Asperger Diaries: Jamie's New School (9 page)

I was going to
tell mum and dad about the essay, but as usual I couldn't get a
word in because gob-shite was going on and on about God knows
what.

23rd September
(Friday)

Jamie's
Diary

In the swimming
lesson today, Adam Devlin tried to flick me with his trunks again.
He missed this time because I saw him coming and moved out of the
way. He said I still swim like a girl. Some of the other boys
laughed. The teacher said my front crawl has improved.

I wish mum
wouldn’t barge into my room. I had tons of homework to do tonight,
but she walked in after dinner, and started talking to me. I said I
was busy, and didn’t have time to talk. She said it was important
because it was about my homework. She hadn’t told me she was going
to see the headmaster. He said that my homework shouldn't take more
than two hours. I asked mum if she had told the headmaster about
all of the unofficial homework. She said she hadn’t. She is stupid
sometimes. Tonight, after two hours, I hadn’t even finished the
first subject. So I asked mum what I was meant to do. She said she
would have a think, and we could talk about it tomorrow. That’s
stupid. I’m just wasting time.

*****

Angela's
Diary

It’s so
difficult to talk to Jamie at the moment. He tried his best to
ignore me when I went into his bedroom to talk about his homework.
I told him what the headmaster had said, but it didn’t help. He
doesn’t seem able to plan his work in such a way as to complete it
within a time limit. He wants the teachers to say how much they
want him to write. I persuaded him to give the two hour limit a
try, but after the two hours was up he hadn’t even finished the
first subject. I have told him that I will look at it with him
tomorrow.

24th September
(Saturday)

Jamie's
Diary

This morning
dad took me to town while mum stayed at home. Dad said I had to get
mum a belated birthday present. She still hadn’t told me what she
wanted. Dad said he would pick something. At least if it is wrong,
it won’t be my fault. Lesley asked dad if he would drop her off at
Courtney’s house, so we had to make a detour on our way to town.
Dad said he would wait, and take them both to town. Lesley said
they would take the bus from there. I was glad because I didn’t
want to have to listen to their stupid chatter.

Dad said I
could go off on my own, and we could meet up later. I don’t like
going around town on my own, so I stayed with him. We went in
Bargain Parade first, but dad wouldn’t let me stay in there for
very long because we had to look for mum’s present. Dad chose a
scarf for me to buy for mum. He said she would love it. I didn’t
think it was such a good idea because she already has hundreds of
scarves. They all look pretty much the same. I gave him the money
for it, and then we went to buy wrapping paper. I wanted to buy the
cheapest, but dad said I had to buy nice wrapping paper because it
was for mum. The cheaper paper was just as good as the one he
chose, but it was only a third of the price. I don’t understand why
we have to wrap presents at all. I think it’s stupid to buy
expensive wrapping paper just for someone to rip it off, and throw
it in the bin.

I had to
smuggle the scarf into my bedroom when we got home. Dad kept mum
talking while I wrapped it up. I’m not very good at wrapping
presents. It took mum a long time to get into the present because I
had used a lot of sellotape. Mum said she loved the scarf. She gave
me a big sloppy kiss. I hate it when she does that.

Mum was
supposed to come up with a brilliant system for getting my homework
done within the two hour limit. But all she did was suggest I spend
an hour on each subject. How does that help? What happens when the
hour is up and I haven’t finished one of the subjects? How do I
know how much to write? How do I know what is important and what I
can leave out?

*****

Angela's
Diary

I let Andrew
take Jamie to town this morning. I needed a break to try to clear
my head. These last few weeks have taken their toll. It doesn’t
appear to touch Andrew. He carries on as though everything is hunky
dory. Jamie bought me a lovely scarf as a belated birthday present.
I really must show him how to wrap presents. He must have gone
through half a roll of sellotape.

I had a session
with Jamie this afternoon to try to organise his homework. We got
nowhere fast. It’s like talking to a brick wall. All the time I’m
trying to help him it’s as though he’s fighting against me. Every
suggestion I made he threw back in my face. In the end he actually
said I had wasted my time talking to the headmaster because it
hadn’t helped. I feel so helpless at the moment.

25th September
(Sunday)

Jamie's
Diary

I ignored what
mum had said, and spent as much time as I needed to get my homework
finished. I don’t know how the headmaster can say I should only
spend two hours on homework. It must have taken me five hours to do
two lots of homework this weekend. I think the teachers must be
giving us more work than they should. Perhaps the headmaster
doesn’t realise how much work we are being set.

I am going to
ask for model tram kits and tram books for Christmas. I went
through the model catalogue, and put a circle around all those I
would like. Some of them are a lot more expensive than the ones
which I normally buy.

Nana Edith came
over for Sunday lunch. She told me off for no reason at all again.
I went into my bedroom after lunch, and stayed there until she had
gone home.

It's half term
in four weeks. I can't wait.

*****

Angela's
Diary

Jamie was
working on homework all morning. It feels as though my meeting with
the headmaster was a complete waste of time. Jamie still writes
page after page for every subject. I would try and go through it
with him, but he doesn’t have the patience to let me help. If I so
much as make a suggestion he gets really annoyed.

Edith can’t
resist having a dig at Jamie. The poor kid is having a hell of a
time at the moment, and she has a go at him just because he didn’t
speak to her when she arrived. I daren’t say anything because, if I
had, I would have given her a piece of my mind.

Lesley is
really trying my patience. She never mentioned she was going out
until an hour before I was due to serve lunch. I didn't see her
again until eight o' clock this evening. She said she had been at
Courtney's. She's growing up way too fast for my liking.

*****

Lesley's
Journal

Tony sent me a
text this morning. I thought it was Courtney pissing about at
first, but it was really him. He said we should do something
because he was bored. We went bowling, and then went to the mall
until it closed. Then we went to the movies. He paid for everything
because his grandma had given him some money last week. I was
praying someone from school would see us together in the mall, but
no one did. I managed to text Courtney and Orange while I was in
the loo. They were dead jealous.

26th September
(Monday)

Jamie's
Diary

The French
teacher set us a test today. All the other kids knew we were going
to have it, and had learned a list of words over the weekend. I
told the teacher I hadn’t learned the words because I didn’t know
we were meant to. I thought the only homework was to answer the
questions which he had set last week. He said I should have been
paying attention in the last lesson. I asked if I could take the
test another day, so I would have time to learn the words. He said
I had to take it today. I only got 11 out of 20. It isn’t fair.

I went to the
library after I had finished my lunch. I asked the lady in charge
of the library if we were allowed to do homework. She said we
weren’t. I found a book on trams. It looked like new. I don't think
anyone had read it before. There weren’t many kids in there, so it
was nice and quiet.

We all had to
take turns reading aloud in English. When it was my turn to read, I
could feel someone kicking the back of my chair. It put me off, and
I kept losing my place. The teacher didn’t see them doing it. He
told me off because he said I wasn’t concentrating.

*****

Angela's
Diary

Every morning I
hope it might get better. It doesn’t. Jamie never speaks, or if he
does it is only to bite my head off. This morning I sat and watched
all the other kids until the school bell rang. There were a few
kids who looked fed up, and others who looked half asleep. None of
them looked like Jamie does. He looks haunted. I don’t know what I
can do about it.

I rang Jackie.
I was going to ask her if I could go over. She had already made
arrangements to go out with a friend for coffee. She said I could
join them. I declined. I wouldn’t be good company. I get the
impression she is enjoying her new-found freedom now Michael is at
school all day.

Jamie was a
little brighter tonight. He said he had found a book on trams in
the school library.

27th September
(Tuesday)

Jamie's
Diary

I wish they
would mend the light in the main hall. It has been faulty for a
week now. It is right above the stage where the headmaster stands,
and it keeps flickering all of the time. I hate morning assembly
anyway because it is so hot and crowded. I have to look down at the
floor because the flickering drives me crazy.

Mr Avery gave
us a letter to pass to our parents. There’s a parent’s evening, for
first year pupils, next Tuesday. Mum said she will go. I asked if I
had to go with her, but she said it was for parents only. She said
I should make a list of anything which I wanted her to mention to
the teachers. Whenever mum or dad has been to a parent’s evening
for Lesley, they have always given her a hard time afterwards. I
once overheard them telling Lesley that the teachers had said she
wasn’t putting in enough effort, was always messing around, and was
insolent. Lesley wasn’t particularly bothered. I hope the teachers
don’t say that type of thing about me.

*****

Angela's
Diary

I noticed an
envelope in Jamie’s blazer when I hung it up after school. I’ve no
idea how long he has had it. I asked him, but he just shrugged.
There is a parents’ evening next week. I mentioned it to Andrew,
but it clashes with his steam rally committee night. We had a
blazing row, but I still didn’t manage to persuade him that the
parents’ evening should be his priority. According to him, Jamie
appears to be settling in nicely. Silly me! What am I worrying
about? I asked Jamie to think if there are any questions which he
would like me to ask next week. I have plenty of questions of my
own.

28th September
(Wednesday)

Jamie's
Diary

It’s not fair.
I keep getting told off for things which aren’t my fault. The
biology teacher made me move to the front of the class. He said I
wasn’t paying attention. I couldn’t help it. I could hear the rat
running around in its cage. Even after I moved, I could still hear
it.

We played a
game in P.E. this week. There were two teams. The teacher chose the
team captains, and they had to choose boys to be in their teams. I
was next to last to be chosen. I was in Dale Martin’s team. The
game was complicated, and I wasn’t sure what I was meant to be
doing. I asked Dale, but he waved me aside. The teacher blew his
whistle, and everyone from the first team ran from one set of
apparatus to another. The kids in the other team stood in the
middle, and tried to intercept them. When it was my team’s turn to
run, I got caught every time. Then, when it was my team’s turn to
be the stoppers, I didn’t catch anyone because they dodged from
side to side. I think our team came last, but I’m not sure.

I asked dad to
help me with my biology homework because I didn’t understand the
question. Dad said he thought I must have written it down
incorrectly because it didn’t make any sense.

*****

Angela's
Diary

When I
collected Jamie today, he was upset because he had been told off in
the biology lesson. The teacher had made him move to the front row
because he said he wasn’t paying attention. Jamie said the rat in
the laboratory had distracted him. I’m not sure if I got the full
story or not. I have made a mental note to ask the biology teacher
about it at next week’s parents’ evening.

Jamie had
another bad session this evening. He got wound up because our
neighbour was trimming the hedge. Jamie said he couldn’t
concentrate on his homework. It was noisy, but it wasn’t as bad as
Jamie was making it out to be. I think Jamie was still annoyed
because he had been told off in class. I said he should put his ear
plugs in, but he didn’t know where they were. Andrew did actually
get off his backside to help Jamie with his homework tonight. It
ended up with the two of them in a shouting match.

I spend so much
time with Jamie that I feel guilty because I am not giving Lesley
enough of my time. We hardly ever speak these days.

29th September
(Thursday)

Jamie's
Diary

The ICT teacher
didn’t turn up to the lesson today. All the other kids were messing
about on the computers, and shouting to one another across the
room. I was worried that I would get into trouble, so I took out a
book and tried to read. I couldn’t concentrate because of the
noise. Eventually a different teacher came into the classroom, and
banged on the desk. He said he was covering for the ICT teacher who
was off ill. I recognised the replacement teacher from his
photograph on the web site. He is the German teacher. He didn’t
know anything about ICT, so we didn’t have a proper lesson. He said
we should get on with whatever work we had. I am not very happy
about ICT. The ICT teacher doesn’t know anything about the subject,
and when he is off the person who stands in for him is a German
teacher. How are we ever meant to learn ICT properly?