The Sitter's Sister

Chapter 21

A few weeks later, Leigh-Anne was sitting at the table with Sairah and Amanda in front of the tutors she had hired to get them caught up on the school work they had been missing all their lives. Schools were going to open very soon and they had been taking tutoring for two weeks. They had started the week after Leigh-Anne had dissociated. The girls were speaking to Dr Jung about what they could to get help and Leigh-Anne was also meeting with that psychiatrist. There were a variety of medications that were recommended for Leigh-Anne but for now they were trying just the therapy for treatment. Her anxiety symptoms did not flare up often and neither did her dissociation. All of these were as a result of PTSD. She had spoken about having dreams of seeing her sister shooting herself but it had not been bothering her so much as she had found friends and fun activities to occupy her mind. The girl was still pretty unstable in the doctor's books but they wanted to see how she developed before they rushed into prescribing medicine.

"You've been caught up on reading- which was not much of a problem though you took a while to read at a regular pace Sairah. English seems solid, writing . . . in terms of the spelling and penmanship, again Sairah, you could use some more work but it's generally okay for your level. Um the Maths was surprisingly good. You guys caught onto algebra faster than we expected. We've touched the basics on every topic but the more advanced sections seem to be a bit troublesome. That's fine. I wouldn't worry about it. Most students have trouble when the questions require several math skills. And you guys still aren't as familiar as all other students so it's okay for now. History still needs a lot of work. We couldn't cover much but Leigh-Anne I'd say you're quite good at remembering the information. Sairah you say it's boring but that's how the majority of students feel. Em Literature's alright for the two of you. Biology is okay, you girls are caught up on the basics. Science in general is fine but in terms of physics, it gets tricky for you girls . . . you both seem interested in Drama and you're good. We haven't really dove into that many other subjects but these are the ones that are most important." The tutor said.

"So based on all of this what do you say? Is school a yay or a nay?" Amanda had her hands clasped at the table.

Mr. Chestnut nodded strongly. "Oh yeah. They're ready. Compared to the other students, everything would be fresh in their minds so they may even have an advantage. When starting a new school year, students tend to have to do a recap of what they already know anyway so they should be fine. If I keep tutoring them after school I think they'll be alright. Put them in the GCSE class. Well that's the class Leigh-Anne should be in anyway. I'd advise that she gets dropped in the grade before the one she needs to be in but she may be okay in year 11. Sairah as well. I think year 10 would be best for the two of them. What do you say girls?"

Sairah and Leigh-Anne seemed blank.

"This doesn't mean anything to me. I've never been to school and neither has Leigh." Sairah was kind of cross that she had to do this but Amanda had told her that it was best to ensure that she had as bright a future as possible.

"I think year ten would be best for them." Amanda subconsciously rubbed Leigh-Anne's shoulder. "And Leigh-Anne already has so many special needs, it may be a bit of a strain if she had to start from scratch with the GCSE curriculum."

"Yes of course." Mr Chestnut agreed.

Sairah tapped her thumbs together. "So what? We're gonna go to a physical school?"

Amanda turned to her and nodded. "Attending school is a great way to learn about society and how it works. Unless, you'd rather be homeschooled?"

"I don't care one way or another." Sairah rolled her eyes and she heard the older people laugh. Why did old people always laugh at her these days? Marcy had been coming in every now and then to hang out with her and Leigh-Anne and she was always laughing at the things Sairah said. Was she funny?