Small Town Girl (Farkle Minkus)

Chapter Fifteen: Girl Meets Asperger's

"Farkle, what are you?" Mr.Matthews asked in class the next day.

"Genius. I'm on the board." Sure enough, beneath Einstein, Mozart, and Jobs, was Farkle.

"Wrong. Riley, what are you?"

"Bunny Farmer."

"Wrong."

"Then don't go into my room." I laughed.

"All these things that you guys have been told you are this week? That's only a piece of what makes you an individual. This IQ test produces a number, that puts you in a category. A label. Don't live under a label. It just gets in the way of who you are. "

"But if you get called something enough, don't you start believing it?" Lucas asked.

"Believe in what you contribute to others. We expect great things from you, Farkle. "

"I'll try my best, sir." Farkle told him.

"But,  I also expect great things from everybody else. Remarkable people have IQ's all across the board. Everyone has great gifts, and everyone in this class has the potential to impact our world. So just be yourself. It's the only label that matters." The guidance counselor knocked, coming in.

"Mr. Matthews? If it's alright with you, I need a moment with Farkle."

"Ok, Farkle." He stood up, following her out.

~~~

After school, the Minkus's called all of us to Riley's house.

"So, they did more testing on me, "Farkle said.

"How big a genius are you?" Riley asked.

"Riley, they're considering some behavioral traits in Farkle that warrant a more specific kind of testing."

"What? They just noticed Farkle's a little Farkley."

"I could have told 'em that." Maya said.

"They want to see if I have Autism." Farkle said. I stood up, walking over and sitting beside him.

"You don't." I said.

"Let's go tell them you don't." Riley and Maya came over too.

"I might have a type of autism called Asperger's Syndrome."

"You don't." Maya said, sitting beside me.

"What is it?" Lucas asked.

"It's a disorder that affects a person's behavior."

"Farkle, when I said that you were a little Farkley, what I meant was that-"

"Yeah, that you behave just like a perfectly normal Farkle."

"You do." Maya agreed.

"We'll get the results from today's interview, and we'll know." Mr. Minkus said.

"We know." Farkle said.

"We don't know."

"Guys, I've passed every single test that I've ever taken."

"He made us come right over. He didn't want to go home, he didn't want to do anything except be with you."

"Of course. That's who he is." Topanga said.

"I see it in my classroom every day."

"Even if you do have Asperger's, it's not gonna change anything." I told him, taking his hand.

"The most important think to him is that you're a part of this." Mr. Minkus said.

"Because he's Farkle."