Something in the Woods

Chapter 18

"I don't know!" Katie cried out. Laid out before her on the table were the past three homework assignments she had not done. If these papers did not get done before Thanksgiving break, Katie's grade would drop significantly! 
Angie didn't know why she was never getting help sooner, but she was determined to not let Katie fail anymore! She studied each math problem before sliding one towards Katie. "What about this one? It's just dealing with circles." 
But Katie just shook her head. "This doesn't make sense to me!" 
"Okay, then… why don't you tell me something you do know from class and then we can work from there?" Angie asked. 
"The last time I had a good grade in math was in third grade." Katie huffed. "I'm just an idiot!" 
"You are not an idiot, Katie!" Angie snapped. "Math just isn't easy for everyone." 
"That's what they all say until they see my worksheets." 
"Stop." Angie demanded, she didn't want to get mad at Katie but this was getting frustrating. "You're only saying that because no one's bothered to help you properly." 
"It's not like I was never given help." Katie sighed and looked up at Angie. "What can you do differently?" 
"Well, for starters, I can ask you why you can't focus?" 
"It's not like I don't try… but every time I try, someone says or does something that distracts me to the point where I don't even realize I wasn't focusing." 
Something felt familiar to Angie. "Give me an example." 
"Well… last week Mrs. Biggs was giving a lesson, it had something to do with trees, when I hear trees I think of the woods and I started to think about how Byssa and I went into woods the other day and climbed this big tree, and like it was super big! Like if giants existed, I'm pretty sure we'd be eye level to him- I mean them! Then, I'm so busy thinking about how tall this tree has to be that I didn't hear Mrs. Biggs call my name." Her eyes glazed over. "And I look like an idiot in front of the class cause I don't know the answer." 
"Oh Katie, you have it all wrong…" Angie said softly. "What you're going through, is something that happened to me a lot in school, and it wasn't until later in life that I realized I had ADHD." 
"You think I have ADHD?" 
"I can't say for certain, but you sure do a lot of things I did when I was your age." 
"That can't be right." Katie said. "I've suggested it in the past but every teacher has told me that I am not hyper and that I can focus on comic books." 
Angie rolled her eyes. "ADHD isn't just hyperactivity, and just because you can focus on one thing, doesn't mean you don't have it. You just need more help focusing on the tasks you need to do." 
"So you think if I get help, I could finally look smart?" She asked. 
"Katie, you were always smart, your brain is just wired differently." Angie smiled. "But if you would like to get tested, we can look for the best ways to help you out." 
Katie glanced away from Angie. She seemed so unsure about all this, like she didn't want to trust Angie. But when she looked down at her homework, she let out a sigh. "If you really think I have it, then please help me." 
"Of course I'll help you!" Angie smiled and looked down at the homework. "Now here are some tricks I learned when I was your age…"