Tall Tanyah by Vyvyaan Akujobi
One very bright, sunny Monday, it was time for Tanyah to go back to school. She missed summer already and she really didn’t want to go to school. Today, she was officially going to middle school, the 6th grade. Tanyah got out of bed, got ready, ate her breakfast, and made her lunch for school. Her parents came down the stairs, excitedly saying, “Who’s excited for their first day of 6th grade?!?!” Tanyah replied: “Not me.” Dad asked, “Aww honey, why not?” Tanyah was very nervous and she said, “I’m really nervous about what people are going to think and say about me.” “Oh, don’t worry about that,” said Dad. “Just enjoy school and be kind and people will come around.” Tanyah arrives at school. She gets out of the car and waves bye and blows a kiss at her parents. Even though her parents told her not to worry, the fear of not having friends and what people will think or say about her, kicks in. She suddenly faints. A few people surround her, wondering if she’s OK. Everyone’s worried and confused about what happened. Tanyah finally wakes up and sees that it’s blurry. She rubs her eyes and wonders why everyone is around her. One boy asks, “Hey are you OK?” Another asks, “What happened to you?” Tanyah replies, “Yea, I think I’m fine. And I think I fainted because it’s my first day of 6th grade.” Person #1 says, “Oh oh, well, let me help you up . . . WOAHHHH OMG!” Everybody around is so shocked at how tall she is. People are scared of her, some even run off. Most people are mesmerized by how tall she is. Tanyah cries, “Why is everyone leaving me? Are they scared of me? Oh no, no one likes me, I knew this was going to happen.” Some kids started to introduce themselves because they felt bad 251
