Dani smiled to herself. It was five minutes to three. Class ended at three. Mom would be here then to pick her up for sidecar-basics class at four. All she had to do was multiplication tables for five more minutes and then she could go. She was very good at her times tables. She was soon to work on division. Right now, she was specifically memorizing the laws of multiplication. The Law of Zero: Anything Multiplied by Zero is Still Zero. The Law of One: Anything Multiplied by One Remains that Number. The Law of Two: Never an… an… an uneven number. The Law of Five: Always Ends in a Zero or Five. The Law of Ten: That Number and a Zero. The Law of Eleven: The Number Itself and Then Itself Again.
There. That seemed to be all of them, and let’s see, that only took two minutes. Three more minutes to go. She would practice her twelves tables. Hmm. 0 times 12 is 0. 1 times 12 is 12. 2 times 12 is 24. 3 times twelve is 36, 4 times 12 is … is … is forty… six, no forty- eight. 5 times 12 is 60. 6 times 12 is seventy… seventy-two. 7 times 12 is 84, 8 times 12 is 96, 9 times twelve is 108! 10 times 12 is 120, 11 times 12 is one hundred and … and thirty… thirty… three, no two. 12 times 12 is 144. BUZZ! BUZZ! How could you call that a bell? But it was the Afternoon Bell, to let everyone know that school was out for the day.
Her teacher listed the homework, and everyone packed their books in their bags. The other kids hurried off to either parent pickup or the buses; Dani herself went to parent pickup to meet Mom. She was so excited.
Mom asked her how her day was and how she did on that test. Her smile immediately fell. Mom was on the ball asking what was wrong. Dani had gotten an 82, and if she hadn’t changed that answer, it would have been a 90. She was disappointed in herself. Mom understood though. These things happened. Sometimes though, we just needed to have confidence in our answers. She wasn’t upset though, which was good.
Mom turned the subject to sidecar-basics class. This was to be her first class. Dani needed to pay completed attention and pass the class. She also needed to use what she learned. Mom, Dani knew was deadly serious. Dani didn’t tell her that, but she told Mom, she would do her very best. Mom pulled the car over and cried. “I know you will honey. I just worry. We are here. Be careful.” Dani kissed her Mom. “I will.” She started to get out of the car. Mom stopped her. “I noticed you stopped calling me Mommy in the last year. Are you trying to act more grown up?” Had she? Dani hadn’t noticed. “Sorry, Mom, I guess it just happened.” “I guess it did.” Mom looked at her strangely and then closed the door and drove off.

Word Count: 520