The Sweetest Save

Different

"I told her the truth!" Nine-year-old Tuure Raskinen protested to his school's principal. The date was October 17, 1996, and young Tuure had just been sent to the office by his teacher.

Tuure did not understand where he went wrong. His classmate Petra had come into class crying about how her grandmother had died suddenly of a heart attack. When she had wished for her grandmother to still be with her, Tuure reminded her that she wasn't.

"It was a very unkind thing for you to say," the principal told the fourth-grader sternly.

"But don't people want to hear the truth?" Tuure asked, utterly confused. "My mother always said don't lie to people, so I just assumed that Petra wanted the truth."

"Is that really true, Tuure?" The principal asked the little boy.

"Yes!" Tuure insisted desperately. "I really didn't mean to be rude to Petra!"

"Well, Tuure," the principal folded his hands. "Do you think that people mean everything they say exactly how they say it?"

"Yes," Tuure nodded. "Why would they say something that they don't mean?"

"They could be using a figure of speech," the principal explained. "Not everything in the world is as simple as that."

Tears formed in Tuure's eyes as he dipped his head. "Why does it have to be like that?"

"I'm not sure," the principal said sternly. "I'll send you back to class with a warning, okay? I am going to call your parents, but it's not because you're in trouble for this. It's because of...something else."

"Alright, I guess," Tuure sighed and left the office. As he walked out, he saw the first-graders making their way to gym class. When he spotted his younger sibling, Juuse Raskinen, he waved excitedly.

"Hey, baby brother!" Tuure exclaimed, and Juuse squealed quietly as he returned the gesture. Tuure stuck his tongue out, and Juuse did the same, adding a little giggle.

The silly physical conversation between his brother and himself brightened Tuure's mood by just a small amount. He took a deep breath before entering his classroom again.

When he opened the door, everyone in his class stared at him, knowing where he had been during his absence. Trying to ignore the stares, he approached Petra. She was sitting in her desk, her hands folded.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier, Petra," Tuure apologized. "I didn't mean it in a rude way. I didn't know that what I said was wrong."

Petra glanced up at him. "It's okay, Tuure. I know you meant well. You seem like a nice boy, and I know you don't like to hurt people's feelings. Do you want to sit with me during library?"

Tuure grinned. "Sure!"

As he sat down at his own desk, Tuure smiled. For the first time in his life, he had a real friend.

At lunch, Tuure grabbed his tray tight. There were too many kids in the cafeteria, meaning he would not be able to sit by himself. He needed to choose somewhere to sit.

The problem was that Tuure had almost no friends. Due to his shyness and poor social skills, no one talked to him, and he returned that favor. Both his brother and Petra, the only people he liked in the entire school, were in the second lunch period and not the first.

Tuure approached a table of girls and cleared his throat. "Can I sit here, please?"

Some of the girls giggled at his quiet voice, but he didn't notice. He just stood there and stared, waiting for a response.

One of the girls finally rolled her eyes and answered. "If you want to, fine."

Tuure did not detect the annoyed tone in her face, and he eagerly sat down right next to her. Her friends glanced around, their eyes hinting at their dislike of Tuure. Once again, he did not notice.

"Well, hello," Tuure introduced himself. "My name is Tuure."

"Oh, you," one of the girls smiled meanly, but Tuure saw only the smile. "We heard what you did to Petra. Anyway, I'm Mia, and these are my friends, Sofia and Katja. Aren't you from somewhere else?"

"I'm from a different country," Tuure confessed. "It's called Finland. My town was Savonlinna."

"Savonlinna," Katja mocked his accent. Once again, Tuure did not notice that the girls disliked him.

"That's right," Tuure kept his straight face, not realizing that anything out of the ordinary was occurring.

"Did you cry when you left Finland?" Mia asked.

"Yes, I did," Tuure shrugged as the girls struggled against their laughter. "I was sad to leave my home. I was also three years old, so I was terrified of the plane. I still am a bit scared of them."

"You hate planes?" Mia giggled. "That's too bad, because we made you some."

Mia, Katja, and Sofia suddenly pull paper planes out from under the table, where they had been making them. Tuure, who had obviously not noticed them doing this in secret, was surprised to see the paper planes.

He was especially surprised when the girls threw the three planes at him, laughing so hard that tears were coming out of their eyes. Sofia leaned forward and pushed Tuure, which forced him out of his seat and onto the floor.

Tuure felt a painful tightening in his chest as he tried not to cry. "I thought you were my friends. Why would you do that to me?"

"Like we would even try to befriend you," Sofia snorted. "You're so weird, and hockey is gross."

The whole lunchroom was sent into a riot. Some kids joined in on the bullying, while others tried to help Tuure. It was a complete mess that still wasn't solved by the time the last bell rang.

"Tuure, we heard what happened with you and that Petra girl," Tuure's mother said as soon as he and Juuse walked through the door. "We are not angry at you at all. However, the principal suggested we take you to get tested for autism spectrum disorder."

"What?" Tuure gasped. "He thinks I have autism?"

"I'm sorry to drop the bomb on you like that, my boy," Mrs. Raskinen apologized. "There is a possibility that you have autism spectrum disorder, yes. That doesn't mean that you're diseased or unwell, though. In fact, you're an extremely gifted young boy. Even if you have it, you're going to go far in life. I just know that."

His mother's remarks made Tuure grin. Soon, he climbed into the car with his mother, father, and six-year-old little brother. They drove to the nearest doctor's office.

After several tests done by neurologists and psychiatrists, Tuure was officially diagnosed with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, which had once been called Asperger's syndrome.

He would be less likely to want friends, and it would be hard for him to make long-lasting bonds. Understanding social cues would be much harder, which explained the situation that had happened with Petra.

The psychiatrist told Tuure that the world might feel overwhelming since he saw it much differently than people without autism. When Tuure nodded, the doctor said that he could still live a perfectly normal life.

Tuure cracked a small smile at that. He wouldn't let this disorder get in the way of his life.

He would be just like everyone else.

Successful, happy, and fulfilled.