Ella sat motionless, too stunned to think of a reply, verbal or otherwise. She didn’t think she had ever been told to “fuck off” before. She wasn’t even entirely sure what “fuck” meant, but knew it wasn’t something you said when meeting someone for the first time. Ella turned and stared straight ahead at the empty desk that sat directly in the middle facing theirs. She could feel hot tears begin to prickle the backs of her eyelids as she fought to restrain them. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
“Eat shit, you little bitch!” Ella heard come from beside her, followed by a noise that resembled the revving of a motorcycle engine.
Ella blinked and tried to clear her vision, but now tears were streaming down her cheeks. What had she done to this girl she had met only five seconds ago?
“Oh great,” a male voice said from across the room. “She’s in this class too!” She could hear the sarcasm dripping from his words. Ella turned around to see who he was talking about, only to realize he was looking directly at her! He was a few years older than her, maybe thirteen or fourteen and much larger by comparison.
Kaylee threw her head back and let out a loud exaggerated, “HA HA HA HA!” before sticking her tongue out.
Ella let out a choked sob before burying her head in her arms on top of the desk. She didn’t understand! She wanted to go back home! This had been a mistake.
“Hey, wake up, sleepy head.” a new voice said. Ella jumped when she felt a hand touch her back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare y- Oh honey, what’s wrong?” a woman asked when she saw her tear streaked face. Ella shook her head and wiped her face with the back of her hand.
“Go home!” Kaylee shouted, making Ella dissolve into fresh tears.
“Will you tell me what’s wrong?” the woman asked. Ella shook her head. “Did you have an accident?” Ella shook her head harder this time feeling mortified. “No? Did someone say something to you that upset you?” Ella sniffed and nodded her head. “Who? What happened?” After several seconds of gentle coaxing, Ella hesitantly pointed next to her.
“Weiners are for hopscotch and tapioca pudding!” Kaylee yelled.
The woman looked from Ella to Kaylee and back to Ella before a light of understanding flickered in her eyes. “Oh, honey, no. I’m sure whatever Kaylee said had nothing to do with you.” Ella looked at her doubtfully. How would she know? She hadn’t been there! “Right, Kaylee?”
“Huh?” The other girl asked, glancing up from her book.
“Why don’t you share a little about yourself?”
Kaylee grimaced and shook her head back and forth a few times before raising her hand like she had a question. She let out an annoyed sigh as if she’d had to do this a hundred times in the past. Eventually she mumbled something unintelligible that sounded like, “I have turnips.”
Ella looked at her puzzled before looking back to the woman for clarification.
“Kaylee, do you mind if I explain? I think it will make her feel better.” Ella doubted it, but let her go on.
“Your butt smells like spearmint gum!” Kaylee said before looking away embarrassed. “Fine.”
“Do you know what Tourette Syndrome is?” Ella shook her head. “It’s a neurological condition where her brain tells her body to move and speak on its own. We call them her “tics’. Most of what she blurts out doesn’t make much sense since they’re just words at random, but sometimes the words are arranged in a way that sounds like she’s calling people names when really she’s not.”
“I think,” Kaylee said with a pause sounding a little guilty, “I might have said f- off, or something like it earlier.”
“Kaylee!” the woman said, sounding exasperated. “Why didn’t you explain then? Is that what upset you?” She asked, turning back to Ella. Ella slowly nodded her head.
“What? I didn’t mean it!”
“I know you didn’t, but she didn’t know that.”
“Sorry,” Kaylee mumbled before throwing her head back again and barking.
“Sweetie, it’s okay. I think I understand what upset you.” She crouched down in front of Ella and handed her a tissue. “Can I give you a hug?” Ella nodded and accepted the embrace.
The woman then sat down in the chair across from them and introduced herself. “My name is Jasmine, and I’m going to be working with you two. I’m here to help you with anything you might need, whether it’s with classwork or any special assistance with-”
“CHANGE MY DIAPER!” Kaylee shouted, making Ella jump. She glanced over to find the girl with her hands over her mouth, eyes wide and face growing crimson. She could hear the boy from earlier snickering and even Jasmine had a sympathetic smile.
“For some students, yes, if that’s the kind of help they needed.” Jasmine said. She met Ella’s eyes and gave her a wink. Now it was Ella’s turn to blush.
Jasmine pulled a folder out of her bag and looked over it. “Same address, let’s see, anything new that needs addressing…”
“Don’t mind her, she talks to herself a lot.” Kaylee whispered. Ella gave her a weak smile. “Sorry about earlier…” Kaylee mumbled. “I really wasn’t telling you to fuck off.”
“Language!” Jasmine warned without looking up.
“Oh, what’s the point?” Kaylee groaned.
“The point is none of the other kids are allowed to swear. We understand if it’s a tic and you can’t help it, but that doesn’t mean you get to swear like a sailor whenever you want.” Jasmine said. “We talked about this last year, remember. We don’t want another repeat of you and Brian.”
“Ugh, Brian.” Kaylee grumbled. “How’d we end up in the same class again?”
“Because you’re both mid-level and we don’t have enough kids for a second mid level class. He’s on the complete opposite side of the room, he won’t bother you.”
“He’s already complaining I’m here.” she grumbled. Ella felt a little better when she realized the guy hadn’t been looking at her, but at Kaylee. She wondered what had happened between them to make them each mad at the other’s presence.
“Looks the same as last year,” Jasmine said, putting down the file. “Any new issues we need addressing, Kaylee?”
“No.”
“Any behavioral issues we need to talk about?” Jasmine gave her a coy smile while Kaylee sunk a little lower in her seat.
“No.”
“So you won’t cause me any problems this year? No throwing things at the aids you don’t like? No more Tic-O-grams?”
“They were tics!” Kaylee said defensively. “Most of them.” she grumbled quietly under her breath when Jasmine gave her a disbelieving stare.
“So I will not be hearing you call Mrs. Garcia a ‘Fat Heartless Bitch’ and ‘Queen of Ogres’ or whatever unoriginal thing the other kids come up with everytime she walks past you? And I will DEFINITELY not find other students slipping you dollar bills in your desk in return for such phrases ‘accidentally’ slipping out of your mouth?” She asked, throwing up air quotes around “accidentally.”
“No,” Kaylee grumbled, before throwing in a, “I’ll do it for free.”
“Kaylee!”
“I’m kidding!” Kaylee said smiling innocently. A look of sudden pain crossed her face before her neck craned hard to the left and she let out a loud “MRS. GARCIA IS A SLIMY BALL OF POTATO SALAD, DICK SHAPED, POPSICLE STICKS!”
