A Shield Called Silence – Part 1, Chapter 1

September had arrived and, with it, another school year. Just one more to add to the count.

Leslie was a 9 year-old blonde girl who seemed to be anything but fragile. She was tall and considerably muscled for her age. If one was to see her from far away, one could easily mistaken her with a boy. Her short hair didn’t help as well.

This was her third school since she started primary education.

“We’re sorry, but we have to attend other parents’ concerns.”

Leslie had a “problem”, as they called it. She was antisocial and when faced with the obligation to socialize, she became aggressive. Complaints started filling up the headmaster’s desk and they were forced to intervene.

Psychologists didn’t help either. Because Leslie was never fond of talking, they could do nothing about her, unless encourage her to be more talkative once she left their offices.

Exams were made to check for physical problems but nothing was found, which was something her parents were already expecting.

Melinda and John’s daughter was born on a rainy day, in December. For the first 6 years of her life she was happy and communicative, a child just like any other.

At the age of six she entered the first year of primary school and got excellent grades. She was even rewarded with a special party for her performance throughout the year.

Then, almost suddenly, she stopped talking. She stopped playing as usual, stopped eating and became introverted. Her teddy bear, Weasley, was one of the few things she kept close to her from her previous life.

Her parents tried everything at home but the little girl refused to speak by any means.

When she got back to school, to her second year, she started acting aggressively against other children, including her close friend Karina. This aggressive state was showed by broken pencils, scratched books, constantly attempts to scare other children with ridiculous stories about ghosts, zombies and bad men coming to take them all to their horrible world.

Other children started complaining to their parents and there began a series of school transfers.

There were years where Leslie wouldn’t attend half of school year because the principal couldn’t avoid expelling her, no matter how much John or Melinda begged.

This was her third school and both her parents were worried about how these first months would go.

Meeting new kids and environments is hard enough when you do it once, but having to do so repeatedly was even more frustrating. It didn’t help Leslie’s cause.

But it had to be done. Homeschooling wouldn’t work for all her life and neither would there exist enough teachers to try and teach her. They all ended up quitting, either because she refused to work with them or because she was too rude.

She needed school. All kids do. And even though she was different and rebel, she had to endure life and try to make this third school the last one she’d attend before progressing to other levels.

Because she was constantly forced to drop out of school, she had only completed two years, which made her the eldest of her class and, obviously, a celebrity, even if not for the right reasons.

This year’s teacher was Miss Carey, a young woman one could say had finished her studies recently. She had a soft voice and when introducing herself and expecting her student’s introduction, had always kept a smile on her face.

When faced with the fact that Leslie was not going to introduce herself, Miss Carey did it herself, saying her name, age and home place, like other children did. When someone tried to tease at Leslie’s supposed dumbness for being in a third class level at the age of 9, Miss Carey stopped being friendly and forbid any behaviour of that kind to happen among her students.

“Nobody is to be teased inside my classroom for no reason. Leslie is here to learn, just like you”, Miss Carey said.

Nobody noticed but Leslie raised her eyes a bit to look at the teacher who had stood up for her. Others have done so but quit after two or three times. Leslie hated to be teased at and whenever she tried to pay off for the mocking, she’d be the one who’d end up in bad situations.

Of course, giving her refusal to speak, she never told anyone the real reasons why she’d be mean to some boy or girl. At first, the principal and the teachers would ask her what happened and why she did what she did, but after a while they got used to her silence and gave up asking. This only enraged her more and there was one time when she tried to stab one of the teachers with a scissor. This lead to an instant suspension and various meetings with the parents.

At the end of the class, while other students ran away through the doors to their parents’ arms, ready to go home, Leslie waited, sitting in her chair. Only when all other students left, she rose from her chair and walked towards the door.

“Can you wait a second?”, Miss Carey asked, while closing up her bag.

Leslie turned to her teacher and patiently waited, standing in front of the door.

“Hi, Leslie” Miss Carey said, approaching Leslie “I noticed you aren’t excited for this new year.”

Silence.

“Let’s hope that opinion of yours changes on these first days”, continued the teacher, trying not to notice Leslie’s silence. “You seem a bit shy. Can I take you to the door?”

Leslie, who was looking at her for the whole time, lowered her head a bit and then started walking slowly. Miss Carey was a bit confused at this, but decided to follow her.

When they reached the door, Leslie stopped and looked again at the teacher.

“I guess I’ll see you on Monday” she said.

With no answer or a simple glimpse that revealed the understanding of what was said, Leslie walked towards her parents, who hugged her, smiled and got into the car.

Carey stood by the door for a couple more minutes, watching the family disappear in their car and wondering about that student. This was only her second year teaching but this had to be strangest girl she had even seen.

Tagged: A Shield Called Silence, chapter 1, crap i say, part 1, short story, writing

Posted in: Short Stories