A/N: Someone asked to see what Camila's school day is like so here ya go :)
It was 8.15 on a Thursday morning, and Lauren was taking Camila to her classroom.
"Your homework is in your folder, don't forget to give it to Miss Epseley," Lauren said as she walked down the year ten corridor holding Camila's hand.
"I know," Camila hummed, skipping along next to Lauren.
"And what type of a day are we going to have?" Lauren asked with a smile.
"A good one!" Camila bounced excitedly.
"That's right," Lauren said, coming to a stop outside Camila's classroom door and bending down in front of the little girl. "Have a good day," she said, smiling to herself when Camila jumped onto her, engulfing her in a massive hug.
"Bye, Mama," Camila said, rubbing her cheek against Lauren's.
"I love you," Lauren said, giving Camila a kiss on her cheek before standing up. "C'mon, I'll drop you inside," Lauren said, feeling Camila tightening her grip on her hand.
"Kay," Camila whispered, a lot quieter than she had been just a few seconds ago as the reality of Lauren leaving sunk in.
"Hi, Camila," Miss Epseley smiled, walking over. "Hi, Lauren," she added. "Camila, should we go hang your coat up on your coat peg?" she asked, knowing that it was best for Lauren to leave as quickly as possible so Camila would settle down.
"Off you go," Lauren said, letting go of Camila's hand and giving her a gentle nudge.
Camila nodded, glancing back at Lauren who smiled and gave her a small wave before turning to face her coat peg, letting Miss Epseley help her take her coat off before standing on her tiptoes to hang up the coat. When she looked back again, Lauren was gone.
"Should we unpack your bag and get you ready for the day?" Miss Epseley suggested.
"Okay," Camila said, picking her bag up and walking over to the carpet.
She sat down and unzipped her bag, taking out her folder.
"My homework is in here," Camila said.
"How did you get on with it?" Miss Epseley asked, opening the folder.
"Some bits were difficult, but the maths worksheet was okay," Camila said, taking her water bottle and pencil case out of her bag too.
"We need to do a bit of work on your numbers, don't we?" Miss Epseley said, looking over the maths worksheet in which several numbers were written backwards. "Right, I need to go print some of your work out for today, do you want to take these to the homework tray and then go tick everything off on your chart?"
Camila nodded, taking her backpack to her coat peg before running to the desk with her name on it, putting down her pencil case and water bottle at the top of it and then moving towards the back of the classroom where her chart was.
She carefully moved around the different images, sticking the images of tasks she'd completed onto the velcro of the side titled 'completed'.
"Hi, Camila!" a familiar voice called out.
She turned around to see Ava standing behind her, backpack still on her back as she'd clearly just come in.
"Have you finished all your morning tasks?" she asked, walking over to look at the chart.
"I still need to get my exercise book," Camila said, looking at the laminated photo of her yellow lined notebook on the chart.
"We can go get our books together," Ava offered, walking towards the trays with Camila. "What did you do last night?"
"I had chocolate milk and watched Charlie and Lola with my mamas," Camila said.
"Doesn't it make you feel funny to watch Charlie and Lola and not be drinking pink milk instead?" Ava asked with a giggle.
"I don't know what's in Lola's pink milk," Camila shrugged. "Is it strawberries?"
"No, it's rose syrup!" Ava explained excitedly as the two girls got their books out. "My mum makes it for me sometimes, it's really good."
"Everyone to their desks, please," Mrs. Williams' voice rung out. "Ava Hawkins, it is now 8:31 in the morning, why do you still have your bag and coat on?"
"Sorry, Mrs. Williams," Ava said, making her way over to the coat pegs.
"Right, good morning everyone, I hope everyone's awake and ready to learn," Mrs. Williams said, walking towards the whiteboard. "Mia, please will you come write the date on the board for me and Daniel, may you read out today's timetable for us?"
Ava walked over to her desk next to Camila's and sat down, the two girls watching quietly as a mousey, brown-haired boy read out the list of classes they had for the day.
"Maths, English, break, science, PE, lunch, double art," Daniel read out before quickly sitting down.
"Thank you, Daniel," Mrs. Williams said with a curt nod. "I'm going to be distributing your maths homework worksheets for peer correction," she said, opening the homework tray. "If anyone hasn't done the work, now would be the time to speak up."
Miss Epseley quietly slipped into the classroom, shooting Mrs. Williams a polite smile before pulling a chair over to Camila's desk and sitting down next to her.
"Camila, we're not going to be doing peer correction, I have a problem sheet here I want you to work on while I mark your homework," she said, giving Camila a sheet from the pile she had just printed. "And look up here," she said, pointing at the colourful laminated strip taped down to the top of the desk which had the numbers 1 through to 9printed onto it. "Can you make sure you keep checking that your numbers are written the same way as these ones?"
"Okay," Camila said, opening her pencil case and starting on the sums immediately.
"Hang on, don't start on question five, you need to start at the beginning," Miss Epseley said.
"No, I want to do this one because I like the number 5," Camila shrugged. "Five is one of my favourite numbers because-,"
"Camila," Miss Epseley interrupted. "I understand that you like the number 5, but I need you to start with the first question because that's the way the worksheet is made."
Camila didn't reply, busy scribbling down the working out for question five.
"One, two, three, eyes on me," Miss Epseley said, using the hand clapping pattern she normally used to get Camila's attention.
"Four, five, six, finger on my lips," Camila replied begrudgingly, slumping back into her chair with her finger on her lips.
"Thank you, Camila, now, I really need you to be a good listener and do your worksheet properly, and after we complete it we can go to the patio for a little while," Miss Epseley said firmly.
"But I don't want to," Camila whined, stomping her foot angrily.
"Miss Epseley, is everything okay over there?" Mrs. Williams asked, walking over to see what was going on.
"We're having some difficulty with the worksheet," Miss Epseley explained. "Camila, can you tell Mrs. Williams why you don't want to do it?"
"But I do want to do it," Camila expressed, her bottom lip wobbling as tears filled her eyes.
"She wants to start on question five," Miss Epseley explained with a sigh. "And I've asked her not to but she won't listen."
"Right, Camila, there's a certain way that we need to do things in school fo them to make sense," Mrs. Williams explained. "The reason we need you to start on question one is because question five will make a lot more sense if you go chronologically."
"Think of it like saving the best for last," Miss Epseley explained. "Why don't you go spend five minutes in the reading corner to calm yourself down and then you can come back and we can try again, okay?"
"Kay," Camila said hoarsely, wiping away the tears rolling down her cheek before going to the section of the classroom that had been filled with blankets and cushions to create a comfortable space for students to read and work. She pushed her thumb into her mouth to calm herself down and spent the next few minutes looking at the pictures in one of her favourite books before going back to her desk to start the worksheet.
Soon enough, lunch time rolled around and the students were pouring out of the classroom, heading towards the cafeteria.
"Come on!" Camila bounced excitedly, pulling at Miss. Epseley's arm.
"I'm coming," Miss. Epseley chucked, following Camila down the corridor.
"Mama!" Camila squealed, bursting into Lauren's classroom and running in to give her mama a hug.
"Hi, angel," Lauren smiled, picking Camila up and giving her a quick hug before putting her down on her swivel chair. There were still a few straggling students left in the classroom, one of which were waiting to talk to her. "Camz, stop that," Lauren chuckled when Camila started fishing through her handbag, pulling out her pacifier when she found it.
"Miss, is that your kid?" one of her students asked, smiling at Camila who had her knees up to her chest and was spinning around in Lauren's chair excitedly.
"She's so tiny and cute!" another student cooed.
"Alright, that's enough," Lauren chuckled, reaching over to take the pacifier from Camila. "Go get some lunch, and remember you can always drop me an email if you get stuck on your essays."
"Miss. Jauregui?" the girl who was waiting to see her asked.
"Maddie, I need you to take this form home to your parents to sign, Mrs. Fisher has approved our extra classes taking place at my house, just until your grades pick up," Lauren said. "Don't worry, we'll catch up soon," she added, softening her tone when she saw Maddie's expression.
"Okay," the girl nodded, giving Lauren a small smile before heading to the door. "Thanks, Miss."
"Right, munchkin," Lauren said, closing her classroom door and then turning around to the little girl. "You know that your paci for school time."
"Just while I'm here," Camila said with a cheeky grin.
"Alright, c'mon," Lauren said, taking out Camila's changing mat. "How's her morning been?" she asked Miss Epseley once she had given Camila her pacifier.
"It's been good, we had a little wobble in maths but Camila's been working really hard," Miss Epseley smiled.
"Good girl," Lauren praised as Camila lay down on the changing mat. "Can you hold your skirt up for me?"
"Can I s'ay wif ou fow lunch?" Camila lisped around her pacifier.
"You know you can't, baby," Lauren sighed, carefully powdering Camila before tightly taping the fresh diaper up onto her hips.
"Pwease?" Camila asked, sitting up and climbing into Lauren's lap.
"Should we count down how many classes you have left until home time?" Lauren suggested, rocking gently with Camila in her arms. "We have lunch right now, and I'm sure Ava's really looking forward to seeing you, and then you have two classes before Miss Epseley brings you back here to me. See? It's not that long."
"Do you remember what the last two classes of the day are?" Miss Epseley asked with a kind smile.
"Art," Camila murmured, nuzzling into Lauren's chest.
"And you love art, don't you?" Lauren said, rubbing the little girl's back. "I can't wait for you to show me what you made."
"The sooner we go to lunch, the sooner you can go out to the playground," Miss Epseley smiled, reaching out for Camila's hand as Lauren stood her up.
"I'll see you soon, angel," Lauren smiled as Camila gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Bye, mama," Camila waved as she left.
The cafeteria was large and airy, with lots of natural light streaming in as the wall facing the playground was made of glass, allowing teachers to supervise while eating their lunch.
"Take your tray," Miss Epseley prompted as they stood in the queue.
Part of Camila's learning objectives was to be able to do things more independently and so Miss Epseley was always advised to prompt Camila to do a task rather than do it for her.
"Hi, Camila," the lunch lady, Rose, beamed. "What do you want for lunch?"
"Milk, please," Camila said, pointing at a tetra packet of plain milk.
"You need some food too," Miss Epseley reminded her. "If you don't choose I'll choose for you."
"Thank you!" Camila smiled broadly, taking the packet of milk Rose handed to her, skipping off to find her friends.
"Sorry," Miss Epseley sighed.
"Not to worry," Rose smiled, scooping some macaroni onto the plate as well as some carrots and orange slices. "Here ya go, did you want me to make you up a plate too?"
"That's okay, I'll come back for some in a minute," Miss Epseley smiled. She walked past the salad bar, knowing it was unlikely Camila would eat any of it, and over to where a group of year ten girls were sitting. "Have any of you girls seen Camila?"
"Yeah, she and Ava are over there," Mia replied, pointing to the glass wall by the playground.
"Why are you girls sitting on the floor?" Miss Epseley walked over and bent down in front of the two girls who were sat cross legged on the floor, one with a tray of food and one with just a box of milk.
"Camila didn't want to sit at the table and I didn't want her to sit alone," Ava explained.
"Okay," Miss Epseley nodded. She knew it was important that break and lunch times Camila was allowed to do things her way because it made her more likely to behave in class, and so she decided not to make the girls move. "Camila, you need to take your lunch next time," she said, putting the tray down. "I'm going to go sit at the teacher's table, will you come and show me your tray before you go to the playground, please?"
"Help, please?" she asked, holding up the milk packet.
"Here you go," she said, pushing the straw through the hole and handing it back. "Have a good lunch, girls."
By the time art had rolled around, Camila had managed to expel most of her energy in a vigorous game of tag and was quietly working on a painting.
"Camila, we're doing self-portraits, not flowers," Miss Epseley said gently. As much as she didn't want to disturb Camila when she was being so quiet and well-behaved, she wasn't doing the right work.
"It's okay," Mr. Mead, the art teacher, said. "Let her carry on with it."
The afternoon went peacefully, as most Thursday afternoons did, with the students working quietly on their art work while the art room was filled with the soft music Mr. Mead always played.
"Camila, we need to start packing up," Miss Epseley eventually said.
"But I'm painting," Camila pouted.
"But you'll get to see your Mama, remember?" Miss Epseley reminded her.
Camila perked up, remembering she would get to see Lauren, and let Miss Epseley take off her apron and lead her over to the sink, helping her wash the paint off of her hands.
"Cammie, do you want to have a sleepover at my house this weekend?" Ava asked eagerly.
"Mm, I don't know," Camila murmured, biting her nails anxiously. "I'll ask Mummy but she might say no."
"Okay," Ava smiled as they walked out of the art room.
Once they had gotten back to the classroom, the rest of the students grabbed their coats and bags and said goodbye to Mrs. Williams before heading out to the front of the school where students tended to hang out for a little while after school, some waiting for older siblings or for afternoon clubs to start and others just talking to their friends.
"I need to talk to your Mama quickly," Miss. Epseley explained as they walked down the corridor to Lauren's classroom.
"But I was good," Camila said, cocking her head to the side in confusion.
"Of course you were, it's nothing important," Miss Epseley reassured her as they came came to a halt outside Lauren's door. Miss Epseley knocked on the door before opening it quietly, greeting Lauren with a smile.
"Hi, Camz," Lauren said quietly, walking over to the door. Camila usually arrived when she was in the middle of a class and had now learned how to behave and keep quiet for the extra 45 minutes while Lauren was teaching. Lauren's students also loved seeing Camila, and Lauren watched out of the corner of her eye as the small girl ran around giving each and every student a high-five.
"I just thought it would be worth asking if the play centre you take Camila to if they can do some occupational therapy with her regarding lunch time, mainly taking her tray and putting food on it," Miss Epseley said after explaining what had happened at lunch. "I know they offer occupational therapy there, and we will be working on it with her in class, I just thought it might help."
"I'll definitely talk to them about it," Lauren nodded before politely thanking Miss Epseley and saying goodbye to her. "Can everyone please work on the essay question on page 113, it should take you till the end of the class but if you finish early then come show me your work, and Maddie, please will you pull a chair up to my desk and work other there for me?"
"Mama?" Camila asked quietly, reaching up for the older girl.
"Do you want to do some colouring or start on your homework?" Lauren asked walked over to her desk, sitting down with Camila in her lap. "I need to help Maddie with her essay so if you need help with your homework then we can do it later."
"Can I watch Peppa on your iPad?" Camila asked, settling back in Lauren's lap.
"Sure," Lauren nodded, pulling out her iPad and the headphones she kept especially for Camila seeing as she thought AirPods would be more damaging for the little girl's ears.
"I literally have no idea what the theme of greed has to do with Hamlet," Maddie groaned.
"Hun, just give me a second," Lauren said, opening youtube on her laptop. "Do you want your paci? Yes? Okay, here you go, baby," she said before turning her attention to Maddie. "Now, I don't believe for a second that you can't find a single example of greed in Hamlet, what do you think Hamlet's uncle's motive was when he killed the king?"
The class went painfully slowly for Lauren, who couldn't quite comprehend how a student could be as oblivious to the nuances of Shakespeare as Maddie was, but quickly for Camila who was sat contently in her Mama's lap watching her favourite pig on Lauren's iPad.
By the time Lauren was dismissing her class, Camila had fallen asleep in her lap.
"C'mon, my little angel," Lauren cooed, bouncing Camila on her hip. "I know, I know," she soothed as Camila whined. "You can have your nap when we get home, I'm just packing up my stuff, sweetheart."
"No," Camila whined tearily, trying to cling onto sleep.
"Babes, I'm just trying to pack up," Lauren explained as she tried to put Camila down.
"I can hold her for you, if you like," Maddie offered.
"Uh, that's o-,"
"Mama!" Camila protested as Lauren put her down.
"Yes please, Maddie, I'll just be a few moments," Lauren said, shooting her a grateful smile as she handed Camila over. "There you go, baby," Lauren said as Camila quietened down in Maddie's arms.
The older girl made quick work of tidying up her desk and packing her bag.
"Thank you, Maddie," she said, taking Camila back. "You can go home now, please remember to get your form signed by your parents, okay?"
"Yes, Miss," Maddie nodded, picking up her own bag.
"Come on, I'll walk you out," Lauren offered, resting her handbag on her shoulder before turning off her classroom light once Maddie had walked out. "Are you doing anything fun this evening?"
"Yeah, Megan's coming over later this evening for dinner," Maddie nodded. "And then we're going to watch all the Harry Potter movies."
"All of them?" Lauren asked with a raised eyebrow. "That would take you all night, probably longer, and I'm sure your parents wouldn't want you doing that on a school night, hmm?"
"They aren't around much," Maddie shrugged.
"What do you mean?" Lauren asked, furrowing her eyebrows and coming to a halt. "Is everything okay at home?"
"Yeah, it's fine," Maddie shrugged, starting to walk again. "What're you doing tonight, Miss?"
"Firstly just getting this one down for a nap," Lauren chuckled, nodding towards the little girl in her arms who was now back asleep again. "Hopefully get to spend some time with my girlfriend."
"You have a girlfriend?" Maddie asked in confusion.
"Listen, as your tutor if you ever need to talk about anything you know where to find me," Lauren said as they approached the school gates. "I know I've got this one at the moment, but I'd be happy to have a quick word with your mum if she's here to pick you up."
"Oh, I'm walking home, Miss. Jauregui, she doesn't have time to pick me up anymore," Maddie explained.
"Uh-,"
"Bye, Miss!" Maddie waved with a smile.
"No, hang on, Maddie," Lauren said, adjusting her hold on Camila. "Have you been walking yourself home from school everyday?"
"Yeah, it's no big deal," Maddie shrugged.
"I know that you live in the same neighbourhood as me, meaning you aren't walking distance from school, especially not when it's getting dark as early as it does in October," Lauren said. "Come on, I'll give you a lift."
"Thanks," Maddie smiled, following Lauren to her car.
"Why's Maddie coming?" Camila asked sleepily as Lauren buckled her into her carseat.
"We're going to drop her home to her Mummy and Daddy," Lauren explained. "Do you have your binkie? Good girl," she smiled before closing the car door and walking around to the driver seat.
"I am okay to walk home on my own," Maddie explained as she watched Lauren fasten her seatbelt.
"I know," Lauren said wit a small smile.
She couldn't know that something was wrong, but a troubled home life would go a long way in explaining Maddie's low academic achievement.
"So, if no one's home then who's going to sign your forms?" Lauren asked as she pulled out of the school parking lot.
"Oh, uh, I'll just leave it out for them," Maddie said nervously.
"Who's going to make you and Megan dinner then?" Lauren asked.
"We're just going to order pizza," Maddie said.
"Right, do you want to choose some music to play?" Lauren asked, sensing that it was a sensitive topic that Maddie didn't want to be questioned on anymore.
She glanced back at Camila in the rear view mirror, smiling slightly at the sleepy girl who was only just awake, suckling lazily on her pacifier.
It had been a long day, and it was time to get home.
***
Let me know what you want to see next! Xxx