My Family

Chapter 1

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Kipo isn't irritated by everything. She put herself into this situation. Even if it wasn't entirely her fault, she couldn't tell people that. Others' opinions of her family would dive into the deepest hole if they found out her parents had her from a science experiment. So she will suffer the consequences. Kipo slowly walked to her first class. She went over to the teacher who smiled at her.

"Hello, Ms. Oak," the woman said smiling at the girl.

"Hello, and I've told you I just want to be called Kipo." The teacher smiled and lightly nodded her head.

She's not embarrassed to have her father be a teacher at the school she's going to. No, she knows a lot of people know the new student is a troublemaker. She doesn't want her father's reputation to be influenced by hers.

Students slowly started flowing into the class. Kipo continued talking to the teacher until the bell rang. Then she sat in the closest open seat.
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School continued. Every time between classes she was accompanied by an adult who would walk with her to her next class. Then sit close to her and make sure she's doing her work. All the adults watching her are women, in case she needs to go to the bathroom. Because she isn't allowed in one by herself.

The first one watches her for the first three classes. Her name is Molly. She's intense, but the two get along quite well. Always finding something to talk about. Even a few things that they have in common.

The second Adult who watches her in fourth, fifth, and lunch is Candance, but Kipo calls her Cotton as a nickname. Cotton and her both enjoy music, and often share their music-related experiences and facts.

The third Adult watches her for the last three classes. Her name is also Candance, but she calls her Carton. The two don't have anything in common but still, get on great. Carton's upbeat attitude matches Kipo's almost exactly. The two could carry on a conversation even if they don't fully understand it themselves.
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"Hey there. Are you okay?" Cotton spoke softly as they walked to her father's class.

She and her father have an understanding of each other. He is to not play "special" with her and is not to call on her unless she raises her hand.

"Yeah," she said pulling open the door. She walked up to her father as Cotton sat in a chair near the front.

"How has your day been?" Lio asked looking up at his daughter. She glanced back to cotton, then back to her dad.

"Fine," Kipo shrugged.

"Have you made any friends?"

"I have adult supervision all the time. The small number of kids who don't know why I changed schools think I'm special needs," Kipo said. Lio frowned a bit then forced a smile.

"You do have special needs though. At least for now," Lio said a twitch on the corner of his lips. Kipo sighed out then sat down in a chair as the bell rang.

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School ended and Carton waited as Kipo packed the last of her things into her bag. She threw the bag over her shoulder and they walked back to her father's class. Carton followed her into the class and watched as Kipo walked up to her father. The woman waved goodbye and then left the two.

"I have a student coming in soon to get some help on her homework, so we'll stay here for a bit," Lio said.

Kipo nodded and sat at a random desk pulling out her homework. The door opened and Kipo looked up. There stood a smaller girl with big black curly hair and darker skin. She wore grey jeans, and a black shirt, with a flannel wrapped around her waist.

Kipo looked back at her work as the girl walked up to her father. She pulled a chair up to his desk and took out her work. The two went over the work and Kipo focused on her own. They got a few questions in, before the phone on the wall rang out, and Lio got up to answer.

"Hello."

"Yeah, she's here." Kipo shrunk down getting closer to the paper and tried to ignore the conversation.

"Okay, well thank you," Lio said before hanging the phone up. He made a b-line back to the girl and pulled her to the desk.

"I'm gonna have to go grab something here in a few seconds, but that young lady can help you until I get back." Kipo's wide eyes shot up to her father.

"Oh, okay." the girl said.

Kipo silently pleaded with the man as the door opened and a woman walked in. Lio stood up and left the classroom. The woman stood by the door.

"Hi," Kipo said with a soft smile. The girl sighed and pulled the chair over to Kipo's desk with the work.

"It's astronomy," she said. Kipo nodded and looked at the paper.

"What part are you struggling with?" Kipo asked.

"Everything after question three," the girl said.

Kipo read through the questions and listened as the girl guessed the answer. She got most of them right, some of them close enough.

"What's the difference between Spiral and Barred Spiral?" Kipo smiled and sat up a bit at the girl's question.

"It has to do with the center of the Galaxy. In a spiral, the center is a spherical bulb. Where in a barred Spiral the center is more of a line or ovalish," Kipo said, fighting her urge to rant on about the many different aspects of space.

The girl wrote down her version of the answer. They continued this back and forth until Mr.Oak came back into the class. The woman left with a soft goodbye.

"How do you know all this stuff so easily?" the girl asked. Kipo's face heated and she glanced at her father. Quickly reconnecting her eyes to the girls.

"My parents are scientists. They taught me everything they know. Space is my favorite," Kipo said softly with a smile. The girl raised her brows at Kipo.

"You don't seem like a problem child," she said bluntly. Kipo stood up from the desk cleared her throat, then grabbed her bag.

"I'm gonna...yeah," Kipo said going to the door and pulling it open.

"Kipo," Lio called softly. Kipo stilled and gently looked at her father.

"I know," she said leaving the room and pulling the door closed. She slumped against the wall and let her body slowly inch to the ground. She pulled her legs into her chest and waited in silence.

She knew everyone was talking about her, but hearing it said to her face was too much. A problem child. That's all she is now. It's all she'll ever be. Dangerous, violent, and destructive. It doesn't matter that she's a straight-A student. It doesn't matter that she volunteered to help the community. It doesn't matter that she helped the kids who were struggling. It doesn't matter if she's a good person, who only wants to help others and make everyone happy. She is branded a troublemaker, a problem child. Because of one incident. No one can know the truth about her. She's isolated into a corner. Had been before she was even born.

Kipo doesn't hate her parents for experimenting with her. She only wishes they told her sooner. So that, at least, she would have known and not freaked out. She could have prepared and known how to react to suddenly having an arm coated in fur. Then her life wouldn't be over.