Chapter 5: School is not for everyone
Neo throws himself out of bed for his first day of school! For Charles it is with mixed feelings he sees his youngest run off with his elder sisters. There is no denying that with Neo in school, there will be more time for him to devote to his company. But at the same time he has enjoyed being a dad first, and company man later. Financially this is a lift, but emotionally it's hard for him.
So when he's done the work he has to do for the day, he is idle. Cleans the house. Make a few repairs which he swears he'll never tell Candice about, then out of the blue he decides to go for a jog. He know he's not as fit as he used to be. In fact he's starting to become quite overweight. And so he gets into his old running outfit and hits the pavement.
When he gets back he gets a call from Summer, sharing the news of her career change. He's not sure that was what he meant when he suggested she'd pursue her dream job. Maybe he should be more careful with recommendations in the future?
But all such thoughts are put to the side when Neo and the girls get back home from school. Eagerly, Charles wait for Neo to stop and tell him about his first day, but the boy just stalks right past him. By the expression on his face, Charles can deduce that Neo's first school day wasn't a positive experience.
Worried, Charles follows his son to his room, asking him about this day. At first, he doesn't want to share, but then everything comes blurting out. The other kids all know each other from preschool, and the teacher asked him a question in class and he got it wrong, and everyone laughed.
"Do I have to go back?" he asks his father, who must tell him yes, he must.
"It will get better," Charles cheerfully says. "Do your homework, make an effort to get to know the others and things will be better." Neo wants to trust his dad, his best friend, his hero, but for the first time in his life he feels dad might be too optimistic. But he gives his dad a hug and tells him thanks because he doesn't want to disappoint him.
Do you think it will be okay? he asks Uni afterwards. "What if dad's wrong?" It's words he never thought he'd say.
That night, after mum gets home, she can sense the tension around the dinner table. She can't put her finger on it, but knows something is off, so once the table is cleared and the dishwasher running, she does something she hasn't done in a very long time. She sits down and reads to all of her children. For Willow, and even Sandy, being read to like this is something they'd grown out of long ago, but they too can sense something off with their baby brother and so they indulge their mother, and have to admit it's a bit cozy to be read to like this.
But for the most part, Willow is feeling the changes of growing up. She's less interested in playing and more in hanging out, watching TV and reading. She has started to really enjoy being in the garden, and when she watches TV, the kids channel no longer makes her laugh the way it used to. Now she and her sister watch the comedy channel instead, though Sandy would probably enjoy the kids channel just as much as before, just as she enjoys playing more than Willow does now too. She's begged her parents for a chessboard, and she does enjoy that, both with her father and Olivia, who she is spending a lot of time with, while her sister throws herself around the monkey bars with Hannah more often than not.
Sometimes she just finds herself quietly reflecting on life, and pondering what she wants to do with it.
For Candice, watching her kids grow up like this makes her throw herself deeper into her career, and as a reward, the promotion she's been waiting arrives. Regional Manager. Now that is, finally, a respectable position! Now she can relax a bit - a bit - before the next one. Fact is between Charles company and her job they're doing quite well, and neither one of them have thoughts of lost keys or royal envoys any longer. As far as they've heard the envoy had a child and is living in another part of town.
But for Neo, things aren't getting better. Day after day, he find school overwhelming. Too much noise, too much information, too many people and too many unwritten rules he cannot understand. He tries to make friends, but gets bullied. He tries to do well on test, but cannot help but to try and cheat. Which of course goes horribly wrong, and to top it off he feels guilty as sin. Talking to dad isn't helping and so he starts acting out. Screaming at his dad, crying out in bed, and when dad really tries to talk to him he cheers him to death and all he wants to do is hide somewhere. Was dad always this annoying? He feels guilty at being angry at him all the time, and more than anything just want him to hug him, but he can't say it or act it, and so he locks the door to his room, spends all his time drawing and talks to the only friend he feels he has, his Uni.
"Why am I always so mean to dad? And why can't he just get it? I hate school! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it!"
Charles doesn't know what to do. He gets on fine with the girls, but he cannot understand what he is doing wrong with Neo. He's hurt, and while he knows he can't let that get in the way, he doesn't know how to change things. It's frustrating. At least at the gym, which he has frequented for the first time in his life, he can get some of the frustration off. Even if he sometimes fall flat on his face. At least that is a kind of hurt he can understand. His son, he doesn't seem to understand at all, and all he can do is keep trying.
So when he's done the work he has to do for the day, he is idle. Cleans the house. Make a few repairs which he swears he'll never tell Candice about, then out of the blue he decides to go for a jog. He know he's not as fit as he used to be. In fact he's starting to become quite overweight. And so he gets into his old running outfit and hits the pavement.
When he gets back he gets a call from Summer, sharing the news of her career change. He's not sure that was what he meant when he suggested she'd pursue her dream job. Maybe he should be more careful with recommendations in the future?
But all such thoughts are put to the side when Neo and the girls get back home from school. Eagerly, Charles wait for Neo to stop and tell him about his first day, but the boy just stalks right past him. By the expression on his face, Charles can deduce that Neo's first school day wasn't a positive experience.
Worried, Charles follows his son to his room, asking him about this day. At first, he doesn't want to share, but then everything comes blurting out. The other kids all know each other from preschool, and the teacher asked him a question in class and he got it wrong, and everyone laughed.
"Do I have to go back?" he asks his father, who must tell him yes, he must.
"It will get better," Charles cheerfully says. "Do your homework, make an effort to get to know the others and things will be better." Neo wants to trust his dad, his best friend, his hero, but for the first time in his life he feels dad might be too optimistic. But he gives his dad a hug and tells him thanks because he doesn't want to disappoint him.
Do you think it will be okay? he asks Uni afterwards. "What if dad's wrong?" It's words he never thought he'd say.
That night, after mum gets home, she can sense the tension around the dinner table. She can't put her finger on it, but knows something is off, so once the table is cleared and the dishwasher running, she does something she hasn't done in a very long time. She sits down and reads to all of her children. For Willow, and even Sandy, being read to like this is something they'd grown out of long ago, but they too can sense something off with their baby brother and so they indulge their mother, and have to admit it's a bit cozy to be read to like this.
But for the most part, Willow is feeling the changes of growing up. She's less interested in playing and more in hanging out, watching TV and reading. She has started to really enjoy being in the garden, and when she watches TV, the kids channel no longer makes her laugh the way it used to. Now she and her sister watch the comedy channel instead, though Sandy would probably enjoy the kids channel just as much as before, just as she enjoys playing more than Willow does now too. She's begged her parents for a chessboard, and she does enjoy that, both with her father and Olivia, who she is spending a lot of time with, while her sister throws herself around the monkey bars with Hannah more often than not.
Sometimes she just finds herself quietly reflecting on life, and pondering what she wants to do with it.
For Candice, watching her kids grow up like this makes her throw herself deeper into her career, and as a reward, the promotion she's been waiting arrives. Regional Manager. Now that is, finally, a respectable position! Now she can relax a bit - a bit - before the next one. Fact is between Charles company and her job they're doing quite well, and neither one of them have thoughts of lost keys or royal envoys any longer. As far as they've heard the envoy had a child and is living in another part of town.
But for Neo, things aren't getting better. Day after day, he find school overwhelming. Too much noise, too much information, too many people and too many unwritten rules he cannot understand. He tries to make friends, but gets bullied. He tries to do well on test, but cannot help but to try and cheat. Which of course goes horribly wrong, and to top it off he feels guilty as sin. Talking to dad isn't helping and so he starts acting out. Screaming at his dad, crying out in bed, and when dad really tries to talk to him he cheers him to death and all he wants to do is hide somewhere. Was dad always this annoying? He feels guilty at being angry at him all the time, and more than anything just want him to hug him, but he can't say it or act it, and so he locks the door to his room, spends all his time drawing and talks to the only friend he feels he has, his Uni.
"Why am I always so mean to dad? And why can't he just get it? I hate school! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it!"
Charles doesn't know what to do. He gets on fine with the girls, but he cannot understand what he is doing wrong with Neo. He's hurt, and while he knows he can't let that get in the way, he doesn't know how to change things. It's frustrating. At least at the gym, which he has frequented for the first time in his life, he can get some of the frustration off. Even if he sometimes fall flat on his face. At least that is a kind of hurt he can understand. His son, he doesn't seem to understand at all, and all he can do is keep trying.
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