Fighting Society

kiddos evening with the team

Swinging her legs, Jess was sat on the side of Leah's queen size bed, watching her older sister get ready for their outing. 

She was already dressed and ready. This time, she had branched out, wearing a pair of loose fit jeans, the tight ones were too itchy for her, and a Nike t-shirt, with her iconic grey hoodie. Her hair was, as always, French plaited, courtesy of Leah, and her ear defenders were all ready worn.

Whilst she was all prepared, Leah, was not. Her older sister had been stressing, going back and forth between different outfits, different make up, and even different hair styles. Jess simply sat, swinging her legs, watching them move back and forth.

In the end, Leah settled for her hair pulled into a loose pony tail, curled slightly at the tips. She wore her checked trousers, as well as a casual blazer, and plain white crop top, alongside a natural make up look.

They were heading out for a meal with the team, as well as a game of crazy golf, having been set up and planned by the younger players of the team. It had been a while since they had decided to have a team outing, given everyones busy schedules alongside bits and pieces going on in their personal lives. Today was the only day they had managed to find free, and obviously, Jess was invited.

As soon as she was ready, Leah reached her hand out for Jess to take, the two of them heading out to the car. Leah moved slightly, pulling the collar of Jess' shirt out her mouth.

"Take it out your mouth bug. What you nervous about?"

"Lots of people Le."

"Everyone will be there, it will be busy. But I'll be there, and you'll be with me. If it gets too loud or too busy, we can step out for a bit Jessie bug, there's no issues with that."

"Loud"

"It might be. But that's okay, remember? Shirt out your mouth though. We really should find you something for that."

Leah took the collar of the shirt out her mouth again. She had decided to pack an extra shirt for when they went out; there was no point getting her to change out it now, it was starting to become inevitable that it would be in her mouth again later.

It was an action that had grown in the past few days for Jess. Leah had researched it, wanting to try her best to help her, learning it to be a way of seeking sensory feedback. They way her jaw muscles engaged on chewing, or just having something in her mouth, was almost a way of self-soothing, and regulation, earning proprioceptive feedback from it. 

Leah learnt it was a way to also figure that she was beginning to become dysregulated.

Her facts came from researching further into the idea of a special school for Jess. Since it had been suggested by their consultant, any time she had a free moment, Leah would spend it looking into the details. There was one closer by than she thought, that had offered everything she could ever look for to help Jess best; a sensory room, a Lego building centre, outside work, as well as ensuring she could stick to the curriculum, and get her GCSEs.

The idea was growing further on Leah the more she looked into it, but there was still a while to go until it was confirmed for her. It would be a big decision for the both of them, and it was vital she took her time.

The idea was pushed to the back of her head though, as both herself and Jess jumped into the car, ready to meet the other girls. Given that Leah was going to be one of the few sober people on the team, she had agreed to giving some of the other girls lifts. Her car was going to be a point for chaos.

It only became more aware to her as she pulled up outside of Alessia's flat. Jess was sat in the passenger seat beside her, meaning that the three girls she had agreed to give a lift to would have to squash up in the back of her BMW.