The New Kid
By Adam Decker
Overview: George feels sympathy for a new kid that has his own set of learning problems.
Disclaimer: I, in no way, shape, or form, own Arthur. The only thing I'd own about it is Howard (the new kid) and this story, but since I'm not using it for personal gain, I can't be held liable. If I do sell this as a verifiable script to Arthur, then this wouldn't be fan fiction. For now it is. I would love if my character and this story becomes part of Arthur. If you do plan on making it into an episode, please contact me by private message or at . I hope that people like this as this is my first (and probably only) Arthur fan fiction. Please read.
Note to Administrators: I don't know if you'll let me use the part where I talk about different facts relating to different presidents. If you have any problem with it, please let me know.
It started out as a normal day at Elwood City Elementary School. Then again, all days of importance start out as normal days.
"Did you hear?" said Francine before class began.
"What?" asked Buster.
"We're getting a new student," said Francine. "He from this place called Chester in Illinois. His family just moved here today."
"Wow!" said George. "He could be an interesting guy."
"I remember when I was new," said Sue Ellen. "I fit right in."
"Maybe he can be my new friend," said Binky. "Ever since I stopped bulling people I've gotten much more than when I was."
"Class," said Mr. Ratburn, "I would like to introduce your new class member and what should be your new friend, Howard."
A kid looking like a cat that was white with black spots came in. He coughed and then sat down next to George.
"Hi," said George, "I'm George."
"I'm Howard," said the new kid. "It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." The two shook hands. Howard coughed again. "You got a cold?" asked George.
"It's something else," said Howard. "I'll explain later."
The class went nicely, except that some people were annoyed by Howard's constant coughing. At lunch, some of the students got together.
"I can't believe that kid's coughing!" said Muffy. "It's so rude!"
"Maybe he can't stop it," said Buster.
"Knowing the neurological conundrum that he must be experiencing," said Brain, "he's probably devoted to doing this as a way of drawing attention."
"Meaning, in English?" asked Arthur.
"Meaning he's doing this on purpose so people will notice him," said Brain.
"That's so rude," said Muffy. "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know," said Brain. "People are strange sometimes."
"Maybe I should talk to him," said George.
"Good luck with that," said Brain.
George went over to the table where Howard was sitting by himself.
"It's nice of you to come," said Howard. "No one wants to sit with me.
"Why's that?" asked George.
"It's probably my tourettes."
"Your what?"
"Tourettes. I have a disease called Tourette's syndrome. It causes uncontrollable tics like my coughing. It's different with each person. Some make crazy noises, some have body twitches, and others have it the worst with uncontrollable swearing. I don't just having coughing. I also have bleaching, sneezing, and itchiness. Not much is known about the disease, but we do know that there is not yet a cure."
"That sounds bad."
"That's not all. I also have autism which causes social awkwardness and makes me slower at school work among other things and obsessive compulsive disorder."
"I've heard of autism. It's a pretty common disease."
"The strange thing is tourettes is more common but most people are confused about it by not understanding it. Most people would think it's just the uncontrollable swearing, but that only appears in 15% of cases. It can be any sort of thing that you can't control which is tourettes."
"Is that the main problem with it?"
"Yeah. The main problem with it is that people don't understand. Everyone was being mean to me at my old school which is why we moved here. But I'm not sure people understand here either."
"Maybe you should tell them instead of keeping it secret."
"Maybe. I'm not sure."
"So what's obsessive compulsive disorder?"
"Well everyone just calls it OCD since that's a much easier way to say it. It makes me do crazy things because if I don't do it, then it will annoy me like crazy. An example would be that people always leave pen caps on the wrong side of the pen so I have to fix it. Or they leave the pen clicked open and I have to click it shut. It could also be saying a world wrong like saying pop instead of soda and I always have to correct them. I really shouldn't, but I do."
"I really want to be friends with you. I have a disease too. I have what's called dyslexia. I don't understand words the right way and I'm also very shy."
"Well at least yours isn't that noticeable. Thanks for being friends with me."
The next day at lunch Buster sat down with George and Howard.
"The main problem with my burping," said Howard as Buster was sitting down, "is that it annoys when I haven't had enough to drink."
"Really?" asked George.
"Yeah. It sort of gets stuck there and won't come out so I always have to drink a lot to counteract the food."
"What are you talking about?" asked Buster.
"We're talking about my tourettes," said Howard.
"What's that?"
"It's a neurological syndrome that causes uncontrollable tics."
"Basically he can't control it," said George.
"Well that explains it," said Buster.
"Everyone wants me to stop," said Howard, "and I would if I could."
"Something that strikes him as interesting," said George, "is that his father died when he was 5."
"Really?" asked Buster.
"Yeah," said Howard, "so we can relate."
"I hope you don't mind," said George, "I may have told them that your parents were divorced."
"That's okay," said Buster.
"Divorce is an unfortunately common problem nowadays," said Howard.
"He's very smart," said George. "He might even be able to beat the Brain at some sort of thinking contest.
"Then why don't we bring Brain over here?" asked Buster. Buster got up and got Brain.
"Buster says you can out-think me," said Brain. "Why don't we put that to the test?"
"Okay," said Howard. "We'll do one on presidents. Who was the first real Republican to be president?"
"Abraham Lincoln. Who created the art of vice-presidential succession to president?"
"John Tyler. Who was in office the longest?"
"Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Who was the youngest to take office?"
"Theodore Roosevelt. Who was the youngest to be elected president?"
"John F. Kennedy. Who had both the longest inauguration speech and the shortest time in office?"
"William Henry Harrison. Who was the oldest when he got out of office?"
"Ronald Reagan. Who was the first to be impeached?"
"Andrew Johnson. Who died soonest after leaving office?"
"James K. Polk. Who was the only one to ever resign?"
"Richard Nixon. Who started the interstate highway system?"
"Dwight D. Eisenhower. Who had two nonconsecutive terms?"
"Grover Cleveland. Who was president during the era of good feelings?"
"James Monroe. Who was the father of the Constitution who became president?"
"James Madison. Who was the first true Democrat to become president?"
"Andrew Jackson. Who were the only two Federalists to become president?"
"George Washington and John Adams. Which presidents were sons of former presidents?"
"John Quincy Adams and George W. Bush. Who was the first black president?"
"Barrack Obama. Who was blamed for the Great Depression?"
"Herbert Hoover. How many vice-presidents became president?"
Howard thought for a moment. "That I don't know. I guess that you win. I'm not smarter than you."
"Well thirteen vice-presidents and one former vice-president have become president. Four by winning election after they were president, four upon the assassination of the sitting president, four upon the death of the sitting president, and one upon the resignation of the sitting president. Can you tell me which president was never elected to the office of president or vice-president?"
"Gerald Ford. He was appointed vice-president when Agnew resigned as vice-president and became president upon Nixon's resignation."
"You know, that was good. I don't get to use my brain that much. We'll call it a tie."
As the days went by, the table of friends grew.
"You've written original songs?" asked Fern.
"Yeah," said Howard. "All you need to do is come up with a good tune and be good with rhymes."
"Why does it take you so long to do tests sometimes?" asked Francine.
"I have autism as well as tourettes," said Howard. "Autism isn't as bad as everyone seems to think. Autism makes me slower at things. That why I had to go to a school that offered Special Education."
"You really can't control the coughing or anything like that?" asked Arthur.
"Believe me," said Howard, "I would never do it if I could control it. I mean it doesn't make sense. Why would I do it?"
"We thought that you were doing it for attention," said Binky.
"That's not the attention I want," said Howard.
"I'm glad that we could find a wonderful new friend like you, Howard," said Sue Ellen.
"Thanks," said Howard. "I'm normally only friends with people in a different age range."
"Well I'm glad that you aren't a rude person," said Muffy.
"The more you know about it," said Howard, "the better. I'm glad to have friends like you as well."
Everyone got to like Howard and he became a good friend to everyone.
The End
Author's Note: I hope that you liked this story. I personally know someone who is affected by these diseases and I hope that people understand. If anyone wants to write more stories using Howard, wants me to write more stories about him, or wants to turn this into an episode of Arthur, please email me at the address list above. I hoped that you enjoyed this story and I would love it if you read more of my stories. Please let me know what you think. Thanks for reading this story.
Adam Decker