Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story


- Text Size +

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


SEPTEMBER 1992: PICTURE DAY

"Aurora Jolie don't go tugging at your dress like that" Jacquelyn Campbell scolded her daughter gently at breakfast "you want to get it messed up for picture day?"

"Yeah Rory you look as pretty as a picture"

The boys giggled at how annoyed and uncomfortable their little sister was

"Alright boys don't tease your sister" Victor Campbell said, "your mother's right Rory it's just for one day---"

"But Daddy I have to wear this dress all day" five-year-old Aurora said "it's not Sunday"

"C'mon now Rory" Victor tried to explain to her "you want to look pretty for picture day don't you? Your brothers are dressed up too"

Aurora still stubbornly pushed around her lukewarm oatmeal with her spoon and Jacquelyn knew her daughter wasn't pleased at all. She had managed to get the little girl to sit still long enough to braid her hair and put bright yellow ribbons in it to match her orange and yellow sundress.

Jacquelyn was praying that Aurora would come home from school without a smudge of dirt, juice, or grease on her and not a hair would be out of place. In a few weeks time she'd get some lovely school pictures from all four of her children.

Aurora was their youngest child and only daughter after three boys so their household wasn't exactly the most feminine. Even while pregnant her husband Victor joked with the luck they had it was probably another boy so Aurora was definitely a surprise.

Her first name literally meant dawn while her middle name Jolie meant pretty such a perfect flowery name for a little girl. In other words her full name literally meant "pretty dawn" At the same time it was a very ironic name.

Aurora Jolie Campbell was a tomboy.

Jacquelyn supposed it was going to be inevitable with having three older brothers who loved her very much. At five years old it really wasn't much of a concern right now but she often wondered how her daughter's future would turn out because of it.

Victor told Jacquelyn not worry about it so much in fact he joked about having a fourth son all the time. The nickname he lovingly gave his daughter stuck like clue since she started to learn to talk and her brothers used it as well.

Whenever Aurora was called by her full name she'd scrunch her little nose up and say "Call me Rory!"

So she was Rory most if not all the time and Jacquelyn figured the more boyish her nickname was the more she liked it.

Not everyone in their family was kind to their little girl though. For Aurora's fifth birthday back in April two of her aunts got her Malibu Barbie dolls along with a workout tape to go along with it.

Aurora took no interest in the silly plastic dolls instead she loved the Michelangelo Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure that her uncle gave her instead. Jacquelyn tried to explain to her sisters that Aurora didn't like Barbies but appreciated the thought.

"Little dyke" one of the aunts spat, as they stood outside for a cigarette "what little girl doesn't like Barbie That's a black Barbie too you know how much them things cost?"

"You could be right about the dyke part with the way she going Jackie going to be having her come out the closet one of these days" the other aunt said "shit she probably likes girls now"

Jacquelyn didn't need her sisters' nasty attitude around her daughter or any of her children for that matter. Needless to say they hadn't been over ever since.

"Alright now the bus will be here in a few minutes" Victor said "you kids start making your way outside"

"Victor" Jacquelyn kissed her oldest son as he made his way out the door

"Alright Mom" he laughed "I'm in seventh grade"

"Calvin" she kissed her second son who was two years younger than Victor Jr

"Maurice" the eight-year-old got a kiss too much to his dismay

Aurora quickly grabbed her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle book bag which looked like an oxymoron with the dress that her mother made her wear today hoping she could slip out the door too.

"Aurora come here young lady" her mother said before she could follow her brothers out the door.

Jacquelyn kneeled down to meet her daughter's eyes at her level and was amused by the little pout that she had.

"Mommy I don't like it when you call me Aurora" she said, "I like Rory"

"Well" her mother said "that's what your daddy and I named you Rory is just a nickname your full name is Aurora"

"Oh sweetie don't be that way" Jacquelyn smiled "you look so pretty today---"

"I don't want to look pretty though"

"You know some day you're going to care about looking pretty"

"Not me"

Jacquelyn decided to let that go for now and said "Can you try to stay pretty for Mommy today?"

"Yes Mommy"

"Good girl that's all I'm asking"

 

Miss Penny recounted her students for what seemed like the billionth time now it was time for their class to take pictures. First the class was going to take single portraits and then there was going to be a large class photo of all of them together.

However rangaling up a group of rambunctious five and six-year-old kindergarteners weren't always easy. Of course she also had some students that needed to be reminded to keep in line.

"Aurora"

The little girl didn't hear her name at first she was too busy showing her best friends her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure.

"That's so cool Rory" Sean Sullivan said "I don't have Michelangelo yet I'm getting him for my birthday though"

"Aurora"

"We could play with him at recess" their other friend Luther Jenkins said

"Aurora"

The three of them laughed agreeing that it was going to be fun when suddenly a hand came between all of them and took Raphael away.

"Aurora" Miss Penny said "didn't you hear me calling you?"

"Sorry Miss Penny"

"You can have this back at the end of the day" her teacher said "and the girls line is over there"

Aurora looked over to where her teacher was pointing and saw the other girls laughing at her.

"Yes Miss Penny"

Sean and Luther looked just as equally upset to see Aurora go over to the girls' line where she belonged. Sometimes they forgot that she was a girl most of the time because she acted so much like a boy.

Aurora walked along the line of to the end and her female peers snickered at her.

"Do you think you're a boy or something?" Sarah Sullivan who was Sean's twin sister teased which caused the other little girls to laugh.

"Settle down class" Miss Penny said "the sooner your pictures are taken the sooner you can go to recess"

 

Since Miss Penny had taken away Aurora's Michelangelo action figure the three friends decided to play in the sandbox for recess. However Aurora then remembered her promise to her mother about staying pretty for picture day.

"I told my mommy I wouldn't get dirty on picture day"

"But we already took pictures" Luther pointed out

"Yeah" Sean said, "come on Rory"

Her friends did have a point plus Aurora didn't recall her mother saying she couldn't play at recess or have fun. Climbing into the sandbox she took a shovel and joined them.

It didn't take long for Aurora's dress to get dirty as the three of them started to get busy in the sand to build a castle before recess was over.

"Tomorrow I won't have to wear a silly old dress," she said and Sean laughed

"You should have been a boy Rory you're the only girl I know who doesn't like dresses"

"They're awful" her little face scrunched up in disgust "you can't even get on the swings with them and you have to always keep your legs crossed"

"Glad I'm not a girl then" Luther said as he put another shovelful of sand on the castle they were building.

Sarah and some of the other little girls were walking by the sandbox on their way to play hopscotch. They were all admiring Sarah's pretty pink dress and curly auburn curls.

"You'll probably have the prettiest picture Sarah"

"I know who will have the ugliest picture," she said and Aurora knew she was talking about her. Sean was her best friend but she couldn't stand his stuck up mean twin sister; she often wondered how they were twins in the first place.

"Go away Sarah" Sean said defending Aurora

"She will though" Sarah said "just because she has on a dress today doesn't mean she's pretty she isn't pretty at all"

The other girls laughed and teased Aurora and she could feel herself very angry. Why couldn't she just be herself without being called ugly or a tomboy? She was simply a girl who happened to like things geared towards boys.

Why was being pretty so heavily associated with girls anyway? Aurora didn't really care if she was pretty or not but she didn't like being mocked for it.

Aurora took a handful of sand and threw it at Sarah who shrieked in disgust

"My dress!" she cried "look what you did to my dress---"

Sarah didn't get a chance to finish her sentence when Aurora pounced on her and started throwing fists and the two of them started fighting. Needless to say Aurora was sent home on the bus with her brothers and a notepaper clipped to her book bag.

 

"I am so sorry Mrs. Sullivan" Jacquelyn apologized for what seemed like the billionth time now. She was very disappointed with her daughter for not only coming home dirty and messy on picture day but also getting in a fight with her classmate.

Jacquelyn saw Aurora roll her eyes as she moved around noodles of spaghetti on her plate; even though she was on the phone she still gave her daughter a warning look.

"It's fine Mrs. Campbell" Carol said from the other line "from what my son is saying Sarah was egging her on I've been trying to tell my husband that he's spoiling her don't feel bad she usually gets away with murder"

"Still my daughter shouldn't have reacted the way she did" Jacquelyn said as she pinched Aurora on the shoulder for trying to feed the family dog her broccoli.

Aurora could hear Sarah through the phone crying about the sand and how she got her butt whooped and she smirked. What a baby.

"I can assure you Mrs. Sullivan I don't raise any of my children to be that way and Aurora knows better"

"Please call me Carol" she insisted "if anything your daughter taught mine to put her money where her mouth is. Not a lot of girls know how to stand up for themselves Mrs. Campbell you should proud your daughter does"

"Well I can assure you that her father and I will have a stern talk with her" Jacquelyn said "good evening to you too Mrs. Sullivan"

Hanging up the phone Jacquelyn turned her attention over to her five year old who grinned sheepishly at her.

"You know you're in trouble right?" she said "didn't I ask you to stay neat and pretty and be good today?"

"But Mommy I stayed nice for the pictures though"

"That's not the point for just one day I simply asked you not to get messy" her mother said "if your brothers can do that you should be able to do it too"

Aurora rolled her eyes

"Aurora Jolie don't you roll your eyes at me again or I'll give you something to roll your eyes about"

"Yes Mommy"

"I just got off the phone with Sean and Sarah's mother what you did today was uncalled for---"

"But Mommy she started it" she argued, "Sarah gets on my nerves and she did on purpose"

"Now Rory your mother has a point" Victor said "if you had been your brother Victor Junior's age you would have gotten a suspension"

"Yes Daddy"

"Alright now Miss Missy no TV for the weekend---"

"But Mommy the new episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comes on Saturday morning" she said, "Miss Penny already took away my Michelangelo"

"Serves you right" her mother said "you should have thought about that before you punched Sarah and I've already told you about sneaking your toys to school"

"But what am I going to do on Saturday?"

"You're coming with me while I run my errands"

"That's boring though"

"Hey now look at me Rory" Victor said gently "you know your mother and I still love you right?"

"I know Daddy"

"Give me a kiss"

Aurora kissed Victor's cheek and he in return gave her a raspberry kiss on her cheek causing her to giggle.

"Go get ready for your bath" Jacquelyn said "it will be time for bed soon"

"Yes Mommy"

As soon as their daughter was out of earshot Victor chuckled and Jacquelyn rolled her eyes at how soft her was about Aurora and shook her head smirking.

"You think she hit her with the one two?"

"Victor!"

"What?" he said, "I don't raise any of my kids to be punks"

"You know what?" Jacquelyn said, "that's your daughter otherwise known as your unofficial fourth son"

"That she is" he chuckled "and she's yours too"

"After pushing for almost eighteen hours you're damn right she is"

 

When Aurora got to school the next day she felt a little better since her mother allowed her to wear her regular jeans and t-shirt with her light fall jacket.

As she made her way to her cubby Sarah saw her and stuck her nose up at her.

Aurora rolled her eyes as Sarah went to her assigned table with the crayons she needed to do the activity that Miss Penny assigned. Sarah wasn't even being punished and she was still mad at her.

"Rory!" Sean called Aurora over to their table "look Luther got a new Ninja Turtles coloring book!"

"Cool!"

Luther tore out a page for Aurora to color and to her delight it was a page of Michelangelo eating a slice of pizza.

"My mommy said that I have to tell you and Sarah that I'm sorry but I'm not," she said frankly scribbling a green crayon on the turtle

"Aw that's okay" Sean brushed it off as he took a crayon too "I know she's my sister but Sarah is a crybaby about a lot of things she'll be okay"

"It was funny how Sarah got mad though" Luther chuckled "she looked like Angelica from Rugrats"

The three little kids laughed. Even if none of the other girls in her class understood her at least Aurora had Sean and Luther who did. And they were her very best friends too.

 

 

 

 






Chapter End Notes:

I KNOW YOU'RE ALL WONDERING WHERE LUTHER JENKINS IS IN PRESENT DAY.

I'LL GET TO THAT EVENTUALLY IN THE MEAN TIME SHOULD LUTHER BE WHITE OR BLACK?

I'M SEEING HIM AS BLACK BECAUSE OF HIS LAST NAME AND THE STORY LINE THAT I'M THINKING OF FOR HIM.







Enter the security code shown below:
Note: You may submit either a rating or a review or both.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.