In the Background

I had taken Val and Ashley home before picking up Kimberly. Parking by the sidewalk, I looked for her. I found her standing by one of her teachers. I got out of the car and walked over.

The teacher looked at me and smiled. "Are you Kimberly's mother?” She asked as I placed Kimmy on my hip.

I shook my head. "I'm her sister. Our parents are dead." Did I really look old enough to be the mother of a 5 year old?

She nodded still smiling. "Very well, I would like to talk to you about things. You wouldn't mind would you?" I told her that I wouldn't mind. As I walked behind her into the school, I wondered what she would want to talk to me about.

We walked inside a classroom. I set Kim on the ground before taking a seat. The teacher, whose name is Mrs. River, was rustling papers around on her desk. I sat in the chair uncomfortably. Kimberly climbed onto my lap.

Mrs. River coughed to get my attention. "As you know, Kimberly has been doing excellent in school. The school has been thinking that since she is so advance, that she can skip a grade next year. Now she doesn't have to, but you should consider it." I smiled brightly at Kim. I always knew she was smart, but I never knew that she would be able to skip a grade.

I was full on grinning. "I think that it would be okay for Kimmy to skip a grade. She's always been complaining about how easy all the schoolwork was." I was sure that my aunt would be okay with this. Plus I feel that Kimberly will do well.

"Excellent, I will notify the school board of your decision. Have a good day." I said goodbye to Ms. River and I walked out of the classroom with Kimberly holding my hand.

"So I think this is the perfect reason for a celebration. How about we go get some Ice Cream?" Kimmy nodded eagerly. I laughed at her. She was always up for Ice Cream.

We stopped for some Ice Cream before going home. I grabbed Kimmy's bag and walked inside. Lining the hallway were tons of suitcases. I walked into the living room with a confused look on my face. Sitting on the couch was Ellie and Zoey.

"What's going on?" I asked them as I sat down on the coffee table across from them.

They both looked up. "Mom wants us back home" They both said at the same time. I would've laughed at them saying it at the same time but I couldn't because of what they said. They were going back home, when they just got here.

"But you just got here." I spoke what I was thinking.

Zoey spoke this time. "That's what we told mom. She said that we were needed there. She also did say that we will be coming back in 2 months." I nodded still processing this information. At least they would be coming back soon.

The rest of the night I helped them back up their stuff. It wasn't the most fun thing to do but I insisted that I help. Matt sent me a text saying that he was going to come over soon. I asked him if everybody else was coming and he said that it was just going to be him.

The doorbell rang and I ran to go get it. I hugged Matt and invited him inside. "So what are you doing here?" I questioned him as we walked to my room.

"I just wanted to talk. I also thought that Jimmy was going to be here but I guess he isn't." He laid back on my bed and I sat in my desk chair.

"Oh. Jimmy is at his girlfriend’s house. Or so I was told." I shrugged and he nodded.

We stayed up all night just talking. It felt nice. It was like he really was my big brother. I told him about the whole Jimmy thing. He said that I shouldn't give up. After he said that I changed the subject. Matt ended up sleeping over. We both slept in the bed since we were comfortable with each other. As Matt slept I stayed awake thinking about my parents. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately. I wondered what it would be like if they were still alive. I fell asleep thinking about it.