The handful of kids present erupted in a fit of giggles. Ella could even see Mrs. Hernandez up front clamping down on her knuckle in order to stifle a snort of laughter. The only one who didn’t seem amused was a blond lady in the back glaring daggers in their direction. Ella took that to mean she was the infamous Mrs. Garcia.
Ella turned back around in her seat to find Kaylee slumped in her seat staring wide eyed at Jasmine. “That… that really was a tic! I swear!”
Jasmine studied her face for a second before letting out a sigh. “I know. Only your brain could come up with something like that.” she said before smiling.
Jasmine picked up another folder and read it. “Now who do we have here…Isabella Marsh.” she clicked her tongue as she read occasionally muttering to herself. “Wow, you’ve been through a lot these last few years. Ten years old, mostly non-verbal, please encourage speaking when possible.” She scrolled down the page until she saw a small hand written note at the bottom.
Student has severe anxiety. Please encourage and accompany to restroom during breaks. May try to run. Parental Consent form has been signed for cleaning and changes as needed.
“Hello, Isabella, it’s very nice to me-”
“Are you really ten?” Kaylee interrupted. “You look a lot smaller than ten.”
Ella shrugged and nodded her head
“You look like Tony, he’s in first grade.”
“Kaylee,” Jasmine warned.
“Sorry.” she mumbled back before craning her neck and shouting, “Elephants!”
“Would you like a tour, Isabella?” She cocked her head to the side as Ella mouthed something to her. “I’m sorry? Can you repeat that?” She bent her head down lower.
“La.”
“La?”
Ella shook her head. “El.” she paused for a breath. “La.”
“El la?” She nodded her head. “Oh, your name is Ella?” She nodded her head again. “Well alright then, Ella, would you like me to show you around?” After another nod, they stood up. “Kaylee, why don’t you stay here and read? You already know where everything is.”
“Eat shit, Santa!” Kaylee said, before shrugging and picking up her book.
“What did Santa ever do to you?” Brian called back. “Did he not leave you the special helmet under the tree that keeps you from licking windows?”
“Eat shit, Brian!”
“Both of you knock it off!” Mrs. Hernandez said. “Do you want to lose your recess on your first day back?”
“But he-” Kaylee started.
“Or would you rather have detention with Mrs. Garcia? I’m sure she’s missed both of you very much.” That seemed to silence them.
“It was one time.” Kaylee mumbled into her book.
Jasmine guided her around pointing out various things in the room. There were several pairs of noise cancelling headphones sitting on chargers that she could come grab whenever in case she ever got overstimulated. “We try to cater to each student’s unique needs. We have had kids who, when stressed, can’t handle very much external stimulation. Kaylee’s condition isn’t always helpful, not that we have them because of her mind you, but if she does ever get to be too much you can always come grab a pair. We try to avoid meltdowns whenever possible. We also have PlayDough for those who feel they need to be doing something with their hands.”
“After lunch is twenty minutes of quiet time where we turn off all the lights. You can color, draw, rest your head on your desk. Whatever you want as long as you’re being quiet. Over here we have a library where you can pick out something to read. We have books and magazines for all reading levels.”
Ella followed her around examining all the things she was shown. She was especially interested in the headphones. She wished she could take some home for when Danielle and Heather were going at it. Next she was led out a door onto a balcony that overlooked a playground with sand. She loved the feeling of sand running through her fingers. She was already looking forward to recess when she could go play in it.
After Jasmine finished showing her the outside area, they went back inside where she was led to another set of doors. “Here’s the bathroom. You are free to use it whenever you’d like.” Ella instinctively took a few steps back when the door was opened, as if to narrowly avoid the clutches of some unknown monster lurking inside. Jasmine shut the door without a word, and opened the second. Ella cautiously peeked inside and relaxed. It reminded her of the locker room at the gym they went to.
Heather had been thinking of joining a gym, so she had taken Danielle and Ella with her on the tour to see what they had thought of the place. Heather wanted to lose weight, Danielle needed to stay active for soccer and Ella had been told she needed to do light exercises to build her strength back up. So off they had gone to their local Planet Fitness just to check it out. Ella had lost interest a few minutes in as they walked along the rows of treadmills and exercise bikes. She hadn’t been paying attention when the female tour guide began leading them down a hallway. Ella looked up in time to see a fork in the path. To the left hung a sign that said, “Women’s Restroom,” and to the right, “Women’s Locker Room.”
Ella had hung back as Heather and Danielle poked their heads around and checked out the restroom, but had followed them to the right out of curiosity. She had never seen a locker room before. She wandered around the tiled room, in between the benches and looked at all the different stickers and locks on all the different metal cages. She could feel Heather’s eyes on her as they walked into the shower room.
“Yes, individual shower stalls! I was afraid it was going to be a room full of naked people like at the water park.” Danielle said. Heather hadn’t replied, her eyes were still trained on Ella as she peeked behind a door to check it out.
“Ella, does it bother you being in here?” Heather asked. Ella shook her head. It really hadn’t. She didn’t feel that chest crushing anxiety at all. That was all it took for Heather to sign them all up. From then on Heather had taken her every evening. Usually to work out, but sometimes just to have Ella take a shower. Heather had been ecstatic, stumped, but ecstatic. Ella didn’t see what the big deal was. She had liked bathing under the garden hose.
Ella walked in with Jasmine, who closed the door behind her while Ella examined the cabinets and lockers. She noticed one of the lockers had her name on it, so she opened it to find a change of clothes and a few pull ups inside.
“This is the changing room.” Jasmine said. “From time to time we do get kids who need more… personal care than others, and that’s okay.” Ella bit her lip and eyed the bed on the edge of the wall. It was like a bed in the nurse’s office with paper covering the top. “And this room is also…” She turned a knob and a stream of water came crashing onto the tiled floor from a shower head Ella hadn’t noticed. She watched the water flow down the drain in a corner. “The floors are a little slanted, so be careful when walking in here.” Jasmine said while removing the shower head nozzle to show her. “For when wet wipes just can’t do the trick.”
Ella shuffled from foot to foot wishing Jasmine would turn off the water. She hated the sound of running water, it always made her have to pee.
“And here,” Jasmine said after turning off the water and opening another door. “This room and the bathroom are connected.”
Ella looked, but couldn’t hide the fear that darkened her face. She knew her bucket wasn’t here, so she’d have to use the bathroom eventually. Heather had been trying desperately to wean her off of it. Yes, she could use the restroom, but only as a last ditch resort. She still had a habit of holding it until the very last second, and sometimes on bad days she couldn’t work up the courage in time and end up having an accident.
