None of our little charges has ever complained. I'm there for them, so it can't be wrong. Or can it?
What if my dream is bigger than I am? What if I'm not meant to help children?
Disappointed in myself, I lower my gaze. "I—"
Once again, she doesn't let me finish. "My decision is final. Today was your last day of work."
What? I can't even stay until the end of the kindergarten year?
What will happen to the summer festival? I had planned game stations and rehearsed songs with the children. And what about Frida? Who will remind her she's a superhero when I'm no longer around?
"How can I make it right?" The pleading in my voice is unmistakable. I slide forward on the chair, almost landing on my knees. "Give me another chance."
Nadine's body tenses up. "You've had too many already."
"I've learned my lesson, honestly. This internship means everything to me. Don't take it away from me." I look at her desperately. She has to understand that my entire future is at stake.
Nadine bites her lip. "Don't make it harder on yourself. Just sign it." She nods toward the termination paper.
Defiantly, I cross my arms in front of my body. "And if I don't?"
"You see, that's part of the problem. You're behaving like a child. Grow up already."
Grow up? Why should I? So that I can become as cold-hearted as she is? I shrink on the chair, feeling hardly taller than a Lego figure.
She stands in front of me and thrusts the pen into my hand. "Just sign it." Her index finger impatiently taps on the paper. "Working with children is not for you. You need a job that suits you."
I swallow hard. Even if my heart refuses to understand, at least my head has to. My goal is unattainable. It always has been; I was just foolish enough to hope it would be different.
"Go ahead." Nadine's tone leaves no room for argument. So I do it. Resignedly, I let the pen glide across the paper. My jagged signature seals in blue on white the end of my dreams.
It's over. I have failed. Once again.
