i am a ticking time bomb

Hi my name is Danielle Wilson and I am a ticking time bomb let's just say I have Tourette syndrome it basically makes you do things that are annoying and that most people wouldn't like such as twitching some kids at school call me twitchgirl and as you can probably imagine it hurts my feelings because it's not my fault and it's not like I can stop it from happening. I guess you could say if I didn't have Tourette syndrome life would be a whole lot easier. At school I sit alone at lunch while all the other kids chat with friends. But one day this boy comes and sits down by me I do my best to ignore him but when people chew with their mouths open it's hard not to notice them it almost seems like he's trying to annoy me. Have you ever heard of manners, yes but that doesn't mean I have to follow them, well if you haven't noticed you're not the only one here, I have noticed that how could I not notice a girl like you, am I supposed to take that as a compliment because if I am that's a weird way of saying it. Um yes it is a compliment and I don't think the way I said it was a weird way, well you're a boy of course you don't, well I never knew girls needed people to say everything perfect, let's just drop it, well first I gotta know you're name, it's Danielle, Danielle Wilson what's yours, Ross Redman, well Ross nice to meet you but if you will excuse me I'm going to go pack up now, nice to meet you too Danni by the way what bus do you ride, the shortest one there is, well then I will definitely see you later, later on the bus, well hello again Danni it's so odd how we always end up in the same place, well don't get used to it, it's weird but I think I will, at home, I'm home mom, honey not now. After my dad died two years ago she's been rather depressed and she doesn't notice me much anymore that is unless I speak out loud, in my room, when I get home from school I do my homework straight away and then I think about the most exciting thing that happened that day which for today would probably be meeting someone without even trying and although Ross was a little annoying I like him he seems pretty nice, in the kitchen, over the years I've learned how to cook some things so when it's time for dinner I don't ask my mom I just make myself some tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich and then I go upstairs and go to bed, early morning, this morning I think I'm going to where my favorite outfit it's just basically my paint splattered shirt with a pair of blue jeans and my brand new red sneakers, in the kitchen, and then for breakfast I make myself a bowl of Greek yogurt with fruit and then I grab my backpack and head out to the bus stop, on the bus, when I get on the bus I see Ross sitting by the window and he doesn't look like he's in a good mood but I go sit down by him anyways and when he sees me his entire mood changes he's smiling and happy I guess he must really like me but that's fine because I like him. We chat about each of our lives so far and I learned that when Ross was four he was diagnosed with Reyes syndrome which causes loss of consciousness and seizures in kids, after a viral infection treated by aspirin. And when he finished I got my opportunity to talk about my type of syndrome I think we both found it funny that we both had some type of syndrome even if they weren't the same they both affected us in similar ways such as both of us had groups of kids that called us stupid nicknames just because we have a disability that's the only thing that separates us from other kids at school, at school, during third period I have advanced English this class I hate because during this class you have to stay quiet the entire time and this is when the most ticks come out because even though I'm on medication ticks will still come out so I won't go into detail about all of it but it's definitely a struggle in that class but seventh period is my favorite time of day because I get to chat with Ross at lunch and after on the bus ride home but this time he told me to meet him in the cafeteria during fifth period that he had a little surprise for me I wasn't exactly sure what he meant but he had a strange smile on his face when I got off the bus so I don't think it's anything bad but it certainly makes me wonder what it is, all night I've been trying to figure out what the surprise is going to be but I trust Ross enough to know that it's not going to be anything bad because I don't think Ross would ever do anything bad to me, during fifth period, I'm really nervous and excited at the same time because I don't know what it is and I want to find out. When I get to the cafeteria I see Ross standing there looking nervous with nothing, and I thought I was the one who was nervous, well Danni all boys are nervous around girls when their about to do something that their not sure how the girl will react to, well whatever it is don't be nervous about it just do it and I promise I won't react badly to it, okay, and then he leaned over and kissed me on the lips, now normally you would think I would freak out but it's Ross and I trust him, well what did you think how did it feel, to be honest with you it felt amazing, good that's how I had hoped it would feel, and guess what, what, before I met you I never talked to anyone outside my family, and now that I've met you you've made me feel comfortable about doing things that I don't normally do, well I'm glad that I could help you feel more comfortable, by the way you know how the winter ball is coming up, yeah why, well I just wanted to ask you if you might want to go with me, well I'd be honored, okay Wednesday I'll pick you up at eight, okay I'll see you then, okay see you later, at the winter ball, well shall we dance, okay, so there we were under the disco ball dancing I was happy and laughing and Ross was so handsome and then we kissed what more can I say we were happy we were boyfriend and girlfriend but don't think that's the end because that's just the beginning during spring break me and Ross hung out all the time we even threw a party when my mom was out of town, sorry mom, and during summer vacation we went to Florida and visited Disney world and we went to Clearwater aquarium and swam with dolphins and sharks which was terrifying but fun but my favorite part was when we went parasailing that was a face your fears moment to remember but yeah life went on and so did we but one last thing high school take it slow because it's tough and don't be afraid to make friends because it's as simple as someone annoying you at lunch to make a friend but don't listen to kids that put you down because you're different because you're not different you're special and no one in the world is the same as you.