Chapter Three -- Diagnosis

"You guys can use partners," Mrs. Kaufner stated, talking about this math project we had to do, and I groaned, then looked to Kaileigh. I knew by default that Katie would be with Markus, and Nora and her gang might be working by themselves.

"Hey, uh..." I looked up and saw a boy. He bit his lip and looked down at me as he stood by my desk. I barely recognized him; just to the point that I knew he was in class, I didn't know a name or anything. That was the case with most of the students here. "I...Do you have a partner?"

"Nope. I'm kinda lonely," I answered with a small giggle as I looked him up and down. "I'm Sabrina."

"Ayden," he answered, smiling a little, then he pulled up a chair and sat with me. "When's this due?"

"I dunno," I shrugged, looking down at the paper, "Not today." He nodded, then began bouncing in his spot a little. I glanced to him, frowned, then sighed. "If it isn't today, you wanna just chat?"

"That'd be great," he smiled up at me, then laughed a little. "I'll start. When did you get here? You're kinda new."

"I'd say...Two and a half weeks ago? What about you?"

"Since I was nine," he flashed me a fake smile, then before I could ask why, he answered ahead with, "I got ADHD. Attention deficit hyperactive disorder."

"Fun. They still haven't told me."

"That's weird," Ayden replied with a small frown. "Typically they tell you within a week, but I think Luis was busy."

"More than likely," I giggled, then took my chance to take a good look at the boy in front of me. He was definitely around my age, just like everyone else in this wing. He had dusty blonde hair, and a set of gorgeous blue eyes. His face had the perfect complexion, but his nose was kinda small. He was also definitely thinner than everyone else in the room. He caught me watching and he smiled.

"Like what you see?" he added with a stupid tone, and I giggled.

"I do, but not too much."

"You're mean," he laughed, drumming his fingertips on the desk.

"I can be," I teased, then looked to Katie, who was looking back at me and giggling. Markus proceeded to stare at me nervously. When they turned back to their work, it was time to go, so I stood slowly and stretched as Ayden stood up with me. I smiled to him, then grabbed my bag and walked out, and I listened to his footsteps behind me.

~~~~

"Kaileigh?" The room remained silent. I looked over to Kaileigh, who was standing near the desk, staring at her sticker book. I stood up and walked to her. "Kaileigh?"

"Yes, Sabrina?"

"Do you need help on the math project?"

"No, Sabrina." She looked up at me, but like usual, we didn't lock eyes. "Do you? What about Ayden?"

"What about him?"

"Aren't you partners?" Kaileigh finally clicked eyes with mine. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"No! I just met him."

"He's your boyfriend." Kaileigh looked away again, then sheepishly walked to the door. She rested her hand on the door knob for a minute, then she turned to me. "Is he coming over?"

"I dunno." I went back to the bed and lied on my back, then Kaileigh shrugged.

"Fair enough." She left, and I sighed, then looked to the clock. She ran on time, strictly the same times every day. She woke up at 7 o'clock, then was sitting in her seat in class at exactly 7:31. She was always the third out of class, then made it back here at some time before me. Then, she would leave for dinner at 6:15.

But it's weird, because it was only 5:30.

I stared up at the ceiling, blinded by my own thoughts. Frankly, I don't really care why Kaileigh would leave so early, but I was trying to figure out why she was so strict with her schedule. And she talked differently than everyone else. She spoke so formally all of the time while everyone spoke in slang or sarcasm, and her voice was almost always monotone. She never looked anyone in the eyes; that moment was only the second time to happen the whole two and a half weeks I was here. It was almost as if she were afraid to. So, why does she do it? Is it just how she works?

The door knocked, and I rolled over to see Katie by the door, in her wheelchair with a smile on her face. "I wanna show you something," she said, gesturing for me to come over. I stood, staring at the desk before sitting up and fully raising on my feet. I then walked over and rested on the doorframe.

"What's up?"

"You trust me, right?"

I nodded, and she smiled again, then turned her chair and wheeled away down the hall. The way down was silent for the most part, and I felt like this would be a good time to ask more about Kaileigh.

"Hey, so..." Katie looked back to me, her smile not altering as I began my question, "Why does Kaileigh act so...different?"

"I thought we talked about this," Katie started, looking ahead once again, "It's 'cause she's autistic."

"Right but...why?"

"She just runs a little differently." She took a turn to the left and I followed her. "She's just like everyone else, just needs a little more TLC." She giggled a little, then stopped by a big door, then looked to me. "This is just a bit too big," she started, almost as if it was rehearsed, "can you get it for me?"

"What's on the other side?"

"You trust me, right?"

I nodded again, then looked up at the large door. It did look too heavy for Katie to push with the way she bound. "It's not dangerous?"

"Just open it. Come on."

I sighed, then pushed open the door with a grunt. Inside, I recognized a lot of people from class. They were all in groups, just chatting with each other, but when the door closed with a loud thud, it all stopped, and they looked to me. It was quiet for a moment, then it hit me what was going on.

They threw a welcoming party. Just for me.

I looked around at the decoration job, then to Katie, who giggled. "You like?" She asked, wheeling over to who looked to be like Nora, but she had a happier and calmer aura to her. Katie looked back to me, seemingly forgetting that she had asked me a question seconds ago. This intrigued me and I began to walk over. "This is Olivia," Katie stated, rubbing her shoulder. Olivia smiled to me, and I found myself smiling back.

"I'm Sabrina," I said softly, and Olivia waved.

"She helped me set some of this up. She's pretty good at designing. Whaddya think?" Olivia then waved for her to stop, a feeble smile on her lips.

"I mean, Nora helped too...So did Lillian."

"Lillian just kinda...Sat there."

Olivia giggled, then grabbed a small plastic cup of water not too far away, taking small sips. "She does things her own way, that's all."

"Speaking of which, where's Kaileigh?" I asked, and Katie looked to me. I figured Kaileigh might be done with whatever it was she was doing by now.

"Kaileigh usually doesn't come to these kinds of things. She's a bit iffy about people and interactions, but she gets through it." Katie smiled here, then looked to the crowd of people. "Markus didn't come either, but don't take it personal. They still like ya."

I nodded, not really bothered by it, then looked to a boy that took me a moment to recognize. He bounced on his heels as he talked to Darilyn, then he turned and waved to me, flashing a goofy smile. He then nodded, saying something to Darilyn, then he walked over slowly.

"Sabrina?" I looked over to Katie, who had a weird look to her now. "Did you hear me?"

"No, sorry. I dazed out for a second."

Katie nodded, looking to Olivia, then back to me. "Luis said he has your diagnostic papers in, finally. He said you can pick them up at dinner, that he'd call for you."

I nodded, a swelling joyous feeling flooding my chest. I turned to see Ayden approach me, then he put his arm around me.

"You doin' good? Oh, hey Katie." It's almost as if he forgot he was talking to me, but I didn't mind.

"I'm doing fine; better than I thought the two hours away from you would go."

He laughed at my comment, then retracted his arm. "It's been that long? Man, felt like an eternity."

"Couldn't be quicker for me," I flashed a half-sided grin and he smiled.

"Hey, love birds." I looked up to see Olivia, who twisted hair on her finger. She bit her lip, then looked to Katie, who shrugged. Was this a transition? "It's time for dinner. We gotta go."

"We can come back later if you want, Sabrina," Katie added, smiling to Ayden. She then tugged on the girl next to her, and she was helped up out of her wheelchair. "We can come back for it, come on, Nora," she was then led out, and Ayden and I followed.

We sat in our usual spot, Markus with us now. He drummed his fingers on the table as he watched Katie next to him. She smiled, then gestured to Ayden. "Have you met him yet?" He shook his head, then looked to his lap.

"I...I-I'm Markus..."

"Cool. I'm Ayden." Ayden reached a hand out, but Markus never seemed to notice. He looked up to me and stared me down, then looked back to Katie before slowly starting to eat.

"We just have to wait until they call for you. Do you want someone to go with you? It's best that I don't, but maybe Dari?"

I looked over to Darilyn, who sat at the table next to me, talking with a slim, blonde boy. She flinched every once in a while, but not as often as she usually does. I looked back to Katie. "Darilyn's fine. Should I talk to her?"

"I can," Nora said, standing and walking over. I turned to watch, but my attention seemed to be aimed to Kaleigh. The little brunette sat in the back corner, like she usually does. She was rocking back and forth, her ponytail swinging with the inertia. I frowned, then looked to the others, who were talking with each other. I dismissed myself after a moment of thought, then I walked over to Kaileigh.

As I approached her, she stopped her swaying and looked up at me. The smile on her face grew and I smiled back. I tapped her shoulder, then gestured to the rest of the group sitting a distance away. "Do you want to sit with us? Are you lonely?" I spoke slow and soft, as if talking to a little girl who was not 17. Kaileigh stared at me for a second, blinked, then looked back to her food.

"No thanks," she mumbled, then took another bite of her burger. She didn't look up at me, her eyes were fixated on a spot on the table that wasn't there. "I'm not lonely. Why don't you go back to your friends?"

"Do you wanna come with?"

Kaileigh seemed confused, then she shook her head. "I don't need friends." My heart dropped at her statement, but I nodded, standing and walking back over to where we were all sitting.

Now, Darilyn and the boy she was talking to were sitting with us. Everyone was talking, but as soon as I reached my spot, I heard a beeping sound, then a voice.

"Sabrina Shyles? Can you come see me in my office? Sabrina Shyles."

I stood right back up and took a deep breath as Darilyn stood as well. "I'm gonna-" she let out a small yelp, "I'm gonna go with you if that's okay." I nodded, then we walked out together.

Now, I'm lying here on my bed, staring at the papers and trying to make out what it said. I got "dyslexia" from what I can manage to read.