Before Laura can make a break for it, a nearby teacher spots her.
“Go on inside, sweetie,” the teacher says, shooing her away. Now being watched, Laura has no choice but to enter the school. Once inside, she spots Mark waiting for her by the doors. Mark grabs her hand and pulls her down the halls, through crowds of children bigger than her, and then into a kindergarten classroom.
In the classroom, Mark lets go of her hand, but Laura still follows him over to a short table. Mark sits in a chair labeled with his name, and Laura sits in the chair next to him, labeled with her niece’s name. She puts her hands in her lap and waits nervously for class to start.
Finally, the bell rings. The teacher, a perky young woman, goes to the front of the classroom and claps her hands.
“Hello, children!” she chirps.
“Hi, Miss Applesmith!” the class chants back. Miss Applesmith beams. She pulls out a piece of paper and a pencil and begins to take attendance. Laura squeaks out an affirmative when her niece’s name is called.
Once attendance is over, the children all stand up, face the American flag, and recite the pledge of allegiance. They sit down again. Dread builds in Laura’s gut as she waits to hear what she’ll be doing in her first kindergarten class in decades.