Page 22 of The Sins of Noelle

"W—what?" the instructor sputtered at the same time as Elena's eyes widened in disbelief.

Cisco merely smiled, amused.

Who said nine-year-olds were easy targets?

"Noelle, that's impertinent. Apologize to your instructor," Elena suddenly demanded.

Noelle's expression didn't change, though Cisco could detect a small twitch under her eye. Instead of arguing with her mother, though, Noelle did apologize. In the same sweet tone, she addressed the teacher.

"I'm sorry, Miss Rawlins," she said softly. "I apologize for showing your shortcomings as a teacher. I also apologize for being a better player than you can ever aspire to be."

She said it all with the sweetest smile on her face.

Cisco brought his hand to his mouth to muffle his laughter while Elena and Miss Rawlins were rendered so speechless, they just stared at Noelle for moments on end.

"You…"

"Noelle…"

"Noelle, why don't you go get your stuff and we can head home," Cisco intervened, realizing that a scandal would arise if she spent another moment in the presence of the two women.

Noelle nodded respectfully, excusing herself like the dutiful child she decidedly wasnot. Yet to anyone else watching from the outside, she was the model of decorum.

It was only Miss Rawlins and her mother that had yet to recover from the set-down of a nine-year-old. And recover they did. After Noelle was already out of sight.

"I hope you can understand why I can no longer welcome Noelle in my class, Mrs. DeVille," Miss Rawlins noted, her face red mottled with anger.

"Of course. I'm so sorry for my daughter's behavior. She's not always like that…"

As usual, Elena continued to make excuses for Noelle, doing her best to save face.

Only when Miss Rawlins left did she turn to Cisco, her hands in the air as she huffed out loud.

"At this point sheneedsa prison," she said, hinting again at that school of manners.

"Mother, calm down."

"How can I calm down? Didn't you hear what she said to her teacher? My God, how could I have raised someone like that…"

Shaking his head, Cisco couldn't help but chuckle at his mother's outburst.

"And now you're laughing at me, too. I've become a laughing stock for my own children."

"You're exaggerating, mamma. I'm not laughing at you. Just at the situation."

"Of course you would. You're not the one embarrassed every single time she does one of her little scenes."

"No offense, mamma, but from where I was sitting I'd say the scene was well deserved. Instead of focusing all your frustrations on Noelle, you could also look at the people around her. The teacher's tone wasn't proper either."

"What? Frustration?" Elena's eyes widened in shock.

Taking a deep breath, Cisco set his eyes on his mother.

"Yes. Frustration," he nodded. "Noelle may not be like other kids, I agree. And because of that you shouldn't behave like a normal mother, either."

"I don't understand," she frowned.

"You keep trying to put her in a box and tell her how to behave when that's not who she is. You never did that to me, did you?"

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