Jefferson Lake (MBBF Spin-Off)

Chap. 49

"How was your History midterm?" McKenna asked me, as I joined her in the Student Lounge.

"Simple enough," I said, plopping down next to her.

"Midterm?" Kara asked, glancing up from her book. "Midterms were over last week."

"For you maybe."

She cocked an eyebrow at me. "Did you miss a Midterm? How the hell did you convince Admin to let you make one up?"

"Different testing conditions."

She was silent for a few moments, mulling over my words. "Oh." And then her gaze dropped back down to her book, accepting my answer.

I don't know why I hadn't always been up front and honest with my friends.

Hey, I have a panic disorder. And ADHD. And bipolar disorder. Want to be friends?

That's probably why.

"Let's go to my dorm," I suggested to McKenna. "It beats hanging out here."

Kara flipped me off without glancing up from her book. "Sorry my company isn't enough for you."

I chuckled, shooting her a smile.

"I'm just waiting on Justin," she dismissed. "So go do what you want."

McKenna and I headed up to my dorm, and I downed most of a protein shake while she spread her English worksheets out on my futon, opening up 1984, which is the new book we'd started for the new semester.

I'd already read it. Perks of being home-schooled most of my life.

I brushed my teeth to rid my mouth of the chocolate protein taste that followed after drinking the shake.

"Have you started reading the book yet?" McKenna asked me, as I took a seat next to her on my futon.

"Finished it."

She stared at me, her jaw slightly agape. "We just got assigned it today, and you weren't even in class."

I chuckled, leaning back against my wall. "I read it in... I guess I was in the 8th grade technically."

"Technically?"

"Grades sort of get muddled in the midst of home-schooling."

She raised her eyebrows at me in surprise.

"I didn't tell you that?"

She shook her head. "How long were you home-schooled for?"

I let out a long sigh, furrowing my eyebrows as I trekked back through my memory. "From the 3rd grade through just before last year. And then I went to Cornerstone."

"Did you like it?"

I nodded. "Loved it."

Most kids say that they missed the social interaction or that they didn't get the full school-experience.

But I loved every moment of home-schooling. I didn't do well in the normal school setting, which is why my mom pulled me in the first place. I was too rambunctious, too distracting. My mom found a way to teach me herself, a way that worked for the both of us.

I had a tutor that would come over three times a week. She hated me. My mother understood that, but she still made me meet with her for the sake of learning control. Learning when I had to rein myself in. Which is probably why I was able to transition back into regular school in the way that I did.

"So how does homeschooling work?" McKenna asked me, her eyebrows furrowed together.

"I had homework," I explained, with a shrug. "I took tests. My mom taught me everything that I would learn in regular school. But she taught me in a way that only I could learn it, in a way that was individualized to me."