"Bingo?"
*Tock tock tock*
"Bingo, can you open the door?"
*Tock tock tock*
"Bluey, get the key."
"Ok, Mum."
"BINGO!"
*TOCK TOCK TOCK*
"BINGO! OPEN THE DOOR, I WANNA TALK TO YOU!"
"Here, Mom."
Bingo slowly shakes her head and does her best to open her reddish eyes, a product of sleeping late while texting Dougie. The sound of a key getting inserted and being turned sound off, followed by the door opening, letting the hallway's light get into the room, Bingo mentally embraces herself to have a tough conversation with her mother.
The light of her room turns on with a yellow projection, and she hears the sound of steps ambling toward her bed. A shadow covered her face, giving her a break to open her eyes and find her mother standing in front of her head.
"Bingo?" Chilli kneels on both her knees to be face to face with her daughter and whispers, "Wake up Bingo. I wanna talk to you."
"Why?" Bingo barely whispered without voice, trying to gather her strength to wake up fully
"About…How are you feeling in that school?"
"Horrible," Bingo sarcastically says in a low voice.
"I figured…Listen to me, Bingo."
Bingo shifts her head's weight to liberate an ear between her head and pillow, signaling to her mother that she is ready to listen to her.
"I was thinking…about our argument yesterday…I talked to Bluey and Dad about how you were feeling…and I just wanna apologize for saying that stuff to you…I used to be like you when Dad or Mum said I got a new boyfriend at school…but, I am sorry for not listening to you and your thoughts; I thought that if you… spent more time at school, you would feel better, but I didn't know you felt so discouraged and sad…Im so sorry Bingo"
Bingo took her time to hear every word that came out of her, feeling a calm, accomplished feeling through her nerves. It feels good to listen to her mother apologizing to her, so Bingo decides to make things even with her tired tone, "I'm sorry for calling a horrible mother yesterday."
"Don't sweat it," Chilli jokingly rolled her eyes. "I guess… it's part of every parent of teenagers to hear that once from their kid, hehe."
Bingo softly laughs alongside her mother, feeling good that she made peace with her after a disastrous dinner.
After laughing with her daughter, Chilli continues, "...Also, I talked to Bluey about what we could do, and she said you can change your classes. Maybe a different schedule could make you feel a little happier there."
"That sounds great…"
"Yeah…I don't work today, so maybe after selecting your new classes…" Chilli gulps before continuing, "You can take a day off school…you know, to gather yourself back up and feel better before you go back
Bingo's eyes finally open up entirely, and her heart pumps once with force. She finally has the option to skip school and prepare herself to gather her thoughts before going back to that hellish place.
But…
That means not seeing Dougie at School.
And she really wants to help him during math class, just as they agreed while texting late at night.
Bingo takes a gulp of air, wets her mouth, and focuses on saying something she never expected to say.
"No…I wanna go to school today."
"Huh," Chilli faintly leans her head to the side, expressing confusion, before continuing in a low voice, "But, it thought you didn't want to go to school the last two days."
"I gotta…Help Dougie," Bingo finally confesses. "He told me he needs someone to help him during math class. And I said I could help him."
"Really?" Chilli asks, receiving nods from Bingo. "Dougie…Gotta meet him one of these days."
"He is a really cool friend," Bingo says, still with her tired voice. "He is from Darwin, he likes turtles, and according to him, his mother makes the best curry of his family. I told him I wanna try it to see if it's better than Dad's."
"I don't think he is going to like the answer," Chilli jests, making Bingo and her laugh lightheartedly.
After laughing, Chilli briefly glances at the door leading to the hallway and then at her daughter. "Pss, Bingo."
"Umm," Bingo hums, waiting to hear her.
Chilli leaned her head closer to Bingo and whispered, "Do you like Dougie?"
"Ha," a single chuckle comes out of Bingo before saying, "I still see him as a friend."
"Still?"
Bingo raised her eyebrows when she realized what she had said but quickly thought of something, "I mean…When I see him, I feel the same way I feel when I see Lila. So definitely, I see him as just a friend."
"Who knows…" Chilli talks "Maybe you and Dougie could be something more."
Bingo softly smiles…thinking about what her mother just said.
She let her muscles relax as her joyful feeling went through her veins…making her tail wag.
Maybe…she is right
"I don't know…" Bingo says, still with her tail wagging under her blanket. "We will see."
"Hahaha," Chilli softly laughs again as she caresses the fur of Bingo's head. "My little girl is growing up so fast."
"Don't push me, Mum," Bingo jokingly says, making Chilli stop caressing her.
"Alright," Chilli gets up and heads to leave the bedroom. "I will leave you alone so you can get ready."
"Ok, mom"
Chilli walked out of the room to prepare to take the girls to school…but she also passed by Bluey, who was next to the door, hearing the whole exchange…with the face of a few friends.
As Bingo and her family prepare for another day
Dougie and her mother finally arrived at the school and walked towards the interior from the teacher's parking lot. As they were walking, Dougie went faster to be ahead of his mother and turned around while walking backward to signal her, "[So, what's the news?]."
Mariella signs back still walking "[The principal, told me, they found, an interpreter, for you]"
Dougie's eyebrow raised as if he was saying, 'Really?' Before turning around and walking straight.
After the walk from the back of the school towards the front, Dougie and Mariella finally reach the administrative offices of the school, a small section with a nursery room, offices for counselors, and the Main Principal's office, where the Cavapoo duo reach, and Mariella opens the door.
The principal's office has a large window showing the front entrance, a long, heavy desk with the window right behind it, and two shelves with books and folders on each side. In front of the desk was an adult male with half his body on it, a white and blue Koolie with yellow hands and a suit. Next to him was a stocky female teenager, a light blue and white Heeler, talking to him.
After Mariella opened the door, Dougie turned on his implant just in time for him to hear her mother say, "Gday Owen, how is it going?"
Owen impulses himself out of the desk to stand straight and says to Mariella, "Gday, Mariella, so far doing good." He shifts his sights to Dougie and says, "So this is Dougie, your son, right?"
"Yeah," Mariella says as Owen shakes Dougie's hand. "He is excited to meet his new interpreter."
"I'm Glad to hear it." Owen steps slightly aside to allow the light blue Heeler to step forward to meet Dougie. "She is Diamond Blu Heeler. She knows ASLAN and volunteered to help Dougie in his classes."
Dougie shifts his sight to Diamond, who she signals to him to showcase her abilities, "[Hi, Dougie, Im, Diamond, Nice, to, meet, you]."
"[Nice, to, meet you, too]" Dougie signs back before shaking hands with her
"Diamond agreed to change all of her classes to help Dougie in his classes," Owen mentions to Mariella, who still has a big smile on her face.
…
…
Dougie's face changes from a happy, friendly face to a harrowing face
If Diamond is going to be with him in all his classes, that means Bingo can't sit next to him and help him in Math class in one hour.
"What?" he says in a low voice, looking at Owen and Mariella.
"Yeah," Mariella responded, turning her head to look at her son. "She will help you communicate with everyone until that device is fixed."
"Yeah," Diamond finally says after figuring out Dougie has his implant turned on. She continues in a comforting tone, "Don't worry, Dougie. I will make sure to be there for you."
Dougie gulps saliva as one thought crosses his mind several times.
"How am I going to explain this to Bingo?"