PART 1

"Morning Jen!" David calls out.

"Hi."is my hurried reply on the way to math class.

"How's life?" I ask Bryan as I enter the classroom.

Forgive me for my indent introduction.

My name is Jasmine, French was my first language but I perfected English (well the kind you find in books)

My best friend, Gwen, is spending a year in Italy. 

My only girl-friend at this school ditched me cause I wouldn't turn the other cheek when she was mean about me being a neurodivergent introvert (most of the time) 

So all my American friends are boys.

Class was over, I went to go get my homework out of my locker, Tristian and David are there. "Let me guess, we're idiots and you hate us?" David smiled. "I suppose" was my reply. 

Tristian would do an assignment with me at every chance he got, and it he was always way too nice. "Can I work with you?" he'd ask in a shy polite tone that didn't suit him at all. He seemed almost scared. "Sure" I'd always say. "What's your favorite desert?" he asked. "Tiramisu, though I'm lactose intolerant so it makes me sick." He looked me into the eyes, and said "Really?!! That was my mom's. She passed away a couple years ago." Silence "Thanks for working with me. It was really nice to talk to you. 

His eyes were such a cold shade of blue. I looked in the mirror; mine were the same warm auburn-red as my hair. 

..................

The next week he was kind, and I was sleep deprived. I snapped at him (and everyone) a few times. It was the very end of my span of energy. The week was finally over, and those sad blue eyes haunted me. 'He not a great kid, I mean, he gets into trouble all the time and he's not nice to his other friends.' I'd tell myself. Of course it was true, he broke his best friends arm, and he has a terrible temper, but that was an accident. He's never been mean to me. I called Gwen and then sent him an email saying sorry.

       I'm the second eldest teen in my family of eight, but I tend to feel like the oldest. First of all, I tend to do more than my older brother, Mark, who spends all his time in his room regulating. He has to spend a lot of time alone after a long day of overstimulation not to have an autistic meltdown. Mark has level two, and ADHD and my eldest little sister, Rachel, and my mom also have autism. When my brother needs something to listen to music with, I am the giver. When Rachel needs a shoulder to cry on because her classmates were loud, I am the giver. When my mother is about to bang her head on the wall to push it all away, I give her a back rub.   My French father always needs help with something, he expects me to be mom when my mother can't.

My mother is a theologian, my father a mathematician, and my brother is Dungeon Master(DnD) 

I have Sensory Processing Disorder, Anxiety, and an amazing best friend.

PART 2

The dreaded Monday's sun snuck behind the cool shadows of the all too short weekend. It was "Dress like you're going to the beach" day, so I snuck into my brother's room and grabbed his Hawaiian shirt. My mom rolled up the sleeves to make it look more feminine.

"I like your shirt,"complemented Tristian

"Thanks"

"I got your email, I don't think you're mean. You're actually one of nicest people I've ever met."

We rushed to Literature.

.................

It was the Race for Education. We would get a necklace for every lap we ran. I was walking with David, (who could only limp with his cast from a recent surgery.) 

"I do notte speakke the Baguette" he joked with a fake Italian accent. 

I just rolled my eyes.

Tristian was passing us. "Hey, Jasmine! D'you want one of my necklaces?" he asked.

"No thank you." 

He kept running, and he didn't stop again.

"Your hair is nice." he commented later. (I'd sprayed some purple into it,)

Smiling, David put his few piling up necklaces over my head with his awkward scarred tan arms. I pulled them all back over him, and we kept talking about the "Martians I'd go meet in Texas."(I was mostly just exited to miss school on a vacation with my mom.) 

.................

At the airport I tell my mom with my baby brother in her lap about Tristian's inconsistent behavior.

"No one like that is worth keeping." is her wisdom on the matter.

The waters of Galveston beach are pulling me farther. I try not to think about Tristian being so rude to our classmates, and so nice to me. Thinking of David is easier, he's always a good laugh (though an awful tease.) 

................

I come back to school after one week.

The first thing I hear:

" 'Glad to have you back...I missed you." said Tristian.

I was walking to our spot for lunch with David. "Have you ever had, or do you currently have a boyfriend?" he asked. "Not if you don't count first grade sweethearts......." One of Tristian's friends walks up to where we're at to talk to David about some video game thing. "Looking good today." he says to me and leaves. All our other friends are playing sports, so I'm playing "groundies" with David (Yes, I'm a seventh grader, but what do you want us to do, gossip about each other?)

He randomly tells me:

"Roses are red.

Violets are blue. 

The sun is hot,

and so are some people."

with that annoying grin.

My blunt reply:

"I miss Gwendolyn, and I hate boys."

"That feels kind of targeted." he laughs.

Tristian and his friends got in trouble for being mean to students again.

I really miss Gwen.

She's all I need, a friend who stays by my side no matter what.

...........................

My parents are yelling. My siblings are crying. Gwen won't pick up the phone. I run down to my room, turn out the lights and up the music as loud as possible. 

I dance hard 'cause nobody's watching.