Ch. 8: Rose & Scouts

Rose was staring at her Brownie’s vest, dreading the upcoming meeting. Their activities were always dull, and she was not shy about expressing her dislike. One of the leaders, Ms. Mary, seemed to have a particular aversion to her. Mildred’s voice brought Rose back to the present. “ We’re going to be late, hurry up!”. With a sigh, she put on her vest and headed downstairs. Within thirty minutes, she had been driven to her troop meeting and dropped off by Mildred with a reassuring smile, “ Have fun!” she had said. Rose had tried explaining to her mom that she didn’t have fun at the meetings, but Mildred had been undeterred. “ You’ve only been going for a few months. We’re going to give it another three months. The rule with activities we commit to in the White family is we try the activity for six months.” Rose grumbled, “You only tried crocheting for one”. Mildred’s foye into crocheting had been a short-lived one. She had started strong, purchasing that. Suppose she had purchased multiple balls of yarn and was picking out the right needles. However, once the homeschooling had started, she had been so busy maintaining her part-time job that her needles had sat idly for several weeks. “ I’m going to get back to it once work calms down”. Rose was brought back to the present by a familiar voice. 

The troop meeting room exuded a cozy warmth, adorned with colorful wall posters and a large table in the center. The room was alive with the excited chatter of the Brownies and the inviting aroma of freshly baked treats. “Are you with us, Rose?” Ms. Linda’s voice was gentle, and her eyes were kind. She was her troop leader, a strict one, but not unkind. She didn’t dislike her; she just wished that Ms. Linda would leave her alone. She was always dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. She would start all the meetings with “ let’s all say something we’re grateful for, it’s hard to be in a bad mood if we start with gratitude”. Rose would always think, “ I’m grateful to be closer to the six-month mark so I don’t have to come back here”. Rose knew better than to say something like that. She would always find something to mention. Ms. Linda continued, “Today we have a new volunteer, my niece is visiting me for the summer. Everyone, say hi to Emily”. A chorus of slightly interested voices chimed back, “Hi Emily”. Rose was paying attention now. Emily had dark brown curly hair dyed dark green at the tips. She also had a nose ring. Most of the volunteers they’d had at troop meetings were other moms, not people as close to Rose’s age as Emily. Emily was now stepping forward to introduce herself. “Hi everyone, I’m glad to be with y’all today. I just got back from a study abroad trip to Germany. I made some traditional German desserts and will show y’all some pictures from my visit there. I’m also happy to answer any questions about what it’s like living in Germany. I was there for almost six months.”

The following 90 minutes passed with the scouts eating Berliners, black forest cake, and streusel while Emily showed them pictures of her travels in Germany. The photos showed her outside her German high school, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag building, and then the pictures switched to her going for long walks in the countryside. This meeting Rose enjoyed more than she had the others. She had expected it to be just as dull as the previous ones, but to her surprise, she enjoyed the stories and the food. It was a pleasant surprise, a joy she hadn’t anticipated. Before she knew it, the meeting was drawing to a close, and the other brownies were starting to get picked up by their parents. One by one, they departed until only Rose was left with Ms. Linda and Emily. Ms. Linda looked up from her cell phone. Your mom texted me and said she’s running late, there’s an accident blocking traffic on her way back. Rose sighed. She enjoyed this meeting more than the others, and it gave her hope that future meetings would not be as dull. “Did she say how far away she was?”. Ms. Linda looked back at her phone as if an exact answer would materialize if she stared at the screen more intently. “The cars are blocking both lanes, apparently, and aren’t moving. She hasn’t mentioned a tow truck or emergency services showing up, so I assume it will be quite a while”. 

Emily turned to Rose, “ Would you like to help me bake cookies for a party I’m going to later? I’ll send you home with some of the cookies”. Rose nodded, “I like baking.” Soon, flour, sugar, eggs, and butter littered the counter. Rose quickly noticed that Emily treated her as an equal. If she didn’t know where something was or how to measure something out, she would show Rose how to do it, but not do it for her. Their conversation quickly turned to scouts with Emily asking, “How do you like Girl Scouts?”. Rose tilted her head in thought before answering Emily’s question, “I’m bored a lot at meetings, and all the other girls seem to have known each other for years before I started with the troop”. Emily nodded with knowing, “Something similar happened to me when I joined the soccer team at my high school, my sophomore year. I hadn’t been able to train with them the season prior. It seemed that everyone had been playing together from middle school”. Emily, seeing an opportunity to get advice, asked, “Did it get better for you? Or did they always exclude you?” Rose had been melting the butter in the microwave and had just pressed the red stop button so the butter wouldn’t splatter in the microwave. She turned to face Rose. “It did. Still, I decided to play on a team that wasn’t associated with my high school. Rose‘s brow was furrowed. “Didn’t you have to start over there, too?” “Yes, I did. Still, it was a new program being developed, and everyone was starting from the same place and not knowing anyone. It’s also okay if you don’t want to keep doing scouts. One benefit of homeschooling is that you can try a lot during the school day that other kids can’t. What do you want to try?” An immediate answer sprang to Rose’s mind, “Art lessons are something I’d like to try. I’ve liked the badges we’ve done, which are arts and crafts.”

Emily smiled and nodded at her. “Talk to your mom and see what she says.” Just as the cookies came out of the oven, Ms. Linda called from the front door, “Your mom is here”. Rose was staring longingly at the cookies, and Emily quickly found a heat-resistant Tupperware that Rose could use to take some of the cookies home. Mildred popped her head into the kitchen. “I can wait a few minutes while they cook, so that they don’t crumble when Emily goes to pack them up”. Ms. Linda relayed the cookie conundrum to Mildred. Eventually, the cookies were cool enough to be packaged. Ms. Linda and Mildred had visited while the cookies had cooled, and they had finally left. Seeing Rose was unusually quiet on the ride home, Mildred glanced into the back seat before asking, “Everything okay?”. Rose had been staring out the window, thinking about her conversation with Emily about art classes. She looked in her mom’s direction. “ I was talking to Emily about Girl Scouts and what I might want to try after I’m done trying Scouts”. Her mom asked, “Are you still thinking that you want to stop after the six-month trial period?” Rose nodded, “Yes, I want to try art classes after scouts”. Mildred smiled, “We don’t have to wait until scouts are done, they’re starting a Sunday afternoon art class at church, it’s an intergenerational thing with the seniors group, would you like to try that?”. Rose listened closely and was pleased that Mildred took her idea seriously. “I can try it. I want to do pottery and glass art, and I don’t know if they’ll be doing those kinds of crafts in the class”. Mildred nodded in agreement. “I know they’re going to sometimes have the class at different places in the community where everyone can try different crafts”. Rose smiled, “That sounds cool, I want to try that.” Mildred and Rose were both satisfied. Rose felt that going to scouts for the next three months would be easier knowing she had art classes to look forward to. Mildred was glad Rose would give scouts more time and could be honest about her heart’s desires. They both felt peaceful and enjoyed the rest of the drive home.