Daniel Artz:

Lyle and I blinked at this bloke.

�Uh� can we help you?� I asked. The bloke kept staring at us. An uneasy feeling came over me. I leaned in close to Lyle.

�What�s wrong with him?� I whispered.

�I don�t know,� he whispered back. We looked at this guy again. A twisted smile came onto his face.

�Are you Ms. Gain�s kids?� he asked.

�Uh� yeah�� Lyle said. �Why?� There was a long pause. He laughed at us. The bloke clapped his hands as well.

�You�re Ms. Gain�s kids?� he asked again.

�Yes�� I said. The bloke calmed down.

�I am so glad to meet you!� he said. Lyle and I continued to stare at him.

�What�s with this weirdo?� I asked my brother.

�You got me there,� he whispered back. Lyle turned to the older bloke in front of us.

�Why is that?� he asked. �How do you know Kat?�

�Ms. Gains is my professor,� the bloke said. There was something in the way he said that made me think of Forrest Gump. A German version of Forrest Gump at that. We stared at the crazy man after he said that. Okay, now we�re not trying to rude little pricks.

�Really now?� I asked.

�Uh-huh!� he said with a slow wit nod. �She�s really smart!�

�Yes, she is,� I said.

�And nice,� the bloke said.

�Thank you,� Lyle said.

�And pretty,� the bloke said. �Really pretty.� Lyle and my face dropped. Okay, this just got creepy. The fact that he�s German and smiling makes it worse. (Okay, that�s stereotyping, I know. But still�) I leaned over to my brother.

�He�s creepy!� I whispered.

�Be nice,� he whispered to me. But I could tell by his tone that he was thinking the same thing I was. We both wanted to run, but where to?

�Leave �em alone, Dan!� someone shouted at us. We looked up and saw a group of college students staring at us. A few blokes at a table looked like footballers. One of them threw his chips at the crazy bloke at our table.

�Stupid wit!� another footballer yelled. Dan turned to them, frowning.

�I wasn�t doing anything!� he cried.

�They don�t want you there, you freak!� another footballer yelled.

�Yeah, they don�t want you there!� a third one said.

�You freak!� the footballer yelled.

�Freak!�

�I didn�t do anything!� Dan cried again. He broke down into tears. The footballers began laughing. I looked at them and Dan in slight discomfort now. He was weird and creepy, but he didn�t deserve any of this! Lyle and I took our dinner and quietly slipped away.

We didn�t talk until we made it to Kat�s office. She looked up from her paperwork at us.

�Oh hi kids,� she said. �How was dinner?�

�Great,� Lyle lied. �Don�t you need any help?�

�Not really,� Kat replied. �You can just start on your homework.� We nodded in silence.

�Yeah, yeah,� my brother replied. We sat down at a small table near the corner and got to work. The silence began to kill me after a few minutes. I bit down on my lip. I looked over and saw Lyle cutting a cold glare at me.

�Say a word and you�re dead!� he hissed at me. I nodded at him with a ghost pale face. I buried my head back to work. The clock ticking didn�t help me. I bit my lip again. I glanced up at Kat. She was still grading some papers. I gritted my teeth.

�Don�t falter, Claudia!� Lyle hissed. I nodded and held my breath.

�Is something wrong?� we heard Kat ask. We looked up at the sound of her voice. She gave us a curious look. I gritted teeth again. I could feel Lyle�s eyes on my back. Oh god, I thought. I couldn�t hold back any longer.

�Why does everyone hate that retarded kid in your class?� I blurted out. Lyle pinched me on the ankle.

�Ow,� I mumbled. Then, I heard the pen drop on the desk. I looked up and saw Kat with a sharp burn in her eyes. Uh-oh, now I�ve done it, I thought. I had never seen her look that angry before in my life.

�First of all,� Kat spoke up. �Don�t call him retarded. That word is cruel and ignorant. I raised you both better than that.�

�Sorry Kat,� I said.

�His name is Daniel Artz,� she answered me. �He has special needs, but he tries really hard in my class. In fact, come over here and look at this.� Lyle and I walked over to her desk. Kat reached into her desk and pulled out a stack of papers. She drew out Daniel�s and showed it to us. We read over the paper. Looking back, the words were misspelled, but the ideas could be called �idiot savant.� The C+ on his paper was proof of this. Lyle and I looked up at Kat.

�What is this?� Lyle asked.

�This is Daniel�s paper,� Kat replied. She pointed to the C+. �He has come a long way since he first started school,� she went out. �Daniel is still trying every day. Those students that pick on him are just ignorant.� Lyle and I said nothing as Kat sat back at her desk. She seemed to have high faith in this Dan Artz kid. Years later, I began to understand what she saw in him.