246 11 Acceptance

"Rick?" A small voice called across the room. "What's up Maru?" Rick answered, not picking up his head. The girl walked over to the kitchenette where he was sitting reading the newspaper. "I'm hungry." Maru whined. Rick nodded his head, flipping a page of the paper. He then quickly looked up. "You haven't eaten?" Maru nodded sadly. Rick chuckled nervously. "C'mon, we'll go grab something from the diner." Maru's eyes suddenly lit up. "Can I get a cheesecake!?" She shouted excitedly. Before Rick could answer the girl ran to go put her shoes on. Rick let out a sigh.

"I told you to hold my hand while we cross the street Maru!" Rick scolded the girl. Maru smiled sheepishly and gripped his hand. Rick bit his lip as to not let out a noise of pain. The girl could not, for the life of her control her strength. Even when doing simple things such as holding someone's hand. Whether it be Rick, Sena, or whoever, it takes a lot for the victim of her touch not to wince in pain. And if sound of pain slips, no one has the heart to tell the girl.

"We're here!" The girl pointed at the sign excitedly. Rick sighed in relief as he cracked his wrist.

"Oh good morning Rick, Maru!" The waitress smiled at the two. "Morning Bonnie." Rick gave a smile, while removing Maru's hat as the girl waved. "What can I do for y'all this morning?" Rick skimmed the menu for a second, as he opened his mouth to answer, Maru nudged him with her head. "What's up kiddo?" Maru whispered, "may I please get the cheesecake?" Rick chuckled. "Yeah, sure." Maru beamed. "Sorry Bonnie, could I get the French toast, and a coffee, please?" Bonnie nodded. "Mhm!" Bonnie turned to Maru. Rick, knowing by now Maru liked him to order for her looked up sheepishly. "She'll get a slice of cheesecake, and a gla.s.s of chocolate milk, please." Bonnie smiled. "Ok, sounds great!" She smiled, walking away. Rick then turned his attention toward Maru who was busy coloring. "Wow kiddo, the professionals would be jealous of your coloring skills!" Maru quickly looked up, blushing. "Really!?" She questioned eagerly. "Mm!" Rick smiled, patting her head.

"Here y'all go, enjoy!" Bonnie smiled as she placed the food down. "Thanks, Bonnie." Rick smiled. Maru quickly lifted her fork, and took a bite of her cheesecake eagerly. Rick couldn't help but laugh. "How is it kiddo?" He asked as he picked up a napkin to wipe her face full of crumbs. Maru nodded her head happily. As rick was about to take a bite of his breakfast, a man came hesitantly over. "Excuse me?" Rick put his fork down. "Hi." Rick tried to hide the confusion in his voice. "I'm with the school board of this town, you're not Rick Summers by chance, are you?" Rick felt a flutter in his chest. "Yeah, that's me!" He smiled up. "Ah, fantastic, allow me to properly introduce myself, my name is Jeff Davis." The man extended his hand. Rick quickly stood up to shake the mans hand. "A pleasure to meet you, sir." Rick smiled. "Sorry to interrupt your breakfast with your daddy, sweetheart." The man smiled down at Maru. Maru, who was to busy eating her breakfast looked up confused. "Ah, anyway we had problems with our phone systems for the past few days." The man then looked Rick in the eyes. "We'd like to invite you to be Wildwood Elementary's new science teacher." He smiled. Rick tried his best to suppress his gasp. "I would love to." Rick quickly stammered. "I mean, yes that sounds great." He said trying to catch himself. The man let out a hardy laugh. "Fantastic, we'd love to have you start next Monday then." Rick beamed. "Thank you sir, sounds great!" The men shook hands again, quickly, then Jeff walked away. Maru swallowed her last piece of cheesecake as Rick sat back down. He ruffled her hair happily.