Jensoo, age 12, Grade 3 & 7
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Jisoo got held back again another year while I moved forward.
When she found out, she cried in her bed and I was there to comfort her.
From all the self-defense classes she was taking and punching everyday, no one bullied her anymore.
Now she just existed in school. She tried but no one was ready to be her friend.
So I decided to bring her around when Rosie and my new friend Lisa came over.
I bit my lip and looked at Rosie and Lisa who were discussing something beside me on the couch. My mom was standing in the kitchen looking a bit tense but otherwise was humming while making snacks for us.
Suddenly the doorbell rang and I jumped off the couch and ran to the front door.
Jisoo stood there with a smile and held up cookies. "My mom made them because she said I was going to meet your new friends!" She stepped inside and before I could lead her to them, she stepped forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead. My face went red and I looked at her.
She smiled and said, "I'm your best friend. Don't forget!" Then she skipped down the small hallway that led to the open kitchen with a small table separating it from the living room.
I stepped beside her and smiled awkwardly, "This is Jisoo....my best friend. I've known her since I was born." I felt my smile turn proud.
Rosie's face turned bright red. "Oh my gosh! She looks so pretty!"
I raised my eyebrows and looked at Jisoo. I never noticed it before but I guess Jisoo was pretty. She had an ovalish face, brown Asian eyes and her dark hair fell down her shoulders in loose waves while framing her face. She had beautiful, pink, heart-shaped lips that stretched her face as she smiled genuinely.
Jisoo chuckled beside me and pointed to the cookies. "Want some?"
Rosie and Lisa ran to the table and opened the box while Jisoo laughed gently. She picked a cookie and bit into it with a crumb sticking to her lips. I lifted my hand to wipe it away but she wiped it herself.
I didn't know why but I felt a bit disappointed I couldn't do it.
"You go to Jennie's school?"
Lisa nodded eagerly. "Yup...these cookies are delicious."
Jisoo smiled. "My mom made them."
Lisa hummed appreciatively.
I brought plates from a cabinet and we each took 2 cookies before sitting in the living room. I sat next to Jisoo on the floor with my back resting against the sofa and Lisa and Rosie. Jisoo pushed herself closer to me until she was pressed against my side and grinned at me before biting into her cookie.
Rosie held the remote up and asked, "So, Jisoo, what do you want to watch?"
Jisoo shrugged. "Lately, I've watched a lot of SpongeBob and Disney Channel."
I looked up at them while Jisoo was eating her cookie.
Rosie and Lisa gave her a questioning her look but didn't say anything as she said slowly, "I was thinking we could watch something different."
Jisoo shrugged and leaned her head on my shoulder. I just smiled and bit into my cookie.
We ended up watching an episode from a new teen show called "The Everglades". It was good and while it was rated TV-14, my mom was just working in her study.
There were a lot of....innuendos that made me blush but Lisa and Rosie just snickered.
Thankfully, it went completely over Jisoo's head and she just seemed confused as she curled up into me, her chin on my shoulder and wrapped an arm around my waist.
As it slowly became later into the night, both of my friends had to leave but before they could Rosie frowned and asked Jisoo, "Hey...I've never seen you before at the middle school. Do you go to a private one?"
Jisoo stopped busying herself with cleaning up and became stiff. I felt my heart beat out of my chest in anxiousness.
She gave a grim smile and said in a small voice, "I...I'm still in 3rd grade."
Lisa and Rosie widened their eyes and Jisoo turned away in embarrassment. She looked at me with pleading eyes and went back to cleaning up.
I slowly pushed Rosie and Lisa out the front door before closing it behind me.
They stared at me expectingly.
I sighed and said, "Jisoo has mild autism or Pervasive Development Disorder."
Both of them nodded with understanding. "I guess that explains the Disney Channel," Rosie said with a warm smile.
I chuckled and rubbed the back of my neck. "You both don't mind?"
"NO!" They answered in a chorus. They stared at me incredulously.
"I know we haven't been friends as long as Jisoo was yours but we would never think that of her," Lisa answered.
Rosie held my arm and said, "She's lovely, Jennie. She's so endearing and...different. But good different."
I smiled gratefully. "Thank you, guys." I pulled them in for a hug. Then they said bye and left while I went back inside.
Jisoo was standing directly in front of the door. She smiled and looked at me. "I...I didn't embarrass you?"
I stepped forward and pulled her in for a hug, my arms wrapping around her neck while she buried her face into the crook of mine before wrapping her own arms around my waist.
"You could never embarrass me, Jisoo. And I don't want you to be ashamed of something you can't control. It's a part of who you are and I wouldn't trade anything to change you."
"Even if I became normal, you would miss...this me?"
I chuckled and nodded. "Yes. Only you."
••••••••••
About 2 weeks later, my mom got a call from Ms.Kim.
I had to go to a special doctor's appointment with Jisoo.
She wanted her best friend there to meet with the doctor to tell exactly how she would need help going forward.
My mom wasn't doing good. Jisoo was practically her daughter too and any result from the doctor could potentially break her heart.
So she sent me with Jisoo's favorite of her cooking and waved bye to me.
I walked down a few houses to the Kim's and Ms.Kim smiled nervously and opened the door.
Jisoo was sitting on the stairs with her shoes tied and a light jacket thrown over nervously.
I smiled and placed the food on the coffee table before sitting down next to her while Ms.Kim went to get some paperwork filled out for the appointment.
"Hey, Chu."
She turned her face and looked at me. "Hey, Jennie."
Awww. No nickname. She must be nervous.
I laced my hand in hers and stared at her. "So....what are you feeling now?"
She swallowed. "Nervous."
"Good nervous or bad nervous?"
"Are they different?"
I nodded and pulled our hands into my lap, rubbing my thumb over the back of them gently.
"Yes. Good nervous means you know what's going to happen and yet don't know. Bad nervous is when you know it's going to be bad and want it to end."
Jisoo shrugged. "Bad nervous."
I smiled. "I feel good nervous. Your mom I think is jumping back and forth between the line."
Jisoo chuckled at the mental image and tightened her hand in mine.
I leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to her cheek.
"I'm here." I pressed another kiss to her cheek. "I'm right here. Don't worry."
I pulled away a bit and Jisoo looked at me.
She smiled and pulled me in for a hug before I heard her mom coming down the stairs.
We got in the car and drove to a grey building.
Ms.Kim parked the car and we walked inside.
The receptionist at the desk was probably 35ish and smiled at the both us.
"I have you down already. You can see him now."
Jisoo found my hand and held it tightly as we walked in.
The doctor gave a kind smile and I sat down next to Jisoo on the small sofa with Ms.Kim on the other side.
The doctor gestured to me and asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm Jennie Kim. I'm Jisoo's best friend."
"Ahhh..." he said with twinkling eyes as he took in Jisoo's death grip on my hand.
He leaned forward and asked, "How are you feeling right now?"
Jisoo swallowed. "Nervous. Really nervous."
"Why?"
"Because I found out I was autistic and now you might tell me it's something worse and the n I won't be able to be Jennie's friend and go to school or talk to Rosie or even watch anime with Lisa—"
I placed my free hand over Jisoo's heart and chuckled lightly. "Breathe, Jisoo. Breathe. It's ok."
Ms.Kim smiled at me and held Jisoo's shoulder as Jisoo took deep breaths.
She turned back to the doctor.
And before she could say anything, he said, "She's not autistic. I don't know what doctor told you but...Jisoo's not."
All of us stared at the doctor in shock.
He sighed and pulled out a piece of paper that showed the difference.
"There is a difference between being autistic and have slow development. What Jisoo has is something called Global Development Delay."
Ms.Kim and I leaned forward to listen while Jisoo was still holding my hand tightly in shock.
"To put it simply, a developmental delay is when your child does not reach their developmental milestones at the expected times, whilst Autism refers to a group of complex neurodevelopmental disorders, present from early childhood which is characterised by the difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people, and using language and abstract concepts."
He pointed to how close Jisoo and I were and said, "I don't see any problem in Jisoo's ability to form and maintain relationships. And you told me yourself that she started talking at 3 when the usual age is about 12 to 18 months."
"Sometimes it affects social interactions but she has other limitations that match it. Such as understanding and retaining information. You have repeated grades several times?"
Jisoo nodded stiffly.
"It affects solving problems. Going for the first thought to fix something. Interpret social cues and awareness that maybe your friends might know."
I remembered the show were watching together and how she didn't get any of the innuendos.
"You do seem to be a bit dependent on your mom and your best friend on emotional support more than others."
I spend almost everyday with her.
"Your motor skills are good and your affected social awareness might push into your interactions with your friends but I wouldn't worry about it. If they're true friends, they will stay with you the same way Jennie has done."
I swallowed and asked, "Is that it?"
He smiled. "Yes." Then he turned to Jisoo. "What do you think Jisoo? I think I washed away all your worries."
She just smiled and nodded slowly. Ms.Kim rubbed her back and placed a small kiss on her cheek.
Everything can only get better.
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To be continued 😉