Chapter 6: Jackie
"Class, waterfall waterfall!" Mrs. Nelson said, motioning her hands like running water.
"Shhhh!" The kids said, moving their hands like rushing water.
Socks and Jeffrey looked at each other, they hadn't yet started morning time, and the class was still finishing breakfast, so it was uncommon for their teacher to call for group attention so early into the day. Socks tilted her head in confusion, and Jeffrey just shrugged in response. The two were sitting side by side at one of the round tables in the middle of the room as their teacher continued.
"Thank you everyone. Today we have a new student joining our class! Her name is Jackie Retriever!" Mrs. Nelson motioned toward the door and a hesitant girl entered. She had long blonde fur and was wearing a pink backpack with a heart on it. She stared at her feet as she walked in, clutching tightly onto the straps of her bookbag. Jackie looked up a moment at the other kids and her lip quivered before she looked back at the floor. Mrs. Nelson didn't seem to notice, "Let's all welcome Jackie and say our names. We'll start with you Samson…"
After introductions Mrs. Nelson showed Jackie her cubby and explained that the class was working on centers, "So you can get a chance to meet some of your new classmates and choose something to work on." And with that Jackie was on her own. She looked at the other children, more than slightly intimidated.
She swallowed as she closed her eyes and wished she was at home. Her mum was a pre-school teacher and they always had fun together when they were at home, but now she was in her second big-kid school and she was more than a bit nervous. She still didn't really understand why she had to change schools. It was two months into the school year and they hadn't moved. Apparently her mum said it was because this school had special teachers that would help her, but it just meant that she had to start all over again. She'd had a hard enough time at her last one; she didn't want any more problems. She placed her backpack on the hook and took out a small piece of fabric. It was a blanket.
She'd had it since she was born. It was well-worn around the edges, with the stitching repaired in many spots by her mother. Jackie smiled, thinking of the sound of her mother humming as she sewed. It was a nice sound, she loved just sitting and listening with her eyes closed as her mum hummed. She ran her finger along the edge, the familiar soft fabric bringing a bit of comfort. It was a mix of pale pink and blue, with stripes of each color alternating across the fabric. She picked it out carefully, then closed her bag, placing it under her arm as she stood and looked at the other kids.
The room was too bright and too loud. She heard some of the boys screeching as they moved cars around across the floor. Another group working on crafts was almost screaming as they sang the theme song together of a TV show she didn't know. After some looking for somewhere not as bright and loud her gaze fell on the front corner of the room. The fluorescent bulb had died, so the light wasn't as blinding as it was in the rest of the room-the shine off the heavily waxed white linoleum almost made Jackie feel sick-and the girls there seemed quieter. Maybe it'll be okay? She looked at the girls in the front of the room at a play kitchen. There were a few playing with plastic food and pretending to be chefs, she didn't care about that, but she did want to play with some of the dolls that were near them. She quietly got up and walked over, trying to not draw attention to herself as the other girls played. Unfortunately one of them saw her. It was a black lab.
"Hi, I'm Jenny!" She said, her tail wagging. "Do you want to play with us?" she gestured to two other girls, one of them a husky, the third an Afghan hound.
Jackie ducked her head and looked away, she wanted to respond, but she found it hard. Her mum had said they had a special teacher at this school who would help her with talking more, but at the moment she was frozen. She wanted to back away or say something but she felt like she couldn't.
"If you want you can be the baker!" The husky girl offered. "Oh, I'm Penny, by the way." She smiled.
Jackie wanted to say something. She looked up and opened her mouth, but she couldn't seem to force the words out.
"Are you okay?" The afghan girl asked.
And with that it was all too much. The questions, the noise of the other students, the light which was now blinking-the bulb having decided it wanted to try to work… Jackie fell to her hands and knees before lying on the ground screaming. She kicked as she wailed, trying to get the pain out of her body in some way. She didn't realize she'd been picked up and moved until almost a minute later, when she felt the hard floor changed for carpeting. She blinked, Mrs. Nelson, along with a man she didn't recognize were hovering over her.
"I knew this wasn't the right placement…" Mrs. Nelson muttered, "But you know how hard it is to get them put into an alternative location off the bat."
"I understand your frustration, but be patient." The man said, before realizing that Jackie was now lucid. "Jackie, are you okay?"
Jackie looked away and didn't respond.
"Jackie, my name is Dr. Spitz. I'm one of the teachers here who works with our special students. You were supposed to meet with me this afternoon, but I think it might be a good idea for us to meet sooner. How about we walk to my room and we just sit and talk, away from all the noise?" He smiled carefully as he knelt to her level. "You don't have to answer me with words. Can you nod yes or no for me?"
Jackie nodded.
"Good." He smiled. "Why don't we take a few minutes to calm down and make sure you're okay?"
Socks and Jeffrey had seen Jackie's meltdown from the back of the room. The two had been playing with blocks when it happened.
"Hey, is she okay?" Jeffrey asked, standing up to look at the noise as their classmate fell to the floor.
Socks looked over and saw that Jackie was on the ground crying, thrashing around. "She's not. Something's making her feel bad." She frowned, watching as she was carried out of the room by Dr. Spitz, who returned a moment later to pick up her blanket.
"Why do you think she was upset?" Jeffrey asked.
"Probably the noise. It's always loud up there." Socks stated, knowing that loud noises made her feel uncomfortable, especially when it was people talking.
"Do you think she's like us?" Jeffrey asked, gesturing to the two of them, knowing how neither of them was like everyone else.
"Maybe."
***PT***
Jackie hadn't returned by lunch, and some of the students had started talking.
"Why did she do that? I was being nice." Jenny said, frowning as she bit her sandwich.
"She's probably spoiled. She wanted to do something else and when you didn't say the right thing she got mad." Penny offered, waving her free hand as the other held her milk carton.
"I think she's just a big baby." Kayla, the afghan hound, said as she dipped a carrot stick into ranch dressing. "She was carrying around a baby blanket and started crying when she didn't get what she wanted. It's like my little brother."
"She's weird." Clifford added, the kelpie frowning as he spoke, "She just looked at her feet the whole time and started bawling when she didn't get exactly what she wanted."
"Yeah, great, another crier." Max added, the collie rolling his eyes, "We already have Socks and Jeffrey acting weird all the time, now this new girl too…"
Clifford slapped Max. "Hey!"
"Jeffrey and Socks are cool." Clifford scowled. "They're weird, but not that weird." He paused, "Sides, Jeffrey could kick your butt if he wanted to." He gestured to the heeler-dingo mix sitting a few seats away, who was a good few inches taller than the other boys.
"Look, she's just some weird big baby. As long as we ignore her we won't have to hear her cry, right? We tried being nice." Penny said, pausing a moment. "Look what happened. My mum always says if you can't get along, then just ignore the person."
"Alright." Max agreed.
"Maybe…" Clifford shrugged.
"Good. I'll tell everyone else." Penny said, standing up to whisper to the class at the next table.
A few seats away Jeffrey and Socks had been listening quietly to their classmates' conversations. Even the note from her father couldn't help the funny feeling in Socks' stomach as she looked over at Jeffrey. He too had a pained expression on his face, neither child sure what exactly to call it, but both sure that they needed to do something.
***PT***
It was at recess that Jackie returned. Dr. Spitz had let her calm down and, after checking that she was sure, allowed her to go out for recess. Jackie smiled at the warm sunshine on her face as she left the building. It was nice; it wasn't too bright, unlike the lights in her classroom. She walked across the blacktop and noticed that as she neared the other kids seemed to step away. She tried walking to the left, and all the kids moved right. She tried going right, they all moved left. Is there something wrong? Why are they all moving over? She tried walking from the blacktop to the mulch and realized the same thing was happening. No matter where she went the other kids avoided her.
Jackie was in tears as she ran across the mulch, a group of boys halting their soccer game to let her run through the field as she arrived at the far edge of the playground. The school backed up to houses, a tall chain link fence separating the property from the backyards. Jackie tried to climb up, but couldn't, and after a moment sat on the grass and simply cried quietly.
"Um, hi." A boy said.
Jackie looked up. Two kids were standing in front of her.
"My name's Jeffrey." He said, "Socks and I, we're in your class."
"I'm sorry about what happened this morning, I know it wasn't okay." Socks said, looking down a moment. "Was it the lights and everyone talking too much?"
Jackie nodded.
"That bothers me too." Socks said.
"The lights are okay for me, but loud noises I can't stand." Jeffrey said, pulling out a small pouch. "If you want my mum gives me earplugs. I have an extra pair. They don't block sound, but it makes it less loud." He showed her. "They're clean, promise." He smiled.
Jackie took them.
"Here, you put them in like this." Jeffrey demonstrated and Jackie copied. In a minute she had them in, he was right it was a lot less loud.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"You're welcome." Jeffrey smiled.
"Is it okay if we sit with you? You don't have to talk or anything, but Jeffrey and I, we're different too." Socks said.
"I have ADHD, so it's hard for me to concentrate sometimes." Jeffrey said.
"An I'm aus-s-tic." Socks mumbled, still not certain of the word. "Which means I sometimes get scared like you did. We know it's hard, and we're here for you."
Jackie's ears perked up slightly at Socks' comment. She looked up, a small wag at the tip of her tail.
"If you want we can be friends." Jeffrey offered.
Jackie inhaled, and after a moment she slowly spoke. "Can… we?"
Socks and Jeffrey smiled before he replied. "Course! We're different, but I like being different."
"Yeah, being normal is boring." Socks added, thinking of how Jeffrey had recently taken to saying such when the two struggled. Jeffrey smiled at her using his motto.
Jackie smiled as she leaned over and hugged the two. Socks tensed before quickly breaking free. Jackie looked worried a moment before she spoke.
"It's okay, just, I don't like being touched." Socks said, quickly smoothing her fur. "We're still friends, but, maybe just do this?" She gently held Jackie's forearm with her paw.
Jackie nodded and carefully copied what Socks showed her. Socks exhaled and after a moment motioned to release. "See, that was okay?"
Jackie nodded, a small smile on her face.
"I'm okay with hugs." Jeffrey said, opening his arms. Jackie beamed as she embraced him.
The bell rang for the end of recess.
"Stick with us, we'll be your afternoon buddies." Socks said.
"We promise." Jeffrey smiled, the three running to head back inside each encouraged with the promise of a brighter afternoon.
***Author's Note***
Thank you to JacobSmith2 for letting me use his character Jackie in my story. I hope you all liked her! If you have any comments, please feel free to let me know. I hope you enjoyed this! New chapter of Society should be up soon!