Chapter Text
The first time it happened, they were in the first grade.
Alejandro knew his daughter was gifted. He had caught her rummaging around in his tools since she could walk. So when he got a frantic call from her elementary school’s principal about an incident regarding the computer lab, and she wouldn’t tell him anything else about it, he assumed the worst. Of course, he had heard the rumors; they had all heard the rumors of mad principals experimenting on kids, children as young as four years old disappearing only to come back… different.
The man drove recklessly through their small town, leaving his boss with a rushed-out apology as he flew out the door. Parking half-ass-idly, taking over two spots in the process. He stormed into the building, knocking over a teacher in his way to the main office.
“What happened?” He slammed his hands onto the veneered wood of the secretary's desk. She jumped in surprise, almost spilling her thermos of coffee in the process. When she got over her shock, she locked eyes with him, shoulders slouching, and rolled her eyes.
“I’m guessing you’re Carla’s dad?” She stood up, whipping imaginary lint off her pencil skirt. “Right this way, sir.” Her nonchalant behavior put Alejandro’s mind at ease as he followed her into the principal’s office. Opening the opaque door, he saw a red-faced principal fuming at his desk with two children sitting in chairs too tall for them. They both turned around. While Alejandro didn’t recognize the ginger sitting in the chair furthest from the door, he did recognize his curly-haired daughter sitting next to him. Her face split into a wide grin before turning back to the boy next to her and blowing a raspberry at him over the chair.
“See! I told you my dad would get here first!” Carla jumped up from the chair and ran toward him, arms stretched. “Daddy!” Alejandro crouched down to return the hug. out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other kid cross his arms and sink into his chair with a pout on his face.
The balding man sitting behind the desk cleared his throat. “Mr. Dominguez, I’m glad you could make it on such short notice.” He then set his gaze upon Carla, still in her father’s arms. “Carla, sit. Now.” Both father and daughter scowled at his attempt at being commanding.
Just then, the door to the office opened, revealing a frantic-looking woman. She looked as though she had just come from an important meeting. She scanned the room for her son, whose eyes brightened when he saw her frazzled state. “I am so sorry I’m late! Some asshole decided to take up the last two parking spots.” Alejandro stood behind his daughter’s chair, eyes wide as he realized he was that asshole.
“Mrs. Montgomery, language, please!” The principal scolded, but given how her son didn’t blink twice at her use of profanity, she probably used it a lot.
Similarly, Mrs. Montgomery stood behind her son's chair, smoothing out the curls on the top of his head as she did. “What is this about?” She kept her eyes focused on the angry man in front of them.
“Yeah, I was told that something happened in the computer lab. Is everything ok?” Alejandro directed the last question to Carla, who, similarly to Monty, sank into the rough fabric of the chair. But instead of a pout on her face, there was a Cheshire-like grin.
“Yes, your children are fine.” Both parents breathed a sigh of relief. “I cannot say the same for the computer lab, however.” The man narrowed his eyes at the kids, who looked at each other before chuckling into their palms. That’s what made him snap. “You think this is funny, huh!?” He placed his hands on his desk, hoisting himself up to yell at the kids.
“Whoa! That is entirely unnecessary!” Alejandro placed his hand on his daughter’s shoulder while the other was outstretched, fending the principal off.
“Please explain to me what happened?” The woman pleaded with angry fire in her eyes and a scowl on her lips.
The principal took a deep breath to calm himself down before sitting back down. “My apologies.” Neither of the parents accepted his apology.
“Someone,” he glared once again at the kids. “Put a virus on all the computers. We haven’t found a way to get rid of it yet, so all of the computers must be destroyed and replaced.” The man returned his gaze to the parents.
“So?” They both spoke at the same time, looking at the man in confusion.
“So?” He mocked in return. “They did it!” He gestured to the two children in front of him. “Security saw Monty go into the computer lab before class at the same time Carla disappeared, taking all security cam footage with her!” He argued, his voice getting progressively louder and higher-pitched.
Alejandro rubbed his face as he let out a chuckle. “They’re six,” he emphasized.
“Besides, all your evidence is circumstantial.” The woman crossed her arms and looked at the principal as though he had grown another head.
“Oh ho, this isn’t the first time they've done something like this!” He pulled a packed manila folder from a drawer under his desk. “September fifth, Monty turned one of the dissection frogs into an android!” Mrs. Montgomery looked at her son with a mix of shock and pride. “Carla has been caught sneaking around in the vents dozens of times by now,” Alejandro wasn’t surprised; he knew his daughter had a habit for sneaking into places she shouldn’t be. “And just last week, they had set the teacher’s lounge microwave on fire!”
“If that was true, why is this the first time I’m hearing about this?” The woman raised an eyebrow and tilted her chin down.
The principal cleared his throat and bashfully lowered his head to avoid her piercing gaze. “Unfortunately, neither of them will tell on each other, and their classmates have provided alibis.”
“So what makes you think my Carla did this? It seems to me he’s the bad influence.” Carla snickered into her hand at that. Mrs. Montgomery was not pleased to say the least.
She turned, head cocked back, and mouth ajar in disbelief. “Excuse you, my son is an angel.”
“Lucifer, maybe.” The principal muttered under his breath, but Mrs. Montgomery paid him no mind.
“How do we know she’s not the bad influence? So far all I’ve heard is that my son merely… expanded his interest in science.” Monty jutted his chin out in pride while Carla rolled her eyes, faking gagging into her palm.
Alejandro clenched his fists. “Take that back-”
“Mr. Dominguez, Mrs. Montgomery,” The older man tried to regain some control in the situation. “I don’t want to turn this into a whole thing. I just need one of your children to tell me the truth.”
Both parents looked at their kids.
“Go on, tell him,” Mrs. Montgomery gestured toward. “You had nothing to do with this.” Monty shifted his gaze from his mother to the footrest of his wheelchair. The gears are turning in his mind.
“Just tell on the boy, Mija.” Carla looked up at her dad with her wide brown eyes. Tilting her head to the side as if contemplating.
Carla and Monty shared a look that seemingly shared their sentiments.
“Nope.”
“Wasn’t us.” They spoke at the same time with a shake of their heads and a smirk on their faces. That seemed to really irritate the principal.
“Oh come on, you two don’t even like each other! I get a call from your teacher at least once a day about your fighting!” The man pulled at the thinning hairs on the side of his head.
Alejandro opened his mouth to speak, but his daughter beat him to it. Carla raised her hand, signalling to the room that she wanted to speak. Alejandro didn’t miss the way the boy next to her rolled his eyes. “Just because I want to see this nerd dead doesn’t mean I want to get him in trouble.”
“Gee, thanks.” The boy's nasally voice dripping with sarcasm, he then turned his attention back to the fuming man behind the desk in front of him. “As I said before, I had no idea where Carla was. I was finishing my homework in the computer lab.” The boy glanced at Carla from the corner of his eye, whose expression turned from smug to fuming at the mention of homework.
She was almost as red as the principal at this point.
Alejandro noticed his odd shift in his daughter's behavior but chose not to comment on it right now. This kid seemed to be very adept at getting under his daughter’s skin in a way not even her brothers could manage.
Plus, for a six-year-old, he was very well spoken.
The older man huffed and collapsed onto his seat, dropping his head into his left palm. “I guess that leaves me no choice but to punish them both.” He sighed, feigning remorse.
Mrs. Montgomery was not having that.
“For what?! What I can see is that you attempted to coerce my son and his friend-” both kids winced at the word ‘friend’. “-into admitting to something they didn’t do.” The ginger woman leaned forward over her son to place both hands on the desk and stare down the principal. “Using little to no evidence, over my dead body is by boy getting in trouble for something he likely didn’t even do.” The principal cowered in his seat while the kids looked at her with stars in their eyes.
Now, in Alejandro’s opinion, the boy absolutely did it. Why his angel was covering for him, he had no idea, but there was no doubt in his mind that the little shit somehow put that virus on those computers.
The principal looked from the adults back to the kids, weighing his options.
“Fine,” he spat out, glaring at the smug children in front of him. “You two are free to go, but just know, I’m keeping a close eye on you both.” his tone lowered at an attempt to seem menacing. Alejandro looked at the man and raised a brow at the pathetic attempt, and judging by the kids’ bored expression, they thought the same. “You are all dismissed.”
“Thanks.” Alejandro grabbed his daughter's hand, preparing to walk her back to class, and when Mrs. Montgomery similarly grabbed the handles to her son's wheelchair, he figured she was doing the same.
The Dominguezes left the office first, with the Montgomerys a sizable distance behind. Before leaving for the hallway, Alejandro could’ve sworn he heard Mrs. Montgomery say, “What am I going to do with you?” with an exasperated tone. Seems like she didn’t totally believe her speech either.
Looking down at his daughter, bathed in nauseating fluorescent lights, the man shook his head and ruffled up her already messy ponytail lightly with his fists, causing her to giggle and look up at him with a gap-tooth smile. She started telling anyone who would listen that week that she had lost a tooth. “A big one!” she proclaimed with the small plastic container holding it in her hand.
“Just promise me to stay out of the vents from now on?” It was a futile request, and they both knew it.
“Ok, Dad!” Carla grinned up at him as they reached the door, her finger tightly crossed behind her back.
(“Dude, you’re mom’s cool!”
“Shut up.”)