biggest priority at that moment. His biggest priority was still the same jerkface he was mad at before Garret arrived. By now Uncle Roger and Miss Emily would have probably noticed the stand off between Robbie and Paisley. But Robbie wasn't keeping track, so he wouldn't know.

Miss Emily did indeed notice the standoff between Paisley and Robbie, as well as Kenny being pasted to the back of her leg. She just then remembered that Roger had told her about an encounter that these children had once before. It didn't end well then, and Emily would make certain that things wouldn't get out of hand now.

After smiling at Tyler...no, Garret, and Cassalia, she took Kenny's hand and gently pulled him out from behind her and she placed herself partway between Paisley and Robbie. Since it was Robbie who started with the name calling, and she didn't want to play favorites, she turned toward the young boy. "Now, Robbie, this is not a place for name calling. Apologize to Paisley." She didn't raise her voice, but her tone suggested that she wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. She then sighed; she knew that she would have to keep an eye on these two... Then, she hunkered down to Kenny's level and whispered, "You don't have to be scared. Nobody's going to hurt you here. We're all friends, okay?"

---

Yeah. No one's going to hurt you. *chuckle* Not yet, anyway...

---

Kenny nodded and let go of Emily's hand. "Okay." He spied Princess Casey and waved shyly again. Of course he remembered her from the park, and how she made him cry, but he knew that she didn't mean it, and that was good enough for him. Although, he did smile when another boy joined them. Even though he was friends with Paisley, he didn't seem mean. Maybe that meant that Paisley wasn't really mean either...?

"I'll say I'm sorry right after Paisley says she's sorry for barging into us!" Robbie said with his arms crossed defiantly. But when Uncle Roger shot Robbie a harsh look that made him wince, Robbie's defiance ended on the spot. Robbie looked over at Paisley and gave her an "I'm sorry" that was as bitter as it was insincere. Uncle Roger nodded and smiled once more, knowing that was the best they would be able to get out of Robbie in this case.

Leandra had immediately hidden kind of behind the other boy, Robbie she believed, although she wasn't completely behind him... Well she would like to say. As much she was afraid of the girl, Paisley, Leandra didn't want to hate her. She tried to tolerate her, she really did, but it was hard. She mumbled 'hi' to Paisley before she had hidden, but as soon as she did, a girl named Casey came around and soon after, Garret did. She was incredibly happen when Garret came around. He was her favorite friend, after her dog Kate of course, so Leandra ran to his side.

"Hi Garret!" Leandra smiled cheerfully. The girl was going to even ask how he was, maybe ask Paisley too, but then Miss. Emily came over and scolded the boy, Robbie. Leandra hated the sound of people scolding others, even if it wasn't directed at her. There was a reason Leandra never broke the rules...

Now a bit fearful of Miss. Emily, Leandra stood behind Garret, peaking over his shoulder to watch everyone.

Garret watched the drama unfold before him as the one boy Robbie apologized to Paisley. For a second Garret wondered what Paisley had done to be called a jerkface, but then he realized that it was Paisley, so it could be anything. His hand started to wander to his nose when Miss Emily started whispering to the other boy. Garret didn’t know what she was saying or who the other boy was, but he started to get an odd nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was different from the butterflies from earlier. Maybe it was the rocky greetings and the scolding from the grownup that made his tummy feel funny.

Then Leandra, who had greeted him earlier, snuck over and hid behind him a little, watching from over his shoulder. Garret didn’t mind at all, as long as it made her feel a little better. He puffed out his chest heroically and said, “Don’t worry Leandra, nobody messes with my crew. Not even Paisley, or grownups!” He inhaled a big breath to look even more heroic, but that made him start coughing, so Garret pulled his inhaler out of his pocket and used it, freeing up his clogged airways. Once he was done with that, Garret’s eyes wandered to the daycare building. It looked a lot bigger than he imagined it would be. He wondered if there would be a cool playroom, or if they had any fun toys.

"Who do you think you're calling jerkface?" Paisley bellowed, ignoring all the greetings she was given by the other playmates. Paisley lifted her leg to kick Robbie right in the shin, but Miss Emily had came to intervene the situation. Miss Emily demanded apologies for the girl and Paisley waited patiently for results.

"I'll say I'm sorry right after Paisley says she's sorry for barging into us!"

Grey eyes widened and a little mouth gaped, "I didn't go barging into ya! You were standing in the way of my walking!" the girl claimed. A real apology escaped Robbie's mouth after an intimidating look came from the grown man's face. If Paisley didn't know any better, she'd had assume Robbie's uncle and her dad were related for that exact same look. Despite the bitterness, Paisley nodded accepting the apology. "Okay!" she chimed, giving a cheeky grin.

This was a relatively good start to the day.

Emily stood and mouthed the words Thank you to Roger as Robbie delivered his just-sincere-enough apology. Then she clapped her hands on her knees and addressed the children. "Okay! Who wants to go inside and play? We have all kinds of fun toys and books for you all to play with." She then turned toward Roger and said quietly, "I'll see you later."

Kenny grinned when Miss Emily mentioned toys and, for a few moments, forgot the fear that he had just moments ago. He broke into a light run as he made his way inside and to the large playroom. Multi colored mats covered one section of the floor, along with several foam letters and numbers, and there were even a few toy foam swords and wands lying about. Several clear totes were stacked neatly along the walls; each one containing a different variety of toy: one contained cars and other vehicles, while another contained small action figures, and still another contained animals of varying shapes and sizes.

Emily went inside after the other children entered. She told them, "Miss Madeline isn't feeling good, so she won't be here with us. For the time being, feel free to play with whatever you want, and come to me if you have any questions or troubles and I'll do my best to help you." After smiling brightly at the children, she walked over to one of the high-up cabinets and withdrew a developmental psychology textbook, then sat down in the Reading Nook and started reading it, while glancing up at the children from time to time.

Kenny saw that a world of possibilities had been opened to him, and he found it slightly overwhelming. When he was at home, he would usually ask his mommy if he could play the Wii, or he'd open the toy chest in the living room and play with his castle and knight action figures, but here...

He turned to Robbie with uncertainty and asked, "What do you want to do?"

Uncle Roger smiled when Miss Emily thanked him for making Robbie apologize. He was always happy when she was. Meanwhile, the mention of toys had also gotten Robbie excited. "See you later, Uncle Roger!" Robbie said before rushing to the playroom in a hyperactive sprint.
"See you later, Robbie! Make sure he behaves, Ivor!" Roger called back before looking at Miss Emily and saying "Love you lots, Em" before walking away.
Robbie looked around at all of the toys. He had never seen so many toys anywhere anywhere that wasn't toy store before. When Kenny asked what Robbie wanted to do, Robbie looked at Kenny with an excited grin. "What do I want to do" Robbie said as he spotted a toy castle surrounded by toy dinosaurs "I want to defend that castle against the army of vicious man-eating dinos attacking it!". Robbie grinned at Kenny before adding "Wanna help me?"

When Miss. Emily went to lead them into the preschool, Leandra followed. She was still wary of the teacher, but as soon as they walked into the room they were to stay in, she forgot all of her worries. Being immediately drawn to the stuffed animals, Leandra ran over. It didn't matter if she was followed by her friends or not; she wanted to play with the animals, and nobody would stop her. There was a lion and a crocodile that she picked up and began to play with, ignoring everyone. The two creatures would proceed to talk to each other, and she would make up a wonderful story of friendship for the two completely different animals. Leandra mumbled to herself, speaking for the crocodile and lion, whom she'd named Caden and Leon respectively.

Kenny laughed as he replied to Robbie, "Yeah!" He bounded over behind the castle walls and fell to his knees as he excitedly started picking up the knights and placing them at various locations around the castle. There weren't nearly enough knights to defend the castle from the man-eating dinos, so Kenny also recruited farmers, space men, some guy who appeared to be on safari, two ninjas, and a small handful of Army men.

"The dinos are getting closer," Kenny called to Robbie. "We need a...uh...di-inter-es-tay-shun ray!"

He glanced around, seemingly in a panic, and noticed Leandra. The dinos could get to her, too! He called out to her, "Hey! You have to get behind the wall! The dinos are getting closer and they're hungry!"