Superkid

by Christina Barr

  I was really glad that he was helping me, and I figured that Dad wouldn’t try to trick me. He didn’t like pretend. Still, I wanted to be sure. “Will spinach really make me stronger?”

  “Spinach is a great source of iron and keeps the brain young and agile, eggs prevent a lot of sickness, and milk gives you strong bones.”

  “Really?” Spinach was gonna make me strong and keep me from growing up? I might have to eat it every day. Sure it was yucky and looked like something that came out of a swamp, but I would do anything to make myself somewhat super. Mom said I would have to try, so that’s exactly what I did.

  When Dad dropped me off at school, he turned around to look at me before I got out of the car. “Are you going to be okay, Felix?”

  When he paid attention, it really made me feel special. It was almost like I had my cape on or something. “I’ll be fine, Dad.”

  “Have a good day, Felix.”

  I hopped out of the car determined to have the best day possible. If Brock and his goons tried something, I was gonna fight back. I walked to class with my head held up real high and my chest poked out. I was ready for him. I was ready for anyone.

  Ms. Hucklebee was waiting by the door for me to come in with a big smile on her face, all for me. “Hi, Felix. Are you doing okay?”

  “I’m fine.” I felt the hat on my head. I really didn’t like wearing it all day, but I still didn’t want anyone to see my bruised head. “Do you want me to take the hat off?”

  “No. Your Dad’s talked to me about it. You’re fine.” Then she bent down to get closer to me. “No one will bother you about it today, Felix.”

  I could tell that she was trying to protect me, but I didn’t need to be protected. “Where’s Brock?”

  “Kiara saw him push you down after school, so she told me and I had a word with the principal. We don’t take bullying lightly here. Brock has to spend the day at home. When he comes back, he won’t bother you again.”

  I felt weak and like a little baby. “I don’t need you to protect me.”

  I think I hurt her feelings. “Everyone needs a little bit of protecting, Felix.”

  I didn’t care if she was trying to help. She shouldn’t have stopped me from fighting Brock if it would give me back my honor.

  I hurried off to my seat to get away from Ms. Hucklebee for a little while. Kiara was sitting in her seat waiting for me. Her staring at me and waiting for the right moment to strike was really starting to bug me. To make things worse, she was a snitch.

  Class wasn’t so great. We were working on our spelling, and I wasn’t the greatest speller in the world. I couldn’t wait until recess. R-e-c-e-s-s. I could spell that one.

  When the recess bell rang, some of Brock’s friends were glaring at me when we lined up at the door. I glared right back at them. If they did something to me, I was gonna fight back! I was ready and watching them as they walked out the door. I had already made fists. I was gonna pop them good, but before I could walk out, Ms. Hucklebee grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back.

  “Felix, why don’t you stay and help me again?”

  I was planning on fighting those boys, even if there were two of them. But if Ms. Hucklebee wanted my help or even needed it, then that was great. It was more than great. I liked spending time with Ms. Hucklebee, and I liked that she thought I was special enough to help her. She wouldn’t ask Brock to help her.

  “Sure. I’ll stay.”

  I liked how Ms. Hucklebee made me feel. Mom and Dad said that I should be a good student and to listen to my teacher. If my teacher liked me, I would do really well in school. I must have been her favorite student. She didn’t ask anyone else to stay and help her. Why would she? I was very valuable. Nobody could pass out the papers and put out the snacks like me. Ms. Hucklebee was too busy writing something down on a giant poster board on her desk to do everything. I knew that she depended on me, which was cool.

  Ms. Hucklebee was the most amazing person in the world, besides my mom. She always smelled nice, her hair was long and pretty, and her smile made the whole room light up.

  I looked at the clock, and I became sad because recess was almost over, and I didn’t want my time alone with Ms. Hucklebee to end. I wanted to know if she thought I was special, the same way I thought she was special. “Ms. Hucklebee?”

  “Yes, Felix?” she asked.

  “Do you think I’m a special kid?” I started blushing and suddenly became really nervous. “What I mean is…do you think that I’m great?”

  “Of course I do, Felix!” She walked over to her desk and pulled out a giant roll of stickers that had a bunch of gold stars on it. “I think it’s time that you get rewarded for your greatness.” Then she held up the poster board. It was a chart with everyone’s name on it. My name was third on the list.

  “What’s that for?” I asked.

  “It’s for me to keep track of how great my students are, Felix.” Then she posted it on her bulletin board with a stapler and put two gold stars by my name. “When it fills up to the top, you get a prize.”

  I smiled really big, and I don’t know why. “What is it?”

  “You’ll find out if you get one, but I’m sure you will.” She walked over to me and patted me on the head. “You’re a good boy. I know I don’t have to worry about you fighting or disrupting the classroom. Isn’t that right, Felix?”

  Uh oh! I felt like she had caught me. My dad said it was okay to defend myself if I fought, but I didn’t ever want to upset Ms. Hucklebee. “Right.”

  She smiled. “Good.”

  Then the stupid recess bell rang and Kiara was the first one through the door. Why couldn’t I be her only student? Everyone else was in the way.

  I didn’t even care about fighting Brock or his two stupid friends anymore. I would if I had to, but my mind wasn’t on them anymore. When Dad picked me up from school and asked me how my day was, I told him that everything was perfect. Later at home when Mom asked me, I told her that it was the best day ever. I really couldn’t wait until the next school day so Ms. Hucklebee and I could be alone during recess again.

  The next day when I got to class, I was so excited to see Ms. Hucklebee. Then I saw that Brock was back too, and he was giving her an apple. I thought that she wouldn’t want to take a stupid apple from him, but she smiled the way she was only supposed to smile for me and took it. She sat it on her desk like she was teasing me. I was mad the whole day.

  The only thing that made up for it was that I got to spend recess alone with Ms. Hucklebee, and I got another gold star. I wasn’t the only one who got a gold star. During class when the kids would clean up or lead us in a straight line on the way to lunch or to the bathroom, she would give other kids stars. I thought it was a special thing only meant for me. I guess all my classmates had their name on her board, but only I should have been able to get the prize. I had to make sure that I did something really amazing.

  The weekend came and I played games and stuff, but I kept thinking about Ms. Hucklebee. I didn’t eat a whole lot. I didn’t want to go outside. I didn’t run around the house. I only wanted to go back to school.

  On Sunday night, Mom came in my room when I was trying to go to sleep. She had been sad and worried about me all weekend. “Have you been feeling okay?”

  I didn’t want to talk to Mom about what I was feeling. It didn’t seem like a mom kind of thing. Mom was supposed to make me lunch and tuck me in at night. She wasn’t supposed to talk to me about feelings like that. I mean, I didn’t feel comfortable talking to Dad about that stuff, but I really didn’t want to talk to Mom about it. “It’s nothing.”

  “Nothing?” She came and sat on my bed, which meant she wasn’t leaving until I said something. “There’s something.”

  I hid under my blanket. I knew I couldn’t get away, but I was really embarrassed. “I can’t talk about it.”

  Then Mom tried her most dangerous attack. She began to tickle me. “What’s it about?”

  I couldn
’t stop laughing. I really had to pee, and it came fast. Dad would have flipped his lid if I peed on myself. It was embarrassing enough when I was a bed wetter. I didn’t want to go back to my old ways.

  I tried to fight back, but I was no match for her long and fast fingers. If I didn’t stop her soon, I was gonna bust. “Okay, okay! I’ll tell!”

  Mom laughed and let me go. “Tell me what’s going on, Felix.”

  I had to run to the bathroom to pee quickly. Then I came back to my room, so I could tell Mom what was bugging me. I didn’t want to tell her everything. Ms. Hucklebee was way older than me. I didn’t mind, but I didn’t know if Mom and Dad would like it. Dad was just kind of funny that way. “There’s this girl in my class that’s really pretty, and she makes me feel funny inside.”

  “Funny how?”

  I shrugged. “Happy, I guess.”

  Mom’s smile became really different than anything I had ever seen before. Then her eyes got really big. “It sounds like you’ve got a little crush.”

  I sunk my head down and started blushing. I had never had a crush on anyone, but I knew what it meant. Some of the girls from kindergarten had a crush on my friends. None of them ever liked me. They were jerks that liked to push me and pull my hair sometimes, and they giggled when they thought I wasn’t looking.

  When people had a crush, they acted all funny and did crazy things. I didn’t want to lose my mind and push Ms. Hucklebee away. “What should I do?”

  “You should let her know how you feel, Silly,” she said. Mom’s voice got really high too. So high that it kind of hurt my ears, but at least she was really happy.

  “It’s that simple?” I thought I would need to give her flowers and cookies and toys.

  “When your Dad told me that he loved me, I was ready to marry him right there and then.”

  Yuck! When Mom and Dad talked love and they kissed each other, it freaked me out.

  “Love should be simple,” she said. “You’re too young to understand how complicated it can be, but maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”

  I was gonna do exactly what Mom said. I liked Ms. Hucklebee and she liked me. I had to just tell her and then everything would be okay.

  I was nervous the rest of the weekend. All I could think about was the way Ms. Hucklebee smiled and the way she made me feel when she told me that I was special. I couldn’t wait until I saw her again.

  On Monday morning, I wore my favorite T-shirt and made sure I washed up really good. Dad said that having good hygiene was the best thing you could do to show respect for yourself and other people. I even snuck in Dad’s bathroom and put on a little bit of his spray stuff. I also got to take the bandage off my head, because the bruise had gone away. Then before I left the house with Dad, I took a rose out of Mom’s vase.

  Dad kept looking at me while he was driving with a smirk on his face. “What are you up to, Son?”

  I decided to be cool about it. “Nothing special, Dad. I’m only gonna win the girl of my dreams.”

  He laughed, and I’m not sure why. “Good luck, Son.”

  I could barely sit still on the way to the school. I kept kicking my feet out and humming. Oh, it was gonna be perfect when I told Ms. Hucklebee that I liked her. When the car stopped, I jumped out and barley told Dad goodbye. Ms. Hucklebee was waiting for me.

  Then when I got to the door and saw her, she was wearing a blue dress. Blue was my all-time favorite color, next to red. Her hair was down and curly. She was already smiling, but she lit up when she saw me.

  I had her flower behind my back, and my hand was all sweaty. “Good morning Ms. Hucklebee.” My voice was really shaky.

  “Morning, Felix. I hope you had a nice weekend.” I knew when she said hello to me that it was different. Everyone else said hi and walked to their seats. We spent time together.

  My hand was really shaky, but I held out my hand out toward her. “This is for you.”

  She gasped when she saw the rose in my hand. “Thank you, Felix. It’s very beautiful.”

  “I need to tell you something really important during recess.”

  She looked surprised for a second. “You don’t want to go out and play today?”

  “No. I thought I could help you some more.”

  She tried to frown. “That’s fine for now, but eventually you’ll have to go outside and play with some other kids.” I knew she didn’t really want me to go. I kept her from being lonely.

  “Today is all I need.” I had my head held up high when I walked to my seat. Recess was gonna be the best time of my entire life. I might have been a little boy, and she was a young woman, but we’d figure it out. It didn’t matter if I couldn’t spell. She could fight my spelling bee battles for me. If she would start to become too old and forget how to have fun, I would remind her how to do it the right way. It was the perfect partnership, like peanut butter and jelly.

  Nothing bothered me the whole day. Even when Brock tried to cut in front of me in the bathroom line, I didn’t try to stop him. Kiara kept looking at me all day long, but I didn’t care. Ms. Hucklebee gave someone else a star for winning a math game. As long as we ended up together in the end, it didn’t matter.

  When it was recess time, I didn’t even bother lining up. I sat in my seat with the biggest smile anybody had probably ever seen before. As I watched everyone leave out, I realized that one person also didn’t move. Kiara was still sitting next to me with her stupid, big eyes looking at me.

  “Kiara?” Ms. Hucklebee asked. “Is something wrong?”

  She held her stomach and scrunched her eyes. “I’m not feeling too great. Can I stay in here and play?”

  “Of course.”

  My smile ran away so fast. That dumb girl was gonna ruin everything! I had to think of something. “Don’t you wanna go home?”

  “And risk ruining my education?” She gasped. “Felix, I’d never!”

  I was so mad! “Ms. Hucklebee, make her leave!”

  Then Ms. Hucklebee got mad at me and raised her voice. “I will not! This is more than just your classroom. Besides, you two should play together. Kiara is very nice.”

  I glared at Kiara and she was smiling. She was ruining everything on purpose. “But Ms. Hucklebee, I had something important to tell you!”

  “You can still tell me.”

  No I couldn’t. The moment was gone, and we needed to be alone. “It can wait until later.”

  Another teacher from next door came and knocked on Ms. Hucklebee’s door. Ms. Hucklebee smiled and turned around when she saw her friend. “I’ll be out in the hall if you need me.” Then she left me alone with Cootie Girl.

  “It looks like it’s just me and you.” Kiara didn’t sound sick, and she didn’t look sick. She smiled way too much. I didn’t trust her at all.

  “Maybe I should go to the playground.”

  “No!” she yelled. “Ms. Hucklebee let us stay so now she thinks we’re staying inside. You can’t confuse her.”

  I guess she had a point. I glared at her and walked over to the play area to play with the colored blocks. Kiara followed and watched me just like she did in class. I didn’t want to watch her watching me, so I pulled all of the blocks into my chest so she couldn’t get them.

  She pouted and looked like she was gonna cry, which made me feel bad, but I couldn’t let her get cootie germs on my blocks and kill me. She didn’t end up crying. She just walked over to the wooden blocks and began building.

  I was gonna build a huge fortress to keep her away from me until recess was over. I was really good at building things at home. I didn’t know all that practice would one day save my life.

  When I looked over at my enemy, Kiara was building an amazing building. It looked like a church. How could she make something so cool so fast? She must have been really smart and creative.

  When she finished, her shoulders started shaking a little and she started whimpering. “Why don’t you like me, Felix?” she asked.

  Then I felt really bad.
“I don’t…not like you. I just don’t wanna get sick.”

  She turned around and she was crying. “How would you get sick? I don’t have a cold.”

  “But you have cooties. All girls have them.”

  She stopped crying and looked at me like Dad would look at my uncle when he did something stupid. “No. That’s not true.”

  “Really?” I asked surprised.

  She wiped her eyes and calmed down. “Well, I don’t have cooties. I was born different. I can’t spread them. All the other girls are very dangerous, though.”

  “All of them?” I wasn’t sure if I believed her. She didn’t have a stomachache. I faked some sometimes, so I knew a faker when I saw one. If she faked that, she could be faking anything.

  She grabbed my arms and shook me to make me believe. “They can’t kill you instantly, but you’ll get it eventually. But if you kiss a girl, that’s an instant death.”

  My eyes got big at first. Dad told me that I wouldn’t think kissing was icky when I grew up. I didn’t want to die.

  Then I remembered that I wasn’t planning on growing up. I would be little Felix forever, and I was only interested in playing games like checkers and tag with Ms. Hucklebee. I smiled just thinking about our fun life together. “I’m not worried about that.”

  For some reason, Kiara glared at me and pouted. “Well, you should be! Ms. Hucklebee has cooties.”

  “She does not!” I yelled angrily.

  “Does so!” She crossed her arms. “Girls grow up into women. The cooties don’t go away.”

  No. I couldn’t believe that. Ms. Hucklebee could never hurt me, just like my mom would never hurt my dad. “Then how come my mom’s cooties don’t hurt my dad?”

  She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Your dad must be immune to your mom’s cooties.” Then she smiled the icky girl kind. “That’s how you find your true love. As soon as you find out who won’t kill you, you kiss, get married, and have babies.”

  No! That couldn’t be true! Kiara had to be lying or something. “How come my mom’s cooties don’t hurt me?”

  “Because she’s your mom. You have like the same blood. Your aunts and grandmas can kiss your cheeks all they want.”