School's been hard lately. I've never really had trouble in school, but this year, I've seemed to have fallen behind a bit compared to other kids my age.

"Mama?" I asked as I came home from school. "This work is hard."

"Hey Josie! Need help with homework?" Stephanie asked. I nodded slowly and her and I sat on the kitchen counter. I pulled the worksheet out of my bag and handed it to her.

"What are you learning?" Stephanie asked.

"Long division." I said, sighing. "I just don't get it." I said, almost about to cry. The numbers made no sense to me in my head, it was driving me crazy.

"Do you have a pencil I could borrow?" Stephanie asked calmly. She could probably sense how anxious I was getting. I slowly nodded and pulled out my pencil case, handing Stephanie a random pencil that I found on the floor in homeroom yesterday. "Here."

"Thanks, baby girl. Okay, here goes. It's fifth grade math, it can't be that hard, right?" Stephanie said.

"Are you talking to yourself or to me?" I asked. Stephanie laughed and said, "Myself. Now, let's get to work."

I nodded and sat in the chair next to Stephanie, eating a saltine cracker, which was my favorite snack at the moment.

"Mama, I don't get this!" I said, getting more frustrated by the second. Stephanie ran her hand through my hair and said, "Shhh, sweetie, it's okay. Here, let me tell you something. Division is just backwards multiplication. You know your times tables, right?"

"Yeah, a bit, but I wasn't any good at multiplication tests in school..." I said. Which was true. I've always hated math, and I always was never any good at it.

"Oh." Stephanie said. "Well, can you at least try the first problem for me? Maybe if I figure out what part you're having trouble with, I can help you, okay?" I nodded slowly then Stephanie handed me a piece of scrap paper.

"Thanks." I said. I tried my absolute best to figure the problem out, but I couldn't. For some reason, something didn't click in my brain. I should be able to do this stuff, it was grade-level math for heaven's sake.

Was there something wrong with me? Am I broken?

I sighed and tapped my pencil on the edge of the table in frustration. I didn't even want to look at the paper at this point. Stephanie sighed and was about to say something, but stopped herself at the last minute.

"What?" I said, fresh tears forming in my eyes. Stephanie sighed and said, "Josie, baby. I know this is hard but you can do this. I believe in you."

"I don't want to..." I said, crying a little bit. I looked at the paper one more time, but it just didn't make any sense in my brain. I knew that wasn't normal. What was happening to me?

"I'm sorry, Mama. I can't tonight." I said, standing up, angrily pushing in my chair, and crumbling up the worksheet and throwing it in the trash.

I started sobbing and I stormed to my bedroom and slammed the door, hearing Stephanie's footsteps follow behind me.

"Josie? Trina, baby, are you okay?" I heard Stephanie ask.

"GO AWAY!" I yelled from behind the door, still sobbing my eyes out.

Then against my wishes, I heard the door open.

"Josie?" Stephanie asked, poking in my room. "Can I please talk to you?"

"Fine." I said. Stephanie sat down on the floor next to me and said, "Why were you getting so upset downstairs?"

"I'm sorry Mama. I know it's simple division, but it just doesn't click in my brain for some reason. Is...is there something wrong with me? Am I broken or something?" I asked. Stephanie hugged me tightly and kissed my forehead.

"Josie, there's nothing wrong with you. You're not broken, you never have been and you never will be. How about this, I'll email your math teacher and tell them what happened and we'll look into getting a math tutor for you?" Stephanie asked me. I nodded slowly and gave my mama a huge hug.

"Thanks Mama."

"You're welcome Josie. Now, let's order takeout, watch a movie, and forget about math for now."

AN: Yay, just some angsty angst to make your day! Hey, that rhymed! Also, I'm so sorry for not updating in a few weeks. Between theater camp and my lack of ideas, it's just been hard to update. Hope you enjoyed and catch ya later! Love you all!