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June ground her teeth hard. She hated that word. No one should use that

word. Arabella gasped. She put her hand over her mouth and watched Beth,

pain and empathy evident on her face. It absolutely astounded June how

much Arabella felt for Beth and for Amelia, who she’d never met.

“Kids can be so mean,” Arabella said, heartbroken.

She looked right at June. June tried to understand what Arabella was

feeling. What she’d been thinking. Had she wanted to save Amelia from the

same thing she herself had done when she found out she was being bullied,

or did she want to save Amelia from becoming herself?

“The thing is, Shannon finally got Amelia to admit it wasn’t a kid. It was

a teacher.”

“Why?” Arabella croaked. She clearly hadn’t known.

Beth shook her head. “I don’t know. I guess they were frustrated with

Amelia. Shannon thinks that Amelia might be on the spectrum. I’m

ashamed to say that I don’t know much about Asperger’s or Autism.

Shannon just told me after that meeting and Amelia hasn’t been in for any

tests, but the meeting was actually between both kindergarten teachers and

the school’s principal and it was suggested by the principal that Amelia

might need testing. Shannon was still disgusted with the teachers. No adult

should ever call a little girl a retard, or say they’re slow, or tell them they

can’t be who they want to be or make them feel like they’re not equal to the

other kids there.” Beth teared up and she sniffed, but she powered through.

“Shannon found this school that would be great for Amelia. The thing is,

it’s private. When she goes back to work, they would be able to afford it if

they pinched and scrimped in other areas, but they couldn’t afford it right

now. I had Arabella’s designs from that day she left the meeting. They were

there on the table. I thought I could beat the other company to the punch, or

that we could come up with something different enough that we’d be fine

moving forward. They were such early drawings, but that’s still terrible. I

know it. I can’t tell you how sorry I am. Really.”