It had been a close call. Matilda sighed contently as her bladder emptied into the toilet below. She had been too nervous to ask for a hall pass after what Miss Honey had said. As for Mr. Larson, Matilda was convinced he knew exactly what she wanted. He kept eyeing her, almost daring her to ask just so he could say, "see, you don't belong here!" She had a feeling he had tried to stop her, but Matilda had been on a mission with only one thing on her mind. Now if only her stomach would stop hurting. She tried to push, but nothing happened, not even gas. She sighed, feeling disappointed.
"You're going to hit at the worst possible time aren't you?" she muttered to her stomach. "Why won't you work when it's convenient for me!"
"Uh, you okay in there?" Hortensia asked. Matilda hid her face in her hands. She hadn't even heard anyone come in.
"Great." Matilda muttered, trying to push one last time. Another failure. When she came out of the stall, Hortensia was leaning against the sinks, waiting for her. "What?"
"Mr. Larson sent me to check on you since you practically bolted."
"I'm fine." Matilda mumbled.
"And, uh, you always have conversations with yourself in the bathroom?' Hortensia asked with a smirk.
"Pretty much."
Hortensia looked her up and down. "You sure you're okay? He can be a jerk, don't take it personally." Matilda shrugged. He had jumped at every opportunity to correct what she was doing, whether it was working ahead, looking at another book after she had finished the assignment early, or closing her eyes for a moment.
"If I have to hear 'Year five isn't like year one' one more time I might be sick." Matilda said with a hint of a smile. The work itself was simple enough, but the classroom dynamics made her feel more lost than ever. Was this what Miss Honey wanted her to learn? Maybe it was just stress.
"I think he wanted to talk to you." Hortensia said. Matilda groaned. So she hadn't imagined it. "When you're done, come out to the field, we're playing kickball."
"We're not allowed in the field." Matilda said.
"Since Trunchbull's gone, no one really cares anymore. It was her rule. Seems a waste not to play in a perfectly good space. Later."
She made her way back to the classroom before poking her head in. She found Mr. Larson eating a sandwich at his desk as he glanced over the newspaper.
"You wanted to see me?" Matilda asked, a bit more timidly than she had meant. He waved her in, a mouth still full of sandwich and pointed at a nearby desk. She assumed he meant sit, so she took a seat, the desk much too large for her small frame.
"So what do you think?" Mr. Larson asked.
Matilda shrugged. "The work is fine."
"I have to admit, I'm shocked. You show up without warning and completely ace a quiz you haven't studied for, not to mention you don't even look like you're old enough to read."
"I like to read." Matilda said quietly. "And I've already done that section a few months ago." Mr. Larson frowned.
"Hortensia said you were in Miss Honey's class. How did you already do that section?" He asked before taking another bite, a blob of mayonnaise falling onto his desk.
"I did sort of independent studies in her class. She'd give me text books and let me work out of them in class."
"Ahh, that makes sense, no wonder you have a hard time paying attention. Well, unfortunately in my class, you won't be able to go off and do your own thing. You'll have to learn to follow along. Is this your first time in a real class? One that doesn't have nap time and snacks."
"Yes." She shifted uncomfortably.
"So you must be some kind of genius or something to get moved five grades." Matilda shrugged. She never knew what to say when people called her that.
"Well, there's more to being in year five than book smarts. I will have far more expectations for you than year one. There will be no talking out of turn, no leaving the classroom except for scheduled breaks, no eating or drinking during class."
Matilda gulped, she didn't like that no leaving the class rule. Her stomach seemed to tighten even more in protest.
"You will be expected to finish all assignments during class, and turn in all homework on time. There will be no naps, snacks, or arts and crafts."
Good, Matilda thought, she hated arts and crafts anyway. She nodded her head.
"Any questions?"
"No, Mr. Larson." Matilda said quietly.
He nodded his head and looked her over one last time. "You're excused."
When Matilda tried to rise from the desk, she winced in pain. Her entire core now seemed to ache, and it hurt to move. Kickball was definitely out. If Mr. Larson noticed her discomfort, he didn't say anything. She shuffled out the classroom and into the hall, closing the door behind her. She looked up at the clock, she only had ten minutes now until they would be shuffled to the cafeteria. The thought of eating seemed about as appealing as asking her new teacher if she could lay down in the back and take a nap during their next lesson.
She took a couple steps towards the exit and froze. Maybe she should ask Mrs. Rodgers if she had anything for her stomach? It had never felt this hard before. Maybe she could nip it in the bud before anything bad happened. The last thing she wanted was diarrhea on her first day during a class she wasn't allowed to leave.
With Matilda's mind made up, she slowly shuffled over to the office and to the nurse's station. She found Mrs. Rodger's handing an ice pack to, Matilda scowled, Hortensia. Why was she everywhere the moment she wanted privacy?
"Sup," Hortensia said. Matilda took one look at Hortensia's leg and blanched. How in the world had she gotten that hurt so quickly? There was a large open gash covering her knee and ending halfway down her leg. "I was running the bases and tripped over a gopher hole." Hortensia said before Matilda could ask.
"And that's why the fields off limits." Miss Rodgers said. "You're lucky you didn't get broken glass in that scrape." At the mention of shards of glass, both girls shuddered. "Leave the ice on it for another 15 minutes, you can go sit on the cot, I want to see it one more time to make sure the swellings gone down." She waited until Hortensia had hobbled off, before addressing Matilda.
"You didn't get hurt trying to keep up with the older kids too, did you?" Miss Rodgers asked. Matilda shook her head and gingerly took the offered seat.
"My stomach." Matilda muttered.
She heard Miss Rodger's suck in a breath. "Your stomach again? It never ends with you, does it? It's not like before, is it? Do you need a bucket? Do you think you're going to be sick?"
"No, not like that." Matilda said. "It just hurts all over. It hurts to bend down and move. It's like I ate rocks or something."
"Hmm, any other symptoms?"
"No, do you have some pepto I can take?"
"Sorry kid, nothing like that here. Open your mouth, let's take your temperature." Matilda hung her head. This wasn't how she wanted her first day to go. "No fever, that's good. Does this hurt?" Mrs. Rodgers poked around Matilda's belly as the girl winced. "Ah, yep, it's hard." Matilda wasn't sure what that meant. Did she have to go to the doctor again? "Honestly," Mrs. Rodger's said, "It's most likely trapped air."
"Trapped air." Matilda repeated and frowned. Seriously? "So it's not going to make me sick during class or anything, right?"
"I don't think so, but you might be uncomfortable until you pass it."
"Do you have anything to make it stop hurting?" Matilda asked. The thought of getting through the rest of the day being scolded with a stomach ache was getting lower on her priority list. Part of her wanted to go back to Miss Honey's class and say, "I quit," while grabbing a mat and taking a nap. "I have fifteen minutes before I have to go back to class."
"Well, if you want relief, I suggest you lie on your stomach on the cot, stick your booty in the air and try and pass as much gas as you can." Matilda looked at her horrified. She could hear Hortensia snickering in the back room with the cots.
"I think I'll be okay, thanks." Matilda mumbled. She was about to get up and leave before Miss Rodger's spoke again.
"Better here than in the classroom."
That was how Matilda found herself curled somewhat in a ball with her knees tucked up to her stomach and her forehead resting on the cot trying to fart. She could hear Hortensia snickering beside her before something that sounded like a trumpet filled the room.
Matilda groaned as she heard footsteps approaching.
"There, do you feel better now?" Mrs. Rodger's asked. Matilda shook her head.
"That wasn't me."
Now out of time and with no relief, Matilda trudged back to class, fearing the thought of accidentally farting in class. At this rate she'd probably get a detention.
"I fart in class all the time and I never get in trouble." Hortensia said. "The trick is to blame someone else before someone blames you."
By the end of the day, Matilda didn't care if she farted in front of the queen let alone in class. Everything hurt to move. She'd gladly take a detention in exchange for mobility. It felt like she had eaten concrete.
"Matilda, what's wrong?" Miss Honey asked once she had entered her mothers' classroom.
"Nothing," Matilda said, forcing a smile on her face. Miss Honey scowled.
"When will you start being honest with me?" Jenny said, arms crossed over her chest. "It's written all over your face."
"I'm tired, it was a long day." Matilda said, looking away.
"And what's this I hear about you spending your lunch in the office with a stomach ache?"
"Traitor." Matilda mumbled. "I'm fine, It's just from stress or something."
Miss Honey let out an exasperated sigh. "You know you can tell me when you're not feeling well."
"I'm not sick, she said it was just…" Matilda mumbled the rest.
"Do I need to bounce you on my shoulder and burp you like a baby?" Miss Honey giggled, but stopped when she saw the look on Matilda's face. "Well, I'm glad it's nothing serious, but still. You look miserable. When we get home i'll make you a heating pad for your tummy. Should I ask Mrs. Rodgers to drive us home?"
"No, it's okay, I can walk." Matilda said. She didn't think she could bend enough to get in and out of the car.
"Alright, maybe some light exercise can help work things through."
Matilda silently groaned as she gingerly got into bed. She had homework, but it was simple enough. She completed them all before, but just the mere thought of sitting at the table was too much work.
"Honey, are you sure it's just gas? Maybe I should take you to the doctor."
"No." Matilda groaned. "I just want to sleep, besides, I have homework."
"Okay, but if you get any worse, I'm calling the doctor and making an appointment."
Matilda groaned in acknowledgment and closed her eyes. Sometime later she could feel the blanket covering her lift and something nice and warm was placed on her stomach. "Thanks." She hugged the sewn bag of rice to her stomach as tight as she could and drifted off to sleep.
"Matilda, sweetie, wake up, dinners ready."
"I'm not hungry." Came the muffled reply from underneath the covers.
"Did you eat anything at all today?" Miss Honey took the silence to mean "no". "You hardly ate anything last night either. Please try and eat something."
"I'm not hungry." Matilda repeated.
"Would you come out from under the blanket, so we can talk?" Miss Honey watched as ever so slowly, the blanket came down and a tear streaked face emerged. "Oh, sweetie," She yanked the covers down off her. "Do you know exactly where it hurts?"
"Everywhere." Matilda whimpered.
Miss Honey hurried to the bathroom and began searching the medicine cabinet. Since she had begun receiving an income, she had since stocked up on medicine for most childhood ailments. She pulled out the bottle of pink liquid, before shaking it and measuring it out.
"I should have given you this before you fell asleep. Can you sit up?" Matilda winced as she painstakingly rose to her elbows and accepted the little cup. "I know it's not fun to take medicine, but it will he- Oh, good job." Matilda made a face of disgust before handing back the now empty cup. "It'll be worth it, I promise."
It had taken a little less than an hour until Matilda was feeling well enough to move around again. She slowly shuffled around the room, gingerly testing her body's limits. She still felt sore and bloated, but it was worlds better to how she was feeling before.
"And you thought I bought too much." Miss Honey said with a smile.
"You did, I've never had a cold sore in my life."
"You've never had a cold sore in your life, yet."
Matilda carefully climbed up onto the kitchen chair and sat at the table. She supposed she had better do her homework now while she was feeling up to it. She retrieved her math textbook and opened it to her assignment. Matilda had never felt like doing math less than she did tonight. Now it seemed like a chore having to write out all the steps.
"How do you like your new class?" Miss Honey asked.
"It wasn't a good first day." Matilda answered after a pause to think it over.
"Because of your stomach?"
"Because of a lot of things." she admitted. "I'm not a fan of Mr. Larson, he's kind of…obnoxious." Matilda said, trying to avoid Hortensia's description of, "a dick."
"I hear that a lot about him. That's too bad, I thought you wouldn't have issues with him since you're such a good student. He's normally only strict with the slackers. Maybe once he gets to know you better, he'll lighten up."
"I miss your class." Matilda admitted. "I feel like I'm always in trouble."
"Maybe that's just his way of reminding you of the rules. It'll take some getting used to being in a more structured environment. I know I sort of let you do whatever you wanted as long as it was educational."
"Why can't we just stick with that? I'll learn more that way than I'll ever learn in Mr. Larson's class!"
"Because there are some things you can't learn from a book."
"Like what?"
"Like socializing. You get so lost in your schoolwork you hardly communicate with any of the other kids. So I figured maybe being in a group of more mature children would spark your interest." Miss Honey explained. "You know I love your eagerness to learn, but you'll find life difficult if you don't have the social skills to go with it. I don't want you ending up like me."
"More mature group of kids?" Matilda asked skeptically, before pulling out a crude drawing someone had slipped her during class featuring a certain body part of the male anatomy wearing glasses titled "Mr. Larson's True Form."
Miss Honey made a noise between a snort, groan and a laugh. Matilda raised an eyebrow in surprise. Miss Honey cleared her throat.
"Umm, you know girls mature faster than boys." She offered weakly.
"It wasn't a boy."
"Hortensia, you are not making this any easier." Miss Honey grumbled.
"It's okay, I like sitting next to her. I find her antics amusing, and I think my day would have been much worse if I had been alone." Matilda said thinking back. "Even if she introduced me as "the runt she babysits" to her friends." Miss Honey rolled her eyes. "It's okay, I introduced myself as her tutor."
"I'm sure she loved that." Miss Honey said with a grin. "I'm glad you're getting along, but the moment I catch you drawing depictions of teachers as genitalia, I'm moving you." They both giggled.
"Aww, but I thought you wanted me to participate in crafts with the class, remember?" Matilda said before taking the drawing back and hovering her pen over it. "He's missing his bow tie anyway."
"Matilda! Stop that." Miss Honey said as she laughed, before taking the drawing back and crumpling it up. "Feel up to eating anything yet? How's your stomach now?"
"Better, but not back to normal." Matilda said as she rubbed her stomach. "It's still uncomfortable."
"Hmm," Jennifer said. She sat on the bed and patted her lap. "Come here, I have an idea." Matilda narrowed her eyes.
"You're not going to try and bounce me on your shoulder, are you?"
Miss Honey chuckled. "You're a little too big for that, I want you to lay face down across my knees."
Matilda gave her a puzzled expression. "No thank you, I think I'll be okay."
"Oh, just come here." Matilda eyed her for a minute before setting her pencil down and hobbled over.
"That's it, now lay down."
"This is very uncomfortable." Matilda groaned, her head hanging down over Ms. Honey's legs. "You know I was just joking about the bow tie."
"Uh-huh, sure you were."
"Isn't it illegal for a teacher to strike a student?"
"Hmm, but as of this morning I'm no longer your teacher, am I?" Miss Honey said, giving Matilda's backside a playful swat. "Go on, stretch out all the way." Matilda felt an arm lock around her waist.
"What are you doing? Hey! Hey! Hey! No!" Matilda shouted as Miss Honey's legs began jostling her up and down.
"We're going to work it out of you the old-fashioned way."
"You ARE trying to burp me!" Matilda groaned feeling Jenny's knees bouncing into her stomach. "And what if it's not a burp? What if it wants to come out the other end?"
"Then let it. Your tummy will feel better, and I'll consider this a success."
"In your face?" Matilda groaned.
"Judging by how you like to pretend to be asleep, toot in bed, and then throw the covers over my head with psychic powers, I don't think you care where my face is."
Matilda half snorted and half moaned. "Don't make me laugh right now, it hurts. Can you stop? Please."
"Not until I hear some kind of noise come out of you."
"Mom, this really hurts. Stop!" Matilda breathed a sigh of relief as Miss Honey's legs stopped kneading into her.
"Sorry dear, I was hoping it would help break it up."
"It didn't! It just really hu-" Matilda started to say before her words were cut off by a familiar pressure. She pushed herself up and shuffled to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Please, she silently begged as she sat on the toilet, hoping for something more than just air, but no luck. It was just a small amount of gas.
It was the third day she hadn't gone, and now her stomach was paying the price. Curious about the treatment, she had looked it up, and now she realized curiosity came with a cost. She would NOT go to the doctor for this. Matilda looked up at the medicine cabinet. There had to be something in there.
"Matilda, is everything okay?" She heard Miss Honey knock on the door.
"Yes." Matilda said before pinching the bridge of her nose. Miss Honey wanted her to be more honest. She let out a defeated sigh. "No." She stood up and flushed the empty toilet bowl as she heard the door opening.
"What's wrong? Did it not work?" Matilda shook her head.
"No gas at all?"
"A little, but that's the problem." She closed the lid and took a seat. "That's all that comes out."
"What do you me… Oh." Miss Honey said. Matilda saw her lips crease in worry. "For how long?"
"A couple of days," Matilda said, before adding an "-ish" to the end.
"Matilda!" Jenny said. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't really notice until I woke up with a stomach ache this morning."
"I'll call your doctor's office and make an appointment."
"No!" Matilda said, a bit more forceful than she meant to. Miss Honey gave her a puzzled expression. "I mean, umm, don't you have something in there?" she pointed to the medicine cabinet. She watched as Miss Honey dug through the bottles, until she pulled out a box before staring at the instructions on the back.
"I guess I can give you this and see if it loosens things up, but I should really ask your pediatrician."
"No point in missing school, he'll just tell me to drink more water or something." Miss Honey stared at her for a moment.
"You seem very eager to not go in. What's going on?"
"What kid wants to go to the doctor?" Matilda laughed nervously.
"Well, you, for starters. You love picking everyone's brain there. It's not like you're going to get a shot." Miss Honey narrowed her eyes. "You're not even afraid of needles."
"Well, I sort of got curious and looked up the treatment." Matilda admitted before blurting out, "They're going to shove a tube up my butt!"
Miss Honey stared at her a moment before letting out a chuckle. "No, Matilda, no one's putting anything in your bottom. This, this is the treatment." She shook the box in her hand before smiling. "It goes in your mouth."
"Oh." Matilda said, breathing a sigh of relief. "What is it?"
"Laxatives. You'll probably have some cramping in the morning, most likely some diarrhea, but then it will be over." Matilda made a face.
"What about school? I can't leave class, he won't let me."
"I'll get you up an hour earlier, it'll be out of your system by then, but just in case, I'll send you off with a note." Matilda took the pill she was offered and chased it down with a cup of water. "You'll feel better soon. I promise."