Parentsies (Sequel to Newsies MS-HS AU)

Chapter 18 - Upsetti Spaghetti

Over the first couple months of school, Nate had learned that his teacher was, in fact, very nice. He didn't think he had anything to worry about. That was until he realized that teachers weren't the only ones capable of upsetting him. 

It started with four seemingly unrelated words: nerdy, abnormal, tiny, and embarrassing. Nate would hear his classmates using those four words a lot. Always in the same order, and they would always giggle afterward. Nate didn't see what was so funny.

That was, until, the class was learning about adjectives in class. The teacher asked for volunteers to give her examples of adjectives. The first student she called on said, "Nerdy,"

"Good," Mrs. Holmes nodded, writing the word on the whiteboard, "what else?"

Another student said, "Abnormal,"

Another said, "Tiny,"

And the fourth said, "Embarrassing,"

Mrs. Holmes kept taking adjectives from other students, she said she wanted at least one from everyone.

Nate didn't really listen to the rest of the students' words, he was too focused on the first four. Now that they were all written on the whiteboard, he noticed something.

Nerdy
Abnormal
Tiny
Embarrassing

If he took the first letter off each word, it spelled Nate. Was that what was so funny? Were they saying that he was all of those things? Had they been making fun of him the whole time without him realizing it? 

Now Nate really couldn't focus, his feelings were so hurt. He was, as his word of the day notebook had taught him, distraught. 

"Nate, you've been quiet," Mrs. Holmes noticed, "do you have an adjective you'd like me to put on the board?"

Nate was staring down at his desk, he couldn't speak, he just shook his head. 

"Are you okay, Nate?" Mrs. Holmes asked.

Nate didn't move, maybe if he was still enough, he would just disappear. That was all he wanted to do at that moment. 

Mrs. Holmes paused, "Nate, would you step out into the hall with me for a moment?" 

Nate followed Mrs. Holmes out into the hall, still unable to speak.

"Do you need to tell me something?" Mrs. Holmes questioned.

Nate shook his head.

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Holmes raised her eyebrows.

Nate nodded.

"Okay," Mrs. Holmes sighed, "well, you don't have to talk to me, but I can't help if I don't know what's wrong,"

They went back into the classroom and the day continued. Nate stayed in at recess, he sat at his desk and didn't do or say anything. 

"Do you want to call Spot?" Mrs. Holmes offered.

Nate shook his head.

"Okay, you just need space," Mrs. Holmes figured, "that's fine, I'll leave you alone,"

Nate just couldn't believe his new classmates could be so cruel. His fourth grade class had never been like this.

The part that hurt the most was 'tiny,' Nate had always been slightly insecure about his height, especially now that his peers had gotten out of their growth spurts and were much taller. He could ignore it as long as everyone else could, but they couldn't, so Nate couldn't, either. 

When Spot arrived to pick Nate up after school, Mrs. Holmes told him that Nate had been acting strange that day and asked if Spot knew the cause.

"I don't know," Spot admitted, "he was acting normal this morning. He didn't tell you what's wrong?"