Crystallized Minds For Harlyn Starr

This Too Shall Pass

I shift in my chair. My knee continues bouncing, although I don't want it to move. Slowly, my drawing begins to take shape. My blue ballpoint pen traces the outline of my person's fingers, and my left hand is already searching around in my bag for my colored pencils. My hand is just closing around the familiar shape of the pencil box when I hear someone clear his throat. I look up.
"Miss Starr," says my teacher, Mr. Pennsley. "I believe that I have called on you."
The entire class is snickering, and I can feel my ears grown pink. My face is tingling as the blood rushes up it, each cell probably racing to my eyebrows. I look down at my drawing, silently begging Mr. Pennsley not to confiscate it. But my prayers are not to be answered, because my view of my drawing is quickly deterred by a beefy hand, which proceeds to carelessly snatch my picture and stuff it in Mr. Pennsley's desk drawer - where it will remain for the rest of eternity, forever hidden amongst my other beautiful drawings.
"Ahem!" Mr. Pennsley clears his throat. "Miss Starr, may I ask you to pay attention?" When I look down at my doodled-on cream colored sneakers, Mr. Pennsley chuckles and says, "Anyway, class, we will now go into calculus - which, may I remind you, is the reason you are all here in the first place!"
I slide down in my seat as Mr. Pennsley's voice blends into the dull tittering of the students. Ignoring the paper airplanes and rubber bands that snap me in the back of my head, I close my eyes and mentally doodle. I pull up the hood of my sweatshirt and feel my dark brown hair press against my neck. My leg is still bouncing, just like it does constantly every day.
I have ADHD, which stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It causes me to frequently fidget, and for this reason, my mother slips a Silly Putty container into my backpack each morning. Unfortunately, Mr. Pennsley caught me playing with it once and has now forbidden me from wearing anything with pockets. But, then again, he's half blind and all I have to do to hide my bag from him is hold it behind my back.
I bet you're imagining me without a face, because the only things I've described are my hair and some of my personality. Well, for starters, I have a nose that turns up at the end, and a beauty mark on the right side of my mouth. My lips are a dull pink, and I always wear jeans. As for my shoes, I require a new pair every few months due to my incessant doodling on the soles. Currently, my sneakers are decorated with an entire town, complete with small people and miniature pets.
I always wear shirts that are solid colors. Today, I am wearing a green shirt with my blue sweatshirt. Not that it matters - the only times anyone seems to notice me are when I get in trouble or am being my usual, quirky self. The one exception is that my two best friends - Ivy and Claire - pay attention to me all of the time. We sit under the tree at recess, talking and sharing wisdom.
I always say to them that "It could be worse." Ivy always comments that "Silence is golden." But my favorite piece of advice is Claire's - "This too shall pass."