Him and Me.

Him and Me- Twenty Four.

With a yawn, I turned over to my side and opened one eye. What greeted me was my bedside clock, telling me that I was most likely going to be late. My eyes widened, and immediately threw the covers off myself and bolted out of bed.

Today was the first day of my summer “job,” and though I had been doing it for the past few summers of my life, and all the other people I had worked with were pretty cool, it was definitely not a good impression to be late. It never was, and it never would be. It was already 8AM, and I start at 8:30! It didn’t help that it would take me roughly 20 minutes to drive to where I work.

My summer job. I smiled at the thought, as I hastily brushed my teeth. It was something that I look forward to every summer. After I finished brushing, I smiled widely at the mirror, feeling excited. And then I remembered that I was going to be late, which made me sprint to the shower.

As the hot water pounded down my back, I felt myself getting psyched up for this day. I finished my shower and got dressed as quickly as I could. Grabbing my jacket and swinging my bag over my shoulder, I was out of the bedroom and ran down the stairs, both upset with myself for having slept in, and eager to start the day. Jogging to the kitchen to grab something to eat, I caught a dishevelled Matty leaning against the fridge, a bowl in one hand, the other spooning a mountain of cereal in to his mouth. What a lovely sight.

“Eat like a normal person, will you?” I commented while grabbing an apple from the basket perched on the counter. Matty just grunted in response, and shoved more cereal in to his mouth. I wrinkled my nose at my brother, and then proceeded to my laughing mom who was sitting on one of our stools, a cup of coffee in front of her.

“I just love hearing how much you two love each other,” my mom sang out, a teasing glint in her eyes. Despite rolling my eyes, I smiled as I leaned over and pecked her cheek. I then went over to Matty and poked his side, just as he was lifting the spoon off his bowl. He jerked to the side, almost dropping his cereal in the process. He glared at me while I laughed and quickly ran out the kitchen.

“Drive carefully!” I heard my mom called out. I called back a yes as I dug inside my bag for my keys.

I was about to pull the front door open when I heard Matty speak.

“Have fun squirt, and say hi to Jill for me! And I’ll get back at you later!”

Upon hearing Jill’s name, I froze for a moment and then groaned out loud. Storming out of the door, I hurried to my truck, throwing my bag on the passenger seat and revving the engine as soon as I was settled in. As I drove as fast as I could without having the possibility of getting pulled over by the police, I groaned again. I couldn’t believe I forgot Jill!

The panic building inside me increased the more I thought about Jill, and I was very tempted to speed up. I just hoped the little girl was okay, and hadn’t noticed that I was not there with her yet.

Making a right at a corner, I finally saw the little blue building. I stepped on the gas, hoping that even though I was late, Mrs. Evans, Rick, or Fiona would be able to handle Jill. Or anyone there, I’d take even the janitor!

After I had parked my car, I grabbed my bag, was out the door in record time, and began to sprint towards the building. In front of the building was an arc, and in that arc, shiny silver letters glowing slightly in the sunlight read Corwin SPED School.

This was my summer job. I volunteer to teach special children every summer.

And yes, this was the school my dad taught at.

At a young age, I was already exposed to children with special needs because of my father, so I never viewed them as somebody different. I also saw how the kids loved my dad, and how he loved them. When my dad died, everyone in his class went to his wake and funeral, and expressed deep sadness at his passing. The kids even did drawings of my daddy, and all of them were given to me. All twelve of them. Some showed my dad in front of the class, teaching. One showed my dad holding hands with the kids. One showed my dad with a big, goofy smile on his face.