Valiente

The Zoology Bee

The next afternoon, it was time for the big Zoology Bee. Twenty contestants, including Margarita, were ready.

"Good afternoon, and welcome to our 20th annual Zoology Bee!" Principal Winston announced. "This year's contestants are prepared to participate, and we're prepared to see them in action."

"Okay, contestants, pick a number and sit at the chair with your number on it," Professor Johnson said.

Stephanie was horrified. If the contestants were picking random numbers, then Margarita wouldn't sit at the chair covered with honey. When the contestants picked their numbers, they sat in their chairs with the same number—and to Stephanie's horror, Margarita was in chair #1.

"Okay, good luck, boys and girls," Principal Winston smiled. "Margarita Flores, you're first. What does the word 'animal' mean?"

"It comes from the Latin language, meaning 'breathe' or 'soul'," Margarita answered. "Animals would be mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, frogs, clams, lobsters, insects, arachnids, jellyfish, etc."

"That is correct," Principal Winston smiled.

Stephanie couldn't believe it. Margarita was making progress. About an hour went by, and three quarters of the contestants had been eliminated. Margarita was making a lot of progress, and Stephanie was bored out of her mind. After 20 more minutes, Principal Winston said, "I'm sorry. That's incorrect."

Now there were two contestants left: Margarita and Bruce Morton.

"Okay, Bruce, who discovered the theory of evolution by natural selection?" Principal Winston asked.

"It was discovered by Christopher Colombus when he discovered America?" Bruce guessed.

"I'm sorry—that's incorrect," Principal Winston apologized.

"Good try, Bruce," Margarita whispered.

"Thanks," Bruce smiled. But when he got up, he heard a small rip. "What was that?"

"It looked like there was something sticky on the chair," Margarita said.

Principal Winston came over to take a look. "Funny," he said. "These chairs were perfectly clean when we set them up yesterday."

"Gosh, if I had known there was going to be a random drawing, I would've done something else to humiliate Margarita," Stephanie muttered. But she said that loud enough for her mother, stepfather, and grandfather to hear.

"What was that, Stephanie Courtney Thomas?" Nancy asked angrily.

Stephanie realized she was in trouble now. Nancy took her to see Bruce, and they all left the gym, so they could talk about this. Now Margarita was the last contestant.

"Now Margarita gets a chance," Principal Winston said. "If you answer this correctly, you're the winner. Who discovered the theory of evolution by natural selection?"

"The theory of evolution by natural selection was discovered by Charles Darwin," Margarita answered. "He also discovered four different species of giant ground sloth, which are some of the largest land mammals ever to have lived."

"That's correct!" Principal Winston whooped.

Margarita was the winner of the Zoology Bee. As she was given a medal, everyone cheered loudly. Soon the audience left, and Margarita met up with Bruce, who wasn't very happy with Stephanie.

"Margarita, talk some sense into your stepsister—she's out of her mind," Bruce said. "Congratulations by the way."

"Gracias, Bruce," Margarita said awkwardly. She went over to her stepmother and sister.

"Ah, Margarita, congratulations," Nancy smiled.

"Thanks, Nancy," Margarita smiled back.

That was enough to make Stephanie snap. "Are we just about done?" she screeched.

"Stephanie Courtney Thomas," Nancy frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean—and what did you do to make Bruce so upset?" Margarita frowned.

"Apparently, Stephanie put honey on one of the contestant chairs," Nancy said.

"If I had known you'd get a random number, I'd have done something else to embarrass you," Stephanie frowned. "I'm sick of hearing about what a great zoologist you are and how excited everyone is to hear you sing tomorrow."

"Stephanie, it's my way of honoring my mother," Margarita frowned. "She died in her sleep from an epileptic seizure when I was five."

"Well, my dad died from liver cancer when I was 12," Stephanie argued. "You're not the only kid in the world who lost a parent."

"Maybe not, but did you even find your father dead?" Margarita asked.

That question pierced through Stephanie like a knife through a truck tire. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm the one who found my mother dead in the first place," Margarita teared up. "It was the most traumatic day of my life. The night before, Mamá was alive and healthy—and the next morning, she was dead because she suffered a seizure in her sleep. I went to bed that night, not even knowing that in the future I'd be scarred for the rest of my life. That's why I sing Valiente all the time, to remind myself to be strong and brave. I may look like I'm happy, but deep down inside, I'm grieving and traumatized because I found my mother dead—and I was only five. For the past decade, I've been haunted by that one morning. You know, having a stepmother is fine, but it doesn't erase the trauma I've suffered from since I was a kid. Did you ever think of that?"

"No, I haven't," Stephanie sighed. She never really thought about the trauma Margarita had suffered from because she didn't find her father dead.

Meanwhile Jenny had seen the whole thing. She thought it was pathetic of Stephanie to feel the way she was now, and she didn't want Margarita to upstage her. She felt like there was only one thing to do.

That night, Margarita was listening to her music box, and she was singing some of the words. Jesus was by the door, and he was dismayed at Stephanie's outburst. Margarita saw her father, stepmother, and step-grandfather by her bedroom door.

"Mija, we're really sorry about Stephanie," Jacob said.

"She just has this strong desire to be popular and special," Nancy declared.

"But Stephanie is already special—she can play saxophone," Margarita declared. "Besides, it was tough for me to have to leave Mexico."

"It was tough for me, too, florecita," Jesus said. "Stephanie could just be jealous because everyone is praising you a lot for working so hard."

"She did say that she didn't like science much," Margarita said. "As much as I respect that, I could've helped her improve a little."

"That's up to Stephanie to decide, but she shouldn't decide to be rude to someone who's better than her at something she doesn't even like," Nancy said.

Stephanie heard what her mother said, and she was beginning to realize how pathetic it was of her to even so much as be jealous of Margarita, much less berate her.