Hidden Burdens (working title)

Chapter Thirty-Six

Kimmy was one of the last ones up Friday morning. She got dressed and headed downstairs, where Ben was making scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. There were also blueberries, but she declined those. He put one on her plate and asked if Kimmy would at least try one.

Kimmy stared between the blueberry and Ben. She liked blueberry flavored candy. Just not the actual fruit.

She picked the blueberry up after Ben turned away to tend to the lunches he was packing for Mary and Miguel. Sniffing it first, Kimmy took a tiny bite instead of popping the whole blueberry into her mouth. It was a little tart and mushy for her taste, but she was able to swallow and ate the rest that was still in her hand. Though blueberries tasted better than strawberries, she declined when Ben offered more, which Miguel piped up there would be more for him.

Kimmy and Mary were dropped off first.

This time, Mrs. Johnson did not come by, so Kimmy stayed with her class the entire day. It meant having to participate in the classwork, including the weekly spelling test. Like math, spelling wasn't her strong suit either, so Kimmy missed a lot of the words.

The special for Friday was going to the library, where Kimmy was able to return the book she had been reading and look for another one. But not before having to find books on an animal of her choosing to answer questions for a worksheet on using the library to research. 

Kimmy scanned the shelves of animal books. It took her a little longer than her peers to decide on an animal until she found a book on the platypus. The only knowledge she had on the platypus was Perry the Platypus, one of the few cartoons she watched that wasn't Anime.

Now that she had a book for her animal research assignment, she looked around the tables for somewhere to sit. The only table with an empty chair had one other person sitting there and, to her surprise, it was Lucy.

Kimmy felt her feet root to the hard, gray carpet, with her heart racing. Why Lucy was sitting alone, she wasn't sure. Kimmy also wasn't sure if Lucy wanted her to sit at the same table, or would even let her. Regardless, there wasn't really a choice when the school librarian, Mrs. Mitchell, ushered Kimmy to take her seat, nudging her over to the table.

Kimmy stiffly pulled out the chair across from the girl, trying not to make eye contact. Enough where she could sit at least halfway on the chair.

Lucy was busy flipping through a book about a Komodo dragon to look up. Either that, or she was trying to ignore Kimmy. Either way, Kimmy sat and tried to focus on the assignment.

As she flipped through the book on platypuses, Kimmy tried to remain busy as well while trying to ignore her racing heart. To her relief, Lucy finished first and went to turn in her assignment and pick out another book for the week. The whole time with both girls sitting there, though, Lucy never said a word. As relieved as it was that she finished first, Kimmy couldn't help feeling disappointed.

Mrs. Mitchell had come by and redirected Kimmy's focus to finish her assignment, asking if she had any questions or needed some help.

Kimmy shook her head and continued flipping through the book, rereading the question she was currently on.

As she left, Mrs. Mitchell complimented the platypus was an excellent choice despite it being a very common choice a few years ago among students.

Kimmy eventually finished the research assignment and took it over to Mrs. Mitchell, who said she could pick out a book now. She then headed over to the non research books and began scanning the rows of books once more for something interesting to read. After some time, she settled on the book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. She wished the school library had graphic novels or Manga, but Kimmy didn't mind reading regular books as long as the story was interesting to her.