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Got What I Wanted

Drew Alexander Ross

    “Can you bring Rachel to the front office?”
    Jackie mouthed, “Please,” and I put down my coffee.
    I walked to the fifth-grade wing. Rachel was late for a speech therapy lesson. The other students pulled from their classes were already there. I knew this wasn’t going to be the simple task of walking a student to the front office.
    “I don’t want to go!”
    Rachel stamped her feet as if she was trying to squash a swarm of nasty bugs. Her shoes emitted glows of light from the soles with each contact to the ground. I stared at her and didn’t reveal any emotion. She darted for the door like a mouse that was afraid to get caught. I exchanged raised eyebrows with Ms. Larrabee before I went to find her. She was not in the immediate area.
    Rachel sat in the corner against a wall in the stairwell. She pouted and whined, and she would not listen. I said that others were waiting on her. I tried to convince her the speech lessons wouldn’t be bad. I told her there would be games and candy if she went.
    She did not want to go.
    Rachel played with her shoes and watched the colors light-up on her heels. I waited a minute before I told her they were cool. Her face glowed like the bottom of her shoes. Rachel explained how they lit up when she stomped in them and proceeded to do just that. One red and the other blue. I asked her if she could make a pattern as we walked to the front office. Her face went blank for a moment before it scrunched up. She decided this was worth her time and started to skip ahead of me.
    Rachel hesitated after we rounded the corner when the front office came into view. A suggestion of don’t step on the cracks got her the rest of the way. At the door, she scurried back a few steps and sank down next to the wall. I felt like I was watching a tiny elephant trying to evade notice while emitting disruptive bursts from its trunk.
    “I’m not going in! I hate it there.”
    Jackie, the front office receptionist, came outside with the speech counselor. The speech counselor told Rachel they would be playing games, and the other students wanted her to join. Rachel shook her head and repeated “no” to each prompt. Nothing would change her mind.
    Finally, the counselor let out a sigh and told Rachel if she didn’t go today, she would have to go to two sessions next week or go by herself the following day. Rachel made a silent snarl with pursed lips.
    “Fine. I’ll go tomorrow... By myself.”
    The adults looked at each other and felt the shared release of tension. The situation was resolved. We could go on with our day.
    I walked Rachel back to class. After we rounded the corner, Rachel started to skip.
    “Yay! Got what I wanted.”

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