With You Around
Thirty-Eight
Jack's POV:
Nyssa had a hard time picking out what to wear to breakfast this morning, I could tell she was nervous meeting my family. "Nyssa, what ever you wear wil be fine I promise." "I don't want your family to get the wrong idea about me though Jack." She walks out of the bathroom and I smile at what she was wearing. A nice blue dress with some jewlery and flats, she looked perfect.
"Trust me, you look perfect."
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We get to the resturaunt where we were meeting my family, May texted me that they were already seated inside. We walk inside and I go up to the hostess, "Barakat, we're meeting up with some people." "Right this way." We follow the hostess and I see my family. We walk up to the table, May jumps up and hugs me tightly and I hug her back.
"Jacky! I missed you so much." She lets go and smiles down at Nyssa, "you must be Nyssa. We heard a lot about you. I'm May." "Nice to meet you," she says shyly. We sit down, I hold her hand under the table giving it a slight squeeze. "Nyssa, these are my parents, Joyce and Bassam. And these are my brothers, Leeyh and Joe." "Its so nice to finally meet you Nyssa," my mom smiles at her. Nyssa smiles back.
"May, Joyce, Bassam, Joe, and... Lee..Lee..." She was struggling to say Leeyh's name and started to stumble on it. "Lee..he.." She groans and looks down. I give her hand another squeeze, "Leeyh, its alright sweetie, we know its hard to say," my mom speaks up. I haven't told them about Nyssa having Dyspraxia. Her mind must be going crazy right now.
We order breakfast and we started talking. After a while May notices that Nyssa was barely included in the conversation. Which made me feel like I just fucked up. I was the one who was supposed to help Nyssa not be so nervous. "So Nyssa, Jack tells us you used to live here." "For a short time, I moved in 3rd grade to Florida. Been there since." "Well I wish you did grow up here, Jack would've met you sooner," my dad smiles at her and I see Nyssa blush.
"So Nyssa, when did you graduate high school?" She tells him. "How old are you?" "24 sir." He thinks to himself, "age doesn't add up right there. Were you held back or started late?" She goes quiet and looks down. "Dad I don't think thats appropriate." "Why?" I hear a thud and my dad groans. My mom kicked my dad's leg, I learned that well enough years ago.
We finally get our food and we dig in. "Honey would you like some of my drink," May asks. It looked like she was drinking orange juice, but I knew it had champagne in it. Nyssa shakes her head, when we were on our date Nyssa didn't drink the champagne. "No thank you," she says quietly. May looks at me and I decided it was time to say it.
"Nyssa doesn't drink." Joe and Leeyh looked at me like I was crazy, I never dated a girl before who didn't drink. "Really? Why?" "I-its just so-somefing-" She goes quiet and looks up at me, she looked like she was about to cry. I heard it, she messed up on her speech.
She gets up and runs off, "Nyssa!" I felt terrible. "I'll go talk to her Jack," May stands up. "No I should." "My guess is she went to the bathroom, so you stay I'll go."
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Nyssa's POV:
I was crying in a stall, first I have trouble saying Leeyh's name. Then Jack's dad questions me if I was held back or started school late. Then Jack tells them I don't drink, get questioned by Joe, and I mess up on my speech.
I fucked it up already. They don't like me. I know it.
I hear someone walk in and I go quiet. "Nyssa? Its May, I know you ran in here." I stay quiet and I hear her walk. I see her feet stop in front of my stall. "Nyssa sweetie, why did you run off?" I stay quiet and close my eyes. The voice screaming at me. "They hate you. They heard you mess up and think your dumb. Why would they ever like you."
"Nyssa, Joe only asked you that because Jack's never dated a girl who doesn't drink. Its a change. A really good change honestly, I can tell that you make Jack really happy, I never seen him this happy before. Please don't think we don't like you Nyssa, because we do like you." "She's lying. She hates you."
The voice screams at me more when I stand up and open the stall door. She see's me crying and pulls me in for a hug. I hug her back and rest my head on her. "Its okay Nyssa, we love you. We love seeing you with Jack." "Re-really?" "Yes, I can tell Jack has changed, I love seeing that he has." I look up at her and smiles at me sweetly, "there she is." She wipes my tears and walks me to the sink. She pulls out some q-tips from her purse, has me lick the ends, and she fixes my eye makeup. She pulls out her eyeliner and fixes mine. "There you go, lets go eat."
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Jack's POV:
They walk back, I could tell Nyssa had been crying. She sits down by me and May sits down. "Ye-yeah, I was held back in 3rd grade," she speaks up. I was shocked she did. "I-I have a disability." That caught my families attention. Guess they weren't expecting that.
"Its called Dyspraxia." "Whats that?," my dad asks. "I'm not surprised you asked that sir. Its when the brain can't process certain information and it gets lost." "When were you diagnosed?" "When I was 9 sir, but my parents always knew something was off before that." "When did they notice?" "All my mile stones were late, walking, talking, everything."
While we ate, my family kept asking her about Dyspraxia, and she seemed to open up more. She seemed so open and confident of who she was, she was even smiling now.
I watch her and smile to myself, this was one of the few times where I've seen her so open.
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We get back to the bus, and Nyssa runs to the back. "How'd breakfast go?," Matt asks. I smile to myself, "it went perfect." "Bonnie... Bonnie?" I hear Nyssa. That got all of our attention. "Alex let me see Bonnie." I run to the back and see Nyssa on her knees by Alex's bunk. I look in and I see Alex holding Bonnie close to him, her face hidden.
"Bonnie its Nyssa, Bonnie. Bonnie please answer me." I could tell Nyssa was trying to stay strong but she knew what was going on.
Nyssa had a hard time picking out what to wear to breakfast this morning, I could tell she was nervous meeting my family. "Nyssa, what ever you wear wil be fine I promise." "I don't want your family to get the wrong idea about me though Jack." She walks out of the bathroom and I smile at what she was wearing. A nice blue dress with some jewlery and flats, she looked perfect.
"Trust me, you look perfect."
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We get to the resturaunt where we were meeting my family, May texted me that they were already seated inside. We walk inside and I go up to the hostess, "Barakat, we're meeting up with some people." "Right this way." We follow the hostess and I see my family. We walk up to the table, May jumps up and hugs me tightly and I hug her back.
"Jacky! I missed you so much." She lets go and smiles down at Nyssa, "you must be Nyssa. We heard a lot about you. I'm May." "Nice to meet you," she says shyly. We sit down, I hold her hand under the table giving it a slight squeeze. "Nyssa, these are my parents, Joyce and Bassam. And these are my brothers, Leeyh and Joe." "Its so nice to finally meet you Nyssa," my mom smiles at her. Nyssa smiles back.
"May, Joyce, Bassam, Joe, and... Lee..Lee..." She was struggling to say Leeyh's name and started to stumble on it. "Lee..he.." She groans and looks down. I give her hand another squeeze, "Leeyh, its alright sweetie, we know its hard to say," my mom speaks up. I haven't told them about Nyssa having Dyspraxia. Her mind must be going crazy right now.
We order breakfast and we started talking. After a while May notices that Nyssa was barely included in the conversation. Which made me feel like I just fucked up. I was the one who was supposed to help Nyssa not be so nervous. "So Nyssa, Jack tells us you used to live here." "For a short time, I moved in 3rd grade to Florida. Been there since." "Well I wish you did grow up here, Jack would've met you sooner," my dad smiles at her and I see Nyssa blush.
"So Nyssa, when did you graduate high school?" She tells him. "How old are you?" "24 sir." He thinks to himself, "age doesn't add up right there. Were you held back or started late?" She goes quiet and looks down. "Dad I don't think thats appropriate." "Why?" I hear a thud and my dad groans. My mom kicked my dad's leg, I learned that well enough years ago.
We finally get our food and we dig in. "Honey would you like some of my drink," May asks. It looked like she was drinking orange juice, but I knew it had champagne in it. Nyssa shakes her head, when we were on our date Nyssa didn't drink the champagne. "No thank you," she says quietly. May looks at me and I decided it was time to say it.
"Nyssa doesn't drink." Joe and Leeyh looked at me like I was crazy, I never dated a girl before who didn't drink. "Really? Why?" "I-its just so-somefing-" She goes quiet and looks up at me, she looked like she was about to cry. I heard it, she messed up on her speech.
She gets up and runs off, "Nyssa!" I felt terrible. "I'll go talk to her Jack," May stands up. "No I should." "My guess is she went to the bathroom, so you stay I'll go."
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Nyssa's POV:
I was crying in a stall, first I have trouble saying Leeyh's name. Then Jack's dad questions me if I was held back or started school late. Then Jack tells them I don't drink, get questioned by Joe, and I mess up on my speech.
I fucked it up already. They don't like me. I know it.
I hear someone walk in and I go quiet. "Nyssa? Its May, I know you ran in here." I stay quiet and I hear her walk. I see her feet stop in front of my stall. "Nyssa sweetie, why did you run off?" I stay quiet and close my eyes. The voice screaming at me. "They hate you. They heard you mess up and think your dumb. Why would they ever like you."
"Nyssa, Joe only asked you that because Jack's never dated a girl who doesn't drink. Its a change. A really good change honestly, I can tell that you make Jack really happy, I never seen him this happy before. Please don't think we don't like you Nyssa, because we do like you." "She's lying. She hates you."
The voice screams at me more when I stand up and open the stall door. She see's me crying and pulls me in for a hug. I hug her back and rest my head on her. "Its okay Nyssa, we love you. We love seeing you with Jack." "Re-really?" "Yes, I can tell Jack has changed, I love seeing that he has." I look up at her and smiles at me sweetly, "there she is." She wipes my tears and walks me to the sink. She pulls out some q-tips from her purse, has me lick the ends, and she fixes my eye makeup. She pulls out her eyeliner and fixes mine. "There you go, lets go eat."
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Jack's POV:
They walk back, I could tell Nyssa had been crying. She sits down by me and May sits down. "Ye-yeah, I was held back in 3rd grade," she speaks up. I was shocked she did. "I-I have a disability." That caught my families attention. Guess they weren't expecting that.
"Its called Dyspraxia." "Whats that?," my dad asks. "I'm not surprised you asked that sir. Its when the brain can't process certain information and it gets lost." "When were you diagnosed?" "When I was 9 sir, but my parents always knew something was off before that." "When did they notice?" "All my mile stones were late, walking, talking, everything."
While we ate, my family kept asking her about Dyspraxia, and she seemed to open up more. She seemed so open and confident of who she was, she was even smiling now.
I watch her and smile to myself, this was one of the few times where I've seen her so open.
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We get back to the bus, and Nyssa runs to the back. "How'd breakfast go?," Matt asks. I smile to myself, "it went perfect." "Bonnie... Bonnie?" I hear Nyssa. That got all of our attention. "Alex let me see Bonnie." I run to the back and see Nyssa on her knees by Alex's bunk. I look in and I see Alex holding Bonnie close to him, her face hidden.
"Bonnie its Nyssa, Bonnie. Bonnie please answer me." I could tell Nyssa was trying to stay strong but she knew what was going on.
5/20/13