Chapter Eleven: Teasing is not pleasing
Siblings: Elena and Gabby, Sofia and Amber.
Setting: Three years after Autism and close to a year after Kitten Smitten.
Following Elena and Gabby O'Malley's first day of preschool, Gabby noticed that Elena was being strangely quiet. She was staring out the coach window, lost in her own world of thoughts. At first, Gabby didn't think much of that; Elena liked daydreaming about her favorite princesses, but when she tried to get her attention, Elena ignored her and shrugged her hand off.
"Elena, what's wrong?" Gabby asked, seeing her sister on the verge of tears.
Elena didn't answer her; instead, she went right to the stable where her pet kitten Snow White lived. (King Roland was allergic to cats, so the family had Snow White living in the stable so she wouldn't trigger his allergies.)
Nell and Bobby Lee were watching as Elena ran off. "Well, someone's eager to see her kitty friend," Bobby Lee smiled.
"Mommy, Daddy, where's Elena?" Gabby asked.
"She went to the stable to see Snow White," Nell replied. "Why? Is something wrong?"
Gabby nodded, and was about to go after her, but Sofia and Amber met up with her first. "Hi, Gabby!" Sofia smiled, greeting her with a hug, "How was your first day of preschool?"
"It was fun," Gabby smiled. However, her smile faded. "I had fun, but something's wrong with Elena. She barely said anything when we were coming home."
"What happened?" Bobby Lee asked.
"Was she thinking about her favorite princesses?" Amber asked.
"I thought she was," Gabby admitted. "That always makes her happy, but when we got home, she looked sad and went right to the stables where Snow White lives."
"Let's go talk to her," Nell suggested. "Don't worry, Gabby; we'll figure this out."
Suddenly, Gabby looked like she remembered something. "Mommy, Daddy, Elena was yelling at a boy today," she recalled. "It happened during story time. I don't know what he was saying, but Elena got upset and started telling him to leave her alone. Then she started yelling at his friends to go away."
"Did the teacher notice anything?" Bobby Lee asked.
"She put some of the boys in time-out, but this one boy wouldn't go there," Gabby replied. "He said he didn't have to go to time-out since he's a prince-o-pal's son."
"Well, principal's son or not, he shouldn't act like that," Nell frowned. "Let's go find Elena and talk to her."
Nell, Bobby Lee, Gabby, Sofia, and Amber found Elena in the stable. She was in Snow White's stall, cuddling her and whispering to herself. "Be like Gabby…she's not 'sped'. Be like Gabby. She's smart!"
"Elena?" Nell's voice cut into her whispers. "Sweetheart, what happened?"
"Mean boy Jack teased me," Elena started to cry. "He says I'm 'sped'. What's 'sped?'"
Nell frowned at the name. Jack was a village boy who took great pleasure in teasing Elena and Gabby. He'd been on their cases ever since they were little. And he had only gotten worse when he learned that Elena had autism. Her fingers curled into fists at the horrible words Elena was repeating.
Bobby Lee also frowned at the word. However, he kept his temper in check as he explained, "Well, sweetheart, sped's a really mean name for people who are just a little slower than others. It means 'special education'. And there are some people who need extra help when they do things. But that doesn't mean that they can be teased because of it."
As they listened to the conversation, Sofia and Amber were stunned. They never knew that four-year-olds could be that cruel, using horrible words and names like that on others.
"Sofia, I'm sorry about every time we fought," Amber whispered. "I'm also sorry about how I acted when you first came to the castle."
"Amber, I forgave you for that a long time ago," Sofia whispered back. "And any time we fought, you always learned a lesson, which you remembered."
Elena started crying again and hugged Snow White, taking comfort in her kitty's soft purring. She stroked Snow White's back and smiled a little as she nuzzled her.
"Don't cry, Mommy," Snow White purred. "It's going to be okay." (Elena and the family couldn't hear her, but Sofia could, and she gave her an approving nod and smile.)
"Elena, do you know what Daddy and I always tell you?" Nell asked, trying to keep her temper in check.
"It's not a race with Gabby. Take my time and do things my own way," Elena recited.
"That's right. But I want you to remember this," Nell said as she hugged her. "You are special. Not the way Jack thinks, but to us, you are an amazing person and we love you."
Elena sniffled and looked up at her mother. "Why boys mean?" she asked.
"Well, I'm a boy and I'm not mean," Bobby Lee assured her.
"Anymore!" Nell smirked, then explained to the girls, "From the time we were five until we were eight, Daddy teased me all the time. But he never once made me cry!"
"I teased you because I like you?" Bobby Lee smiled innocently.
"Sure you did," Nell rolled her eyes. "You just keep telling yourself that!"
"And James and I tease each other sometimes," Amber agreed. "Once in a while he pulls pranks on me, but Sofia and I manage to get him back and teach him a lesson."
"But we know it's all in good fun," Sofia added, grinning as she remembered chasing James around the castle and they'd all end up laughing in a heap on the ground.
"And you've got friends to stand by you, Elena," Gabby spoke up. "I won't tease you. I'll stay with you until the end of preschool!"
"That's my girl!" Bobby Lee grinned, tossing her up, then letting her stand with Elena.
"Me next!" Elena giggled for the first time since leaving preschool.
"Okay!" Bobby Lee tossed her up.
"You're doing the right thing, Gabby," Sofia smiled when Bobby Lee set her on the ground again. "But I think Elena should talk to someone before Jack's teasing gets worse."
"Tattle-tale on Jack?" Gabby asked.
"Exactly," Sofia nodded.
"No!" Elena cried out. "Tattling bad!" She never liked being a bad guy, and she was afraid of what might happen if she had to do something she didn't want to do.
"Not in this case," Amber started. "Tattling's going to be acceptable."
"Amber's right," Nell agreed. "Tattling is like getting even with someone. Elena, you're not tattling; you're defending yourself. You don't want Jack to get away with this, do you?"
"No…" Elena hesitated.
"Well, the four of us are going to go to your teacher, and we'll tell her about it. Hopefully, Jack and his father will still be at preschool, and we'll tell them everything you're telling us," Bobby Lee told her.
"Okay," Elena handed Snow White to Sofia. "Can you take care of Snow White while I'm gone?"
"Of course," Sofia smiled.
She and Amber watched as Nell, Bobby Lee, Elena, and Gabby went back to the village. They knew Elena was going to do the right thing.
They came back a while later, and Sofia and Amber were happy to see Elena smiling. "How'd it go?" Sofia greeted them.
"We did everything we said," Nell smiled. "Elena told the teacher and the principal about everything Jack and his friends said and did. Jack of course tried to pull that 'I'm the principal's son' card again, but his father was standing right beside him. I don't know what's going to happen to him tonight, but we got to watch as Jack got his mouth washed out with soap for using language like that!"
"Over the years I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap," Bobby Lee started reciting a passage from his favorite holiday movie. "My personal preference was for Lux, but I found Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor. Heady, with just a touch of mellow smoothness…Lifebuoy on the other hand…"
"Robert!" Nell couldn't help but laugh, recalling that he had said that when Jack had the soap in his mouth.
"Okay, but if he succumbs to soap poisoning, don't say I didn't warn you!" Bobby Lee chuckled. "But in all seriousness, we learned that Jack is going to sit next to the teacher's desk for the rest of the school year."
"What about his friends?" Amber asked.
"They're all going to be at different tables now," Nell explained. "Jack was a kind of leader figure for their group, and now that he's out, the group's disbanding. It's not much, but it's a start."
"We also learned that Jack's being sentenced to act like Elena for a month," Bobby Lee added. "He has to act slower than what he's comfortable with, and ask for extra help, even if he knows how to do something."
The next day, Elena and Gabby were smiling as they came back from preschool. Everything had gone the way Nell and Bobby Lee had said. The four of them went to visit Snow White in the stable, and Elena told her about everything that had happened.
"Yay! Mommy's happy again!" Snow White cheered, rubbing against her.
"Thank you, Mommy, Daddy, and Gabby!" Elena smiled.
Nell and Bobby Lee hugged her. "You're welcome, sweetheart," Nell smiled.
"We stand together!" Gabby agreed.
"Yes we do!" Elena hugged her as Snow White purred between them.