*ringggg*
Finally lunchtime . History is definitely the most boring subject to ever exist.Tolu ,Anne, and I usually sit next to each other during history class, but she wasn't in class today

"Why didn't Anne show up for class?" I asked Tolu as we walked out of class

"She already said she has ballet practice," Tolu answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world

"She has ballet and history class at the same time?" I asked.when she said that she was having ballet practice the period before lunch, I was under the impression that she had a separate time for her practice

"She doesn't necessarily have ballet class now . She only has those on Wednesdays, but because the ballet room is always opened, she can walk in whenever she wants, " Tolu explained as we walked

"Hey, I've been waiting for you guys," Haru said, standing by the cafeteria door . He's been waiting for me? did his class finish early? It seems like he's been waiting for a while .

"Move out of the way Haru. I came here for food, not you," Tolu said jokingly, pushing Haru out of the way . We entered the cafeteria and joined the unreasonably long queue

"If you were here the whole time, why didn't you just stand in the line so when we come, we can easily cut the line?" I asked Haru a little bit impatiently I hate waiting

"Because I wanted to stand in line with you," Haru said smiling and looking ahead he wanted to stand in line with me why is he always trying to show off his pretty smile. I can feel my face burning up . Surprisingly enough, the line wasn't as slow as I thought it'd be

"Who is the extra food for ?" I asked Tolu, seeing as he had two trays in his hands

"It's for Anne,"he answered simply

"Why are you picking food for her? . Do you even know what she likes ?" I asked

"Yeah, I do, unlike you who can't seem to pay attention to anyone but herself," Tolu said playfully as he puts his bag on the chair next to him to let others know that the seat is taken . I was about to sit down when a girl bumped into me and spilled some blackberry juice all over my new shoes . I wanted to snap, but the girl said sorry so many times that all I could think about was a way to shut her up

"No, it's fine. It's Okay please don't apologize anymore, " I say . She apologized one last time and then ran away in embarrassment

"Oh no, the fur on it is stained," Haru stated the obvious

"Yeah, I know. I'll go see if I can wash it out in the girls' bathroom, " I said, feeling uncomfortable with juce in my shoes. As I entered the bathroom, the last girl walked out, and I was left completely alone to do my business. I was about to take off my shoes when I heard a sniffling sound from the stall in the middle . I normally would mind my business in situations like this, but I noticed that the shoes the girl in the stall was wearing looked an awful lot like the ones Anne had on today

"Anne? is that you ?" I asked while knocking .there was no reply, but it sounded like she held her breath when she heard my voice

"Anne? I know it's you. Can you please open the door?" I asked nicely. I didn't really expect a response, but to my surprise, she opened the door, and I was met with Anne's big blue teared filled eyes staring at me . Before I knew what was happening her arms were around my waist hugging me it's been long since I've been hugged like this I was about to pull away but something about her teary eyes mad me want to stay here with her

"Anne, do you want to tell me what's wrong?" I asked softly as I slowly returned her hug.

"I'm stupid," she answered faster than I expected her to .

"What?why would you say that?" I asked with all sincerity. Anne has always been the most normal person in the group. She had always strikes me as a smart,graceful, and sweet human. She can be overly chatty, but I've never seen her as stupid

"No, I really am. I can't read what I write because my handwriting is crappy,I'm so slow, I have the attention span of a goldfish ,I can't seem to get anything right and I'm going to fail my midterm because I'm so freaking stupid" she cried hysterical

"Well ,umm, it's okay to fall behind sometimes, but that doesn't mean that you should feel stupid," I say, trying to comfort her .I suck at this i should just leave .I want to leave, but somehow I want to be here with her. this is a very uncomfortable situation

"I have Adhd and I'm dyslexic . feeling stupid is not exactly new to me . Ever since I was a child, my teachers and classmates never missed a chance to call me stupid and make me feel stupid. Ballet has always been my escape, but I couldn't even focus on that today , all I could think about was how I was going to fail . Then, after that, my parents would be disappointed. Then, my therapist would probably start talking to me like I'm a child, and I'll get so sick of myself all over again, " Anne ranted

"But if you think you're failing so badly, why didn't you come to any of us for help?" I asked, trying to understand her

"Because it's embarrassing. Haru used to tutor me, but I stopped it because even though my grades were getting better, I still felt belittled ,incapable, and dumb . It's not easy to talk about your grades when the people you surround yourself with are getting A's and are fighting to be valedictorian while you are struggling to get a C . Haru is my best friend, and I love him, but when he was tutoring me, I felt like a child and a burden. Don't get me wrong , he is good at tutoring it's just that sometimes I can be slow, and he'd break things down to baby level, which makes me feel stupid . And he often tells me that Albert Einstein was also dyslexic to cheer me up and motivate me into being the best I can be but that doesn't make me feel better at all , if anything it makes me feel stupid because I am not Albert Einstein!" Anne ranted again. I didn't know what to say because I couldn't relate to her at all. All my life, I have only ever felt superior. The silence in the air seemed only comforting

"I can help you if you want," I suggested

"I don't want a tutor," she replied

"It won't be like tutoring. It would be more like studying together, "I say, trying to reason with her

"Why would you want to do that?" She asked . what a valid question this whole concept was insane but what came out of my mouth next took the cake

"Because you're my friend," I said, surprising myself.

ringggg*
Finally lunchtime . History is definitely the most boring subject to ever exist.Tolu ,Anne, and I usually sit next to each other during history class, but she wasn't in class today

"Why didn't Anne show up for class?" I asked Tolu as we walked out of class

"She already said she has ballet practice," Tolu answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world

"She has ballet and history class at the same time?" I asked.when she said that she was having ballet practice the period before lunch, I was under the impression that she had a separate time for her practice

"She doesn't necessarily have ballet class now . She only has those on Wednesdays, but because the ballet room is always opened, she can walk in whenever she wants, " Tolu explained as we walked

"Hey, I've been waiting for you guys," Haru said, standing by the cafeteria door . He's been waiting for me? did his class finish early? It seems like he's been waiting for a while .

"Move out of the way Haru. I came here for food, not you," Tolu said jokingly, pushing Haru out of the way . We entered the cafeteria and joined the unreasonably long queue

"If you were here the whole time, why didn't you just stand in the line so when we come, we can easily cut the line?" I asked Haru a little bit impatiently I hate waiting

"Because I wanted to stand in line with you," Haru said smiling and looking ahead he wanted to stand in line with me why is he always trying to show off his pretty smile. I can feel my face burning up . Surprisingly enough, the line wasn't as slow as I thought it'd be

"Who is the extra food for ?" I asked Tolu, seeing as he had two trays in his hands

"It's for Anne,"he answered simply

"Why are you picking food for her? . Do you even know what she likes ?" I asked

"Yeah, I do, unlike you who can't seem to pay attention to anyone but herself," Tolu said playfully as he puts his bag on the chair next to him to let others know that the seat is taken . I was about to sit down when a girl bumped into me and spilled some blackberry juice all over my new shoes . I wanted to snap, but the girl said sorry so many times that all I could think about was a way to shut her up

"No, it's fine. It's Okay please don't apologize anymore, " I say . She apologized one last time and then ran away in embarrassment

"Oh no, the fur on it is stained," Haru stated the obvious

"Yeah, I know. I'll go see if I can wash it out in the girls' bathroom, " I said, feeling uncomfortable with juce in my shoes. As I entered the bathroom, the last girl walked out, and I was left completely alone to do my business. I was about to take off my shoes when I heard a sniffling sound from the stall in the middle . I normally would mind my business in situations like this, but I noticed that the shoes the girl in the stall was wearing looked an awful lot like the ones Anne had on today

"Anne? is that you ?" I asked while knocking .there was no reply, but it sounded like she held her breath when she heard my voice

"Anne? I know it's you. Can you please open the door?" I asked nicely. I didn't really expect a response, but to my surprise, she opened the door, and I was met with Anne's big blue teared filled eyes staring at me . Before I knew what was happening her arms were around my waist hugging me it's been long since I've been hugged like this I was about to pull away but something about her teary eyes mad me want to stay here with her

"Anne, do you want to tell me what's wrong?" I asked softly as I slowly returned her hug.

"I'm stupid," she answered faster than I expected her to .

"What?why would you say that?" I asked with all sincerity. Anne has always been the most normal person in the group. She had always strikes me as a smart,graceful, and sweet human. She can be overly chatty, but I've never seen her as stupid

"No, I really am. I can't read what I write because my handwriting is crappy,I'm so slow, I have the attention span of a goldfish ,I can't seem to get anything right and I'm going to fail my midterm because I'm so freaking stupid" she cried hysterical

"Well ,umm, it's okay to fall behind sometimes, but that doesn't mean that you should feel stupid," I say, trying to comfort her .I suck at this i should just leave .I want to leave, but somehow I want to be here with her. this is a very uncomfortable situation

"I have Adhd and I'm dyslexic . feeling stupid is not exactly new to me . Ever since I was a child, my teachers and classmates never missed a chance to call me stupid and make me feel stupid. Ballet has always been my escape, but I couldn't even focus on that today , all I could think about was how I was going to fail . Then, after that, my parents would be disappointed. Then, my therapist would probably start talking to me like I'm a child, and I'll get so sick of myself all over again, " Anne ranted

"But if you think you're failing so badly, why didn't you come to any of us for help?" I asked, trying to understand her

"Because it's embarrassing. Haru used to tutor me, but I stopped it because even though my grades were getting better, I still felt belittled ,incapable, and dumb . It's not easy to talk about your grades when the people you surround yourself with are getting A's and are fighting to be valedictorian while you are struggling to get a C . Haru is my best friend, and I love him, but when he was tutoring me, I felt like a child and a burden. Don't get me wrong , he is good at tutoring it's just that sometimes I can be slow, and he'd break things down to baby level, which makes me feel stupid . And he often tells me that Albert Einstein was also dyslexic to cheer me up and motivate me into being the best I can be but that doesn't make me feel better at all , if anything it makes me feel stupid because I am not Albert Einstein!" Anne ranted again. I didn't know what to say because I couldn't relate to her at all. All my life, I have only ever felt superior. The silence in the air seemed only comforting

"I can help you if you want," I suggested

"I don't want a tutor," she replied

"It won't be like tutoring. It would be more like studying together, "I say, trying to reason with her

"Why would you want to do that?" She asked . what a valid question maybe its because you remind me of someone. this whole concept was insane but what came out of my mouth next took the cake

"Because you're my friend," I said, surprising myself.