Gummy bear

Chapter 4: Gummy Bear

I stare in horror. On my locker, it said, "RED HEAD" I opened my locker, despite the crowd staring at me. Inside were mean notes. All of a sudden, everything clicks into place. When Amanda looked at me, she was copying down my locker number and combination. She was the one who wrote all this stuff. I suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn. It was Sophie. I stare into her beautiful, brown eyes. I start crying. 

She pushed me through the crowd and onto a chair. I cry. I weep. I sob. She waits until I finish, fumbles through her book bag, and opens a bag of tissues. I have never been so happy to see a bag of tissues before. She pulls them out until all that is left is a pile of tissues and a small, plastic bag. Then, she uses her hands to grab a big pile of them, and softly dab them on my eyes. I close my eyes, and all I can feel is the comfort of Sophie, and the soft, wet tissue. 

 "Take your time," Sophie whispers, her voice comforting."We can be late to class." 

"NO. We can't. I whisper back, trying to get out of her grasp. Surprisingly, she doesn't try to hold me back, but she follows me. I try to take as long as possible, so my tears would dry, and my eyes won't be as red. 

I step into Mr.Oscars, classroom, with my head down. I take a peek at Amanda Verlice's reaction. She does nothing. She just smirks and turns away. I plan to let her confess after class. I sit down in the second row, trying not to be noticed. I sigh. I TRY to pay attention to class, but I can't. I know I can't keep going like this, but bad luck just follows me. Wherever I go. Whenever I go. I watch as people take out their fresh, new notebooks. I take out my old, VERY thick, and kind of ripped notebook. I had this since I started taking notes in second grade, and it is VERY VERY thick. It's those notebooks where you can put papers into it, and the rings are ginormous, so I like it. Some people think it's weird, but I just think that you don't need to have fancy notebooks. You just need to be plain. You just need to do well. And you don't need fancy stuff todo well. 

 After class, I rush to find Amanda Verlice to let her confess what she did to me. I see her with the popular girls. They are all wearing high heels, and they all have their heads up high. Oh. Also one more thing. They're ALL snobby. I watch them flutter and flirt. I suddenly feel a bit queasy. I KNOW what to do. 

I ran to the office. On the way, some teachers block me, but I keep on running. When I get there, I take a deep breath. Even though Mrs. Betty changed schools, she's still the same! Sneakers, long, curly red hair, and a t-shirt. She's just always so refreshing. I peek into the door. When she sees me, she squeals, and run towards me, with her arms open wide. Now THIS is the excitement I could get used to. She hugged me, and I could smell the rosey, perfumey smell that she carried anywhere, and everywhere. I LOVE that smell. It's almost as good as the "Mom smell". I think about the things that happened in the last two days. I close my eyes SHUT. I try to hold back the tears. When Mrs. Betty finally lets go of me, her face turns into a frown.

"Is there something wrong? Is it about Amanda again?" She asked, worriedly. I nod and then shake my head. I don't know what to say. It's partly Amanda, partly Amelia, and partly Sophie. But I can't blame Sophie. All she did was to help me, and I let HER down. Mrs. Betty sits down. She motions me to a chair too. She looks around to see if there is anyone around us. I sigh and sit down.

"Am I going to be late for class?" I ask. Mrs. Betty takes out an absent slip and smiles.

"You are safe with me, Brienne." Mrs. Betty chuckles. Then, her face became serious. 

"Let's talk. I know high school can be hard, especially the first few days. But I promise. I promise that it will become better." Then, she gulps. "You know, I moved here just to ... just to be with you, Brienne." She shakes her head. I stare at her, astonished.

"You mean, you came here just to be with me?" I asked, with my mouth wide open.

"Yes, my dear. You know that I love you. Right?" She said, in a soft and heartwarming voice. I nod. Mrs. Betty has always been my favorite grown-up, next to my mom. She's just so supportive and kind. I feel like I can tell her everything. 

"So what's wrong?" Mrs. Betty asks me. I shake my head. And one word at a time, the whole story pours out from Sophie to Amelia and Amanda. I left out the part about thinking that Amanda vandalized my locker, but Mrs. Betty still seemed worried. She sighs and puts her hand on my hand. Then, she closes her eyes, and mumbles, 

"Oh, that Amanda." When she opened her eyes, she was crying. Not how babies cry howling, but a kind of soft cry that grown-ups usually have. She shakes her head. Then, her hand reaches into the gummy bear jar. At first, I thought the gummy bear was for herself. But then, I remembered that Mrs. Betty is on a diet. Then, I realized that the gummy bear was for ME. Mrs. Betty knows that my favorite candy is gummy bears. She knows that my favorite color is pink. And she knows that right now, gummy bears are probably what I want the most. 

 "Brienne, THIS gummy bear will change your life. It will make you feel better, but also really better. Because now, I think this is the only solution." Mrs. Betty said. 

 "What do you mean?" I ask. 

 "Brienne. THIS gummy bear is MAGICAL. This will make you look better, and feel better, and best of all, this gummy bear will make your parents and friends forget your old self, and think the new version of you was always the normal version. But your teacher WILL remember your good grades, and your brain will stay the same" Mrs. Betty replied. 

"What?" I asked, ASTONISHED. 

"I know, Brienne. I have never used this on anyone. But I think you would need the help right now. So would you take the risk?" I DO trust Mrs. Betty, but I DON'T trust the gummy bear. But I DO need to change right now. I have no friends, my reputation is ruined, and who wouldn't want to become prettier? 

 "Umm, Okay," I say. "But will you forget my old self?" Mrs. Betty sighs. 

Then, she said, "I may forget, but I am sure that I will love your new self too. Just remember. Just be you." Then, she gave me the gummy bear. It was big and was wrapped in plastic. I slowly opened it and popped it into my mouth SLOWLY.