My Life with Tics: My Two Hour Schedule

It’s the fourth week of school, and I’m already staying at home for the majority of each day. How on earth am I already missing this much school? Why does my Tourettes act up so much the second I go to my third class?

Every time I leave school because of my tics, I can’t help thinking of all the people at my high school. They have problems too. A lot of them probably have worse problems than mine: Legs that can’t carry them, brains that give them havoc, muscles that hardly work. These young men and women have much bigger problems than making a couple of noises in class. And yet, they don’t give up. They stay in school the whole day. They don’t wimp out like me.

If only I could be as strong as them. But I just feel uncomfortable in my own skin. If I screech, I’ll make my classmates lose their train of thought. They won’t think I’m a freak because they’re my friends. But they’ll still notice. Plus, how am I supposed to read a darn thing if I can’t keep my eyes open for five whole seconds?

Home. Home is peaceful. Home is soundproof. Home is relaxing. There’s no papers to write, or notes to take. Home is tic-less.

I have to go home.

I go to the nurse’s office. She asks me if I want to lay down. I say “yes.” But I know I’ll end up going home.

Home is my paradise.

So I’ll go to two classes a day, which I get to choose. Then I’ll come home, to paradise.