Problem Kid

Chapter 3

"Is that the girl who passed out?"
"Oh my god it's that weird kid?"
"Why is she wearing a thick cardigan in the middle of summer?"
"What a freak!"
The whispers aren't loud however they are definitely there as people begin to fill the room and take their seats. I sigh,  wanting to sink into a hole and never appear again. I just sit there looking down at my shoes whilst anxiously biting my lip. I sit like this not a moment until I see another pair of feet come into sight in front of mine.
"Hey, mind if I sit here?" I look up to see a boy standing in front of me. His hair is a deep black and his smile, dazzling. He has his ears pierced and is wearing two 00 sized ear stretchers. His shirt is a Green Day tank top with a black Hollister hoodie on top, unzipped. His jeans are black with two rips positioned on his knees and his shoes are the classic black and white vans.
"Oh, sure!" I don't smile as he sits beside me. My eyes stay on the ground.
"I'm Jimmy! I'm presuming you're Everleigh?" I nod slightly nervous to be talking to a new person, scared he's a bad one too...
"Hmm... you're gonna be my friend," I sit up straight, confused at how forward he is.
"Ok!" I instantly accept and strangely enough a smile creeps across my lips. It feels like almost all of my anxiety slips away around him. Strange... he seems kind though. We settle down as Mr Gray bangs his ruler onto the table and calls out for our attention, making Summer and me jump. He notices and apologises which causes the whole class except Jimmy and I to giggle. I can feel myself blush bright red however I just hide behind my hair, my usual tactic.
"So, as you can see there is a new student who definitely created an eventful entrance. For those of you who don't know, this is Everleigh. She has moved here from Australia and clearly has a dog with her. Everleigh do you want to come up and explain about Summer?" I gulp. He had to do that to me, didn't he? Ignoring my fucking dumb anxiety, I swear quietly and stand, leading Summer to the front of the room with hand motions.
"Ok... erm... well I have a Service Dog. A service dog is basically a highly trained animal which performs a task for it's owner to help them in some sort of way. Summer has been trained to help me with a few things however the main one is a condition I have called POTS which means Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. This condition causes me to pass out if my heart rate increases too quickly. Summer is here to tell me when I'm about to pass out which helps me have time to sit down or lay down somewhere where I'm safe instead of falling and getting injured," I begin to ease up after talking for a little bit, "She is trained to a high level so that she behaves extremely well instead of running around madly. I managed to teach her, along with my trainer, to recognise that when her vest goes on, she is working. At home she can run around and play whenever she wants however when we are out she has to work. She's trained to tuck under my chair, to stay by my side without her leash, to fetch me things, including medication, and to fetch people if I get hurt. She's honestly helped me so much in my life and I couldn't be any luckier to have her. Thanks," Mr Gray smiles before speaking.
"Does anyone have any questions?" A few hands go up around the room. I point to the girl nearest to me who smiles when I pick her.
"Hey! Erm... does she bite?" I shake my head.
"No. No service animal is allowed to bite otherwise they would be considered too unsafe to work," she nods.
"Yo! Erm, so like you know that dog yeah? What happens if she needs to poo when you're out?" Multiple people laugh at his question and I roll my eyes.
"I'll take her to an area where she can do her business every break and lunch in school or every couple of hours when we are out somewhere else. I pick it up and dispose of it. If we can't get out and she's desperate I have some puppy pads in my bag she can use in case of Emergancy," I select another boy who smirks.
"What are your other problems?" I feel the colour drain from my face.
"I...I'd prefer not to share that..." everyone laughs, talking to each other until Mr Gray stands up angrily.
"Shut up, everyone. For real? Can't you respect someone's privacy?" Everyone silences, fearful of the teacher.
"Any more SENSIBLE questions?" One girl raises her hand at the back and I nod to let her answer.
"Can she do any other tricks?" I smile.
"Yeah! We have a game that she likes to play, I'll show you all," I push the desks and chairs at the front away to create space before bringing out one table and tipping it over. I unclip Summer's leash and she bounces about happily as I slide her out of her harness.
"Bang!" I raise my hands, shaped like a gun, and strike her. Instantly she barks once and charges at me. I dodge and duck behind the table before leaping over it and throwing a chair in front of where I stand. Summer tunnels under it, barking every time I pretend to fire a shot. We continue this intense game of war until I make one shot directly to her head. She stands on her back paws and falls over, playing dead. When I call her back over after flipping the table back up and placing the chairs back, I get her to bow and then beg for her treat beside me as the whole class laughs and claps. I giggle anxiously, panting as I move back to my seat and put Summer back into her vest. She instantly settles at my feet however she doesn't stay there for long. In less than a minute she's up and alerting me as Mr Gray is explaining our task. He looks over and nods to tell me that I can leave for a moment. I thank him before taking my bags and walking outside where I lay down my soft backpack and sit on the floor, resting the dog bag under my feet. I settle my head into the backpack and instruct Summer into her DPT position before passing out yet again today.