Hey guys! Thanks for staying with me. Hopefully the story will keep improving! As before, if you want to help sponsor me, you can go onto bmycharity and find jennicoutts. I would put the whole link on here, but it doesn't work!
8th July 1999
Jemma sat alone in the school library, reading. This time of day was the quietest, and she enjoyed the silence; it allowed her to focus on her books. Technically she should have been in class, but she was so far ahead of the rest that she was allowed to go off and 'study alone'. She liked that about her biology teacher; he was more relaxed than her maths teacher, who always made her sit through his boring lessons.
She had skipped three years of school, and she was still ahead of everybody else there. Some of the others said mean things sometimes, but it didn't faze the eight year old. She knew they were just jealous.
"Enjoying your book?"
Jemma looked up, and saw the kindly, familiar face of Mrs Stone. "It's good! But I already read it before. When are we getting some new books?"
Mrs Stone laughed. "Not for another month! But you can't have read all of the books already!"
"I did! I read them all!" Jemma grinned happily. "But now I'm rereading my favourites."
"How many times have you read that?" Mrs Stone asked, indicating the open book on Jemma's lap.
"This is the seventh. I actually know it off by heart, but there's something about the feel of paper under your fingers, right?"
The librarian laughed again. "But surely you must be getting a little bored!"
Jemma frowned. "I guess. But reading is relaxing, it stops me from thinking so much."
"Thinking? About what?"
"Oh, everything. I mean, I just can't stop my brain! I wanted to read more about quarks, but the textbooks here are useless! I tried getting permission to go to the senior school library, but they said I was too young," she said unhappily. "So now I keep wondering, because I read somewhere about energy exchange particles, and one book described the electromagnetic exchange particle as a photon, but lots of the other books describe light as a wave, so it can't be a particle! It doesn't make sense! I keep thinking about it."
"Ah," the librarian said sagely. "Why don't you go to the public library when you go home? Remember term ends in two days."
Jemma scowled. "I don't want to go home. I want to stay here during the holidays."
The woman frowned. "Why?"
"They're always asking and asking about what I want to do, and whenever I tell them that I want to be a scientist they say that I can't, because somebody needs to take over the family business, only I hate business! Especially electronics. It's so dull! I prefer actual living things."
"Don't you miss your parents?"
"No."
"Not at all?"
"No."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"I don't even know them! I don't know what to say to them. I see them only for about four weeks a year, because even in school holidays they're always away on business! The only one I like talking to is my big brother, but now he's working for shield, so he's always away! I still get lost in our house. At least I can find my way back to the dorm in school!"
"Don't they try to talk to you?"
"It's always the same stuff. 'How was school? Did you make any friends? What books are you reading?' I bet that the emails they send me are always typed by their secretaries as well. It's so generic."
"Well, how do you answer their questions?"
Jemma looked uncomfortable.
"You do reply to their emails, don't you?" The woman asked sternly.
Jemma shifted uncomfortably. "Why should I? They don't even know me!"
The librarian sighed. "Jemma, maybe the reason they don't know you is because you won't even talk to them."
"No! It's them. They're the ones who…" she trailed off, suddenly realising that she was shouting in a library that was supposed to be silent. She quickly sat down. "They're the ones who… sent me away…"
"Oh, Jemma," the librarian sighed, and pulled the little girl into a warm hug. She saw the child's shoulders shaking as she sobbed. "Nobody sent you away! They saw a very bright little girl, and wanted to give you the best possible chance in life. I have no doubt, they did not send you away because they did not love you."
"Really?" Jemma sniffled.
"Honestly, for a genius, I forget how you're a child sometimes," sighed the librarian. They sat like that for a little longer, Mrs Stone comforting Jemma as she cried. Eventually the class bell rang and the woman sent the little girl away with much to think about.
Two days later, a long limousine pulled up outside of the school gates, one of many as parents arrived to pick up their children for the school holidays. There were shouts of joy as children were reunited with their parents, but the sight of the family car filled Jemma with trepidation.
She forced herself to be calm. Her parents were always away for the first few days after she came home, so she wouldn't have to see them straight away. She walked up to the car, whereupon a woman stepped out, taking Jemma by surprise.
"Jemma," the woman said happily, holding out her arms to Jemma.
"Mum," Jemma said warily, stepping into the embrace. "How come you're not in France?"
"I came home early, so I could greet you at the end of term!"
Jemma glanced up into her mother's eyes, suddenly filled with a rush of joy. "Really?" she asked, a happy smile appearing on her face.
"Mhn. And your dad's coming home tomorrow on the earliest flight!"
"How come?" Jemma asked confusedly. "How come you're back so early?"
"Come on, let's get in the car. We can talk properly then."
Jemma watched as her mother got into the car. She was so glamorous, with long reddish hair that fell in carefully sculpted waves, and her delicate features were perfectly accentuated with light makeup. Her mum was so beautiful, and even though Jemma knew that looks should be irrelevant in academics, she desperately wanted to be like her.
"Honestly, if you really want to know why we came home, then I'll tell you. Your school teacher phoned."
Jemma's face fell. "She did?"
"She did. And she told us about how lonely you were feeling. I'm sorry you felt that way, we had no idea!"
"You didn't?"
"No, sweetie, we didn't. You should have said something earlier!"
Jemma looked down, unsure what to say.
"We came home to discuss your future with you."
"My future? You mean working at the company?"
"I mean about school."
"What about school?" Jemma asked suspiciously.
"Are you happy at your school? If you're not, just say, and we'll pick out a new school for September. You should be moving up to the high school anyway this year, so if you wanted to change schools for a local one, your dad and I can arrange it."
"Change school?!" Jemma exclaimed. "But…." She sat back and though for a moment.
"Jemma?"
"I'm not unhappy at school," Jemma said hastily.
"But Mrs Stone told us that you still hadn't made any friends."
"I don't need any friends, I have books. And I'm really not unhappy, I like it there. They let me skip class when it's too easy, and the library has more books in it than most other high schools."
"So you don't want to go to a local school, and stay at home?"
Jemma thought carefully for a while. "No," she said eventually. "It's not that I don't want to be at home, but I have to think about my future. I'll stay at Abbey Mount."
Her mother laughed, catching Jemma by surprise. "Spoken like a genius. Most little girls would just want to stay at home!"
Jemma went cold. "Is that what I should have said?"
"No, silly," her mother said, laughing again. "I love you as you are!"
"Really?"
"Really," she said, and leaned closer to Jemma, kissing her forehead.
Jemma sat there, shocked for a few minutes. Suddenly she took of her seatbelt and hugged her mother, scarcely daring to believe her own audacity. "I love you, mum!"
"I love you too."
First Aid Africa is a non-profit organisation that seeks to provide first aid training to people living in Sub-Saharan Africa. In some communities, it can take up to two days to travel to their nearest hospital, and many people die on the way. More so than in Western countries, first aid is vital for keeping people alive until they can reach hospital. Equal access to healthcare is a right, not a privilege.
if you want to donate, you can go onto bmycharity and find jennicoutts. I would put the whole link on here, but it doesn't work!
Sorry if I sound like I'm flogging this, but it's really important to me!