The gang continue on to learn about Randall's first day of school! But it's not exactly what they expected.
Chapter 3: First Day of School
After Celia had finished the chapter, she held the book out for someone else to take it.
"Who wants to read the next chapter?" she asked.
George grabbed the book.
"I'll read," he replied, turning to the next chapter
"Chapter 3: First day of School.
Everyone remembers their first day of school. A day filled with excitement and nervousness. A chance to meet new people and become friends, while also gaining skills that you will be applied in your daily life. They say education is the pathway to knowledge. Now I do agree with that statement. After all, my parents encouraged me to be as studious as possible. And I did.
As a toddler, my adoptive parents, Emilia and Cheryal, discovered that I was a child prodigy. I'm incredibly talented when it comes to anything science related and that even included inventing multiple items. So in my early years, between me getting used to my new family and my incredibly week immune system, they had found time to nourish and expand my talent. Well, when they weren't worrying that I was going to hurt myself in anyway. Something I learned with living with my parents is that they are very overprotective.
You may think that I'm over exaggerating. I'm not. Want an example? When I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to have any candles on any of my birthday cakes. Why? My parents were afraid I would burn myself. Yea. They were always watching over and fussing over me over every little thing. But I guess in a way, with them spending so much time with me, I had finally become comfortable with my parents after four years.
It was my first day of kindergarten and they were bursting with pride and excitement. They were finishing cleaning me up and preparing me for my first day of school. Cheryal had dressed me in a red and white sweater vest. She was fixing the black bow tie that was around my neck.
"Aren't you excited, Randy? You're first day of kindergarten!" Emilia told squealed. "Oh Cheryal, go grab the camera! We have to get a picture of this!"
Cheryal nodded and went to grab it. Emilia took over her place and started wiping my face with a washcloth. I looked up at them nervously. Truth was, I wasn't excited at all. I was terrified. My parents held me back a few months from school, mostly because of a small mishap with one of my uncles, and my weak immune system. Of course there was my social anxiety and fears that had carried over from what my biological parents did to me. No, I can't remember why I should be so fearful after all those years, but I was sure that it wasn't because of Emilia and Cheryal, they were so good to me. They had looked for ways to help, but no matter what they did, it didn't seem to be working. And now I was going to meet a lot of new kids and I was afraid on how they were going to treat me.
I also had developed this habit of playing with my fingers when I was nervous. My bottom hands were playing with my fingers, while my upper arms were clutching the stuffed teddy bear that Emilia and Cheryal gave me when they first brought me home. I hugged her tightly. Yes, like most little kids I had given a toy that cared so much about to give a gender and a name. I had named her Teddy. Not very original, but then again I was two at the time. I also had no friends at the time either, and so my loneliness, or maybe it was normal for kids at that age to think their toys could talk, either way I could imagine it. It's crazy, I know. And being an only child, I had no siblings to socialize with. But the few times that I did, it was with my older cousins, and they thought I was freak! Why? Don't ask me, they never told me why.
Emilia, who I called Mama, straightened my Slimers' baseball cap. The cap was a gift from my Uncle Rhoul when I was three. My Uncle Rhoul was Cheryal's older brother. He looked like Cheryal, only he had yellow skin, brown eyes, didn't wear glasses and he wore a leather coat. He gave me the cap after I saw my first baseball game on TV and I had been a fan ever since.
"Randy, smile," Cheryal told me, after Emilia had taken Teddy out of my arms and straightening my hat.
Once the picture was taken, I turned my cap into its usual backward appearance. It was a normal style for me at the time. Emilia pulled a blue bookbag onto my thing shoulders.
"There we go! Oh I can't believe it. My baby is going to school!" She fanned herself with her hand as tears formed in her eyes. "Oh, I'm getting all emotional. I promised myself I wouldn't cry."
She bent down and kissed my cheek.
"You two have a good day."
She waved to us as Cheryal took me over to the 1972 Blue Chevrolet. Cheryal sat me in my car seat and buckled me in. Yes, I said car seat. I know, I'm at the age that I should be in a booster seat, but I'm not. I was very tiny for my age and very underweight. So no, weight wise, I wasn't ready to ride in a booster seat. After some time had passed as we made our way to the school, we finally pulled into the parking lot and parked. Cheryal unbuckled me and pulled me out. I clutched onto her, terrified of this new place. It was so big. She took me straight to my classroom, talking to me as we made our way over.
"Just you wait Randy, you'll be learning so many new things and making some new friends."
I was really hopeful. After all, maybe I can find someone who would finally play with me. As we arrived at one of the classrooms, I gulped as we stopped at the door. She pulled me in, much to my protest as I tried to stay out. I looked around in fear at all the kids that were my age or older. I moved myself to hide behind her. I was afraid that they would be like my older cousins. Cheryal stroked the back of my head, trying to calm me down.
"It's okay Randy. There's no reason to be scared."
I looked up at her. Of course there was a reason! I was leaving the safety of my parents. I didn't know these people. I didn't trust them. I shook my head and hugged her. I didn't want to leave her side. Her and Mama were the only ones that were nice to me. Most of these other kids were so big and here I was, only weighing at eighteen pounds. I was worried that everyone here was going to be like my biological parents.A plump pink skinned monster with blonde hair, green eyes and four arms walked up to us. I squeaked in fear, my body causing me to blend, either out of my own will or because of it fluctuating on its own, I have no clue.
"Hello, I'm Mrs. Monroe, how can I help you?"
"Hello Mrs. Monroe. I'm Dr. Cheryal Boggs and this is my son, Randall."
"Hello Ran-" She stopped. "I.. I don't see him."
Cheryal looked down at me and sighed.
"I'm sorry, Randall has the ability to camouflage and has trouble controlling it." She bent down and rubbed my back. "Randy, remember your primary colors? Purple and blue. Can you become purple and blue again?"
After some breathing techniques, my scales materialized my natural colors. Cheryal hugged me and kissed my cheek.
"Good boy. You did so well." She turned her attention back to Mrs. Monroe. "He's a little timid. My partner and I adopted him several years ago. He came from a very abusive home."
"O-Oh… so he's not…"
"Legally on paper he is. Now there are a few things that you need to know about him. He's mute, so he can't really communicate. He has a very weak immune system. He also can't control his camouflaging, so you'll have to keep an eye on him. He doesn't do it on purpose, except when he's scared. He'll randomly change colors or turn completely invisible, like he just did now, so just remind him what is primary colors are and do some breathing techniques. He's also extremely bright. He's already doing second grad science equations."
"He's already at such a high level of learning at a young age?"
"Yes. It actually surprised us. When he was two he took apart our TV remote and put it back together."
"Really?"
Cheryal nodded.
"So don't be surprise if he already knows certain things."
"O-okay."
"He also has epilepsy. So don't flick the lights on or off repeatedly, don't spray so much air freshener, or put too much stress on him."
And yes, you read right. I have epilepsy. Epilepsy is a brain disorder. There are clumps of neurons in my brain that don't function properly. Neurons normally generate electrochemical impulses that act on other neurons, glands and muscles to produce human thoughts, feelings and actions. In epilepsy, the normal pattern of neuronal activity becomes disturbed, causing strange sensations, emotions and behaviors, or sometimes convulsions, muscle spasms, and loss of consciousness. During a seizure the neurons flare up to 500 times a second, much faster than normal. In some people, it happens occasionally, for others, like me, it doesn't happen so often."
"Electro-whatcha call it?" Mike asked.
"Electrochemical impulses. It's like a messenger that sends messages to your brain." Needleman exclaimed.
"Oh. Sorry, please continue."
George went back to reading.
"I looked between them, still not comfortable that I was leaving Cheryal and Emilia's side. Cheryal bent down to my level once again and hugged me.
"Emilia will come and pick you up at noon. Be a good boy."
I nodded and kissed her cheek. She smiled and fixed my hat. As she stood up to walk out at the door, I looked around the room. Mrs. Monroe took a hold of my hand and led me over to one of the tables. She sat me in one of the chairs. I didn't look at the other kids, too scared.
"Class, I want you to meet Randall. He's our new student. I'm sure he would be happy to tell you all about himself, but unfortunately, Randall can't talk. So I want you all to be nice to him. Now, let's start with spelling. Today we're going to learn the alphabet. The alphabet will help you how to learn how to spell words and write."
The lesson was pretty mundane. Once she handed out our work booklets, I went straight to work. I pretty much knew everything that she was teaching, but I didn't bother to point it out. As she left us to practice I was already done. She looked over, helping the others when they needed it. By the time she got to me, she saw that my book was shut.
"Randall. You're book isn't open. Is something wrong?"
I shook my head, opening it and held it up for her to see my work. She looked at it in surprise.
"Oh my… I… children, continue on practicing the letter A. Randall come with me."
She took my hand and led me out of the classroom. I looked at her worriedly. Did I do something wrong? I did everything the book said to do. I even worked ahead and completed it. My lower hands once again started playing with my fingers. She sat me in one of the chairs outside the principle office.
"Randall, you stay right here."
I nodded, worried. She knocked on the door and went in, leaving me alone. I moved my legs back and forth, playing with my fingers nervously as I waited. What were they going to do to me? Where they going to punish me because I went ahead and finished the book? Soon I was practically hyperventilating. What they could do to me frightened me. I was shaking so badly, that I ended up having a seizure.
When I awoke, I was in a strange dimly lit room. I looked around in panic and burst into tears. I had no idea where I was or where anyone else was. I was terrified. Then another older woman came in. She had short black fur, brown eyes and painted red claws. She was wearing a pink scrub shirt. She smiled gently at me.
"There, there little one. It's okay. You're safe." She turned towards the door. "Mrs. Monroe, Mrs. Boggs, you can come in now, he's awake."
I looked towards the door to see Emilia and Mrs. Monroe. I lifted my arm towards Emilia and she came over and hugged me.
"Oh my poor baby. You're okay now, Mama's got you."
I clung onto her, burying my head in her fur. Tears falling down my cheeks. I was petrified. I didn't like this place. Emilia shushed me gently, rubbing my back.
"Mrs. Boggs, if you want you can take him home now.
She nodded and picked me, placing me on her hip like a toddler. I didn't care. I wrapped my arms around her neck, burying my head in her shoulder fur.
"That would be great. Thank you. Come on Randykins, let's get you home and get some food in your little tummy."
Randykins is one of the many nicknames that my parents had given me. And it is a long list. She wiped away my tears with her thumb as she buckled me into my car seat. She smiled sweetly at me and placed a kiss on my forehead. After handing me Teddy, she got into the drivers' side and drove off. I held Teddy close. I really needed the comfort at the moment. After such a stressful day, I needed it .
"So how was your first day of school?" Teddy asked me.
Like I said earlier, I can hear Teddy talk to me. I shrugged. Since I can't talk, I can only use body language. She nodded, understanding what I meant. She gave me a "don't-worry-about-it" smile. I hugged her and she hugged me back. Even though my first day of school was horrible, at least I had Teddy to make me feel better."
"Aw," Celia gushed. "He loves his Teddy bear. That's so cute."
"Hey, I thought I was cute!" Mike protested.
"Of course you are Googley-bear," Celia giggled. "You will always be cute to me."
First days of schools are rough. Especially for our favorite little lizard!
Thank you all for reading and please review!
