Page 3 of The Grinch who Loved Me
He heard them say, “He is cute. Have you seen him before?”
The girl with light blonde hair said, “Kind of. My dad got his car fixed at his dad’s shop and I saw him once. He was helping.”
Ryland never noticed the people waiting for their cars. And doubted he would start now.
The other girl giggled, “He is pretty cute.”
Ryland fought not to step up closer to his mom, and he heard the other girl say, “Why isn’t he in school with us? Is he our age? Or is he older?”
Ryland ground his teeth when the other girl said, “Look how tall he is. He is older than us. For sure.”
His mom looked down at him, no doubt hearing the girl's conversation.
She went to turn around and he grabbed her arm and shook his head minutely.
She smiled down at him and then stepped up to order.
The girls giggled again and he walked out with his mom to sit at a table.
“Those girls are cute. Go talk to them.”
Ryland shook his head, “I don’t want to. I want to go home.”
His mom pursed her lips, “You are so much like your father. Branch out. Get to know other people. It won’t kill you. You can do it.”
Ryland crossed his arms, “Mom. I don’t like talking to people. It makes me uncomfortable. I am never going to be comfortable. I just want to go home.”
She pursed her lips more, “You just haven’t even given it a chance. I’m going to sign you up for real school. You have to be a real kid. You can’t just be locked away in the house. I shouldn’t have allowed it, but I did and I did you a disservice Ryland. I’m sorry. You should be normal. To go out with other kids your age and not sit in that garage all day with your dad. That isn’t right. I’m putting a stop to it now.”
Ryland felt helpless. But his mom was determined and she signed him up for regular school.
On his first day, everything was so overwhelming that Ryland had a panic attack and had to run to a bathroom to calm down.
He hated every single thing about school. The kids were too loud and the teachers knew a lot, but he knew more.
His mom taught him a lot and he paid attention. That was what he liked about homeschool.
It was just him and his mom. And he did great with just the two of them.
But here? Around all these people? He struggled and he didn’t fit in. He was tall. And broad.
He had worked on cars so much that he had calluses on his hands and fingers.
And though he was only fourteen, he was stronger than most of the other boys.
And because he was so quiet and had been homeschooled, he was something of a pariah.
Kids pointed and stared and talked about him like he didn’t hear them.
They made fun of his clothes, his hair, his height, his width. The fact that he never spoke to anyone there except to answer some questions when the teacher asked.
He sat by himself at lunch and more often than not was found in the library in the furthest corner, reading.
He resented his mom and his dad knew that.
Every day when he came home, he would tell his dad how much he hated it at school and his dad would sympathize and try to get his mom to pull him out of school.
But she said she had a point to prove and she was going to prove it.
