Little Differences

“I have some really good news”, Jaxson tells us as we’re walking around the playground together. “What’s the good news?”, Cali asks. “After what happened to us the other day, I had a talk with my mom”, Jaxson says. Did I mention that Jaxson’s mom is our principal, Mrs. Russel? Well, she is, and she does not play but she’s always nice to us children. She is like a mother away from home for most of us.

“Okay, what did you talk to Principal Russel about”, Jessie asks. “I talked to her about bullying. I told her how many of my friends have been bullied and how we had decided to do our writing project on bullying”. Everyone looks around at each other, wondering where Jaxson is taking this conversation.

“I told my mom about the book, “Little Differences”, that we have been reading and using to do our research. I thought it would be a good idea if we could get the author of the book to come talk to everyone about her book and bullying”, he says. We all begin to reveal excitement in our faces.

“That will be so great”, Advik says. “When is she coming”, he asks. “She’ll be here right after recess”, Jaxson says. “You mean we get to skip math class”, I say. “Yes” “Awesome, I can’t wait”, I say.

The bell rings and we head to math class. As we’re sitting there, Principal Russel comes over the intercom and gives our teachers instructions to line us up and bring us into the auditorium. “Yay! I’m so excited”, Jessie shrieks. “We’re meeting a children’s book author in person”, I can hardly believe it.

Brittanie Ganai Thompson. That’s her name. She begins talking to us and sharing her inspiration for writing her book. She ends with, “Bullying hurts. Standing up to be a friend can take away the sting of bullying”. Before she ends the program, she gives us a chance to ask her some questions. Then she hands out cool bookmarks and pens with her name and book name on them. We thank Ms. Brittanie for coming and then we head back to our classes.

After school, Jessie and I are walking home. Alani said that she had to stay after school to work on some sort of project. “You owe me ice cream”, Jessie says stopping in the middle of the street. “What’s the occasion”, I ask, completely forgetting the promise I had made to her weeks earlier. “You promised that if I helped you find Alani, you would buy me an ice cream cone with my favorite flavor”, she says. “You’re right, I did.”, I say. “I’ll get my parents to take us”, I say. “Well, what are you waiting for?”, Jessie says racing me up to the front door.

These last few weeks have been interesting but totally worth it. I smile at the thought of how many new friends I’ve gained over the last few weeks and how I was able to keep my best friend as well.