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Sep. 20th, 2014 09:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fry_sandhuAfter the first three weeks of term, it became apparent to Mrs Pink that Fry is not, perhaps, quite as adorable as she had first hoped.
Most of the children - the three new kids aside - arrive into Mrs Pink's class after a year with the strict Mr Walker, and as a general rule Mrs Pink has very little trouble with them. She had watched Fry from a distance, back then, and if anything his classroom behaviour had seemed impeccable. But each day was a battle of seemingly cheeky responses ("Can you bring your book to the desk please?" "No, I can't, because of the smell.") and her gentle coaxing approach to discipline seemed only to confuse him.
The other children in the class, most of whom had known Fry for a number of years now, watched Mrs Pink's difficulties engaging Fry with considerable amusement. Eventually Teddy took pity on her, and sidled up to her one day after class.
"Mrs Pink? If you wear the strong perfume all the time Fry really won't come near you." he said, shyly.
Mrs Pink had laughed. "Oh but this is just what big ladies wear, he'll get used to it."
"No, he won't." Teddy said. "He has... very mild super powers. Didn't they tell you?"
Mrs Pink did indeed notice that Fry stopped refusing to come near her when she stopped wearing the perfume. The first victory was won.
The playground remains the biggest area of difficulty. Though Fry hasn't managed to articulate the concept in his own terms, the older he gets, the more the other kids notice differences. The oldest kids in his class, like Tommy and Bethany, are going on seven, and the social gap is getting bigger.
But at the same time, Fry feels some of the kids getting kinder. Martha, who used to burst into tears at the sight of him, now says hi and is kind. Teddy, before going to play football with the boys, taught him to play paper games, and some of the other children take it in turns to play with him.
The three new kids adjust to Fry in their own way. Bradley has no tolerance of Fry at all, having declared on the first day that he was fed up with being stuck with intellectually different kids just because he was in a wheelchair. And because the first day he told Fry to 'push off', and Fry pushed him down the slope in the playground. After the first few days, Fry avoids Bradley, because he seems to know exactly how to wind him up.
The second new kid, Noah, told Fry on his first day that they ought to be friends because they both had curly hair, although Noah's was red. Fry reckoned this logic for friendship was as good as any, and since Noah was into books and animals they seemed to have enough to talk about. This was fortunate for Noah too, since his habit of saying Grace out loud at the dinner table had caused the other kids to give him a bit of a wide berth.
The third, Ruby, went off with a group of the girls on the first day and had very little to do with Fry, other than occasionally giggling at his unusual habits. But she does get curious one break when he was sitting on his own with his hands over his ears, and comes to sit next to him.
"I'm Ruby. Why do you do that with your ears?"
"Because it's loud." Fry says.
Awkward silence. Then Ruby announces.
"I have a pony. She's called Tinkerbell. Do you like ponies?"
Fry considers this. Animals are usually a good topic for him.
"I heard horses have a high carbon footprint." he says, remembering something he saw on television the other day.
"Is that a sort of horseshoe?" Ruby asks, blinking at him.
"No." Fry says. "It means their poo and fart is damaging the world."
Ruby stares at him, then frowns.
"No it's not. Tinkerbell is the best pony EVER! And fart is a SWEAR word!"
Fry blinks at her as she goes off back to the crowd of girls. And then goes back to putting his hand over his ears, staring ahead at the playground. If she just wants to boast about having a pony rather than talk about ponies, that's her problem.
He hears a little laugh. But not an unkind laugh, like the girls Ruby is with now. Noah sits down next to him.
"I saw that show. It had cow poo in it. Do you want to come to Beavers with me?"
Most of the children - the three new kids aside - arrive into Mrs Pink's class after a year with the strict Mr Walker, and as a general rule Mrs Pink has very little trouble with them. She had watched Fry from a distance, back then, and if anything his classroom behaviour had seemed impeccable. But each day was a battle of seemingly cheeky responses ("Can you bring your book to the desk please?" "No, I can't, because of the smell.") and her gentle coaxing approach to discipline seemed only to confuse him.
The other children in the class, most of whom had known Fry for a number of years now, watched Mrs Pink's difficulties engaging Fry with considerable amusement. Eventually Teddy took pity on her, and sidled up to her one day after class.
"Mrs Pink? If you wear the strong perfume all the time Fry really won't come near you." he said, shyly.
Mrs Pink had laughed. "Oh but this is just what big ladies wear, he'll get used to it."
"No, he won't." Teddy said. "He has... very mild super powers. Didn't they tell you?"
Mrs Pink did indeed notice that Fry stopped refusing to come near her when she stopped wearing the perfume. The first victory was won.
The playground remains the biggest area of difficulty. Though Fry hasn't managed to articulate the concept in his own terms, the older he gets, the more the other kids notice differences. The oldest kids in his class, like Tommy and Bethany, are going on seven, and the social gap is getting bigger.
But at the same time, Fry feels some of the kids getting kinder. Martha, who used to burst into tears at the sight of him, now says hi and is kind. Teddy, before going to play football with the boys, taught him to play paper games, and some of the other children take it in turns to play with him.
The three new kids adjust to Fry in their own way. Bradley has no tolerance of Fry at all, having declared on the first day that he was fed up with being stuck with intellectually different kids just because he was in a wheelchair. And because the first day he told Fry to 'push off', and Fry pushed him down the slope in the playground. After the first few days, Fry avoids Bradley, because he seems to know exactly how to wind him up.
The second new kid, Noah, told Fry on his first day that they ought to be friends because they both had curly hair, although Noah's was red. Fry reckoned this logic for friendship was as good as any, and since Noah was into books and animals they seemed to have enough to talk about. This was fortunate for Noah too, since his habit of saying Grace out loud at the dinner table had caused the other kids to give him a bit of a wide berth.
The third, Ruby, went off with a group of the girls on the first day and had very little to do with Fry, other than occasionally giggling at his unusual habits. But she does get curious one break when he was sitting on his own with his hands over his ears, and comes to sit next to him.
"I'm Ruby. Why do you do that with your ears?"
"Because it's loud." Fry says.
Awkward silence. Then Ruby announces.
"I have a pony. She's called Tinkerbell. Do you like ponies?"
Fry considers this. Animals are usually a good topic for him.
"I heard horses have a high carbon footprint." he says, remembering something he saw on television the other day.
"Is that a sort of horseshoe?" Ruby asks, blinking at him.
"No." Fry says. "It means their poo and fart is damaging the world."
Ruby stares at him, then frowns.
"No it's not. Tinkerbell is the best pony EVER! And fart is a SWEAR word!"
Fry blinks at her as she goes off back to the crowd of girls. And then goes back to putting his hand over his ears, staring ahead at the playground. If she just wants to boast about having a pony rather than talk about ponies, that's her problem.
He hears a little laugh. But not an unkind laugh, like the girls Ruby is with now. Noah sits down next to him.
"I saw that show. It had cow poo in it. Do you want to come to Beavers with me?"
