“Wow! Your really weak!” Shouts Kelly
“Wow, 5 milliseconds! My baby BROTHER could hang on longer then you!” Marshall shouts at Macie pointing and laughing
“That was pathetic! Your weaker then Vivian! And SHE is overweight and ugly!” James chimes in.
They were doing arm-hangs in gym class that day, as part of fitness testing. Macie Clinton(who is Chinese-American) has always been picked on. Ever since 1st grade. She runs out of the gym , into the girls locker room sobbing. Her best friend, Carrie-Ann runs out after her.
“Macie?” Carrie-Ann asks, entering the locker room.
“Go away!” Macie cries.
“Macie, hey, what's going on?” Carrie-Ann asks, worried.
“Carrie-Ann! You saw what happened out there! I’m going to be the laughing stock of the whole gym class for the rest of the trimester! Even WORSE, the rest of the YEAR!” Macie confides to her friend, sobbing.
Carrie-Ann puts her arm around Macie, hugging her, “Macie, you KNOW that's not true!”
Macie looks up at Carrie-Ann with tearful eyes, and says to her, “Carrie-Ann, I’m the WORST at everything! Math, Science, Gym, even CHOIR! I can't be anywhere NEAR as perfect as the 'populars'.”
-The so-called “populars” are the ones that think they run the school, and think they can make people do what they want. They pick on the weaker ones, and spread rumors, and secrets around the school. They will sit at the “weaker ones” tables, and listen to them dish out their secrets. They then report back to their friends, and then they go and share it with the rest of the school. If you want to be one of them, you have to change, and be like them. They are the “cliques” of the school.
“Macie!” Carrie-Ann exclaims, astonished (None of their[Macie and Carrie-Ann's] friends like the populars). “You KNOW that we don't want you to be like them at ALL! You are YOU! God made YOU the way YOU are! That is what makes you unique. You're not me, your not them, you're not Nicole(one of their friends), you're not anyone but YOU! Besides, the populars aren't perfect! You know that! No ONE is perfect! The only person that walked the face of the earth, that was PERFECT, was Jesus. There is NO one on the face of this earth, as of right now, that is perfect! Not even the populars! They are FAR from perfect! You know that! How 'popular' the populars are doesn't matter! It doesn't matter what they do. What matters is what YOU do and how YOU act. You have friends that love you(as a friend) and that's all that matters! We are here for you!”
“Carrie-Ann, I know that. I’m just sick of all the teasing. We are in 7th grade! I thought they would have grown up a little bit, and matured more! But, I guess not”
“Yea. You KNOW them! They are going to continue being stuck-up and snobs, for as long as we know them Just don't let them get to you. You just need to ignore them. Just hold your head up high. Don't respond. *Embrace it for a day, and see where it gets you. Your the bigger person. You've done this before and you have gotten through this before. You can do it again! I have faith in you!” Carrie-Ann says, hugging her friend.
“Thanks! Do you think Mr. Wallinga(the PE teacher) will want me back in class? I REALLY don't want to go out there.”
“I know. Hey, I'll go and ask him, if you and I can be excused for the rest of the period(which is about 20 minutes) and then, you and I can get out of our gym clothes, and just go hang out in the office. I'll ask him if he'll give us a pass to do so.”
“Thanks Carrie-Ann! You don't have to come with me though if you don't want to.”
“I do! Your my best friend! I care about you. Don't tell anyone this, but I also, sorta want to get out of gym.” Carrie-Ann laughed, winking.
Mr. Wallinga excused the girls, and they went to the office. They talked about their next classes(For Carrie-Ann it was Math{She is in 3rd hour advanced math} and for Macie it would be boring History class. Carrie-Ann had History 1st hour). They also talked a little bit more about what happened in gym class.
When it was time to leave the office to switch classes, Macie said, “Carrie-Ann, I’m scared. What if they ask me about what happened in gym class? Or they tease me and call me a cry-baby or something?”
“Remember what I said? Embrace it for a day, and see where it gets you. You'll be OK. I'll see you in 4th hour.(They had 2nd, 4th, and 6th hour together, and then of course, lunch).”
“Alright. Thanks a lot for everything Carrie-Ann.” Macie said gratefully, hugging Carrie-Ann. Then they left, and went to their separate classes.
