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The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. The entire class erupted into a frenzy of movement and chatter, excited to go home and crash. However, Albedo had something else on his mind.
“Can I talk to you about something, Bennett?”
The ash-haired boy’s eyes widened slightly in anxiety. “Y-yeah, sure.”
“I promise it’s nothing bad, Bennett. I’m not upset with you. I just want to ask you about something. You might want to text one of your parents as it may take a few minutes.”
“Okay,” he agreed, pulling out his phone and waving goodbye to Razor and Fischl.
Albedo sat down next to Bennett once he finished. “I just wanted to check up on you. I’ve noticed your scores on your last few tests have been in the C and D range. Your grade in this class has also dropped significantly. I want to make sure that everything is going okay with you.”
Bennett looked away, trying to process the statement. “I-I dunno…”
“Are there any problems at home you want to tell me about? You can be honest with me, Bennett, I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
“N-no…” He began to fidget with a bandage wrapped around one of his fingers.
“Are you having trouble studying or understanding the concepts?”
The kid thought for a bit. “Yeah, actually. Whenever I try to study, I just... can’t. Like I want to but my brain won’t let me. Or even if I do start on my homework, I have trouble staying focused.” Bennett took a breath. “I’ve tried almost everything, but nothing really works.”
So that was the problem. Albedo thought for a second, trying to choose his words carefully. “Bennett, have you ever heard the term executive dysfunction?”
“No, not exactly.”
“Well, it’s almost exactly like you described. It’s a symptom of ADHD. I think it may be safe to assume that you have some form of ADHD, from what I’ve seen of you so far.”
“Oh… is that like, the disorder where you have trouble sitting still or whatever?” Bennett asked, looking somewhat confused.
“Well not exactly. In teenagers like you, it normally shows up in the form of things like being distracted often, disorganization, impulsivity and things like that. It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you, it’s just that your brain works a little differently than other kids. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, I guess. But… what if the other kids treat me different or you’re not always there or…” The boy’s green eyes began to well up with tears. “I- I don’t want anyone to think I’m stupid or that I’m not trying hard enough or-”
Albedo cut him off by bringing his student into a hug. Bennett cried into his shoulder, letting out the emotions he had welled up for so long. His sweater was probably covered in Bennett’s tears, snot and saliva, but he didn’t care. All that mattered right now was making sure that his student knew that he was cared about.
After several seconds– maybe a minute or longer– Albedo felt a vibration against his shoulder where Bennett’s face was buried and pulled away. “I missed it. What was that?”
“Thanks.”
The teacher smiled and ruffled his hair. “No problem, kiddo. How would you feel if we scheduled a few tutoring sessions after school sometime just so you have a set time to study. I can email your parents and set a time. You don’t even have to tell anyone if you don’t want to.”
“That would be really great! I can’t believe I never thought of that before.”
“Alright, I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for opening up to me, kid. You’re free to go, but remember that you can talk to me whenever something is bothering you, ‘kay?”
Albedo would never forget the way his student beamed with joy when he passed the next test a week later with a perfect 100.