Chrissy Marshall

Chapter Four: The Three Musketeers 

Ruby skipped to the playground; her sparkly red shoes landing on every other stone. She hopped onto her favorite swing, closing her eyes as she felt the breeze move through her hair. She slowed her movements, observing the other children playing. Maybe she should thank the blonde boy in her class. He had been kind to her after all. She leapt off the swing, landing perfectly on the cement. She clicked her heels three times for good measure, distracted by her ruby slippers. 

Ruby heard singing, “I want caaandy!” followed by a backflip. In front of the basketball court there he was, still swinging his yo-yo. Ruby took a deep breath and walked towards him. 

“Excuse me,” She muttered shyly, tapping him on the shoulder. 

“Oh hey!” He seemed excited to see her. “Ruby, right? I was looking for you.” 

Ruby tucked some hair behind her ear as she smiled back. 

“You’ve only been here like a month, right? I got tired of watching Mr. Jeffrey give you a hard time. He does that to new kids. I’m Aaron by the way.” 

Ruby shook his hand. “I wanted to thank you for helping me out today, Aaron.”  

He smiled while spinning in a circle. 

“I was wondering if…” Ruby became distracted by Aaron’s tapping foot in between spins. 

“Do you ever stop moving?” 

Aaron clapped his hands, laughing. Ruby blinked a few times, waiting for his answer. 

“Have you heard of ADHD?” 

“A…D… what now?” Ruby asked, wondering if this was an alien force of some kind. 

“ADHD. Don’t know what it stands for, but it means I move all the time.” 

“I’m sorry, that was rude of me,” Her cheeks turned pink. 

“You are not being rude! It’s normal to ask questions.” 

“But if you move all the time, how do you focus?” 

“I used to not be able to. Last year, I didn’t like school because sitting still felt like torture. It took so much energy to stay out of trouble that I didn’t hear important things my teacher was saying, especially in math. It made me feel like I was not as smart as other kids.”  

He was now swinging his yo-yo in different directions. 

“But you’re so good at math now!” 

“That’s because of my parents. They talked to me a lot about school and helped me realize when my hands are busy, I don’t get bored or distracted. School is easy now!” 

He paused, noticing Ruby was watching the yo-yo glide up and down, almost in a trance. 

“Hey, do you want to try?” He asked, handing it to me. 

“Me? Oh….I don’t know how to…” 

“It’s easy, I’ll teach you. Plus, it matches your coat.” 

Ruby looked down at her purple coat, and looked back at Aaron, nodding. 

“Okay, see this string? Put it around your middle finger like this. Don’t let go yet.” 

Ruby slid the string across her finger as instructed, gripping the yo-yo nervously. 

“The key is to be gentle. Don’t throw it down, or it could break. Concentrate on the string. Slowly, toss it down and pull it back up into your hand.” 

The more Ruby focused, the easier it was to gracefully move it up and down. She beamed, feeling as though she had been practicing for years. “Wow, this is amazing!”  

Aaron chuckled. “It’s fun, isn’t it? You can keep that one. I have lots at home.” 

“Are you sure? You don’t have to do that. Thank you!” 

Suddenly, Ruby gasped. Another boy flew in front of her, missing her by inches. Once she caught her breath, she realized she was still playing with the yo-yo, without realizing it. 

The boy giggled nervously, his hazel eyes twinkling. He seemed rather proud of himself. “Sorry about that, just call me Peter Parker!” 

“Like…spiderman?” Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow. He giggled more. 

“Yeah! I’ve been working on that flip for weeks. It’s much better than reading, right?” 

Ruby looked at his “Spiderman” shirt, then at his shiny blue and red sneakers. She tried to ignore his insult about her favorite subject. “Are you in fifth grade too?” 

Peter giggled so hard he scrunched his nose, causing Ruby to notice his freckles. 

“We’re in the same class, silly! I’m the one standing behind you.” 

“Oh, I remember now!” Ruby exclaimed; a bit embarrassed. She realized she had misjudged both Aaron and Peter. They seemed like troublemakers, but maybe she was wrong. “Aren’t you always standing by your desk? There must not be enough chairs.” 

Aaron and Peter exchanged a look, as if they knew something Ruby didn’t know. 

“Peter has ADHD too; he is even more wiggly than I am!” Aaron said. 

“It helps me to stand,” Peter explained. “Sometimes Mr. Jeffrey lets me walk back and forth at the back of the room when I need a break. But he doesn’t let me do that very often. It kind of drives him nuts. I don’t think he would let me if it weren’t for my parents. They had a big meeting about it. They said it’s something called an acronym-balistion.” 

“Do you mean…an accommodation?” Aaron corrected him, laughing. 

“Sure, what you said!” Peter said, putting his hands in the air. “Whatever that word is, it’s like an agreement between him and my parents so I can learn better.” 

Ruby looked down, thinking. She certainly did wiggle as much as Peter and Aaron. But no matter how hard she tried; she just could not seem to pay attention.  

“How did both of you know you have that…A…H… thing?” 

“ADHD,” Aaron said. “I’m not sure. All I know is I used to get in trouble a lot.” 

“Me too!” Peter chimed in. “Practically every day!” 

“My parents started talking to me about it and took me to the doctor last year. They kept telling me they knew I was smart, even if I didn’t believe it. I’m lucky to have them. They really wanted to find a way to help me get good grades. I bet your parents would help you too!” 

“Maybe I can talk to my mom after school. Her office is right over there.” 

“Your mom is Nurse Diane?” Peter said, clapping his hands together. “She’s the best!” 

“She has the best candy!” Aaron exclaimed. “Sometimes I pretend to be sick just to say hi to her. So, is that why you moved here? Because your mom is the new nurse?” 

Ruby nodded, hoping to not have to answer any more questions just yet. She was glad to make friends but wasn’t ready to share the real reason they had moved. She had to be sure she could trust Aaron and Peter. She took a deep breath and scrunched up her toes inside her shoes. 

“Do you guys think we could play again, tomorrow? I – I don’t really know anyone yet.” 

“Yeah, of course!” Peter said. “You seem cool. Maybe you could help me read better.” 

“And we could help you with math or at least get Mr. Jeffrey to leave you alone.” Aaron said. Ruby felt her nervous face break into a smile. She had finally made friends. She couldn’t wait to tell her mom. Just then, the bell rang. Recess was over. 

Peter, Aaron, and Ruby slowly walked back to the classroom. “Hey, I just thought of something!” Peter said. “You know what we should call ourselves?” 

Ruby smiled. She had a feeling where Peter was going with this.  

“The three musketeers!”  

Aaron nodded, as he broke a Musketeers candy bar into three parts and extended his hand. The three of them took their piece, chewing as quickly as possible before Mr. Jeffrey noticed.