Meeting Guppy

[piwakawaka]

Today Tiwa is looking grown up today and feeling it, she's wearing a long sleeved blouse to cover her tattoo and a swirly flower skirt.

She had to go in front of a class and all her professors have been stressing, you have to look like the adult. Its not that much fun, but the lesson went well and the teachers there seemed to like it.

Now she's stretched out on a couch with her shoes off and a mystery.

Comments

[guppy_sandhu]

"I know, and it's hard because she hides it well and then we don't notice." Guppy says ruefully. "It's good that she's independant, but she's only little."

[piwakawaka]

"I know, its a tricky thing to figure out."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Oh well, hopefully she'll settle in at big school all right. She seems keen on it."

He smiles. "Can I get you a tea, coffee?"

[piwakawaka]

"Tea would nice, thanks. Yeah, sounds like she's found at least one person she likes too."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Are we talking about Laura or Zara?" Guppy asks, ordering tea.

"Laura is her imaginary friend. I haven't met Zara yet, but I know they've been emailing each other, so she's definitely real."

He leans back. "She was popular when she was little, but I think she finds it harder now. The other girls have grown up faster. Hopefully she'll win them over in time."

[piwakawaka]

"Zara, I think, the girl who had sylvanias at school too."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Yes, I think that was Zara." Guppy says. "Unfortunately she had a bit of an argument with some of the girls in her class because they were teasing Fry."

He shakes his head. "We sent him to pick her up because it was on his way. It never occurred to me that he'd get harrassed. Even worse, he had James with him, who then ran off and turned up three hours later in Aberystwyth."

[piwakawaka]

"Oh dear, that sounds confusing. Is everyone okay now?"

[guppy_sandhu]

"Yeah. Fry even said he's still prepared to go and collect her when she starts school there, which was brave of him. But he'll have to drop off James first I think. Maybe they can meet at the end of the road."

Small sigh. "This is the problem with having three different school runs. Fry's safe to walk to and from school on his own; heck, the reason he picks the others up and drops them off is because they feel safer with him. But Coral's too little to be doing that every day."

[piwakawaka]

"How far away are all the schools from each other?"

[guppy_sandhu]

"About twenty minutes. It's only a ten minute extra trip for Fry because he already takes a route that involves picking up Jo and James. His school finishes half an hour earlier though, so there's plenty of time to get there."

[piwakawaka]

"That makes sense. I hope it doesn't end up always being trouble."

[guppy_sandhu]

"If he's bothered again, I shall have words with the school." Guppy says. "Once may be unintentional, repeatedly is bullying."

[piwakawaka]

"Sounds like a good idea. I hope it doesn't come to that."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Well he was being hassled by some of the kids that were just starting with Coral; hopefully the school will take a firm hand with them once they're fully initiated." Guppy says.

"If all else fails, I'll get him to wait nearby."

[piwakawaka]

"I hope so. Have you heard good things about that school?"

[guppy_sandhu]

"To be honest? I've heard variable reports." Guppy says.

"Coral took five lots of entrance exams, and got just one waiting list place, poor kid. There's a bit of a rumour that Holby High ends up with the girls who didn't pass the exams for the other four. Not good for the self-esteem of the kids, really.

But it looked like it's still a very decent school when we went on the open day, and it seems to do reasonably well in the league tables. If she's not happy there, she can always take the exams for the others again next year."

[piwakawaka]

"That's hard, exams mean well but I don't like them."

[guppy_sandhu]

"It's part of the deal, unfortunately." Guppy says.

"Plus the fact that she really wanted to go to Jackson Street with Fry."

[piwakawaka]

"Yeah, I know. I keep learning about them."

[guppy_sandhu]

"I understand what she means - she hangs out with Fry's friends a lot. But Jackson Street only takes kids with a diagnosis on the autistic spectrum, and then prioritises by need. She might have a couple of traits she shares with Alex, but it's nowhere near enough to warrent taking her out of mainstream school."

Guppy shakes his head. "What she actually needs is to spend more time hanging around with neurotypical kids, not less."

[piwakawaka]

"I think she'll make friends from what she said. Then she'll have some friends of her own along with ones she shares with Fry. She's really adaptable."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Coral's a positive and determined girl when it comes to making friends. She tends to just keep being nice to people until they give in, and doesn't take offence easily. Probably a side effect of growing up with Fry."

[piwakawaka]

"We're kind of alike that way."

[guppy_sandhu]

"I can tell." Guppy says.

"Maybe you can give her tips on how not to get taken advantage of in the process."