Scene Sunday #48

The sound of the front door opening slowly heralded Lulo's arrival, finally home from school. S sat in the dining room waiting to greet her, sipping at a glass of ice-cold water. He waited patiently as he heard her taking off her coat and shoes, then waved as she came into view.

"Hey, Lulo."

Lulo trudged over to where he was sitting, setting her backpack on the floor and climbing onto the seat beside him. She slumped forward, skull resting on her arms.  "...hey dad..."

S gave her a sympathetic smile. "Rough day at school?"

She didn't look up at him. "...keegan and melka were making fun of me again..." 

S tapped his glass thoughtfully before responding. "Do you want me to have another talk with your teachers?"

Lulo gave a half shrug. "...there's no point... everyone's talking about me, i know they are..."

He sighed, wishing again that he could take things into his own hands and solve his daughter's problems for her. But in this case, that was illegal and would get him into trouble. "We can try homeschooling still. There's no shame in needing a less toxic environment to learn in."

Lulo didn't respond for a few moments, then sat up and slid off her chair, picking up her backpack on one arm. "...they'd make even more fun of me when they see me outside of school, then..." She turned away, shoulders slumped. "...'m gonna go dream..."

S watched her walk away for a moment, then stood before she left the room. "Lulo, wait a moment." He caught up to her quickly, pulling her into a bear hug as she turned around. "I love you, sweetheart. And I will always love you, no matter how well you do in school, or if you need to change to another schooling system, or even if you drop out of school entirely."

Lulo held very still for a few moments, before her shoulders began to tremble and S heard her sniffle once. He rubbed her back soothingly, gently tapping his teeth to the top of her skull. "Go on and have a good dream. Make something so fantastic and beautiful that they would all be jealous if they saw it. Okay?"

Lulo turned up to face him, eyesockets glistening slightly, and the faintest of smiles tugging at her face. "...okay..."

He let go of her, and she stood up straighter, rubbing her face with one hand. Then she turned and headed down the hall towards her room. S sighed quietly, sitting back down at his water. This wasn't something that would be solved overnight, and there wasn't much he could do directly... Maybe he should consult his own parents again. There must be more they could do...