Once summer was over, Danny and Mae started at the local elementary school. Danny had gone to school in Russia and it seemed most of the kids just didn't like her. But nonetheless, the two girls stood smiling in front of the small tree in their front yard for first day photos.

Two individual ones, one together. They then got on the bus and bounced along the road to school. Georgia, Aurora and Kate all rode her bus so they sat near them. She was just upset they weren't in her class. Mae took a seat next to Kate while Danny sat in the seat with Georgia and Aurora.

Danny had met her teacher a week earlier at orientation and Mrs.Harrington seemed nice. Georgia had her for a teacher and they had given good reviews so Danny was excited. She walked down the second grade hall and walked in the classroom. It was a small classroom, decorated with cats and frogs on the wall. 

She took her seat and looked at her name tag. 

Harley, it read. It wasn't her name. The class started up and Mrs.Harrington asked if anyone had any questions and Danny raised her hand. "Why doesn't mine say Danny?" She asked. "Well, because you're name is Harley. At least that's what it says on my roster." Mrs.Harrington smiled. "Why Danny?"

"My middle name is Daniella so everyone calls me Danny." The brunette tilted her head. "Oh, okay. I can fix that up for you." She wrote something down on her clipboard and looked back up at the room. "Now, we're gonna go through some icebreakers in alphabetical order of last name. Starting with Adaway."

When it got to Danny, she stood up. "Hi, my name is Danny and my favorite color is blue." She smiled before sitting back down. She'd always been a social person but her being a little too social is what put people off, she assumed as a teenager. She turned to the girl next to her. They had bright red hair. "Vee?" The teacher called out and she stood up. "Hi, my name's Lena and I have two cats named Cookie and Cream." She sat back down.

"Woah, I've always wanted a cat." Danny said to Lena. Lena merely glanced at her. That wasn't exactly true; she'd always wanted a dog but a cat was a good second.

During recess, a girl came up behind Danny and pushed her off the swing. "Ow!" She yelled, quickly standing back up. Her elbow was bleeding. "It's my turn." Lena and the girl she was pretty sure was name Alexis stuck their tongues out at her. "But I just got on!" The brunette stamped her foot on the ground. "Well, it's our turn now!" Alexis shouted. "I'm telling!" With that, Danny ran off to Mrs.Harrington.

"Mrs.Harrington! Lena and Alexis pushed me off the swing and now my elbows bleeding!" She ran up to the woman, tugging on her skirt, close to tears. "Okay, let's go over there together. I'll get you a band aid when we go inside." She smiled and walked with the seven year old to go talk to the girls. 

"Lena, Alexis, Danny here told me you guys pushed her off the swing. Is this true?" The blonde woman cocked her head to the side. "No, it's not." Lena shook her head. "Are you sure? Because her elbow is bleeding and I think if she had just fallen off, she would've just told me that." Mrs.Harrington pressed on.

The girls stopped swinging. Alexis dejectedly looked at the ground and Lena crossed her arms and let out a humph. Alexis nodded.

"Thank you for being honest with me, Alexis. Lena?" The teacher looked at the redhead who kept quiet.

"Alright, then. You're gonna be in time out until you're honest with me." 

Lena wasted no time throwing herself on the ground and sobbing like Mae had in that grocery store in mid-July.

After school, Danny stepped off the bus and up to her house. Varvara was setting a bag from the Delaney's liquor store on the table. She'd gotten the 'sorry your sister died in a fire' discount from Hector.

"How'd school go, girls?" She asked. "Great!" Mae smiled. "I have a best friend now! Her name is Paige! And her last name is Porter! She has a really cool last name!" Mae set down her bag on one of the chairs and then walked away to go get a snack. 

"What about you, Danny? Did you make any friends?" Varvara sat at the table. "Not today. A girl pushed me off the swing and made me scrape my elbow." She lifted her arm up and showed her mother the pink band aid. "Oh no." The blonde woman sighed. "Okay, but mark my words, Danny, by the end of this week you'll have so many friends, you won't know what to with them." She smiled and Danny smiled back. "Yeah!" 

Mae came back with two bags of chips and offered one to Danny. She took it and sat at the table with her mother and sister. They soon heard the door open and close. Sergey walked in the door. 

"How are my girls doing?" He smiled, setting his keys on the counter. "We're doing good. How'd the interview go?" Varvara needed an answer to this question; it's kind of why they were here. 

"Well, you're looking at the newest worker at the Graymont Government Facility." He gave a large smile. "Perfect." She turned her attention back to the girls. "Danny, Mae, why don't you tell daddy about your day?" It only took a few seconds before Mae was babbling off.

*too lazy to proofread*