After the uniform distribution had ended surprisingly well.
Alina glanced at the class schedule tucked between her fingers. Her lips twitched. First period: Literature. She had hoped to warm the kids up with something simple, like coloring or gentle physical playtime.
Alina sighed softly as she stood up and walked to the front of the room, watching as tiny heads turned to look at her. Some were curious. Some distracted. One of them (Boo) had already begun whispering dramatic theories to his pencil.
She cleared her throat gently and smiled. "Alright, everyone… it's story time." Her voice was warm but calm, carrying a gentle excitement she didn't quite feel yet. She glanced at the bookshelf near the corner of the classroom, full of both magical and non-magical titles. For a moment, she thought of picking something safe, simple… but then she noticed little Kelpie adjusting his seat quietly, Lucian flipping the page of his notebook without looking up, and Luna narrowing her eyes like she was judging the quality of whatever tale Alina dared to tell.
"It would've been much easier if this was the last class," she thought dryly. But orders were orders. This was her schedule and she was their teacher. So, she picked a book, took a breath, and smiled again. "Today, I'll tell you a story about a very brave little girl… who tricked a mountain witch and saved her forest."
Alina opened the book and began reading softly, her voice gentle and full of warmth. "Once upon a time, in the valley of frost, there lived a brave little girl who—"
Before she could finish the sentence, she noticed it.
Silence.
But not the good kind.
Boo was spinning his pencil in midair. Drake was picking at a thread on his sleeve. Luna had already laid her head on her desk with her arms crossed. Rocky was chewing his sleeve again. Even little Sable had blinked three times and gone still—his version of bored. Kelpie, meanwhile, seemed busy in his own small world.
And worst of all, Lucian looked mildly annoyed.
Which, for Lucian, might as well have been throwing a tantrum.
Even Felix, sitting at the back didn't raise his eyes.
Alina paused for a second, closing the book gently.
Her mind raced.
So this story had been told before. Maybe even a dozen times by their previous teacher.
She glanced at their faces again, and then smiled to herself.
Well, if they're supernatural children…
Why not give them something they've never heard before?
She stood up straighter, stepped away from the chair, and cleared her throat.
"Actually," she said softly, "let me tell you a different story.
One that you've probably never heard.
A human story."
That got Boo to blink.
She saw Kelpie pause mid-doodle.
Even Rocky looked up nervously, as if wondering if the human story had rocks in it too.
Alina didn't open the book this time. She walked gently across the room and began telling the story with her hands, her voice slow and full of feeling.
"It happened in a big city… where people lived in tall glass buildings, and the only magic was the kind that lived in music and light. But there was one little girl who believed monsters were real—until one day, she found one… living right under her bed."
Drake sat up straight.
Sable's hand paused over his desk.
"And this monster wasn't scary. He was lonely. He didn't want to scare children—he wanted a lo…."
Luna turned her head toward Alina, her golden-brown eyes narrowing with curiosity.
Vlad Jr. tilted his head, resting his chin on his tiny hand like a prince who had just been charmed.
Lucian… looked up.
Alina saw it.
A blink. A twitch of interest.
She smiled inside.
She kept going, her voice rising and falling with rhythm and suspense, adding mystery, soft humor, even a tiny gasp moment when the girl followed the monster into his secret world.
And then—
Ding ding!
The bell rang for the next period.
All heads turned toward the door with collective disappointment.
Alina shut her eyes for a second and smiled softly.
She closed her hands gently behind her back and said in a low, sweet voice—
"The next part... I'll tell you next time."
There was a pause. Boo gasped.
"A cliffhanger?! You're evil!"
Luna scoffed. "Tch. Cheater…"
Drake whined, "But teacher! What if I forget what happened!"
Alina chuckled, walking toward the desk again.
"That's why you must remember it with your heart."
And somewhere in the back corner, Felix lowered his eyes to his desk..his lips curled into the tiniest smirk.
After the story period ended reluctantly with small groans and pouting lips—Alina gave the class a gentle reminder: "Next class is math, sweethearts. Time to get smart!"
Drake groaned dramatically and laid his head on the desk. Boo pretended to faint. Luna narrowed her eyes like the word "math" personally offended her. And Rocky simply stared at her with panic blooming in his big, soft eyes.
Still smiling, Alina pulled out the little worksheets she had stayed up late designing.
Nothing too hard—just basic number matching. A row of neat numbers was printed on the left, and the babies had to copy the next number beside them. Simple. Gentle. Just enough to make them feel confident.
She handed the pages out one by one and then spent the next thirty minutes walking them through the basics—writing numbers in big, slow strokes on the board, making up silly rhymes to help them remember shapes. Even Boo was trying, though he spent most of the time doodling ghosts in the margins.
When she finally let them begin the worksheets, the room filled with the soft scratch of pencils… and a few quiet grumbles.
She walked around slowly, peeking over their shoulders.
Rocky was holding his pencil like it might explode. Sable was copying numbers with the tiniest possible strokes, his head almost touching the desk. Drake's numbers looked like they'd just returned from battle. And Vlad Jr. had somehow drawn a crown on top of every "1."
Her lips twitched.
They were trying. That was all that mattered.
Then she passed by Lucian.
He was sitting perfectly still, his paper placed squarely in front of him. His tiny hand moved gracefully, his numbers spaced evenly and shaped just right—no smudges, no mistakes. For a toddler, his penmanship was… elegant. Regal, even.
Alina couldn't help the small gasp of surprise. "Lucian… your handwriting is beautiful," she said warmly.
He paused, then gave the slightest, most noble nod like a prince accepting recognition for a royal decree.
She moved on with a soft smile, only to reach Luna, who was glaring up at her like a grumpy little storm cloud.
Without a word, Luna flipped her page around with purpose, shoving it slightly forward, making sure Alina saw it.
Her lips were tight. Her yellow-brown eyes were narrowed. Her pencil was clutched like a sword.
Alina leaned in and looked at the worksheet.
The handwriting… was a disaster.
Some numbers looked like jellybeans. One "3" had legs.
One number somehow had a tail.
And the "5" looked personally insulted to be there.
Alina covered her mouth quickly to hide the giggle that nearly escaped.
Oh my god… It's adorable.
But she straightened up, eyes twinkling, and smiled as brightly as she could.
"Well done, Luna."
Luna blinked at her.
Then narrowed her eyes more.
She realized that teacher tone hadn't matched the one she'd used with Lucian.
Luna's little cheeks puffed. Her lips pursed into an angrier pout.