Trigger Warning: Homophobia

Peggy

Technically I didn't have to go to school for the next week as I was on sick leave so attended Maria's classes with her, I took care of Susan when she cried and I made sure we sat with my friends during her last two classes as she shared them with James. Maria and I held hands already and it made me grin so wide and we had moved her stuff from her dorm into George's as I was afraid James would hurt her if given a chance, well, to be real I didn't think it, I absolutely know he would.

Maria's school day was actually really boring, she wanted to be a teacher and I was all for it but that means her only interesting class are the two right after lunch where she goes to an elementary school and is a student teacher. Actually, her first class is with fifth graders and her second is with kindergartners. Maria had checked with the teacher and it was alright for me to tag along.

Currently, we were in the fifth-grade class, Maria had her own little desk so I borrowed a chair from the computer lab and Maria pushed it with me in it all the way to her desk in the classroom. It was fun. We sat behind the desk together with Susan on a filing cabinet at head length to me when I sat, in her baby carrier obviously.

I kicked my legs in boredom as ten-year-olds walked in and took their assigned seats. I poked Maria and asked each of their names and she quickly told me with a smile. Today was special because for a special lesson just for today, Maria and I got to just talk about love equality for all!

The teacher, Mrs Darcy, gathered everybody's attention as she walked to the front of the room, "You all know Miss Lewis, right?" She asked and gestured to Maria who grinned widely and some of them even said hi. It made me really happy to know she got along with these kids, she was enjoying being a teacher, "Well." Mrs Darcy said to get their attention again before continuing, "She's brought a guest with her as you can see. I'll let them do the rest of the teaching for today so please give your undivided attention to Miss Lewis and her guest, I'll be watching you." With that Mrs Darcy went back to her seat, her hair bobbing in its neat bun as she typed into her computer.

Maria took my hand and motioned with her head before I understood and followed her to the front of the classroom. I waved shyly at the students but only a few of them waved back which made me feel worse and far more nervous but Maria only beamed brighter, "Hello class. Please say hello to Miss Schuyler." She said.

Almost instantly the entire class became a chorus of, "Hello Miss Schuyler; Good afternoon Miss Schuyler; Hi!; You look pretty Miss Schuyler." Among many others.

I stared at Maria and whispered so they wouldn't hear, "You have complete control over these children." Then I turned back to the kids to give myself a quick introduction, "Hello kids. My name is Peggy and I know at school you call grown-ups like Miss Lewis and Mrs Darcy Miss and Mrs but I would prefer if you call me Peggy instead. Okay?" I smiled and the children all gave me something to let me know they would call me by my name, "I'm sixteen and...my favorite color is yellow! I have two sisters and I'm gonna stop there..." I blushed slightly and felt like hiding behind Maria, how was she so confident?!

Maria giggled and spoke up next, "Can anybody guess what Peggy is to me? If you get it right you get this blue jolly rancher." With that she took the candy from her pocket, "But you have to raise your hands! If you shout out answers you won't get it." She added quickly.

Hands flew into the air and Maria picked on a blonde girl with bright green eyes, "Is she your sister? You look alike like me and my sister."

"Nope," Maria said kindly and looked at and I shrugged; they were kids, they came up with weird explanations for everything.

I got to pick on the next kid which, let me tell you, is the most anxiety-inducing choice ever. The boy I picked blurted out, "Miss Lewis is your mom!"

Maria gasped instantly, "I do not look old enough to be the mother of a sixteen-year-old!" She argued quickly, glancing at Susan self-consciously.

I took her hand and she smiled briefly at me, "Oh I know!" A boy with shoulder length brown hair and a black hoodie yelled, holding his hand up so high it must have been painful so out of pity I picked on him, "She's your wife!"

"Close enough!" Maria declared and gave the boy the candy as the classroom descended into chaos. Maria squeezed my hand and I leaned into her slightly as she gained control over the classroom with a single stare. When they were quiet once more Maria began to talk again, "Peggy Schuyler is my girlfriend and that's what we're going to be talking about today, people dating and marrying people of the same gender." She said.

I nodded while knowing a blush was forming on my face, "Have you heard about it before?" I asked the classroom, "Adults might call people like us gay, lesbian, or homosexual. Raise your hand if you've heard those words before."

Far more children than I expected raised their hand, "Good." Maria said and grabbed a piece of paper off of a bookshelf, "Now keep your hand up if you were told it was wrong and put your hand down if you weren't." She told them.

"I have a question," A blonde girl with a chip in her front tooth said, her blue eyes almost sparkling. Maria nodded to her to let her know it was her turn to talk so she did, "My daddy called two boys kissing fags before. What does that mean?"

Maria looked absolutely shocked and turned to me for help. I smiled sadly at the girl, "You should never ever say that evil, mean word. You didn't know so it's okay this once but from now on all of you should know that word is one of the vilest in existence. It's meant to make girls who like girls and boys who like boys feel bad when they shouldn't." I was trying to explain it but I knew I was slipping into words at points they might not understand, "It's a bully word."

Maria nodded, "Exactly. If you like boys or girls no matter if you're a boy or girl, it's normal. One of my friends, her name is Jane, she likes a boy named Thomas and that's okay." She explained and walked back over to me.

"And I like Miss Lewis, a girl, and that's okay," I said and took Maria's hand, absolutely ready to give these kids the best lesson on the gay ever.