𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 & 𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 ━ girl meets world²

9│FROM BAD TO WORSE

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❛ ʟᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ & ʟᴀᴄᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ғʀᴏᴍ ʙᴀᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴏʀsᴇ ꒱


❝  YOU, ON THE OTHER HAND,
SEEM TO HAVE A TALENT FOR
MAKING EVEN THE SIMPLEST
TASKS LOOK LIKE ADVANCED
 BRAIN SURGERY ❞

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Outside the classroom window, the sky was a brilliant blue as the last of the rainclouds dispersed from the winters' storms. There was a tree that was as tall as the second story whose bark was still dark, dampened from the wetness that the rain had brought, but new, bright green growth was budding along the branches. Closer to the trunk of the tree in a small 'v' of branches, there was a small, circular nest filled with baby robins, whose chirping could be heard from the open classroom window. The mother bird returned to the nest with a bug, ready to feed its young.

On the sidewalk below, passers-by went to and from their errands in a hurry. Several bike tires splashed over the potholes in the pavement, which were filled with water from the recent rain. Walking pedestrians were quick to get out of the way of the splash zone, the polished leather of their work shoes reflecting the early spring sun. A pair of kids— too young to be in school— tried to jump in the puddles before the adults that were with them hastily took their arm to guide them to safety.

Miya found all of these scenes far more interesting than anything the classroom had to offer and she let her gaze stray to the window where there was far more life happening outside. She tuned out the rustle of pages turning and the whispering of her classmates in favor of watching the birds fight over the bug with keen interest. Her copy of Heidi remained closed on her desk, unlike the twenty novels that belonged to other students. She rested her cheek against the palm of her hand as her eyes drifted to the fluffy white clouds that were barely visible above the other tall buildings— an unusually nice day for London. Her pencil tapped on the desk on its erasure side as she balanced it between her thumb and pointer finger.

From the front of the room, her teacher called on one of her classmates to begin reading the assigned section for the day. Next to her, Jonah rested his head on his hand in a similar fashion, but his attention stayed focused on the book in front of him. His eyes followed the lines ahead of the reading student as the pace was far slower than his usual comprehension.

As the student in front of him began take her turn to read a couple of paragraphs, he nudged the girl next to him. Miya jumped, startling out of her daydreaming as her attention returned to the classroom. Jonah shifted his book and pointed to the page they were on so she would be prepared for her turn. The brunette gave him a tense albeit grateful smile as she flipped to the correct page.

When it was his turn, the boy began to read aloud slowly, so as to give Miya as much time as possible to get ready for her section: "'the grandmother, holding the child's hand in hers, said. . .'"

Jonah tried to read as much as he could— they were almost to the end of the day's section— but as he began the third paragraph, the teacher cut him off. "That's enough, thank you, Jonah. Miya?"

The Asian girl stared down at the words before her, her hands clenching into fists in her lap. To anyone else, it might have been a simple task to read the last eight sentences of the chapter, but Miya could barely get past the first word without all of the letters swimming on the page in front of her. She remained silent, her eyes refusing to leave the page, as she watched the 'f' and the 't' wiggle to life.

"Miya!" Miss Welch repeated; there was a note of impatience that edged her tone this time. "Read the last paragraph and we can be done with English for the day. Jonah, would you point it out to her?"