Chapter 10
It was early the next morning, just after dawn.
Julia took Joseph and Stephen to enrol at the prestigious private kindergarten, which Caroline had said would be difficult for the average child to get into.
She didn't want to delay her time and work, so she moved quickly.
Once they were in the kindergarten, Julia felt more confident in her decision to enrol Joseph and Stephen in this school. Since this kindergarten was not only picky about the students who enrolled, but also about their parents, this was a safeguard for the students who attended this school.
Julia arrived at the headmaster's office with all the necessary documents. The headmaster reviewed all the documents efficiently and thoroughly and successfully admitted Joseph and Stephen.
The headmaster said, ‘Ms Kennedy, you may sign here.’
Julia signed her name and a kind-faced teacher came and took Joseph and Stephen away. The teacher seemed to take an immediate liking to them. Simply because they were not only good looking, but well behaved, the kind of children that others would like at first sight.
The teacher said to them gently, ‘In a few moments, I'll take you to your classroom to get to know the other children who are with you, okay?’
Joseph tried to squeeze out a smile and replied, ‘Okay.’
Joseph and Stephen had grown up with their mum at the Institute, so they were used to constantly meeting new people and adapting quickly to the people and things in their heart's environment.
As they arrived in the classroom, the teacher clapped her hands to get the attention of the distracted children. ‘Children, today we have two new students. From now on you have to be friendly with them let's give them a warm welcome!’
The children responded enthusiastically, followed by loud applause.
Joseph and Stephen confidently introduced themselves. After the introductions, Stephen took Joseph's arm and whispered, ‘Joseph, guess what? Our half-sister Tiffany is in this class!’
Joseph looked in the direction Stephen was pointing, and sure enough. Tiffany was looking at them as well, a hint of excitement in her eyes.
Although Tiffany didn't know why Joseph and Stephen were here, she was sincerely happy to see them.
At that moment, the teacher seated Joseph and Stephen right next to Tiffany. As they sat down, Tiffany's beautiful eyes stayed fixed on them, but Joseph and Stephen didn't recognise her.
Tiffany thought they didn't recognise her and lowered her head in disappointment. Joseph and Stephen noticed her sadness but didn't try to soothe it.
‘She's our bad father's child by another woman. We can't talk to her or we are betraying our mum who's tummy worked so hard to give birth to us and take care of us.’ Joseph said.
Stephen nodded in agreement. ‘Yeah, we can't betray our mum.’
They didn't say a word to Tiffany the entire class. After class, a group of kids, most of them girls, gathered around Joseph and Stephen. Some invited them to play house, assigning the roles of mum and dad. Some invited them to play games with them, wanting to be friends.
Joseph and Stephen were courteous and kind to their classmates. Seeing how much fun they were having, Tiffany wanted to join in. She stood up, but was suddenly pushed from behind and fell to the ground.
Tiffany saw the person who pushed her.
‘You're so annoying! Why are you everywhere? Can you please stay away from me? My parents say dumbness is contagious!’ A girl shouted with a disgusted look on her face.
‘Really?’ Another child asked.
‘Of course it's true! My parents wouldn't lie to me. Being dumb is contagious!’ The girl insisted, the look of disgust on her face deepening.
As a result of her words, the uninformed children were convinced that mutes were contagious. As a result, everyone stayed away from Tiffany. No one helped her up, but instead laughed at her.
Tiffany tried to get up by grabbing the chair next to her, but someone moved it on purpose, causing her to fall again.
Tiffany sat down on the floor, her eyes red from crying, and feeling a great deal of pain.
However, her pain did not make them sympathise with pity or feel that they had done something wrong. No one was willing to help; instead, they continued to mock her.
Tiffany sniffled and slowly stood up alone through the pain. She returned to her seat, took a small notebook out of her backpack, and began to write. She usually communicated by writing, but now no one was paying attention to her.
Tiffany quickly finished writing and flipped to the page that said ‘Apologise’ and showed it to Chloe Green, the girl who had tripped her.
‘Why should I apologise? It's not like I said anything wrong. You're so annoying. I see you owe me a punch.’ Chloe said, raising her hand to hit Tiffany.
Tiffany stubbornly held up her notebook, which only made Chloe angrier. Chloe then slapped Tiffany hard across the face.
Joseph and Stephen couldn't hold back any longer. Why was Chloe always bullying Tiffany? Tiffany was different and deserved more love.
‘Why do you always bully her? It's so rude!’ Joseph said, pulling Tiffany behind him.
Steph stepped forward. ‘Yeah, you just pushed her and now you're hitting her! You should apologise!’
Chloe was taken aback by their chastisement, she looked around for support but found no one to back her up.
‘I ...... I didn't!’ Chloe stammered, her face turning red as if she was about to cry.
Seeing this, Stephen took a deep breath and approached Chloe. ‘Apologise to her so we can keep playing. Otherwise, you'll be a bad boy and no one will want to play with you. Do you want to play with us?’
Chloe lowered her head and mumbled, ‘Yes.’
‘Then apologise. We can still be friends.’ Stephen said gently, making Chloe less afraid.
After a moment of hesitation, Chloe apologised, ‘I'm sorry I hit you. I didn't want to be a bad boy. Can you forgive me?’
Tiffany nodded.
Stephen put Tiffany's hand on Chloe's. ‘Chloe isn't a bad boy anymore. We're all friends.’
The kids wouldn't hold a grudge for long. Soon they were playing together again.
Joseph however was worried about Tiffany ‘Are you hurt?’
Tiffany shook her head and hid her hands behind her back.
Joseph didn't understand. Why was she denying it when she was obviously hurt?
‘Let me see your hand,’ he said.
Tiffany shook her head again.
Joseph gently took her hand from behind her back. Her skin was delicate, and the abrasions were blindingly red.
‘Doesn't it hurt?’ He asked with concern.