Chapter Nine: Carmen

"Carm, wake up!" I heard Cami yell.

"What time is it?" I said groggily.

"11a.m,"

I hurriedly get off the bed. Mamá and Papá's bed was empty, so I'm assuming they went to work.

"Oh, no, I slept in! We still have to go to prepare the activities we're doing with the kids!" I say, quickly slipping on my bunny slippers.

"What do you want me to do?" she asks.

I frantically racked my brain, trying to remember what I was going to do with the kids.

"Um, could you run to the supermarket and buy 4 pounds of popcorn kernels, a clear glass jar large enough for all the kernels, and a one-cup scoop?" I list the items while heading up the stairs.

"No problem," she said, practically out the door.

I took a short shower, brushed my teeth and hair, and got dressed in some leggings and a sunflower yellow cardigan. I added a layer of clear lip gloss and slipped on nude flats. I wanted to look like a teacher as much as possible.

When I got downstairs, Cami had just gotten back from the shop with everything I asked for.

"Well hello miss teacher," she teased, taking the items out of the bag and placing them on our coffee table.

"I'm trying to look like a teacher, and guessing by your reaction, I succeeded."

"So, what is all this for?" she asked, motioning to the items as I checked my phone, 11:30. I had ten minutes to explain, ten minutes for us to get the stuff ready, and ten minutes to get to the market.

I explained the plan to her, and she surprisingly caught up quickly, giving us more time than I expected. We finished 5 minutes earlier.

"I'm gonna go change to look like a teacher too," she said running up to her room. A minute or two later, she came downstairs wearing a pair of jeggings, a shirt that said 'KINDNESS IS COOL,' and a black knitted cardigan.

"Good job!" I congratulate her. "Let's go."

When we get to the farmer's market, Noah's there

"Hey, Carm," he greeted me with a side hug.

"Hey!" I said hugging him back. "This is my sister, Cami. Cami, this is one of my best friends, Noah."

"Hi," she says, extending her hand, expecting a handshake.

"Well, you haven't told her that I don't do handshakes," he said, giving her a bear hug.

"No, she didn't, and it would have been nice to know," she said, glaring at me.

"I also forgot to mention that Cami isn't much of a hugger," I said with a wince. If looks could kill, I'd be six feet under thanks to the look Cami gave me.

"Well I guess I could make an exception," Noah said hurtfully.

"No, it's ok," she said, "I guess I could get used to it. I mean, you seem to enjoy it a lot and a friend of Carmen's is a friend of mine."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" he said, picking her up and spinning her around.

"Put my sister down before she barfs a Niagara falls on you," I warn and he quickly puts her down.

"How dare you say that about me," she says as she dizzily tries to punch me, but I duck with ease.

"Ok, we have three minutes to get to Krys' stand, before she murders me," I say, checking my watch.

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"There you are!" Krys exclaims when we get to her stand. "The kids will be here soon. There's like a shed that a decorated and rigged up some electricity to make it look more like a classroom," she pointed to a large shed about a five-minute walk from here.

She was about to say more, but a stampede of children came running at her, almost knocking her over.

"Whoa, there!" she said regaining balance. "Hey, Samuel, Brooke, Emma, Joshua, Carrie, Britney, Harry, Phoebe, Zachary, Antoinette, Mason, Griffin, Cooper, May, Alison, and Isaiah! How are you guys?" she greeted them.

"Good!" they answered.

"Good! Ok, my little bumblebees, You guys are getting a new teacher, so if you would just turn around and face Ms. Hernández," she pointed at me and then the next thing I knew, 16 pairs of eyes were on me. I had never felt so nervous.

"Can you guys say 'hello Ms. Hernández'?" she asks them.

"Hello, Ms. Hernández!"

"Hello, kids!" I say "I'm so excited to be your new teacher! This is my assistant, and older sister, Cami. Can you say hi?"

"Hi!"

"Hey, kids."

"You guys should get going. The parents pick them up at 3. Bye, kids!" Krys said.

"Bye!" they answered as we walked to the shed.

When we got to the shed, the kids lined up in order from shortest to tallest. I gave Cami a look that said 'impressive' and opened the door. The kids immediately sat on little cushions that were on a carpet that looked like a map of the world.

Then she did look like a classroom, Krysty had set up a smart board and the light switch was connected to very bright fairy lights. Cami and I went over to the desk and placed down what we had prepared that morning. The desk had a hp laptop with a sticky note with the password stuck on top.

"OK, kids, Ms. Cami and I have a deal to make," I say, grasping their attention.

"As you can see on this desk there are two full jars, two empty jars, about the same size as the full ones, and two scoops that measure to about 1.5 U.s cups or 12 fluid ounces," I stop as Cami quietly groans.

"N-not that you would know that because you guys— I mean kids are, well—"

"What my sister is trying to say," Cami cuts me off with a reproachful glance. " Is as you can see, the full jar is full of popcorn kernels and the other one is full of paper pepperoni slices. We will use these scoops to take out the things in the full jars and put them in the empty jars every time we see you behaving extra good. Once the empty jars are full, we will throw you a party for whatever jar you filled, for the kernels, a popcorn party and the paper pepperoni, a pizza party," she finishes in one breath.

"Y-yes, that is what will happen," I say in shock.

The kids start cheering in excitement and it takes some time to calm down.

"Okay, kids," I say, sitting behind the desk, "let's do this."