NOTE: all of the names mentioned in this chapter are changed for security reasons. thanks for understanding.
I'm in chorus at my school, and there's this guy in it named Fred. He's very short, and his hair always looks messy. Anyway, we had a substitute today. Whenever we have substitutes, we watch a video and fill out a paper with questions on it. We've always complained to our chorus teacher that we hate this, and I guess today he listened. Instead of a video, the sub gave us a crossword puzzle and a packet with information on the answers. We were allowed to work with partners. So, Fred joined this group with a lot of the popular people. I was not in this group. We sit on risers, and I was at the top with my friends Hank and Sarah. The popular group was at the bottom. The kids in the group started being really mean to Fred. When he tripped, they all laughed. I told them to stop, but they didn't listen.
Later, this guy named Mike, who was in the "popular" group, asked me for the answers to the puzzle. I said no. "But you gave them the answers!" he protested, gesturing to Hank and Sarah. I explained that I gave them the answers because they were not being mean to Fred. Mike then points out that I don't like Fred either. While this may be true, this doesn't give you the right to be mean to them. Sure, Fred can be annoying, but he doesn't deserve that.
The moral of the story is this: don't be a bully. I know, people can be annoying sometimes, but you don't know what they're going through. My mom works in the library at my school, and she told me that Fred comes in there a lot. And, at the end of class, Fred left early to go to the counseling office. If you even think for a moment you're going a bit too far, stop. Stop, and really choose your next words carefully. For all you know, the person you're being mean to could be your boss. You may think that they won't remember, but they will. Trust me.
