School

Ty's eyes drop at Libby's question, and for the first time today, he seems to shut down. Thankfully, their order number is called, so he has an excuse to leave and come back with their food.

Once they've started eating though, Ty's had enough time to get over it. "Yeah." He takes bite of his chicken tender, dipping it again in the bbq sauce. "That's why I failed my driver's test... several times."

He shrugs lamely, his gaze remaining on his food as he tries to act as though the whole thing doesn't really matter. "I've had people try to help me before, Libby... I just don't have the smarts for it."

Pausing, he takes a sip of his drink then fools with another chicken tender bu delays a bite. "When I was a kid... in school... I didn't learn like the other kids. At first the teachers thought I was slow, so I got put in some special ed classes. I... didn't respond well to the teaching or my classmates."

Ty finally looks up at Libby. He had never told that to anyone. "Then they decided I was just being stubborn so they swapped me out again but by then I was behind the regular kids so I got put back a grade. Still couldn't read though. I got some stupid teachers who thought I was doing it on purpose 'cause I was doing alright in things like math and science - when no actual word reading was involved. So they forced me to do my work anyway with no extra help. I started failing. My adopted parents... they didn't give a flying rat's butt about why I was having a problem so I just got into trouble when I started getting F's."

Another shrug comes. He didn't know why he felt Libby deserved the story... no one else ever had, not even Katie. But maybe he was finally to the point where he really had given up. It just didn't matter anymore. "And now... I don't know... sometimes I can remember short words and sometimes I can maybe figure out parts of letters my mom sends me but not enough to really get the good stuff. Then if I don't keep trying, I just forget it all and it's like starting over from square one. If I could take my stupid driver's test orally, I'd be okay. I know all the answers, I just... don't know where they are on the page."

Shaking his head, Ty tries to concentrate on his food again. "I appreciate the offer... but I'm not convinced that any more help is really gonna do any good. I just can't do it."