Chapter 32

We pulled up to the school about five minutes later. Theoretically, we could have walked, but with the appointments after we dropped Sam off at school, and got her registered, we felt it would be easier to drive.

The three of us got out of the car, and headed in to find the office. There was a staff member standing near the front door, who greeted us as we walked in.

"Good morning," she said. "How can I help you?"

"We're here to register, um, our, daughter," I said. I mean, we're in the process of adopting her, why not call her our daughter.

"Oh! Wonderful. Welcome," she said, and looked at Samantha. "What's your name?"

"Samantha," Samantha said.

"And what grade are you in?"

"Seventh," she replied.

"Well, welcome to Appleton Middle School. The office is just through the front doors and to the left. Check in with Ms. Tracey, and she'll get you set up to meet with our principal, Mr. Jones."

"Great, thanks," I said.

We walked into the office, and I checked in with the secretary, Ms. Tracey. She told us to have a seat. I told her that we were registering Samantha and that she should contact Maple Middle School to get her records.

"The best thing about the internet," Ms. Tracey smiled. "Is that I can have those records sent here in no time."

She picked up the phone and I heard her place a call.

"Good morning, this is Ms. Tracey at Appleton Middle School. I need you to send over the records for," she looked over at us. "I'm sorry, what's the student's name?"

"Samantha Deitz," I said.

"Yes, sorry, for a Samantha Deitz in seventh grade?" she looked to us to confirm. I nodded.

"Yes. Thank you. It would seem that Samantha is transferring to Appleton, and we'll need those records today. Wonderful. Right. Appleton. Yep. Great. So quick? Perfect. Thank you."

She hung up the phone and smiled at us.

"They'll send those straight over, and I'll have you meet with Mr. Jones in just a few minutes," she said.

"Thanks," I said.

Samantha sat, looking nervous. Jenna spoke quietly to her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Joseph?" a tall black man came into the outer office. "And, Samantha?"

"That's us," I said, standing up.

"Come on in," he said, welcoming us into his office.

The three of us went into the office and sat down.

"So," Mr. Jones started. "To what do we owe the pleasure of Samantha coming to us from Maple?"

"Well, I'm not sure how much you know about Samantha, but we've been fostering her for the past week, and are actually in the process of adopting her," I said. "Because she's now living with us, we asked her if she wanted to return to her old school or come here, because it's close to our house. She chose to come here, and here we are."

"Well, it's not unusual to have mid-semester transfers for the reasons you stated. Alright, so," Mr. Jones said. "The question is, what name will you be registering Samantha under? You're in the process of adopting her, so her last name hasn't been legally changed, so, we would normally have to register her under her legal last name. However, I have also been watching the news, and I understand there's been some, um, issues that resulted in Samantha landing in your care."

"Um, we hadn't really thought about that," I said, looking at Jenna and Samantha. "Legally, she's still a ward of the state, and theoretically in foster care, but the adoption is in process. So, I don't know. What last name can we register her under?"

"It's a bit of a tricky situation, I understand," Mr. Jones said. "Samantha, we're likely going to have to register you under your original last name until your adoption comes through. Are you okay with that?"

Samantha shrugged, staring at her shoes.

"I've already gotten Samantha's records from Maple, and Samantha, it seems like you're quite the capable student," he said to her. She continued staring at her shoes.

"Samantha's a bit, shy," I said. "There are some, issues, we'll need to discuss."

"I see. Okay. Well, let's get Samantha a schedule set up and get her off to her classes. Samantha, how does that sound?"

Samantha shrugged.

"You'll find, Samantha, that Appleton Middle School is a fairly tolerant community. We expect our students to participate in class discussions. As well, so you know, you will have a guidance counsellor, who will probably meet with you sometime this week. It's typical for our counsellors to meet with new students, to get an idea as to what career paths they might be considering, so we can help assist them to prepare for high school.

The school day runs from 8:30 in the morning to 2:30 in the afternoon. We have several clubs and sports teams that run their programs after school. Samantha, are you interested in any sports?"

She shrugged.

"Samantha, you can talk to Mr. Jones, you know," I said.

"I like soccer and baseball," she said quietly.

"Great! We have a great soccer team, and an adequate baseball team," Mr. Jones said. "You can try out for both in the spring."

We talked with Samantha and the principal for a little longer and then he called Ms. Tracey in to give Samantha a tour of the school and help her find her first class.

"Sam, we'll pick you up at 2:30, okay? We'll be in the car and we'll meet you out front, okay?" I said.

Samantha clung to Jenna.

"Sweetie, it's going to be okay," Jenna said. "You'll be fine, and we'll see you at 2:30 out front. Don't forget your insulin, okay?"

"I don't want to go," she whispered to Jenna.

"I know, baby. But you need to go to school, and I promise, we will be here at the end of the day."

"Come on, Samantha," Ms. Tracey said. "I'll show you to your first class, and introduce you to your teacher. You'll be starting your day with English and your teacher is Mrs. Wilson. I think you'll like her."

Samantha reluctantly left with Ms. Tracey.

"So," Mr. Jones said to us. "You mentioned there are some issues we need to discuss? I figured it was something you'd rather discuss privately, without Samantha in the room, although they affect her?"

"Yes," Jenna said. "We've learned a lot in just a few short days, and we'll be meeting with her doctors when we're done here."

"Her doctors?"

"Samantha's diabetic," I said.

"Oh, okay. That's something we can definitely handle. Do you mind if I call our school nurse in?"

"I think that would be a good idea," I said. "There are some issues around her diabetes that we need to discuss."

Mr. Jones called into the nurse's office and asked the nurse to come into the office.

We waited a few minutes and were joined by a woman in scrubs.

"Hi there. I'm Kathleen Taylor. I'm the school nurse,"

"Nice to meet you," I said. "I'm Tyler Joseph, and this is my wife, Jenna."

"Hi. So, Mr. Jones, you called me in here, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, it seems that our new student, Samantha Deitz, soon to be Joseph, is diabetic, and her um, foster, soon to be permanent parents - this is a difficult dichotomy to explain," he smiled. "Anyway, the Josephs have indicated that there are some issues we need to discuss with regards to it."

"I see. So, how can I be of help?"

"Well," I started. "I don't know how much about Samantha's personal history is in her school records, but her mother died when she was about eight, and not long after that, she was diagnosed with diabetes. However, it would seem that her father was fairly abusive towards her for a good portion of her life."

"That's horrible," Ms. Taylor said.

"He has convinced her that as a girl, she's pretty worthless. And up until we took her in, he had her rationing her insulin so he wouldn't have to buy it so often. Despite having good insurance and a well paying job. I don't know if you know, but her dad was a lawyer."

"Ah, is he the Stanley Deitz that's been in the news lately?"

"That would be him," I frowned.

"I did hear about that and what he's been charged with," Kathleen said.

"We'll, because of the way he's treated her and having her ration her insulin and test strips, she often has a hard time dosing herself correctly for meals and snacks.  It's something we've been working on with her, but it's only been a week and I think the change in schools might throw her off again. She tries so hard, but her dad has done so much psychological damage," Jenna explained.

"We have her seeing a therapist, but she's only gone once. She's got another appointment this week," I said. "Our biggest concern here is the insulin. If she takes too little and her blood sugar goes up, she often has verbal outbursts, might try to run and depending on how high, she'll get very thirsty, possibly throw up and become minimally responsive. Same with if her blood sugar goes too low. She'll become shaky and eventually unresponsive."

"I know how to treat diabetes, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph," Kathleen said. "But the insulin issue you mentioned, I will definitely do my best to help out. I'll call Samantha to my office before lunch and help her take her insulin."

"Please be gentle with her," I said. "It's frustrating when she knows what she needs and can't turn that dial. She's trying so hard."

"She'll be fine. Thank you for letting us know," the nurse said.

We finished filling out all the registration forms with the principal and left to see Samantha's doctors.

Part of me was still worried about Samantha at school.