Mom pulled my backpack off and set it inside my cubby. "Go play, sweetie. I need to talk to your teacher."

"About what?" My stuffed animal was tucked in the crook of my arm. I wasn't allowed to bring the baby doll and all the accompanying parts. Only the stuffed bunny.

She smiled at me. "Adult stuff, Lyla."

I sighed and turned to look at the classroom. I wasn't the first to get there which meant other kids were playing already. One girl looked up from the dollhouse in front of her and smiled before waving me over.

Mom squeezed my shoulder. "Have a good day, sweetie. I'll be back to pick you up after work."

I moved the bunny so I was hugging it and walked over to the girl. She had blonde hair that was about shoulder length. She wore a t-shirt and jean shorts and tennis shoes over mismatched socks. There was also a pacifier clipped to her shirt.

"Do you wanna play?" The girl asked.

I knelt down beside her and nodded. I felt like I'd forgotten how to play. I hadn't played with toys in such a long time that trying to revert back to it felt odd. I didn't feel like myself though maybe that was the point.

She handed me a Barbie and started putting hers in the bed in one of the bedrooms. She had everything laid out and every Barbie had its own place. She had to have been playing with it the day before.

I really didn't know any of the toys in the room or who played with what. I didn't know anyone's name. I didn't know how old they were. I didn't know if they were born in town or moved there like I had. Everything was still so new to me and I was still figuring my own life out.

She went to move something on the dollhouse when the hinge moved and caught her finger. She screamed and started crying, holding her finger in her other hand. She seemed to forget that I was sitting there though I didn't care.

Ms. Maggie, our other teacher, walked over and helped the girl to her feet. I heard the name 'Kennedy' come from Ms. Maggie and assumed it was the girl's name.

I got to my feet and walked away from the dollhouse. Mom was gone and Ms. Diane was getting breakfast ready for us.

"Good morning, Lyla."

I looked at the blueberry muffins she was putting onto a tray and frowned. I hated blueberries. "What were you and my mom talking about?"

She smiled and looked over at me. "You really want to know, huh?"

I nodded. "I want to know if I'm in trouble or not."

She laughed. "You're not in trouble. Why would you think that?"

"I'm always in trouble."

"You know that's not true, Lyla."

I looked at the trays in front of us. A second one had all of our sippy cups on them, our names written so they wuoldn't be intermingled. A third tray had cut up bananas. "Can I help?"

She lifted the tray and carried it to the table. "Put your bunny in your cubby and grab one of the trays."

I went to my cubby and stuck the stuffed rabbit inside. I figured I wouldn't carry it around all day but I knew I'd want it come nap time. I was starting to like having it when I slept.

I went back to the counter where the trays were and grabbed one. I would have rather helped with breakfast than played with the other kids. I still didn't feel like I fit in them and didn't like trying to pretend just for their sake. That wasn't fair to me.