Little Differences

I wait in the hall for Jessie to come out of her last class. “Hello”, Jessie sings as she comes around the corner. “Well it’s about time”, I say to Jessie with my hands on my hip. We look at each other and fall out laughing. We head into the lunchroom and notice a crowd gathering in the center of the cafeteria. “Let’s go check it out”, Jessie says. We head towards the crowd and it’s hard to see around all the kids. I manage to peek through the crowd and notice someone on the ground, but I can’t see who. “Out of the way children”, says one of the new teachers. Jessie and I get in line to get our trays. I continue to watch the crowd as everyone begins to move on to other parts of the lunch room.

The teacher picks Alani up from the floor and I can’t believe my eyes. Today’s lunch is spaghetti and meatballs and Alani has it all over her clothes. She has tomato sauce on her light brown pants, she has noodles all over her white shirt, and pieces of meatballs stuck in her hair. She keeps her head down as the teacher escorts her out of the lunch room.

“Wow did you see that?”, Jessie asks. “Yes, I seen it alright.”, I reply. “Who could be that cruel?”, I wonder. Jessie and I finish our lunch and then head out to the playground. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually feel bad for Alani”, Jessie says. I shake my head in agreement. “Whoever did that to her needs to be sent to detention for the rest of the year”, Jessie says with a frown on her face.

Although I still feel bad for Alani, I am happy to know that Jessie feelings are softening towards her.