(Author's Note): Sort of an AU in which Julia from Sesame Street is a teenager and keeps a diary.

September 4th

Dear Diary,

Hi. I'm Julia. I am fourteen years old. I don't really know my last name. Big Bird gave you to me. Maybe he thinks it will help my handwriting. I don't know.

Something that you should know about me is that I am autistic. It's not a bad thing. It means my mind is just wired a bit differently. I have trouble expressing myself verbally. It feels like a lot of the time, the words are in a traffic jam from my brain to my mouth and I'm quite literally left speechless. The world is also much more expressive to me, and not always in a good way. Sounds are louder, colors are a bit more intense, but it's mostly the sounds. I don't like fire engines. They're incredibly loud and make me feel stressed.

What do I like to do? I like to paint for one. It's very therapeutic and relaxing to watch the paint cover a canvas or a piece of paper. Big Bird and Elmo tell me I'm quite good at painting. I also like to sing. It sounds nice.

I'm starting high school tomorrow and I'm feeling nervous. I'm going to be in a lot of classes with kids who aren't all autistic. I'm anxious that they're going to bully me.

But I guess we'll have to see how things go.

With love,

From Julia.