My Neighbor Is an Alien
A Little Extraordinary
Stephanie introduced the new student, Ryan to the school last week. The kid didn’t make many friends the first day, or the first week. It didn’t take long for Stephanie to figure out that Ryan secluded himself from the other kids. During class and class projects he would just sit quietly at his desk. He rarely spoke unless spoken to, and he didn’t speak to the other kids when they spoke to him. He only answered questions that she had for him in class.
During recess Ryan would read a book on the bench until the time was over. The kids got the idea that he wasn’t going to play along with them, that the boy was different. He was a very smart boy; he just didn’t know how to be sociable.
It didn’t take long for the kids to start picking on him. The boy never tattled, even though it had been going on his first month at the school. Anytime Stephanie had the chance she would stop the bulling. She remembered being a victim to bulling in her pre-college years.
Stephanie stood before the class and started teaching. The students drowned her out with their loud chatting to the point she had to scream to shut them up. Something she surely didn’t miss in her younger years. “Alright then,” she said, “We are starting a new chapter in your books today. Please get out your science books,” the kids started rummaging around and taking their books from their desks. Once most of the kids had their books out, Stephanie immediately started speaking again, knowing at any pause on her side would result in another chatty uproar. “Page 262,” she said, holding her teachers addition where the answers and prompts were written in the margins of the book in different colors.
“Okay, I need a volunteer to start reading.” She said, scanning the room. No one raised their hands. “Alright. I will begin, and we will go down the rows, each person gets a new paragraph. Please follow along.” Stephanie eyed the class before she started reading.
The row stopped at Ryan. Ryan seemed distracted, even lost to where he should be reading.
“Do you need to know which paragraph we’re on?” Stephanie asked.
Ryan didn’t answer. He began, what seemed, to be reciting where the last student left off. She could still see he was lost, but soon he found where he was supposed to be and read on from there. It was as if he had read through the whole book and memorized it, word-for-word. Stephanie knew how impossible that was, but it seemed extraordinary.
During recess Ryan would read a book on the bench until the time was over. The kids got the idea that he wasn’t going to play along with them, that the boy was different. He was a very smart boy; he just didn’t know how to be sociable.
It didn’t take long for the kids to start picking on him. The boy never tattled, even though it had been going on his first month at the school. Anytime Stephanie had the chance she would stop the bulling. She remembered being a victim to bulling in her pre-college years.
Stephanie stood before the class and started teaching. The students drowned her out with their loud chatting to the point she had to scream to shut them up. Something she surely didn’t miss in her younger years. “Alright then,” she said, “We are starting a new chapter in your books today. Please get out your science books,” the kids started rummaging around and taking their books from their desks. Once most of the kids had their books out, Stephanie immediately started speaking again, knowing at any pause on her side would result in another chatty uproar. “Page 262,” she said, holding her teachers addition where the answers and prompts were written in the margins of the book in different colors.
“Okay, I need a volunteer to start reading.” She said, scanning the room. No one raised their hands. “Alright. I will begin, and we will go down the rows, each person gets a new paragraph. Please follow along.” Stephanie eyed the class before she started reading.
The row stopped at Ryan. Ryan seemed distracted, even lost to where he should be reading.
“Do you need to know which paragraph we’re on?” Stephanie asked.
Ryan didn’t answer. He began, what seemed, to be reciting where the last student left off. She could still see he was lost, but soon he found where he was supposed to be and read on from there. It was as if he had read through the whole book and memorized it, word-for-word. Stephanie knew how impossible that was, but it seemed extraordinary.
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You know, for a chapter-ed story, these last two chapters are really short for me. I usually write something no shorter than three, or even five pages anymore.Also, I've allowed time to speed up faster than I normally do in stories.
Huh...
Tell me what you think! :D