I hate school.

Fifth grade was in full-swing now, and everyone in my grade was getting accustomed to middle school and the new building. Everyone pretty much made at least one close friend at school, and everyone knew where they were sitting for lunch. Sure, I had Angeline, but I was the outcast of my school.

And every day at school, I was worried that I would get kidnapped walking home. Or that Samantha would find me again. Luckily, I've made it home safe and sound so far, but deep down in myself, I had a feeling that it wouldn't be that way for long.

Also, benchmark testing is coming up. And that's a perfect way to get singled out in front of my entire class about how dumb I am. I know I'm not the brightest bulb in the box. But this wasn't the first of my worries.

Being away from my mama, from home, for six hours a day was.

I was drumming a pencil on my thighs in the middle of social studies, barely listening to the teacher drone on about the Revolutionary War or whatever the lesson was about today.

I sighed and put my head on my desk. I was staring to get a headache and didn't really want to ask the teacher if I could go to the nurse.

"Miss Block?" I heard the teacher say, snapping me back to reality. I sat up and realized all eyes were on me. My headache was getting worse from all the bright lights in the classroom.

I was about to get a migraine.

I blinked for a few seconds, looking my teacher straight in the eyes. She blinked too and then said, "Miss Block? Please pay attention, we're having a test on this on Friday."

I didn't want to pay attention. My head hurt so much by this point that I couldn't even focus on anything.

"Can I go to the bathroom, ma'am?" I asked. I had made the mistake of leaving my water bottle in my locker on the way here, and this was a perfect excuse to call Stephanie and ask her to pick me up. The teacher sighed and said, "Be quick."

I got up and went to my locker, grabbing my phone, my medicine, and my water bottle and heading to the bathroom. I sat down on the toilet, my head pulsing in pain. I grabbed my phone and dialed Stephanie's number, waiting for her to pick up.

No answer.

I sighed and tried one more time. After two more tries with no answer, I settled on texting her.

Hey Mama, I have a really bad headache and I think it's turning into a migraine, do you mind coming and picking me up? Love you.

I put my phone down cause the light was making my head hurt more, and settled for heading back to the classroom.

______

"Josephine. This is the third time I've had to ask. Please sit up and pay attention."

I was getting more and more annoyed by the minute, and I got the feeling that I was about to explode at this teacher.

I snapped to attention and tried to focus on the lesson. But I was in too much pain to do so. I couldn't do anything besides put my head back down.

"Josephine Block. Office. Now."

I hate getting in trouble, so I started to cry. I couldn't handle this any longer, I didn't want to go to the office.

I needed to go home.

Instead of doing anything, I ran down the hall.

"Josephine!"

________

"So. I think we all know why we're here." my school principal said. The principal, my social studies teacher, Brandon, and I were sitting at a table. The reason Brandon was there was because no one could get ahold of Stephanie.

"Yeah, and your reasoning is ridiculous. Josie has a chronic migraine disorder and she got a headache, that's what happened. She wasn't intentionally not paying attention, she was just in pain." Brandon said.

I kept crying into my knees, wanting to tell everyone the real reason I was acting up. If it wasn't for the homesickness, I could've found a way to fight through the headache for a few more hours. But I couldn't.

As the adults were talking, I realized it was clear that it was more than the headache that was bothering me.

"I WANT MAMA!" I wailed, running out of the office and locking myself in a janitor's closet.

AN: Slight cliffhanger and major angst for the Josie child today. I'm sorry to the readers. Hope you enjoyed and catch ya later! Love you all!