Like a Balloon That Wants to Pop by 826nyc

Like A Balloon That Wants to Pop

Stories Written by 826NYC Students From M.S. 88

Like A Balloon That Wants to Pop

Stories Written by 826NYC Students From M.S. 88

Like A Balloon That Wants to Pop Stories Written by 826NYC Students from M.S. 88

826NYC BOOKS BROOKLYN, NY

826NYC Books 372 Fifth Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11215 Like A Balloon That Wants To Pop ÂŠ 2020 by 826NYC and the authors. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. First 826NYC edition 2020 Manufactured in the United States of Brooklyn 978-1-948644-51-8 The writing in this book was produced in 2019-20 school year at 826NYCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s In-schools Publishing Project at M.S. 88. The classes were run by Adam Blackman with the support of Ms. Stephany Weaver, Paul Masullo, Cristina Sunseri, Cliff Ginsburg, and Glenn Thomas as well as 826NYC writing mentors: James Whitely, Varsha Kalyani, and Maria del Carmen Clegg Designed by Lucy Pang Edited and proofread by Jessie Chasan-Taber, Hannah Slater, Lala Jackson, and Chad Hewitt Printed by Bookmobile This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, The Jane Friedman Anspach Family Foundation, The Hawkins Project, The Minerva Foundation, The Resnick Family Foundation, The Rona Jaffe Foundation, and The Susan Stein Shiva Foundation. The following individuals have provided donations to support our programs: Aziz Ansari, Ray and Ami Carpenter, Sarah Connolly, Amir Mokari, Tammy Oler and Ehren Gresehover, David and Lori Schnadig, Jason Sinay, Alyson Stone, Maura Tierney, Marianna Vaidman Stone and Eric Stone, and Ted Wolff and Anne Clarke-Wolff. Additional support comes from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

826NYC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages six to eighteen with their creative and expository writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Our services are structured around our belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.

Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s

Introduction

If Only I Was Older, Sohana Adams

Conflict With Me and My Sister, Leonardo Cavataio

Genders, Jasmine Cedillo

Two-Pointer, Josiah Celius

Being Myself, Cleanthe Cocoras

The Comeback, Caleb Cooper

An Idea, Sarah Dillard

The Play, Valentina Ferri

Enough, Kyla Jones

Taking the Risk, Alexandre Lesle

The Madness You Give, Rimelio Lessey

Zero To Infinity, Santiago Morales Jr.

Standing Up, Ivy Morris

Within the Woods, Aleksander Nikolov

The Rainbow Pin, Fiona Overcamp

Hope Orphanage, Lily Sentner

The Good Friend, Jackson Simon

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Call Me Ash, Lila Sinovoi

Two-Faced, Akira Sitorus

Racism, Ciara Thomas

Posters, Camille Vitse

The One Change to Save Everything, Angelina Rose Wallenstein

102

Lily’s Mom, Allyssa Wilson

104

Belief, Spencer Ahyee

106

Max, Ashley Bones

107

Maria, Genesis Brown

109

Humans and Elves, Sanaa Campbell

110

Darkness, Aiden Chan

117

How I Did It, Keyonni Franklin

119

Boom, Roasted!, Eric Hernandez

121

Respect the Animals in The World, Melanie Jimpikit

123

My First Job, Sharika Khan

124

The Year of Cringe for TikTok, Rhoc Kwawununu

126

Reunited, Nashawn McLeod

127

How Losing Your Job, Christian Mercado-Murphy

128

The Big Show, Aaliyah Montgomery

133

Separation, Nathaly Najera Collado

136

Xenophobia on the Rise, Xavier Nelson

138

No Justice, No Peace, Steven Robinson

140

Bean Girl, Jacqueline Santos

141

The Truth About Team, Md Abrar Sharar

145

What’s Wrong With Me?, Karen Sosa

152

The Hype, Lilianna Vasquez

155

Jealousy, Jenny You

156

The Town, Dala Yudeh

158

The 2v2 Fight Over Basketball, Sulaiman Cekic

159

Checkmate, Augustus Colt

161

A Child’s Transformation, Ryan Cruz

165

Unfair, Ybo Engelkes

169

The Beauty of a Handle of Steel, Mahtabul Faroque

173

Kitchen, Ashley Guzman

174

West, Shameul Haque

176

Homeless Doctor, Toby Harris

178

No Clip, Liev Hawkins

180

The Protest, Yaquelyn Hernandez

184

Office Doughnut, Wes Holdaway

187

Not Playing Games, Luis Angel Landero

190

The Action That Changed Everything, Alexander Lipatov

192

Hunting Orcs, Elio Mancinelli

194

A New World, Elijah Martinez

198

The Tiger, Henry McLean

201

It’s Not Fair, Marley Pitagorsky

204

Tryouts - Allenhurst, NJ, 1992, Sonya Ruvinsky

208

Racism, Andy Uraga

215

War and Violence Are Not Welcomed, Shrey Vertes

216

Flying Colors, Samantha Wilcox

221

Back Then, Abdiel Zelaya

224

Acknowledgements

225

About 826NYC

226

Introduction It’s been said often, these days, that the current coronavirus pandemic is like living in a dystopian novel. When grocery store speakers blare reminders to maintain “social distance” and governments mandate that we hide our faces with masks, what was once fantasy is now reality. One could argue about cause and effect, whether life imitates art or art reflects life, but one thing that’s undebatable is that the crisis lays bare the inequities in our society. Who has health insurance? Who lives paycheck to paycheck? Which workers have jobs they can perform remotely? Which students have a stable enough internet connection, or access at all, to be able to attend school online? All of this makes an unfortunate but fitting backdrop for the book in your hands. In this collection of work by sixth graders at MS 88 in South Slope, Brooklyn, the result of a six-session residency with 826NYC about Writing on Social Justice Themes, students started with a simple task. Pick the issue that made them angriest and rant. They then developed characters and stories to grapple with these issues. The goal was to launch their imaginations, and indeed, in these pages you will find stories on race set in fantasy realms. You will see elves, bullies, crooked police officers, and everyday heroes. You will see short stories, poems, scripts, even a graphic novel, on topics ranging from homophobia to racism to poverty. Most of all, though, you will see protests. Characters standing up to bullies, and systems, and injustice. And even when the protest isn’t explicit in the narrative, it is implicit in every page, in the very act of writing, boldly and colorfully, about what matters. Nobody knows exactly how this pandemic will shape our world, but I am confident that these students will be able to face the challenges. As they have done here, they will address problems with honesty, bravery, and an inspiring level of creativity.

-Adam Blackman, Teaching Artist May 2020 9

If On ly I Was O l de r Sohana Adams

“Mom?” I say. “Mmhmm . . .” “Can I go to Everleigh’s house today?” I ask, hoping she forgot that I have to babysit my little sister, Sadie. “Sure, I’ll text her mom . . .” my mom replies. “Oh, wait, you have to watch Sadie. I almost forgot!” Ugh, I was so close! “Why can’t Josh do it?” I say in an annoyed tone. “Why don’t you ask him?” she suggests. “Josh!” I holler. “What do you want?!” he yells back from his filthy room. “Can you please come to the kitchen?” I say please, thinking it’ll make him say yes. The kitchen is where most arguments happen. My mom and dad used to argue a lot. I usually argue with Josh a lot because he is literally the worst big brother. One time he stole my phone while I was on a group FaceTime with my best friends, Everleigh and Brianna, then put it in the shower! Luckily though, it didn’t get wet. “Fine . . . hold on,” he says finally. “What?” he asks while walking down the stairs towards the kitchen (while on his phone and not even looking up at me). “Can you please, pretty please with a cherry on top, babysit “Mom?” I say. “Mmhmm . . .” “Can I go to Everleigh’s house today?” I ask, hoping she forgot that I have to babysit my little sister, Sadie. “Sure, I’ll text her mom . . .” my mom replies. 10

“Oh, wait, you have to watch Sadie. I almost forgot!” Ugh, I was so close! “Why can’t Josh do it?” I say in an annoyed tone. “Why don’t you ask him?” she suggests. “Josh!” I holler. “What do you want?!” he yells back from his filthy room. “Can you please come to the kitchen?” I say please, thinking it’ll make him say yes. The kitchen is where most arguments happen. My mom and dad used to argue a lot. I usually argue with Josh a lot because he is literally the worst big brother. One time he stole my phone while I was on a group FaceTime with my best friends, Everleigh and Brianna, then put it in the shower! Luckily though, it didn’t get wet. “Fine . . . hold on,” he says finally. “What?” he asks while walking down the stairs towards the kitchen (while on his phone and not even looking up at me). “Can you please, pretty please with a cherry on top, babysit Sadie later?” I ask with extra e’s in my please’s. “Bahahaha!” he laughs at me. “You’re hilarious, Kennedy! Absolutely not. I’m going to see the new Jumanji with Bailey.” Bailey is Everleigh’s sister and Josh’s girlfriend. “Ugh.” I run up the stairs and slam my door. I feel like screaming! I sigh as I lay on my bed and grab my sea turtle stuffed animal and my diary. I know that sounds super babyish, but I don’t care right now. I start writing. “Agh,” I yawn. I didn’t even realize that I fell asleep. I hop off my loft bed and change into some black leggings, a pink shirt, and my slides, because it is 2:29 in the afternoon, and I am still in my pajamas. I spend the rest of the day relaxing and finishing up some homework until it’s 6:00 PM, and I have to watch Sadie. On top of that, Josh gets to go to the movies with Bailey! Totally unfair! “Ken-Ken!” Sadie says over and over, because she could never actually pronounce my name right. “I want mommy and Jake!” Jake is our mom’s new boyfriend. Sadie and I really like Jake—he’s pretty nice. But Josh hates him because he thinks that Jake is trying to act like our dad. “Sadie, they are at a dinner,” I say, trying to calm her down. “But I’m hungry!” she says. Honestly I have no idea what that has to do with our mom and Jake, but okay. “Do you want the rest of your mac and cheese?” I ask, praying she doesn’t say no. 11

“Um, okay.” This is going so well so far! I give her the mac and cheese, and she makes a huge mess! I guess I spoke too soon . . . by the time I am done cleaning and keeping Sadie occupied, it’s time for her shower. “Sadieee . . . guess what time it is!” I say. “Play time!” she replies, knowing that’s not what I mean. “No, it’s bath time, come on.” I say sternly so that she doesn’t try to take advantage of me like she usually does. “Okay . . .” she says surprisingly. Usually she hates taking baths, but she seems pretty fine with it right now, suspiciously. “Yay!” She splashes in the tub. Oh shoot! I forgot her towel in her room. “I’m going to get your towel, okay?” I say. “Okie dokie!” she replies. Only I come back about two minutes later, and there is water all over the floor! And on top of that, the bathroom is really big so this will take forever to clean up! “SADIE!” I yell at the top of my lungs. I knew she sounded suspicious when she said, “Okie dokie,” before I left. For a six-year-old she is way too smart. I bet that’s why she was so eager to take a bath! I can’t believe she fooled me. Now I’m super fed up so I drag her out of the tub and put her in her pajamas. Then I put her in bed and let her read Goodnight Moon all by herself because I’m super mad. Now I have to clean the bathroom, take a shower, and eat dinner because I never even got a chance to, I think as I go over my to-do list. All done. Finally I get to eat my Chipotle that my mom sent me from Uber Eats, and I achieve some Netflix and chill. Josh comes home around 8:00 PM. I can’t imagine how much trouble I would be in if I went out with friends and didn’t come back until 8:00 PM. Oh shoot! It’s Sunday and it’s 10:00 PM! I need to get to bed before my mom comes home. Luckily Josh doesn’t even realize that I’m still up so he doesn’t snitch. “Agh,” I yawn. I get ready for school and go downstairs for breakfast. “Good morning!” my mom says, kissing my cheek and putting a plate of bacon and eggs in front of me. “Thank you,” I say, as I head out the door. I’m always early to school—unlike Josh, who is in eighth grade (I’m in sixth). “No, thank you! I know you really didn’t want to watch 12

Sadie but you put up with her anyway,” my mom says to me. I smile back at her and head off to school. It’s lunchtime and I am so embarrassed because a few minutes ago a nerd named Felix spilled chocolate milk on me and my friend Brianna! Now everyone is laughing at us! This is a big deal because Brianna, Everleigh, and I are all part of the group. The group is made up of popular kids—usually kids who have or had older siblings in this school who are or were popular. My brother is in the eighth grade boys group. Oh no! This is going to be a nightmare. Josh is coming over to my table, and he is probably going to make fun of me because I am crying. Why is he sitting next to me? “Kennedy, are you okay? What’s wrong?” he asks. I gasp. I can’t believe he actually cares about his little sister being upset. “Felix spilled chocolate milk on me and Bri!” I reply, staring at Felix to make him feel bad. “But I’m fine. I’m going to change into my gym clothes.” “Okay . . .” he says. He stands up on the table and says to the people at my table, “What are you all laughing at?!” Brianna and I exchange confused and concerned looks. Then Josh gets down from the table and whispers in my ear, “If anyone bothers you, just let me know, okay?” “Okay,” I say, smiling as he walks back to his table as if nothing happened. When I get home I see Sadie in a time-out. Then my mom just smiles at me, and I tell her all about what happened at lunch today. I still can’t believe he stood up for me.

Con f lict with Me and My S ist e r Leonardo Cavataio

Favoritism is annoying, like with my sister Bella. When me and my sister get home and walk in the door, it smells like turtles because I have them. Then we drop off our stuff in our messy rooms and I walk behind her and tap her arm, and she screams, “STOP!” “But I didn’t do anything. I just tapped you.” Because I always bother her apparently, in her mind. She does that a lot so I’m used to it but it’s annoying. I try to be nice but she isn’t nice to me so I get in trouble. Then she is on her way, running as fast as she can into the kitchen (trying not to fall on the way), and she goes to my mom and tells her, “HE HIT ME!” So then I’m the one who gets in trouble for something small because I tapped her on her back, and she says I hit her, but I don’t even get time to explain. One thing is she doesn’t realize how annoying it is to always get yelled at. But who’s the one who gets the blame? Me. After that I hear from the kitchen, “Stop hitting your sister.” Then I go in my room, and my sister doesn’t tap, but hits me. I don’t know why. Then my mom sees it and she says, “Keep your hands to yourself.” Then she gets in trouble but for her that doesn’t happen a lot. It’s mostly me. But when I try to explain, my mom says, “She’s six. You’re eleven.” I walk slowly back into my room and relax on my couch with a small breeze. I just wish that things would change and she was starting to. Later on I get in trouble by her less, 14

and we are getting along more. It’s annoying how age has to matter. Everyone should be treated equally and not differently because of age. I also think that when I just tap her I see her ready to scream loud—so loud you can hear it across the room. But not all people say that it’s me. They say it’s my sister, but still my mom doesn’t realize that.

Gen der s Jasmine Cedillo

Alexandra was in school and had gym class. “Yay, we have gym class right now,” exclaimed Alexandra in a happy tone. “Why are you so happy about gym class?” asked Clementine, one of Alexandra’s friends. “Gym is one of my favorite classes because we get to play soccer, which is my favorite sport, and I know the gym smells like nasty sweat, but at least it’s the place where I can enjoy doing something I like to do,” answered Alexandra. “Class 3-323, you guys are allowed to go to either the hula hoops or soccer section,” said Alexandra’s gym teacher, Ms. Bianca. All the girls except Alexandra went to the hula hoop section. Meanwhile, Alexandra and all the boys went to the soccer section for their choice. When the boys saw Alexandra in the soccer section, they sneered at her and yelled at her, “Girls can’t play soccer ‘cause they suck and they make the team lose.” “Who said girls can’t play soccer? And anyone can make their team lose, ‘cause then we learn from our mistakes to not do them again,” Alexandra replied to the boys in an upset tone. Then the boys didn’t answer. They just ignored her and got into groups and left Alexandra out. Alexandra noticed that they left her out so she got another soccer ball and went to a corner to play by herself. Meanwhile, Alexandra was playing soccer by herself, and a boy named Xavier came up to her and asked her, “Why are you in the soccer section, shouldn’t you be in the hula hoops 16

section with all the other girls?” Alexandra replied, “No because, in case you forgot, Ms. Bianca said we get to choose where to go and in this case I chose soccer but you boys aren’t letting me play in peace ‘cause I’m a girl and you boys think negative stuff about girls.” “Well, yes, we do think that of most girls because most of the girls play more girly stuff, like hula hoops and makeup and dolls,” answered Xavier. “Well that’s not the type of girl I am and you don’t even know if there are other girls in the hula hoops section that also want to be here playing soccer, but they are not here because they know you boys are gonna judge them like you boys are judging me,” replied Alexandra. Now it looked like Alexandra and Xavier were getting into an actual discussion. Ms. Bianca noticed them and went to check on them. “Are you guys okay?” Ms. Bianca asked Alexandra and Xavier. “Yeah, just having a little talk,” replied Alexandra. “Okay, then I guess I’ll leave, but in case you guys have a problem or need help with something let me know.” “Yes, Ms. Bianca,” replied both Alexandra and Xavier. “You’re lucky I didn’t tell her that you boys were bothering me and being sexist and not letting me play soccer,” Alexandra told Xavier right after Ms. Bianca left. “Yeah, okay, whatever,” replied Xavier. Not only did Alexandra not tell on them so that they wouldn’t get in trouble, but Alexandra doesn’t consider herself a snitch. She doesn’t like to tell on people because first she likes to see if she can solve her situation on her own, and then if she can’t, she speaks up and tells an adult. Then along came a few more boys. They all sneered at Alexandra the way they had done earlier, and they told her, “Girls are weak,” “Girls suck at soccer,” and “Girls don’t belong in soccer.” All those mean sayings from the boys to Alexandra hurt her feelings. However, Alexandra just ignored them and walked off somewhere else to play by herself. After a while the boys looked over at Alexandra and noticed her skills! They saw that those skills that Alexandra had weren’t what they expected from a girl. They thought that all girls had bad skills, but they didn’t see that with Alexandra. Alexandra actually knew how to dribble and how to do good taps. The boys were shocked and impressed. “I actually regret being 17

rude to Alexandra,’’ said a boy named Noah. “Yeah,” replied the boys. Then Xavier, the same boy that came up to Alexandra before came up to her again, but this time not to be rude. “I like your soccer skills,” said Xavier to Alexandra. “Thank you,” replied Alexandra in a surprised and happy tone. “Sorry for being rude to you earlier, and not letting you play soccer with us, and being sexist,” said Xavier. “It’s okay,” replied Alexandra. And that’s why Alexandra didn’t tell on the boys—because she knew they could solve their problems on their own. Then along came the rest of the boys and they asked Alexandra, “Do you wanna play with us?” “Sure!” replied Alexandra. Then the boys and Alexandra created new teams. Along came some other girls named Vannessa, Celeste, Clementine, and Iliana, who asked them, “Can we play with you guys?” “Of course!” replied the boys and Alexandra. “See Xavier, how other girls also wanted to play soccer? Sometimes they just don’t speak up for themselves because they’re scared to be judged,” said Alexandra to Xavier. “Yeah, sorry about all that,” said a boy named Isaiah. “We promise that from now on we will treat all genders equally and welcome everyone to all types of activities,” said another boy named Jakub in a very honest and kind tone. “Thanks! We really appreciate that you boys are being kind now,” replied the girls. They all got into teams and the boys learned to not judge genders and to welcome everyone and anyone into all activities. They all lived and played happily and started to treat everyone with respect!

T wo- P oi nte r Josiah Celius

Racism. A topic I know all too much about. The fact of the matter is that it’s terrible, but you should already know that. If you didn’t know that then let me tell you a story. By the way, my name is Jaron. It was the seventh day of high school and it was almost dismissal but today I wasn’t going home. Instead, I was going to try out for the basketball team. I was on my way to the gym. When I walked in, the coach immediately spotted me (or that’s how it seemed). He asked me, “What are you doing here?” “To try out,” I tell him. He looked at me and said, “You can’t try out.” “Why?” I asked him. He responded with the ridiculous answer of, “You’re not fit enough.” I felt offended that he would bluntly call me fat in front of everyone in the gym. I also knew that wasn’t the reason. I was the only black kid in the gym and in my class. I felt like there were kids like me in the school. “Go home and don’t come back,” he told me. The next day at recess these kids came up to me. One of them was in my class. His name was Max. “I saw you at tryouts. I bet you’re the worst basketball player ever,” he said. I started to wonder why people have to act like this. Next he said, “To prove it, I’m going to play you one-on-one.” Then he got up. The coach was a chaperone for recess so I could prove to him that I was good enough to join the team. So I agreed to do it. He already had a basketball in his hand like he knew I was going to say yes. “Your ball first,” he said. “Your mistake,” I told him, trying to trash talk my way 19

into his mind. People started to crowd around us. All I heard was, “Go Max, Go Max, Go Max!” “Game three,” he said. I knew that if I beat him a lot could happen. So we started. I did a quick pump fake, and he fell for it. Then I drove to the hoop for a layup. “1-0,” I said. The people watching were now quite shocked by how I got the lead. I got the ball and drove. Then I stepped back and caught him off guard and hit a two-pointer. Everyone was shocked. Then someone started chanting, “Jaron, Jaron, Jaron!” Then everyone started to scream, “JARON, JARON!” I looked at the coach. He looked at me with that face that says I’m sorry. Later that day I was called to the gym. The coach said, “I’m sorry for not letting you join our team.” I tried not to smile. “You have a lot of skills and could be a good asset to our starting lineup.” “Thank you for this opportunity.” I left the gym, but before I did, I screamed, “YES!”

B ein g Myse l f Cleanthe Cocoras

I hate school. Well, I hate my school. The teachers are fine but the kids are really mean. Just because I’m black, most kids don’t want to be my friend. They stare, tease me, or call me names. And they never want anything to do with me. They don’t treat me with respect. As a matter of fact, most kids treat me with something far from respect. But luckily my friends, Rebeca (Beca) and Elsa, are always there for me. We have all known each other since we were really little and we have always been very close. They don’t care what other people think of me and they like me for me and only me. They treat me with respect like almost no one else. From my perspective, every day is like a new adventure. But not always a very good one. I never know what kids are going to do to me or what names they are going to call me. But, no matter what, Beca and Elsa are always at my side. First period is always the worst period. First period is also homeroom which means ten to fifteen minutes to do anything. I am always front and center, reading or studying. As more people come in, it feels like the walls are closing in. The mean kids all come together in a group and talk or gossip. They crowd around this one girl, Lilly. She, in my opinion, is the meanest out of her and all her friends. Beca, Elsa and I like to joke around and call her the “queen.” She has always been really mean to me. Her friends are like followers in a way. Most of the time, they follow Lilly around agreeing with her about anything and everything. Whatever Lilly tells them, they do. Today, Beca and Elsa crowd around my desk. Beca rolls her eyes as she looks over at Lilly and her friends. 21

Beca used to be really close to Lilly. But when Lilly started to become self-centered and mean they stopped being friends. Today mom and dad told us we are moving. I have wanted to move to a bigger house for years. But all I feel in this moment is sorrow. I feel like I am leaving my childhood behind. All my memories come flooding back: the ice cream shop where I would go to with my cousins and have ice cream fights, the big park, climbing trees and drawing the stone carvings and statues, the big loop around the park where I would be biking with my brother and stepdad, and where I used to run track. So many memories are flipping through my head like a flip book. A grin spreads across my brother Cooper’s face. He is technically my half brother but I consider him to be my brother. If you put us next to each other you would never guess we were related though. He has pale skin and dirty blond hair and I have dark brown curly hair and light brown skin. “We move in two to three weeks!” mom says in a really happy voice. “Three weeks!” I exclaim. “And you’re just telling us now!” “You have always wanted to move since you were little,” she says back. “That’s true,” Cooper says. All my emotions boil up inside me. I run upstairs, my curls bouncing. I want to be alone. Tears spill down my face. I look around my room, my perfect room. I do not want to change anything. I am curled up into a ball on my bed when I hear a knock. One second later, Cooper comes in. I do not want to talk to him. I just want to be left alone. He sits at my desk, in my chair. “Cheer up!” he says. I roll my eyes and look away. His expression turns from a smile to a sad and worried look. “What?” he says, his voice a little stern. “Just leave me alone,” I answer in a sad and upset tone. “Fine,” he answers as he leaves the room. The next day I tell my friends that I am moving. They are both happy because I will live closer to them. Today we have gym class. I love sports but I am always the target. And if I am on the same team as Lilly and her friends, they act like I am invisible and never pass the ball to me or talk to me. My coach is nice and tries to help, but even when she talks to them they never listen. After gym, I go to my locker. I am not surprised when there is a note on it. I am used to getting rude notes or once in a while, getting a punch thrown at me. 22

And no matter how many times they get in trouble, they keep coming at me. It says, “DO US ALL A FAVOR AND DIE.” As I read the note, tears come into my eyes. I have asked my mom about switching schools multiple times but she always asks me why. Then, when I tell her, she goes right to the principal and that only makes school worse because the kids who are mean to me get in trouble and then hate me even more. But no one understands. My brother has always been the center of attention in his school. My mom was popular and my stepdad was also popular. I just wish someone would know what it’s like. Once in a while I come home with a bruise or two. I try to hide it from my mother. The last time she saw a bruise she flipped. Moving day. My house is now empty. I say goodbye to my neighbors and we get into the car. Mom keeps saying that this is “a new beginning.” But it’s not. I’ve lost some of my good friends from that neighborhood. I will have to meet new people from this new neighborhood. One of Cooper’s friends lives in the neighborhood so he is really happy. As we unpack, the doorbell rings. Mom tells me to come downstairs. I am standing right next to her when she opens the door. Across from us stands a family of three. When I see who the girl is I want to scream. Now, not only is my worst nightmare at my school but she is now my neighbor. “Come on in!” my mom says. Lilly’s mom hands her the cookies and they come in. I. HATE. THIS. I follow my mom to the living room. Cooper comes downstairs. “Mom, I’m going out,” he says as he goes out the door. “We’re the Smiths.” Lilly’s mom says in a cheerful voice. “I’m Sarah, this is my husband Alex and our daughter Lilly.” They start a conversation about how Lilly and I go to school together and how we could end up being really good friends. Lilly is on her phone and I am just sitting there. They finally leave. I am the happiest person on the planet at that second. We say goodbye as we shut the door. I look at mom with an unhappy and mad face. Mom ignores it and says, “They seem very nice.” I honestly don’t know what to say to that so I run up to my room. That night as we eat dinner, my mom talks about “how the Smiths were so nice.” I want to tell her the truth but I am scared. I am scared that mom will go and tell Lilly’s parents. The last thing I want is for this to be a big deal. 23

After dinner, I walk into the living room and I see my mom. “Mom,” I ask quietly. It’s just us right now. My stepdad is working and Cooper is out with his friends. “What is it, honey?” she says. “What would you do if you were getting bullied and made fun of?” I reply. “What is this about?” she asked. I feel like I’m about to cry. “I don’t know. . .” I say in a whisper. “Well. . .” mom says back as she puts her head on her hand. “When I was not much older than you, I was also bullied. I was made fun of and once in a while, got a couple punches thrown my way,” she replied. I’m astonished. “What? But you always talked about all your friends! You were popular.” “That was later. My last two years of high school I was popular, but not before then. Before then, I was bullied.” I am on the edge of my seat. “What did you do?” My mom then said, “I did a couple of things. I first acted like I did not care. There was this girl named Talia and she used to bully me. She would spread lies about me, call me names, and once in a while, punch me. I always acted like it was a big deal but then, when I stopped acting like it was a big deal and acted like I did not care, she stopped making fun of me and bullying me as much until she finally stopped. If you act like you do not care, it makes bullying not that much fun. They will soon get bored and back off. I also realized that I should be myself. Talia and her friends made fun of me because they thought that I was different and that because I was myself, they didn’t like that. When I was just a little older than you, the ‘cool’ kids at school would always wear identical clothes and always agreed to what Talia would say. So, I asked myself if I wanted to be one of those kids who never formed their own opinions and acted like they needed a ‘leader’. And I did not want to be one of those people. I wanted to be myself and make my own opinions. So, if they make fun of you, don’t stop being the amazing person that you are.” I embrace her in a hug and whisper into her ear, “Thanks mom.” The weekend’s over. It really helped to talk to my mom. I step out of my mom’s car onto the concrete in front of my school. My stomach is filled with butterflies. I usually have 24

butterflies in my stomach. I feel brave. Nervous but brave. “Have a good day!” mom yells as she drives away. I see Elsa and we walk in together. When we get to homeroom, I take out my book. I am not surprised when I look up and Lilly is standing over me. “Hey.” she says while smirking. “Hi,” I respond, trying to sound brave. Lilly kicks me in the shin. I bite my lip to keep from shrieking from the pain. Then, I look up. Lilly is still smirking at me. “Can you please stop?” I ask in a polite tone. My goal is to annoy her. Even with my mom saying everything, I am still really nervous. She looks sort of shocked. I guess she was expecting me to get really upset like I usually do. I smile at her innocently. “You are nothing. Nothing!” she hisses in my ear. When she looks down at me again, I am still smiling. She turns a dark shade of red. Then she storms off to her friends. I feel happy but nervous. When Lily does not get her way, she tries harder to get what she wants. But, I am mostly happy. For once, it feels like I beat Lilly. At lunch as I eat, everyone around me, except Elsa and Beca, are laughing, pointing at me, or whispering to another person while staring at me. I look on my phone to see that Lily has just posted things about me. She sends a picture of me reading and under that makes really mean comments about me. Elsa and Beca tell me that it’s going to be ok. Then it hits me: Lilly will never change. My mom was right, she will never be nice to me and that’s fine. Someone else should not be the person to say who I am. I am beautiful on the inside and out and she cannot hurt me anymore. My mom was right, I should just be myself. I don’t want to be a follower. My mom once asked me who I want to be in the world. I did not know the answer then, but I know now that I want to be myself. I don’t want to act or pretend to be someone else.

T h e Com ebac k Caleb Cooper

Dear diary, My name is Malcolm Scott. I’m from Jackson, Mississippi. It’s 1965 and the civil rights movement is rising. I’m scared because racial tensions have risen due to this movement. I’m a football player and I’m pretty good. I’m on the negro high school team. It’s the first game of the season and I have to prove I’m the best quarterback in the state. It’s game time. I’m not playing around with my future. By the end of the game, I had eight touchdown passes to eight different receivers, 555 passing yards, and forty-six completions. A white man approached me with a big smile. He said he wants me to come play for him. I laughed for five seconds then said, “Sure.” This has always been my dream to be on that team. My teammates were nice and respectful to me and we got along very well. There are still racists (like one of the biggest fans was a flat out racist). But things have become better. Soon, things went downhill when I was shot in the leg. Riots broke out and stricter laws were put in place to hurt African-Americans. Coach soon kicked me off the team even though we had a perfect regular season. I don’t understand. I threw fifty-six touchdowns, 5,478 yards, and won high school “Player of the Year”. But one day later I got call from my negro team coach. He said, “You’re always welcome.” I replied happily, “I’m coming back.” I won two playoff games and got to the final against my old team.

I thought things had changed but they only got worse. My old team hates me because my mother is an activist. I honestly thought that tensions had lowered. I know everybody is against me except my team so I’m going to win this game. It’s time and in the first play we scored a touchdown. We were up but they responded with one of their own. This will be the battle of a lifetime. It’s fifty-fifty and one second is left in the game. I have to throw from the one yard line. I’ve waited my whole life for this moment and I can’t blow it. I won the game with a ninety-nine yard pass. Every race celebrated and the beef was cleared. We all came to an understanding. We’re all humans no matter what race, religion, creed, sexual orientation, or gender.

A n Idea Sarah Dillard

My blood is boiling. My eyes slightly blurred. I was trying, like really trying to make the basketball team. I really wanted to. No, I really NEEDED to. I have practiced so hard. I stare at the bright neon yellow paper that is posted on the beige school walls. “Basketball team tryouts today. Only boys can try out.” What the actual hell! I feel like I could just scream my head off. I stormed into the principal’s office. The walls are light blue. A large wooden desk is placed in the middle of the room. I am outraged. “What is this?!” I scream. “The flyer for the basketball team. Is this something of your concern?” Mr. Steff said in a monotone voice. “My concern is focused on what it says right here,” I said pointing to the “only boys” sentence with my right pointer finger. My left hand is crumpling the bottom of the yellow paper. “I would like to try out,” I said through half-gritted teeth. Just then I realized that I had a tear stinging in the back of my eyes. I blinked it away fast as I thought that this was no matter to cry over. He sighed as I lowered the paper because my hand was hurting from squeezing my hand so hard in anger. “Listen. I love a practical joke but as most people know, boys are more athletic and I . . .” he paused sighing, closing his eyes, “. . . I would hate to ruin the school’s reputation. I’m sorry. End of discussion.” he said, standing up and walking out of the room. 28

I scoffed and walked out of the room, running home like I usually do. What does he mean, “boys are more athletic?” Girls can be equally athletic! What a little sexist piece of trash! UGH! What is wrong with him?! He can’t just assume that. He probably hasn’t even given a girl a chance to play sports. I had an idea that will probably give me a chance and maybe all the girls to play sports. Once I got to my room, I slammed two pieces of papers on my desk and wrote “Girls can play sports too” on the top of both of them. I was making a petition. The next day I walked into school proudly with a smile on my face. Walking on my way to class down the hall, I saw a few girls walking on their way to class. I stopped in front of them and gave them one of my big goofy grins. “Hello! My name is Haley Composition. I rea-” “Yeah yeah yeah. Just get to the point,” said the girl in the middle of the small group of girls. Her green eyes showed judgement looking at the paper I held in my hand. “Um, does it look like we are going to sign that? No no no. Girls cannot play sports,” she said rolling her eyes.

T h e P la y Valentina Ferri

I was walking through the middle school hallways when a sparkly decorated bulletin board caught my eye. I knew from the past that school events always involved parents. But, I decided to check it. I walked over and there sat a flyer saying, “ENTER THE SCHOOL PLAY! Romeo & Juliet.” Acting had always had a special place in my life, so I signed my name right above the sign-up line. I would try out for the play, and hopefully get the part as the brave knight. But my parents would have to know. * * * * * I got home that afternoon to find my mother staring at me from the kitchen counter. “Hello Karen,” I said. “Don’t call me that,” she responded fiercely, “I know what you did. You can’t try out for the play.” “Why not?!” I questioned. “Because acting isn’t for young women. And besides, you’re joining the sewing club, aren’t you?” According to mom, sewing was for girls but acting wasn’t. She had gotten all her friends and their daughters (my so called “friends”) to join the club (created by them). My friend Harpa even tried to convince me to join too but it’s definitely not for me. “I’m gonna do something about it, and you’re listening to 30

me whether you like it or not,” my mother said as she walked up the stairs. Ugh, I despise that woman, I thought. * * * * * It was after sixth period and I was walking down to the first floor to the auditorium to tryouts. I was getting a little nervous. Is she gonna think I’m bad?! I thought. I bet that all the other girls that signed their name on that sheet would try out for the role of Juliet. When I got to the auditorium, I was surprised to see that there weren’t very many people in the audience. Uh-oh. That meant that I wouldn’t have much time to get ready and all the attention would be on me. * * * * * When Ms. Palmond called me up, she asked what role I was going for. “The brave knight,” I said. “Oh, okay. But by the way, it’s a male role. Are you sure? You’re a girl, you should try out for a female part,” she responded. That kind of set off my whole mood, being happy about the play and all. Aren’t schools supposed to be equal to everyone? Not sexist? I went up on the stage and tried to act as “manly” as I possibly could. Meanwhile, I heard giggles in the audience. Some were from Harpa, who was just watching the tryouts (because apparently acting wasn’t cool for girls to do). I looked at her in disbelief but as soon as she noticed me, she stopped. She mouthed, “What?” but I just looked away and continued my act. At the end of my act, Ms. Palmond said, “Okay-ay,” as if she was taking it as a joke. * * * * * Dinner. It was awkward and hard not to talk about the 31

tryout today. Considering my sexist parents would definitely not approve of it. Dad was making small talk about his day at work. Mom was pretending to be interested, even if we both know the only reason she married him was because my grandparents liked him (our “little secret”). * * * * * The next morning when I walked into school at exactly 8:17 AM, I had gym first period. I love basketball. It would be my hobby if acting wasn’t my favorite thing ever. Coach Mitch had separated the class into four groups, two teams of girls, and two teams of boys (another sexist thing my middle school does). I lined up behind Harpa. “I hurt my ankle. I’m not playing,” she said. I knew that wasn’t true but if I told, I would be in trouble, so I just went with it. I have never thought of Harpa as my real friend. * * * * * When we got out of the gym, I saw a huge crowd gathered around the most important bulletin board. I walked over just to find out that it was the role sheet for the play! I squeezed through the clutter of students and started to read the sheet. Uh-oh. I couldn’t find my name. I looked at the bottom. It said, “And special thanks to Sophia Hester for the good attempted tryout but unfortunately, because of some issues, there wasn’t space for more.” And right then and there, I knew who did it. * * * * * “I had to do something about it!” my mom said. “No you didn’t! You could’ve just let me deal with my own things,’’ I was so furious with her. She just crushed my dream opportunity! 32

“You know what? I’m just gonna let it go, and deal with it myself,” I had a plan. * * * * * The next day at lunch, I went around a few girls tables to ask if they wanted to join my new club. But of course, I only asked the nice drama club girls (considering they’re the only other girls that like to act). My idea was to have a club with a bunch of new girlfriends and we would make plays and perform at the library. The librarian was a friend so I had my whole plan worked out. “Hey, do you want to join my club?” I handed them each a sheet of paper that I spent all night typing out. “All the information is on that paper.” They all skimmed the sheet. “An acting club? I guess I’ll try it out,” one girl said. “I mean I already got kicked out of the play for wanting to play a male role.” “Same!” I shouted, maybe a little too loud. “OMG cool, by the way my name is Anouk.” “Cool, mine’s Sophia.” “Nice, I guess we’ll start tomorrow?” she asked. “Sure.” I was so excited. And believe it or not, a few other girls volunteered to try it out too! My parents would never be able to stop me this time. The group would be a hit! * * * * * We all gathered, Anouk, the rest of the members, and I. We planned out which play to start with and who played what. This would totally convince everyone how powerful us women actually are. * * * * * A few months later, almost the whole eighth grade was gathered in the library to watch the play. And the worst part is, my parents were sitting right in the 33

front row. * * * * * “I’m sorry Anna, but I didn’t know!” someone said onstage. The play was going so smoothly until the end. * * * * * After the play, my parents came over to me to congratulate me. I can’t even believe they even tried. My mom said, “I’m sorry I was being so selfish. I realise now that some stereotypes are sometimes mean. I hope you can forgive me.” “Of course I can forgive you mom, but in the future you shouldn’t judge people from what they look like or what their gender is,” I said, knowing that she actually meant what she said this time. I guess my dad didn’t care because he didn’t say anything for the rest of the night. I bet he was shocked. * * * * * The club ended up being a hit, performing a play every semester. I hoped that everyone learned that all genders can have any job or passion that makes them happy. The end.

En ough Kyla Jones

“Elizabeth!” Ronald shouted at the bottom of the stairs. His voice filled with anger and rage. He only said my real name when I was in trouble. I knew something was wrong at that very moment. My arms and legs got cold. As I went down the stairs, I saw it: my father. “What is this?!” my dad yelled furiously. “T-thats my test, Dad” I mumbled back. I didn’t mean to. I have a sister named Joselyn. My parents treat her like she has been the greatest thing that has ever happened to them. The truth is that my parents raised her so wrong she just thinks she’s the best at everything and it’s so not fair. If I got an A they would say that I could do better than that and be disappointed in me but if Joselyn got a B plus they would get her anything she wanted from the store. How fair is that, exactly? IT’S NOT FAIR AT ALL.They treat me like a mistake and are horrible parents. This happens all the time to me. I did good but my stupid parents dont know how I feel when they shame me all the time. They don’t understand that I have feelings too and I’m not a robot who will please them all the time. I have feelings too and they make me feel like such a disappointment and don’t want to try anymore. One day, I just might stop trying to please them because they’re never proud of what I do, at all. They always go so hard on me and I can’t take it anymore! I wish it would just stop and they would actually be proud of who I am. But they are not at all. This is how my life goes. “Didn’t I tell you to get an A on the test?” my dad yelled at me. 35

“Yes, you did,” I said very low. He was going to shame me again, isn’t he? “And you got a B!” he screamed. “Dad I tried my best. I can’t—” “But you didn’t meet expectations, Elizabeth Grace Smith,” he paused for a second. “Why can’t you be like your sister who gets all A plus’s? I’m so very disappointed in you. It’s a shame it has to be like this. Go to your room now.” “Okay, Dad,” I said walking away, trying to hold back my tears. The walls filled with sadness as I walked slowly, trying to look as brave as possible. I shut my door quietly and stopped holding back. “God, why can’t I be like Joselyn?” I cried. “She’s so much better than me. I wish I wasn’t a disappointment to my father,” I said, tears still coming out of my eyes. “I try so hard and I get this mess. I can’t take it anymore!” Then I heard the front door open as I sat up on my bed. They whispered and my mother appeared at my door. My mother was even worse than my father because she was the one who punished me. She beat me when I got lower than an A even though I tried so hard. And she made me study harder and harder every time I got as little as a B plus as a grade. She pushed me over the edge so much that there was nowhere to fall on that cliff. I was so scared of what she would do this time. That’s when I decided I had enough. I grabbed clothes from the closet and stuffed them in my school bag. I grabbed all the money that I got from the job I do at school. 1,798 dollars from a year’s work paid off. I put it in my bag and grabbed a pocket knife I bought because I knew this would happen one day. I put my coat and shoes on and jumped out the window. It wasn’t high up so it was easy to get out. It was easy to escape from. I closed the window gently so they wouldn’t hear and ran to the train station. Chapter 2: Perfect Daughter I knew exactly what I was going to do when I got to the train station. I would go on a train to America and go to an adoption center there where I would find loving parents, not Ronald and Ann who I couldn’t even call my parents. When I got to the train, I turned on my phone on and I saw texts:

Mom: “Hunny where r u? We’re so worried about u come back home” Liza: “You guys abuse me and you ask me to come back” Mom: “Liza were sorry just please come back” Liza: “You guys think I’m perfect and I’m not and I don’t want to be in a household where I’m treated unfairly plus u have joselyn your perfect daughter bye!” Mom: “answer please” Mom: “we’re so very sorry just please answer” Mom: “Please answer i need to know your ok” Mom: “You can get anything you want at home just please answer” Tears came down my face as I looked down at my phone. “It’s too late now, mom,” I whispered under my breath.

Ta kin g t he Ri sk Alexandre Lesle

January 6, 2007, the day that would change my life. At 6:07 AM, an anonymous caller informed the police about a possible drug dealer: me. Forty-five minutes later, I heard a loud crash on my door and the smell of smoke pierced my sinuses. Within seconds a pair of cold handcuffs were tightly wrapped around my hands. I was brought to a police precinct and thrown into a holding cell. There, I waited and contemplated my mistakes. 7 months earlier Ring ring . . . ring ring. I woke up and rubbed my eyes. “Who’s calling this early?” I thought to myself. I picked up the phone and I saw that it was my dad that was calling me. I picked up. “Hello,” I said sleepily. “Hey, son. Your mother has been hit by a car,” replied my dad in a low, monotonous voice. My heart sank, “How?!” “We’re talking to a lawyer but Julie said she was walking across the road when a car ran a red light and hit her.” “How bad are the injuries?” I asked, still in shock. “She’s got a broken rib, a fractured arm, spinal damage, and possible brain damage,” said my dad. Instantly my mind went to money. How would my mom support the family if she couldn’t work? I barely made enough to support myself. We glossed over some more details then I hung up. This was really bad. I only make minimum wage and my dad doesn’t work. My mom will probably have to spend 38

most of her savings on the treatment. I was thinking about how I could make enough money and my mind went to some dark places. I knew a friend who made a fortune selling drugs (that is, before he got caught). I was willing to take the risk. I met up with a friend who directed me towards a seller. I started small and bought ten pounds of marijuana. Over time I bought and sold more and more, slowly chipping away at my mom’s debt. ***** The day of the trial, having no money to afford a good lawyer, I was unprepared. I’m walked in by two policemen and was directed towards the podium. I hear a gavel bang. “All rise.” A short twenty minutes later, I was found guilty. The judge sentenced me to eighteen months in prison. ***** Eighteen months in Rikers was the worst time of my life. My mother passed away, my father is depressed and still working on the case, and most importantly, I can’t go to my dream school that I spent my whole life working for. Finally, I can put that all behind me and get a fresh start. My dad kindly offered to let me stay at his place. ***** Three months later, even with my high level of education, employers want nothing to do with a black ex-convict. No one is willing to take the risk and they always go with the other options. It’s the same story with housing. They make the point of, “What if you start selling drugs again?” And I blame them. I just wish prison ended when you got out.

T h e M ad n es s Yo u Giv e Rimelio Lessey

On Sunday night, January 24, 2018, at 11:35 PM, there is a party. These black gangsters wearing white bandanas come to the party. Then the other red gangsters that are black and are chillin at the party before the black gangsters arrived start to have an argument. One of the boys from the black gang starts shooting! All the teenagers run out of the party. Two of the black teens that are friends named Keke and Khali leave the area. Khali says, ‘‘Come in my car.’’ Keke says, “Okay.” Khali says, “I’m gonna take you home.” They get in the car, focusing on the road and driving past houses, buildings, stores, and mansions. It turns 12:20 AM. All of a sudden, there is this big issue because they get stopped by a cop on the streets in the middle of the night where cars are driving for no reason. The police tell them, “Slowly take out your ID.” Then Khali says, “Okay dang, I’m doing it just wait,” and then hands the cop his ID. The cop goes to his car and checks Khali’s information on his computer to see if he had any bad records. Then the cop walks to Khali’s car and gives back the ID and tells Khali to get out of the car. All of a sudden, the radio gives an address to the cop about a crime on Bedford Avenue. Then the police walk back to his car and say, “I repeat, I repeat.” He walks back to Khali’s car and before he turns around, Khali reaches back into his car to take out a hairbrush to brush his hair. The cop turns around and takes out a gun and shoots Khali. Then the cop walks up to him and when he looks to see whether it was a weapon, he realizes it 40

is a hairbrush and he says, “Dang, I made a mistake.” Then Keke takes out her phone and takes a picture of the cop’s face and number. The cop is white and his number is 114. Keke screams and says, “Why? Why can’t white people and black people get along?” She keeps screaming and screaming. The police officer goes to his car and calls the ambulance. The ambulance comes and takes Khali to the hospital. When Keke gets to the hospital, she finds out that he died. She goes to his grandma’s house and tells her that her grandson died. They both start crying and praying. When Keke is still praying, the grandma dies because she was very sick and she didn’t tell her grandson. Keke and the rest of Khali’s family go to the graveyard. People put Khali in the dirt and the pastor prays. Everybody is crying. Everybody starts putting blue roses and red flowers on the coffin. After that, Keke and the cop go to court. Keke has three lawyers and the cop has three lawyers. The cop says he was giving Khali simple orders to follow. The cop asks Keke, when he wasn’t even supposed to speak to her, “Come on, be on my side.” Keke says, “Objection! He keeps asking me the same question!” Keke makes her speech and everybody on her side starts cheering. After the judge makes her decision, she says, “The cop is found not guilty.” Four days later, Keke goes to pick up her brother at her friend’s house because he got beat up and Keke’s friend helped him and gave him some food and something to drink. Keke goes to her friend’s house and takes her brother home. She looks for a cab, she waves her hand in front of the cab. She and the brother get inside the cab. Keke pays the cab driver money and then sees a huge protest with one thousand people. Then the cops start shooting smoke bombs because the people who were protesting don’t want to leave. Keke covers her nose so she wouldn’t breathe it in and then she picks up a smoke bomb and throws it back at the police. The police start shooting. Keke and her brother try to get home. They get home safely. Keke says to her uncle who is a cop that looks Puerto Rican, “Would you shoot a black person because you thought the black person was taking out a gun but actually was taking out a mirror?” Uncle says, “Yes.” Keke says, “Would you shoot a white person because you thought the white person was taking out a gun but was 41

actually taking out a phone?” Uncle says, “No.” Keke says, “Seriously, you would shoot a black person but not a white person?” Keke walks away and goes upstairs. THE MADNESS YOU GIVE DIRECTIONS: RIMELIO BLESS LESSEY CAST: RIMELIO BLESS LESSEY SET CONSTRUCTION: RIMELIO BLESS LESSEY EDITOR: RIMELIO BLESS LESSEY, MR.PAUL, MS.ELLIE WRITTEN: RIMELIO BLESS LESSEY, MR.PAUL, MS.ELLIE, JAHSIRA LESSEY PRESENTS: RIMELIO BLESS LESSEY

Zer o t o Infi ni t y Santiago Morales Jr.

Today me and my wife found out that we are going to have our first child. We are not allowed to, but who cares? “Hey stupid, eat my lunch.” There was the guy who always pours his leftovers on me and my wife and records it. I did not really care. It was free food. I felt that today was going to be the day where I finally get a job at the school as a janitor. The court house finally let the zeros get a job. Today is my first day at work. “Hello there, new workers. I understand that most of you guys are numbers one to two. Is there anyone else who is not a one or two?” Of course I had to raise my hand. I can’t believe it. I was the only one who was a zero. “Well hello there, zero. I’m your boss Mr. Bigman. That’s what most people call me, but my real name is Lip.” “Hi, sir,” I said back. Later that day, I went to go check on my wife. She was in labor. I rushed her to the hospital. The nurse said that they don’t support zeros. The next day my wife gave birth to a beautiful son but it was strange he was not a zero. My son was an infinity. The next day there were hundreds of people surrounding our new mansion. All of this was crazy. It was new. 14 years later “Sir, sir,” called my secretary, “your son’s school is on the phone. They want you there right now.” That’s when I knew something was wrong. 43

I rushed down to the school as fast as possible but I was too late. There he was in a pool of blood. “No!” I screamed from the top of my lungs. The teacher told me that there was an assassin. I asked her how she knew that. Then she pointed to the wall. It said, “Infinity be gone.” 4 years later That’s it. I found him. He was hiding in my house the whole time. I called the police and they took him away. I told him to burn in hell and I hope my son kills him again in the afterlife.

St an ding Up Ivy Morris

I huddle under the covers, desperately trying to block out the sounds of Mom whimpering, scuttling around the kitchen like a cockroach while Donald treats her like one. I hate him. I stare around the bedroom, my eyes moving over the cracking paint, dust bunnies. I settle on a framed picture of a young girl. She smiles blissfully, red curls framing her face, green eyes flashing merrily. My mother painted that girl, me, when she was younger, freer. When we all were. How did that image become these dull eyes, pale cheeks, lifeless hair, a grimace instead of a smile, wrinkles creasing my face like the leather cover of my beloved poetry notebook? My eyes move to the broken smoke alarm, wires hanging it off the ceiling like a thread. Once Donald was smoking a cigarette, the reeking, filthy smoke seeped into our room and made the smoke alarm go off. The loud, blaring beeps startled me awake, scared there was a fire. Donald simply smashed it with a chair, so now if there’s ever a real fire we’ll be in danger. Not that he cares, or would be sober enough to. Jo says she remembers when Donald was Dad. When he told corny jokes and threw her on his shoulders, when he had the good job at the law firm. I constantly wonder, what was that life like? Maybe like the cockroaches in our kitchen that come out to get the sweet smears of food, Mom hides in the dark walls, waiting for moments when Donald isn’t holding the broom, to get the sweet food, the hallucinations of “family”. When 45

he reels her in like honey does a cockroach, I want to smack them both. Donald, for doing it, and Mom, for thinking—no, hoping— it’s real. Though the last thing she needs is another smack, of course. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. Boss says I’m back on, and I’m cancelling my bar account,” he said, approaching her like a cat does a mouse. I saw her frame flinch away from him, like twitching jello. But instead, he hugged her, and she melted with weakness and relief. Jo sings softly in my ear. I’m eleven, but still not brave enough for the soundtrack of Donald’s blows and Mom’s pleading by night. I hate him, more than I’ve ever hated anyone. Mom says we’re lucky to have his income, but he spends half of it at Sophie’s Bar. Mom frequently is forced to choose between apples and oranges. I feel so full of hate for him, like a balloon that wants to pop in his face but knows it would only result in popping myself. Donald’s parents were always very strict. From restricting play time to eventually restricting him from alcohol at the age of 21 They continually had a firm handle on him. They forced him to go to law school, even though he wished to pursue a profession in football. When his father (my grandfather) passed from lung cancer, and his mother developed mental problems, he, partially from newfound freedom , discovered a passion for dangerous liquors. If he hadn’t chose such a stupid path, my life would be different. Mom says, “Shh, Arudelle. We need him. He’s the head of the family. Without him, we’d be in shambles.” “Shh, Aru, I don’t want you to get hurt. You both have such strong tempers.” “Shh, Aru. We need his income.” “Shh, Aru. He’s a man.” I want to scream: don’t tell me to be quiet! Why should he steal happiness? I want to remind her: we already are in shambles! I want to tell her, knock it into her smart but brainwashed head: You’re a grown woman! He’s not superior! I want to show her, open her eyes to the stacks of bills, the broken bottles in the kitchen right now! 46

But instead, I cry myself to sleep, “Shh, Aru . . .” resounding through my head like some sort of sadistic lullaby. * * * *.* . . Luke sat, his Harry Potter backpack at his feet, reading. A few feet away he heard a tiktok beat, and a group of girls did one of the strange dances that made as much sense to him as the word “Quidditch” did to most people. Aru ran up to Luke, smiling. Aru rarely smiled, except when she played football, so he knew something was up. “Hey!” Luke said, and smiled back. “Why are you so happy?” “I found a poster today.” She blurted, and shoved a paper into his hands, almost knocking him over. She’d gotten strong, lately, what with all of her exercises. She frowned. “How did you know I was happy?” Luke sighed. “You’re never happy or smiling. Come on, by now, I know when you are happy.” She stared off, then seemed to snap back, chirping, “Open it!” Luke unfolded it, the paper making a crinkle. The flyer read, “Football Team - Starts September 22nd!” Below was a bad graphic of some muscly dude holding a football. Aru raised her shining eyes, and it seemed as if all her hope remained in them, in this poster. It broke his heart to see it. He remembers the first day they met. Aru didn’t talk about it. It was before his dad started drinking, before Mrs. Brooke started showing up with bruises in addition to her apple slices and crackers, before Aru started having crying fits and nightmares. It was on a football pitch. Luke’s mom had dragged him onto a flag team to help him “man up”. Aru’s dad, who, before committing to law school had sought a profession in football, was with her. That was back when Mr. Brooke smiled and clapped him on the back, saying, “How’s my man Luke?” But to Aru, Dad was gone, Donald in his place. “Don’t you think I should join?” Aru says, excitement shining out of her face like rays of sun after months of stormy skies. 47

Luke refused to be the cloud to take that away . . . but wasn’t—well, wasn’t football for boys? “Erm . . . I—” “Yes! I knew you’d agree! See you in Science!” Passionate, dedicated, down-to-earth Aru, Luke thought. * * * *.* I jerked my head up: the clock in the corner read 2:00 AM. I stumble to the counter, dropping my bottle along the way and watching it crash, my reflexes too dulled to react, the same way my life, similarly, seems to be dropping and shattering beyond my reach. Not long before the janitor sweeps up the pieces and throws them into some landfill, a menace to the whole world. I glance at the tab, but the numbers are too blurred, and maybe too large, for me to read, or want to. I get into my car, some stupid sign leering at me, a smiling face with a speech bubble, “Drunk Driving is a Crime!” Thanks, sign, for reminding me what a criminal I am, since that’s just what I need after the look on my wife’s face when I greet her any time: fear, a learned emotion. Everywhere I look, the sign, the bill, the fake-smiling barman, my wife’s face: I see the shambles my life is in. But I’m too lethargic, or maybe too stubborn, to change course, like a race car driver so bent on winning through speed he hurtles straight toward a wall. Why? I say to everything. But why not? I say to anything. * * * *.* I wake up, gasping. My body throbs in the places he hit me last night. A dull ache surrounded the places where he hit me in the past. As I get up, I see him in the kitchen, slouched over so low his unshaved chin scratches the table. If I woke him, he may still be drunk and angry. I creep down the hall, tiptoeing so light that my feet are almost silent, sliding into the bathroom and locking the door with a click. I sigh. What am I? Some mouse or bug creeping into the 48

corners of my home—no, his home, mine by this cursed marriage—to hide from my husband? This is who the girls have to look up to. An abusive drunk and a creeping coward who can’t look into a mirror without lowering her eyes. * * * *.* When I found the flyer, it was like a letter from Hogwarts would be to Luke (the kid had been obsessed since he read the first page in first grade, and walking into his room was like walking into a Harry Potter museum, complete with an almost life-sized Whomping Willow), or like the first time I had written a poem. Relief. An outlet to plug myself into. That notebook contained my life, and I would never let anyone even breathe on it. I clutched the flyer. A real football team! The way other kids wanted a puppy or the way Luke wanted an Invisibility Cloak, I wanted this. I knew I had to do it. * * * *.* Luke stressed all the way through math, not even raising his hand. Ms. Potter (his favorite teacher because of her last name and wacky ideas) noticed. “Luke, are you okay?” she asked. Unlike other teachers, who would have said, “Luke, I’m worried about you,” or “Luke, how disappointing,” or “Do you need assistance, Lukas?” Ms. Potter asked a normal question. Most students just thought she was weird. She was, but Luke liked that. She even liked math. Like him! Luke sighed. If he could tell anyone, it was her. He glanced nervously at the white-streaked chalkboard, cheesy math pun posters, and his favorite, a cardboard Sorting Hat she used on the 6th graders. “I’m worried about Aru.” He breathed out. It felt like water he hadn’t known his mouth was full of was flooding out, and he could finally breathe again. “I see. What’s wrong?” Ms. Potter said, her usually laughing features forming a worried expression, eyebrows creasing. Ms. Potter knew both of the kids well and cared about 49

them. Luke lowered his eyes. “She wants to, well, erm . . . join the boys’ football team.” “And?” Ms. Potter smiled inquisitively, arching her brow. But Luke was pushed off by the crowd, wondering if he was the one doing the backwards thinking. * * * *.* I marched to the gym, my heart leaping: I was going to register for the team. I envisioned all those nights at the park with Luke, staying after school a long while. As the grass swayed and snapped under our feet, as the sky melted into a soupy sunset mess like the bottom of a Sophie’s mango, strawberry, and orange sundae,all I had eyes for was the ball. Its soft, brown, firm, reliable leather, bumpy white laces, the feel of it twirling, spinning, dancing, rocketing in perfect arcs, with the rhythm of the wind, the beat of our own running feet and the rustling of animals in the trees. For so long my hands blister, the sky weaves the pattern of small bright stars, shining from so far away, and I scarcely notice the honks and headlights of Jo in Donald’s cheap, smelly pickup truck. I thought of Donald’s half-dream, wasted away. I knew I’d do better. Girls could and should play football. The sport is seemingly caught back in time, anyone with half a brain could tell that both genders could play just as well. As I reach the door, I see a few other players. They were laughing and playing catch outside the office, waiting for Coach Hardt. I sit stiffly, a few feet away. One of the players notices me. “Hey, girl! You trying out for cheerleading?!” A few laughs resound around the gym. Cheerleading? I wheel on him, face on fire and eyes burning. “You can ask me my name: it isn’t ‘girl’. It’s Aru. And no, I’m not trying out for cheerleading.” He seems surprised for a moment then says, “So what? You just watching us?” “No.” I say, my jaw jutting, slicing the word between my teeth, like breaking one of the lollipops Jo hides in her room. I hear various remarks nestled among snickers. “She’s a 50

sassy one” and “Who cares? She’s just some girl”. “For your information, the word ‘sassy’ is highly offensive to females, as it is a stereotype. And, as I’ve already said, it’s Aru. Not ‘girl’’ or ‘some girl.’” I was starting to have second thoughts about playing on a team with these kids. “Sorry.” One said, and asked, “So why are you here?” But the door swings open, and Coach Hardt emerges, saying, “Howdy, boys. Trying out for the team?” He had played football throughout high school and college, but anyone could tell he was past his prime from one look at his expanding waistline, unkempt beard, and balding hair. A few nods and cheers echo in reply. “Kevin has already picked out some must-haves.” He reads names off a list. “Ali, Jake, Cole, and Mark.” Some of the taller ones with miny moustaches flex, make “witty” comments and cheer. What arrogant, vain players. Also, shouldn’t Hardt give everyone a fresh chance every year? This whole thing already seemed weird. “Alright: the rest of you. Come get in line, and state your first and last name.” They made a line, me sneaking into the back of it. “Robert Kelly.” “Theo Jackson.” “Larry Johnson.” “Jack Markle.” “Emmanuel Hernandez.” I take a deep breath, and step up. Coach looks at the list. The guys stop throwing the ball, giving me rapt attention. “Arudelle Brooke.” I state. I hold my breath. “Okay, and–wait: Arudelle?” He jerks his head up. “Hello, missy.” He smiles, hiding any confusion. “It’s Aru.” I stare back at him nonchalantly. The other guys are snickering. “Would you like me to spell it?” “Ah, the cheerleader meet is over there . . .” “I’m not here to cheerlead.” I say defiantly, eyes flashing. “I’m here to play football.” Coach Hardt laughed. How dare he? “Erm, well . . . look ‘ere, sweetie. We take things very seriously here. We train and practice and run laps. Girls aren’t as . . . prepared for that sort. We have a girls’ flag team, and a great cheerleading club 51

that might better suit you. Girls are better fitted to other things . . .” “I don’t play flag football.” I could tackle him here and now, I’m so mad. “And no, girls are just as strong, especially if they train as hard as I have my whole life.” I can’t believe him. “Ah, well, would you look at that,” he says, examining his list like he suddenly found it was magical. “Principal Dobbs said we had to budget-cut the team to only nine players this year. Oh, but Ms. Palmer has spots open for cheerleaders!” “No.” I could spit in his face. I wish I could say something smart or mean to him, but my face flushes and I feel powerless. Cheerleading? His patronizing smile haunts me, clouding my brain and blinding my sight. I walk out, disregarding the snickers and jeers that follow me, and the Coach’s shocked expression. Coach Hardt, making up these rules to exclude me. Donald, making up excuses to beat Mom. I’m so done with it all. But I’m not given the tools to stop it. It’s like women are playing a game against men, where the dice are rigged so when they lose, they are given some dumb excuse about how they’re not good enough. And because of the fake tricks, rules, and “facts”, we are forced to sit silent while they patronize us. I’m so done with huddling silently, waiting for a change. * * * *.* Luke sat outside on Tuesday on his phone when she came up to him. Aru had been Luke’s best friend since before he could remember, and they were still very close. “Luke!” She said, approaching and plopping down. She swings her olive bag onto her lap. “Hey! What’s up?” Luke said. “You’ll never believe what happened yesterday.” She urgently says in a low voice, brushing her short red hair to the side. Oh no, Luke thought. Was someone mean? Or was she overreacting? “I talked to Coach Hardt after school about joining the football team, and he said it was a sport for boys, that girls aren’t ‘prepared’ enough.” 52

Well . . . football was . . . for boys, right? “What?” Luke chuckled. “Come on, Aru . . . What’s the big deal? Everyone knows football is an all-male sport, I mean, come on.” “Well, isn’t that just so sexist?! And then guess what? He said there was a great cheerleader club that would be a good fit for me. I can’t believe him!” Aru finishes, panting. Well, they’d always tossed the ball around outside. Aru was really good, but Luke never took it all that seriously. To him, what was football? A stupid game people shouted a lot about, something his parents wished he played. Aru seemed to notice Luke’s puzzled scowl and her eyes blaze. “Luke, you do understand?” He didn’t know what to say. “I . . . Aru . . . I mean . . .” “I thought you, of all people, would be different. Turns out, you’re just the same.” She walked away. “Aru!” Luke called urgently after her. But soon there is only a hint of her red hair, like fire smoldering out in the distance, too far away and too hot for him to approach. * * * *.* I can’t believe Coach Hardt, and I can’t believe Luke. How is it possible to not comprehend something so simple as equal human rights? I stomp home, my balloon of anger bigger and hotter than the sun, my blood like fire coursing through my veins. I open the door, stomping through. “Shh, Aru. You’ll wake him.” Wait. No one says that. The same tune every time I get when I arrive home from school ringing in my ears is absent. The silence feels tense and eerie. Where was my mother? I step into the kitchen. Mom. She lay on the floor, a large bruise on her arm and a cut on her head. Was she asleep? Or passed out? Or . . . I become desperate. I fall on my knees, shaking her. Nothing. In a panic, I run to the cupboard, grab the biggest container I can find, and fill it with cold water, my fingers trembling. I dump it on her, and wait for a response. 53

My brain races. What if . . . no . . . “HCUFF!” She coughs, spluttering and dribbling water out of her mouth. She sits up, looking sick, and within seconds, the floor is covered in vomit. She starts crying. I hug her, so full of hate and love and worry and confusion and relief I don’t know what to do. So I cry too. * * * *.* I run. And run. I run from the horrible things I did, driving, and driving, and driving. I can’t speak, not to the gasman. I can’t look in the rearview mirror, because all I see is the worst person I’ve ever met. * * * *.* It’s been a week since I talked to Luke. A week since Donald knocked out Mom and ran away. A week since we told the police everything about him. And now, I’m done. Done with sexism. Done with stupid boys, stupid men, creating this system of oppression. Actually, so far past done. I lie in bed, searching for a solution. Ding. I get a text from Luke, and I’m ready to read some sappy, good-for-nothing apology, ready to fire back angrily. Instead, there’s a link: speakoutagainstsexismwithpoetry.org My thumb hovers above the cracked screen. I take a breath, and press down. Epilogue: “And here to read out her winning poem, personal experience, and feminist anthem, Arudelle Brooke!” I step up, shaking. What if . . . No. Stop. You need to get this message out. Not just for you, for everyone. I take a deep breath, and go. “You You slap her, hurt her, 54

bruise her, break her. You stop her, halt her, stunt her, shut her, You control her, move her, make her, take her. You tell her sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not good enough. To play, be herself, be her own, Thrive. But her power is already building. Like gas, you can squeeze her into a jar, brand her, package her, compress her, But as soon as you release her she Explodes, Expands, Rises, Rockets, and Conquers. So I dare you to try 55

and stop her Ever again.â&#x20AC;? It flows in and out, like breathing after being gagged for years, like I finally found my voice, all on my own. Stepping off the stage, I finally know that whenever someone violates me or my family, puts me down, or stops me, I can say no as confidently as scrawling the pen onto the page, or as throwing that leather rocket to the sun and over. I no longer huddle under the covers. I stand and face things head on. All I had to do was learn how to stand up.

Wit hin the Wo o ds Aleksander Nikolov

I paused outside of my uncle’s study, my hand poised to knock. The intricate mahogany doors contrasted deeply with the house’s grass green paint, which had dished out many bruises along my torso, chest, and face from me attempting to walk around with my eyes closed and bumping, sometimes smashing myself into things. Even now, I tried to focus only on the door, ignoring the torturing hue of the rest of the house. Also, there were more things wrong with the walls in this house than just the hue. The paint job itself was even worse! On the inside, it was a rush job, like someone had run through the hallways with paintbrushes for hands. The outside was better. It’s hue was more evenly distributed, as it looked like it had been in a car wash that dispensed paint instead of water. “The green burns my eyes,” I frequently complained to my mom. But she brushed me off with something similar to, “It’s to discourage bombings. We can’t be targets. We would live in the base if uncle was anything less than commander. Also, uncle is our family.” I shrugged off my thoughts, squared my shoulders, and put my serious face on. Finally, I smoothed both my hair and my lapel. I lifted my hand to knock on the door, and as I was bringing my fist down— “Are you going to knock already?” My uncle’s voice resounded behind the door, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I sighed inwardly about my uncle’s habits, and also at myself. I had forgotten about the camera in the door. My eyes quickly scanned the surface of the wood, 57

finding a very inconspicuous knot. I nearly punched it, but I steeled myself. This was a big day. A man I did not recognize opened the door. I paused. “Lieutenant Kepler.” “Uh—It’s a pleasure.” I surveyed the room. My uncle sat in one of two armchairs that sat around a coffee table, and in his arms he cradled a small tablet computer. It’s screen tipped towards me a few seconds later and I saw a real-time (I’m assuming) picture of the hallway outside the study. I glanced up at the grey, unpromising ceiling without moving my head. I turned to my uncle and he looked at me with tears in his eyes. “I scared you, right? Your face . . .” This was accompanied with a fit of hysterical laughing and wheezing that scared me a little, and kept uncle on the floor for two whole minutes. When he finally straightened up, his face was red. At least he was in a good mood. I inquired, “Can we move on?” And Kepler, by my side (literally and figuratively) nodded encouragingly. My uncle replied, “Of course. But you just reminded me, I have been reminiscing with Kepler about the time you shot yourself In the face with a BB gun. I can still see the scar. You’re ridiculous, just like any other kid I’ve known, including myself. From experience, I know kids just get in the way.” “I was wondering, sir, if I could work part time at the base. Maybe assist some of the corps that serves on the base. Like the engineers, or maintenance? No fighting at all.” Uncle mulled over this for half a minute, theatrically stroking his chin. “I wonder a lot, too, kid. I’m happy you’re thinking about your own safety, but I am thinking about the safety of others. The thing is, with you at a post that supports the base, no one knows how badly you could damage the community infrastructure of the base if you were even at a lowlier position at the base. If you were in engineering, the propellers would fly off helicopters and trucks wouldn’t have brakes! And with you ‘helping’ maintenance, the sinks would spit out gasoline and the toilets would flood the basements! I worked at a middle school once, for three days. . . I have scars to prove it.” He started to roll up his pants. “Uh—I’m fine.” 58

“Ok, my point’s been made.” There was a miniscule silence. “But what if I’m placed in a larger patrol, like with Lt. Kepler? He seems . . . pleasant.” “The army does not do babysitting, especially in times of crisis! Even if you try your best, you’re bound to mess something up.” His voice lowered into a growl. “A child’s best is a gamble. You are young and inexperienced. Now scram.” I glided out, and just before the door closed I heard my uncle say, “Now back to our card game.” I was too tired to snort, roll my eyes, or sigh. I walked straight through the hall, out the door, and into the woods, a place I frequented. The woods encircled the base and were probably there before the base was. The trees looked ancient and they were very large, supporting a canopy that blocked most rays of sunlight from striking the ground. Animals were sparse, though. Most were probably scared away from whatever poisons the base is seeping into the wildlife. And a lot were probably killed from the powerful bomb they probably dropped from a helicopter to make space to build the base. And some more from the fact that rabbit soup is one of the types of rations the base uses. And a few more due to the fact that all the humvees in the base have antideer guards on the front. My thoughts shifted to my uncle. He could have rejected me more politely, at least. He could have said “Give it time” or “On your ___th birthday” or even “I don’t think you’re cut out for this kind of work,” but he just flat out turned me down. Maybe I understand things differently than my uncle. Maybe kids see stuff adults don’t. I’d say that kids see things like details, or the fun in boring parts of life. On the other hand, adults might just think about what happens next, not now. Maybe adults look at an ornate silver clock with an old, mysterious piece of parchment sticking out of the hands and only say, “Darn it. I’ll be late for work.” And then they’d hop on a train and think, “Next, I need to get off at this stop so I can walk to the bus stop so I can get on the next bus so I won’t be late for work and if I’m late for work then I’ll get paid less and if I get paid less I won’t be able to afford a car as soon so I can next visit my parents who live upstate . . .” And they wouldn’t see the 50% off ad on the subway for a well known supermarket, nor the free gift on a bus ad for a favourite gaming website, and wouldn’t even see the man 59

giving out $100 Starbucks gift cards on the sidewalk. Maybe a kid’s smaller perspective could be useful, but in a military base I have no idea. This wasn’t helping my mood. I spun around and kicked the nearest tree at my eye level and watched a small sliver of bark tumble down. As it flipped and spun in the air, I noticed the back of it was white with a strange, dry substance. I lunged to catch it, but it dipped and twisted and slipped right through my fingers every time I grabbed at it. Eventually, after several tries, I just let it tumble to the ground before I picked it up. The white substance appeared to be a sort of dried glue, but just a dot, so if you looked directly at the tree you couldn’t see it. I looked at the tree closer for half a second, decided it was not normal, and started tearing it apart like it was my very own punching bag, but with picking and scratching instead of punching. Eventually, I unearthed a metal plate welded into the wood, and in the center, a small button. I pushed It. Nothing happened. I pushed it even farther, and nothing happened again. I got a long, thin stick and pushed it as far as it could go. Suddenly, the ground under me swung open and I plunged down . . . ten feet. Next to me, I noticed a ladder leading up back toward the surface, and a button at eye level. I sighed in relief. At least there was a way back out, wherever this is. As my heart stopped racing and my butt stopped hurting, I unclenched my hand and saw the broken stick I was still holding had dug into my palm. I lifted myself and my head up. Behind me was a wall of dirt, and in front of me was a seemingly endless tunnel that stretched into the distance, illuminated by threadbare bulbs that would be most certainly harmful if you touched any part of them. Then I realized. Who’s tunnel was this? The tunnel was leading west, according to my phone which I consulted almost immediately. As I saw that it led towards the border, I swallowed. Better not venture down there until I know whose it is. In short, I chickened out. I was up that ladder in a flash, pressed the button, and almost got my foot caught in the hatch. I spared a glance back at the ground and at the tree. It was all too natural. It had closed seamlessly. I hightailed it back home double quick and stayed in my room, warily reading my book until my mom called for me. “Ronnie! Come, you have to see this.” I rolled my eyes. She knew I liked my real name, Ronald, 60

over her weird nicknames. I sauntered downstairs to see the local news on the television. “ENEMY SOLDIERS ATTACK GENERAL BOB M. SHMICKEN’S ARMY BASE AND DISAPPEAR SUDDENLY” “Damage! Report not complete.” I stared. How did the enemy get past the border, with all that fighting going on? The TV flashed pictures of walls pock-marked with bullet holes, a flaming Jeep or two, and a ruined road. I remembered the mysterious tunnel, and raced to tell my uncle. I stopped outside of the study, and an idea occurred to me. Would my uncle just brush me off again? Or would this even help me? Would my uncle just say that he had destroyed it, or blocked it off? After all, he didn’t help, uncle would say. But then I realized, this wasn’t about some uncle liking me, this was about the safety of others! This was about a war, not my desires! Of course, my feelings and desires matter, but when it comes to hundreds of people you need to do the right thing. I burst into the study and saw a couple of high ranking officials, Lt. Kepler included, surrounding a table in the middle of the room. I slid past them and tapped my uncle on the arm. “I found a tunnel!” “Ridiculous! Ladies and gentlemen, I am so sorry—” “Let him speak.” Everyone turned to look at Kepler. “Go on. . .” “Well, I was in the woods when I found a fake tree and pushed a button and the ground fell open and there was a tunnel heading east!” “Show us.” And then I, an eleven-year-old kid, walked over to the very spot I had uncovered, leading a small band of colonels, lieutenants, and even a general. I took a stick, pushed the button, and forgot that I was standing above the hole, and plunged into the tunnel and smashed into the bottom. “Cool, right?” In the next few hours, I stood next to my uncle (who had a proud look on his face) and watched as the destruction of the tunnel began. I talked to my uncle between blasts of dynamite. “Hey, uncle, what just happened?” “Uh, you found a tunnel?” 61

“Aaaand?” “You found a tunnel that enemy soldiers used?” “I found a tunnel that enemy soldiers used to get past our front lines, stopping them from surrounding us and maybe just winning us the war. That’s what happened.” I shared with him my theory about kids and grown-ups, and he said, “Very wise, Ronald. I never thought of it that way. I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I’ll consider you joining the base.” And boy, he did consider it. That very night I found myself temporary Assistant Commander of Gen. Bob M. Shmicken’s army base, whenever I didn’t have school. But what I realized at my uncle’s study made me think deeply about others. I lobbied for comfortable beds, water fountains, and for the base to be more eco-friendly. My uncle dismissed these ideas as too time-consuming and resources should not be spent on that, but most people agreed. Slowly, the base became a place you liked, according to some soldiers, not as an uncomfortable motel room to shield you temporarily from the elements, but as a sort of home away from home.

The R ainbo w Pi n Fiona Overcamp

“Wakey, wakey,” Mom says. I groan. My summer break was officially over and it’s time for another year, a very painful year of school. It is to be my first of four years at Ridgewood High. “Coming,” I mumble. I rub my eyes, making the world go fuzzy. I sit up and put on my contacts. They sting my eyes. I barely wore them during the summer. My feet touch the hardwood floor and I slowly walk down stairs, the wood creaking under my feet. I creep past my brother, still too young to attend school, waiting to go to daycare. I walk to the kitchen and find my place at the table and sit on the antique chair. I slowly stir my cold oatmeal, wishing I was still in elementary school. I look up and see the clock. I groan, I wish it was earlier. I mean I wish for a lot of things, like world peace and such, but I know such goals are unrealistic. I stand up and push in my chair without eating anything. I climb up the stairs to the landing, covered with carpet, once beautiful and full of patterns, now dirty and faded to mom’s dismay. I go to my room and change into a bright rainbow sweater and a pair of mom jeans, now ready for the day. I put on a pair of old sneakers for the fun of it and then I look over and see it: that rainbow pin from pride last summer. It was the first time I really felt like myself. When I came out as a lesbian in eighth grade I felt like an outcast but that’s when I truly felt 63

free to be me, with no one to judge. I hope high school will be different and accepting. I run down stairs. I really don’t want to be any more late than I already am. When I get downstairs the school bus was pulling in so I run out to the yard without saying goodbye. When I get in, I sit next to a girl who was in my class last year and we talk about what we did in the summer which was fun but also really boring and after a while we just stop talking. “Good morning class of 2023!” she shouts, almost screaming. When the bus stops we all file in a sort of line off and disperse. I see a line of students forming to get into school so I decide to join in. Turns out the line is to get schedules so I’m glad I joined the line and get my schedule. My homeroom is room 121 so I turn right and walk and find room 121. Room 121 is a tiny worn down room with simple desks and a smart board, so nothing I haven’t seen before. That’s good. As I try to find a desk, I hear a voice say, “Gross, do you support the gay agenda?” I instantly turn around, trying to see where the homophobia was coming from. I see a scrawny boy with abnormally long arms and a MAGA hat. Not again. It was Luke Bennett, the area homophobe’s son, who was a pure nightmare in middle school. I had prayed he wasn’t in any of my classes, but what can you do. “I just want to say Jesus hates you and people like you will burn in hell under god’s wrath,” he says, with an eerie smile on his face. “Good morning to you too, Luke,” I say as I turn to find a seat. After what feels like forever, the classroom door creaks open and a stout woman with grey hair creeps in, “Hello class, my name is Mrs. Gjoed and I am your homeroom teacher. Now today we are going to an assembly, but under normal circumstances you would be with me for twelve minutes before going to class.” she adds. We shuffle along to the auditorium along with other freshman homerooms. The assembly is the normal first day stuff, but the real show stopper is when the principle starts talking about bullying and how they have a no homophobia policy at the school. 64

Luke stands up and shouts from the back of the auditorium, “ YOU CAN’T BLAME ME FOR HATING THE GAYS AND TRANNIES, IT’S JUST WRONG!” Needless to say Luke Bennet was never seen again at Ridgewood High again.

Hope Or phanage Lily Sentner

“Stop it!” my mom said as my dad put his hands on her. This happens a lot. Max and I see it all the time and it’s a pretty terrifying thing. “Why do mommy and daddy always fight like this?” my five-ear-old brother Max asks as we sit down on the sticky leather couch in our cramped New York City apartment. The hot sun coming through the window makes me sweat. We have no air conditioning to keep us cool. I sigh as I answer Max’s question, “I don’t know.” My mom doesn’t really know how to deal with it when my dad puts his hands on her. I really wish I could just jump in, but I’m only a ten-year-old and Max is only five. Finally it’s all over and my mom is limping over to the burnt-wood-colored dining room table. The chair squeaks as she sits down on it. I see my dad glare over at her almost if he himself is confused by what happened. I see a tear drip down her face like a drip out of a water bottle. The sun makes it shimmer. “Is mommy okay, Jane?” Max asks me as he turns his neck to look over the couch to see how my mom is doing. ”Yeah,” I say, sighing not knowing if that is the actual truth. It’s the next morning and I feel like my parents could possibly have a fresh start with each other. It’s seven o’clock and they are usually up by now but they are still sound asleep so I decided to make myself and Max some breakfast. The oven makes a screech as I turn it on and I smell the smell of the burnt chicken that we had a few nights ago. 66

I hear footsteps coming out of my parents’ room. I freeze. I pray that it’s my mom. The footsteps become louder as the figure comes closer. All of the sudden, the figure turns the corner. It’s my dad. What could he want now, I wonder. “What are you doing?” my dad says in a strict voice. My body starts to shake. What do I do? What do I do? I keep repeating in my head. Unexpectedly my dad grabs me by the collar of my shirt. I’m scared to death. “Daddy! Daddy! Stop it! LET GO!” I have no idea why he is doing this to me. I take a quick glance over at Max and I see the worried look on his face. His eyes look watery and glassy as if he has a cold. Almost like he’s about to cry. Dad throws a tough kick at me. ”Ah! Stop!” I say. “No” he says forcefully. So I try to punch or kick at him back to protect myself. A couple minutes later, my mom comes stomping out of her bedroom after waking up. “Jason, what do you think you’re doing!” my mom says so powerfully, “Let go of Jane! Let go of my daughter this instant.” “Okay!” my dad says compromising to my mom’s decision as he still has his hand gripped tight around the middle of my shirt. “Now what is your explanation for this Jason?” my mom asked my dad, eager for an answer. “I . . . uh . . . I don’t know,” my dad says trailing off in his speech. I think about what just happened for a long time after. I realized this couldn’t be how me and Max remembered our childhood. We needed to do something. “Wake up, Max,” I say in a whispery but loud voice so my parents don’t wake up. “Huh?” he says, confused on why I woke him up so early. I answer and say, “Come on we’re going.” “Going where?” he asks. “Just. . .” All of a sudden the world basically flashes before my eyes. All my questions pop up in my head again all at once. What do you think you are doing, JAne? Are you really making the right choice? “Just… just come on,” I finish. I look into Max’s eyes and I see the worriedness in his eyes about what’s gonna happen 67

next. “It’ll be ok,” I tell him. It’s been a little while. I have made Max and I breakfast and gathered everything that I think is gonna be helpful. Food, water, blankets, clothes, money and more. “Okay Max? Are you ready?” I ask Max quietly, remembering my parents are still sleeping. “Yeah,’’ Max says in an off tone. I could tell in his voice his uncertainty. Even though Max is only five he knew good from bad and was very smart for his age and he definitely knew what was happening. Just then I shut the door behind Max and me. My heart skips a beat. I try not to let my brain wander. Think of the positive side of this. I try to think how this will be a new opportunity for Max and I to make friends and possibly have people that care about us and are nice to us all the time. We arrived at the train station to go to the East Side. I go up to the lady selling tickets at the ticket booth. The chills run through my body. The wind brushes through my hair like mama would do and I go on my tippy toes to make myself look tall and ready to talk to the lady. “Hi, ‘’ I say to the ticket lady getting a headstart on the conversation. “Oh hello!” The lady is about seventy years old and responds to me just noting that I am there. “Can I please have two tickets to the Upper East Side?” I say as the lady lowers her glasses and looks at us. She’s probably wondering why these two young kids are going on a train to the city all by themselves, but she doesn’t question us. “Sure,” she said in a kind voice. We exchange the money for the tickets and I quickly realize that we are short on money. I knew this wasn’t going to be enough for me and Max to live on the streets. “Thanks,” I say, and then grab Max’s hand and turn to the platform to wait for the train to arrive. The train finally arrives at our station, lots of people get off and lots of people get on. When we are finally settled in our seats Max says, “I’m hungry Jane. I’m hungry.” “Okay,” I replied, beginning to search my bag for something that Max would enjoy. I find a banana and hand it over to Max, also finding out that we probably don’t have enough food to even last a few days. 68

Later the train driver startles us by saying “SEVENTYSECOND STREET! SEVENTY-SECOND STREET! ANYONE?” “Oh!” I am awakened by the loud noise of the man’s voice. Max is also sleeping so I shake his body to wake him up and say, “Come on Max!” We quickly hop off the train seats and all of a sudden the trains and cars and busses are all honking, people are screaming, talking, and more. The city’s filled with all sorts of noises. Max and I brush against people as we stick together trying to find a quieter place to sit down and rest. Just then the smell of food catches my nose and that makes me so hungry. I really want whatever it is I’m smelling but we don’t have that money to spare right now and we are on a mission to find a place to live. Later Max suggests, “How about here?” “Yeah sure, here seems perfect, ‘’ I respond to him in a sweet high-pitched voice. It’s a little area in an alley. I look around and I see a few dumpsters. I try to ignore the terrible smell and look at them. I take out the blankets that I packed and lay one down on the ground and the other on top of Max and I. It’s getting late but the city is still in full action. We decided to have a quick snack before bed and I laid my bag of food and money on the other side of me. In not too long Max and I are ready to get a good night’s sleep so we are ready to possibly go find somewhere to stay tomorrow. “Goodnight”I said to Max as I get ready for bed. “Goodnight,” Max says practically sleeping. I wake up the next morning at nearly five a.m. and the city is pretty much already in full swing. Feet stomping on the hard sement, cars honking and people pushing. I look over at where I left my bag last night and it’s not there. It’s gone. Now Max and I are really in trouble. No food, no money. I try to look around quietly trying not to wake Max up but inside I am truly panicking. It’s now six a.m. and it looks like it’s one in the afternoon because of the amount of people. I start to gather up our stuff so we can get ready for the day trying to think on the positive side. Finally Max wakes up and I’m all packed and ready for the day. “Come on Max,” I say to him. “Okay,” he says, “I’m hungry.” “Um,” I say knowing that now we have no food or money 69

left. “What?” Max says back, wondering if he said something wrong. “Well, I woke up this morning and I went to go look where I left the bag and it was gone.” “Oh,” Max says quietly. “I’m sorry,” I say to Max, giving him a hug. We walk around the loud crowded city for a long time with empty stomachs till I see a bright yellow awning that says in big letters, “Hope Orphanage”. I get so excited. “Come on Max!” I say pulling him by the arm. I run up the stairs with Max holding my hand and I am greeted by a very nice looking old lady. “Hi!” I say to her. “Hello there, you two!” she chuckles. “Come in, come in,” she offers. We step into the beautiful building. I hear the lovely noises of laughing kids and I hope that I could be one of them. “So I’m Ms. Marlow, the head of Hope Orphanage. What are your names?” she asks. “I’m Jane, and I’m ten and this is—” “Max!” he says cheerfully taking the lead. “I’m five,” Max continues as he shows Ms. Marlow his age with his fingers. “Haha!” Ms Marlow says laughing. We are about to enter the room where all the kids are and I hear the happy sound of their voices. We open the door and Ms. Marlow says, “Hello everyone! We have two new friends that will be joining us! This is Jane and this is Max! Everyone say hi and make them feel welcome.” “Hi!!” they all say in harmony. They all run over to Max and I give us a big hug like we are family and we have known each other for ages. Right then I know that this was how we would live the rest of our childhood. With laughs and happiness.

The Goo d Frie nd Jackson Simon

Jesse was having a good day after going to a basketball game with a few of his friends but then his mood changed when he saw something in the corner of his eye. He saw a cop pull over a black guy for no reason. Jesse went up to them and asked the cop what he did wrong. The cop said, “Spencer’s windows on his car here are tinted too dark.” Jesse looked at the windows and they looked fine to him so he said what he thought. The cop gave him a dirty look and yelled out, “So are you some sort of expert on cars now?!” “No,” Jesse said. “So how about you just mind your business and get out!” Another cop came over and asked them if everything was alright. Jesse’s heart started pounding because he didn’t want to get in a fight with two police officers. So Jesse said, “No,” and the cop said, “Yes,” at the same time. The cop who pulled over the guy was named Officer Chris and the cop who just came over was named Officer James. Officer James asked Spencer and Jesse why they said no and they said that Officer Chris pulled over Spencer because his windows were tinted too dark but there was someone who was right next to him whose windows were tinted even darker than Spencer’s and he didn’t pull him over. Officer James didn’t really believe them because Officer Chris has a very very good reputation of being a cop. Officer James and Chris had a talk and Officer Chris kept on denying everything. He was trying to be quiet because he knew that they would rat him out but Jesse heard it. He heard everything and he did 71

not like Officer Chris. Jesse sued him and they went to court and when they got there every other cop gave him dirty looks and could tell and he knew that they were not going to take it easy on them but he did not care. He didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want money. He just wanted equality. So when the trial started, Officer James was the lawyer for Jesse and Spencer which shocked them. James showed a picture of the car from his phone. Then some of the other cops started believing him more but then Officer Chris blurted out that it was photoshopped and the cops said that it was a possibility but then Spencer showed them a video from a surveillance camera from a deli and then Officer Chris got fired. Spencer said that he wanted to be friends with Jesse and he said that he would like that and they have been good friends ever since.

Don ’t Call Me A sh Lila Sinovoi

PROLOGUE Dear Diary, I thought starting high school would be great. New people, new place, new opportunity. But so far it’s been pretty awful. I don’t even have my best friend Sam to be with me since we got into different schools. Today I sat down in ELA and saw this new girl, her name is Ella. I think there is a small little bit of me that likes her. Speaking of that, I keep thinking about how I want to talk to someone about me being gay but I can’t bring myself to tell anyone. I don’t want anyone to make fun of me. Also, mom has seemed off lately. She is not acting as fun as she usually is. She has also seemed lonely. I know that dad left when I was two and mom has always been fine with just me, but now she seems. . . Oh great, mom is here now. “Come on Ash, it’s time for school. You don’t want to be late,” she says as she peeks her head in my room, then starts stepping into it. Ugh school, the old terrible place. I hate school for more reasons than just the work. “Don’t call me Ash!” I call as she walks out of my old small room with light blue walls, a short small bed crammed in one corner. My white dresser is in the other corner and random stickers and posters are everywhere. I’m just noticing how I am gonna have to re-do everything. Mom tries not to make the floor creak as she leaves. 73

CHAPTER 1 School is the place where I feel most alone and shy. No friends with me and I am ignored. It’s like I’m invisible. Also, worst of all I have double period math now. I hate math, all the numbers and work is terrible. And to top it all off my teacher Ms. Jones is the worst teacher anyone could possibly have. I sit there staring into space and started to think about Ella. I think about how her dirty blond, wavy hair blows in the wind. I think about how her bright blue eyes shine in the sunlight. How every outfit she wears matches her. I don’t even really know her, but I can just tell. She is not in my math class, so it’s not like I have something to take my mind off of Ms. Jones. It seems like hours have gone by and I’m still sitting listening to Ms. Jones go on about something I don’t care about at all. BRING! Finally, I leave this old dirty, dusty classroom with uncomfortable chairs and annoying people. “Don’t forget the homework,” Ms Jones calls at us as we leave the classroom. CHAPTER 2 I’m sitting at lunch just watching a typical high school lunch go by with typical high school people, students, and teachers. The teachers are barely paying attention to us. There are about four teachers watching about one thousand kids. All the kids are talking and some are breaking the rules. It looks like a mad house here. Wel,l I guess that’s what you can expect from a high school cafeteria. I miss middle school. Out of nowhere I see Ella walking towards me. Oh my gosh, what am I gonna say? What is she gonna say? As she gets close I realize that she is not walking towards me. When she walks by she doesn’t even acknowledge that I’m right by her literally staring at her. Oh yeah, I should probably stop doing that and look away. I look back to see where Ella is going and I see them. The popular group, Sabina the leader and Kristine and Zoe, her two little minions. Great. This is just great. Ella is gonna turn into one of 74

them and will never be my friend. They wave her over and start chatting away. “Hey, Ashlan right?” Sabina sarcastically says as her little minions giggle away. “Why are you looking over here like that?” My cheeks turn red and all I can get to say is, “Sorry.”I say it so quietly and in a high pitched voice. I turn away and get up to spend the rest of my lunch in the library. CHAPTER 3 “It’s okay,” Sam says as she tries to cheer me up. “They’re just insecure so they have to make someone else feel bad for themselves to feel good.” Every Saturday my mom and I have brunch with Sam and her parents. Then we usually go over to their house and hang out for a few hours. “But why does it have to be me?” I whine. “You’re just probably the easiest target to hit,” she laughs. “Not funny,” I tease. “So what about you? How has your school been?” “Okay I guess,” she says as she puts her head down. I never really see her sad. She is always energetic and happy. “I made a few new friends.” “That’s cool,” I say. “But seriously what’s wrong?” “Nothing, I’m fine.” There is no way that’s true. “Sam, I almost never see you sad like this. Seriously, tell me.” “Okay. I feel really left out, like everyone already knows each other and has their friend groups. Sometimes I wonder if my friends are really my friends. Also, I’m the only one who doesn’t have a boyfriend,” she says. I think she’s glad to tell someone all this. “Wow, okay. Sam, you are the best person I know. I don’t know anyone who would not want to be your friend. And who cares if you don’t have a boyfriend. You’re better without someone to take over your life and ruin your heart. Boys are jerks.” I never thought I could be that confident in myself. CHAPTER 4 We leave Sam’s room and find our parents talking about us and our schools. I hear mom talking about how I have not 75

been acting like myself since high school started. I don’t get what she means by that. They notice us and stop. “What’s up kiddo?” Sam’s dad says, “and kiddo’s best friend.” He always lightens the mood no matter what’s happening. I sometimes think of him as the dad I never had. “What have you girls been up to?” Sam’s mom asks. “Nothing much,” Sam responds. Our moms look at each other. They became best friends a few months after we became best friends, and Sam and I have been best friends since kindergarten. “Well I think we should get going, Ashlan. We have some errands to run,” my mom says, breaking the silence. Sam and I know not to beg to hang out longer. We did that all the time when we were little though. But we’re not little anymore. We grew up. “Okay,” I say as I’m going to give Sam a hug goodbye. “Don’t worry, everything will be fine,” I whisper in Sam’s ear. “Same with you,” she whispers back. ***** Our shopping takes forever. It seems like we were rebuying everything in our apartment. It is long and different. We don’t talk the whole time like we usually do when we shop. It is mostly just shopping. Dear Diary, Everything has been different lately. Sam’s not super fun and energetic all the time anymore. Mom and I seem like we were drifting apart. It’s all different in a bad way. Why can’t things stay the same and be good? I miss how my life was before. I’ve always hated change and this is one of the worst changes I’ve been through. -Ashlan CHAPTER 5 I hate going back to lunch everyday. I am all alone and there are almost no teachers here. This is the spot where the popular group can get to me the easiest. I look up from writing in my diary and see Ella looking at me. Her face is really nervous and kind of like she is actually scared of something. But what though? Wait, she’s watching 76

Sabina walk towards me. What is happening!? I turn and start writing again pretending like I don’t see. The same face that was on Ella is now on me. Sabina gets closer and closer and I don’t know what to do. “Hi Ashlan,” she says to me. “Hi,” I whisper. “What was that? Oh right, you can’t make a louder noise than a mouse squeaking,” she laughs. My cheeks turn pink and now I feel like everyone is staring at us and whispering. I hear someone say, “Poor her.” I don’t hear my real name being said at all though. Does anyone seriously know my name? What is going on right now? All of a sudden I feel something tug at my diary. I turn as Sabina rips it out of my hand. “Give me that!” I yell. “Oh you got louder than a mouse. Congrats,” she says sarcastically as she opens my diary. “Don’t read that!” I feel myself getting louder. “Too late,” she starts flipping through the pages. I’m going to cry. I try to hold back the tears as hard as I can. “Wow, you have a best friend? Poor her.” “Hey!” I yell. “Don’t say that!” She continues, “I really want to talk to someone about me being,” she gasps, “gay! OMG wow. Ashlan, you’re gay? Do you have a crush on anyone? Who would think our little quiet lonely girl would have a secret like this. And no one knows!? Wow. Well, we know now.” She laughs and turns to everyone else in the cafeteria and some of them are also laughing. “Look at our little lesbian guys!” I’m on the edge of crying. I can’t take it anymore. All I can quietly say is, “Please stop reading.” “Oh wow, thanks for letting me keep going. I was not expecting you to let me do this.” The giggles get louder. “Let’s see if we can find a crush in here. Oh got it!” “No,” I whisper. “Again, too late. Here it says ‘I think there is a small bit of me that likes her.’ Now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for is, this girl is . . . Ella!” I hear more laughs. I look up to see Ella freeze. She’s just staring at me. Her blue eyes are big and watery. Everything about her is still 77

perfect, but now I’m scared to feel that way. That’s it, tears stream down my face and I grab the diary. I run into the nurse’s office and have them call my mom to pick me up. CHAPTER 6 Mom has been bugging me to tell her what happened for the past three days. I think I’m finally going to tell her that I’m gay. I’m pretty sure I’m ready. “Mom, I have something to tell you,” I say. “Okay, let’s talk,” she sits down and pats the seat next to her. “I’m gay,” I say as I turn my head. “Wow. I wasn’t expecting that. How long have you known?” she said, seeming surprised. “Since the sixth grade,” I say, turning my head back towards her. “Just so you know, I’m not mad or upset or ashamed. I’m proud of you because, um, you were strong enough to keep this secret for long enough, and were strong enough to feel this way,” she tells me. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” I say. “Oh honey, it’s okay. I don’t mind.” “Okay,” I take a deep breath. “I’m gonna tell you everything that happened.” “Go ahead,” she says. I spend a little while telling her everything that happened, about Ella and Sabina, my diary, and school in general. I saw her face look kind of scared, but she also looks like she might go to the principal and complain. That would make it even worse. “Thanks for telling me,” she says. “No problem,” I say. CHAPTER 7 When I walk into school everyone is whispering and pointing. All of it just makes me hang my head even more. All I can think about is what will happen when I see Ella. I have two classes with her today and I’m kind of nervous. Actually, I’m really nervous. I don’t know what I’m going to do. “Oh my gosh, look who it is,” I see Sabina walking towards me with her minions. 78

Oh gosh why does this have to be happening to me? I put on my hood and try to walk away. “Where are you going?” she asks, and then turns to Kristine and Zoe. “I bet she’s going to find Ella,” she whispers too loudly. That was probably on purpose but if it wasn’t she really has to work on her whispering skills. “Don’t say that,” I say. “Oh, why not? Are you scared it’s true?” she says. “No, it’s not,” I still can’t stop whispering and really talk. “Whatever,” she says and starts walking away. “Yeah whatever,” Kristine says, trying to be cool. She follows Sabina away. A few periods later, I pass Ella in the hallway and am sure she saw me. I saw her look my way and then turn and walk the opposite way. I mean, I can understand why she is embarrassed but shouldn’t I be more embarrassed than her? ***** I think it’s finally time to tell Sam so I ask her if I can come over and she says yes. At her house we spend a long time just hanging out and having fun like old times. But I keep trying to find the right time to tell her. I finally just blurt out, “I have to tell you something.” “What?” she asks. “First, something awful happened to me a few days ago. I was minding my own business at lunch and this jerk named Sabina comes up to me and steals my diary, then she reads it out loud in front of the whole cafeteria.” “What?! How could you let someone do that to you? I’m so sorry Ashlan, I feel terrible,” she says. She sounds like she really cares. “Thanks,” I say. “But, um, in that diary it said something that I want to talk to you about.” “Go ahead,” she says. I can tell she really wants to know. “Um, so, um . . .” she cuts me off. “Um, so, um, what is it? Hurry up. And sorry if I’m sounding rude.” Now I know she really wants to know. “I’m gay,” I say. “What? How come you never told me this?” Now she sounds like she’s starting to get mad. Why though? “Why are you getting mad?” I ask. “I’m not so mad, but really Ashlan? You should have 79

told me. We have been best friends since kindergarten and promised to tell each other everything. That right there is a secret you kept from me. Ashlan, you know literally everything about me.” She pauses. “Because that’s what best friends do,” she quietly yells. “Well you didn’t tell me that you felt left out until I forced you to. Is that what best friends do?” I say starting to get mad at her. There was no reason for her to yell at me like that. I got up and said, “You know Sam, I came here to my best friend for support. You have no idea how hard this has been for me. You have no idea how going through something like that feels. It’s not up to you to decide when and how I tell people. You have no right to get mad at me like that. I guess support is not what I got.” I leave her house really frustrated and mad at her. I mean what best friend does that? CHAPTER 8 Almost an hour after I got home I got a text from Sam. Oh great. It says, “Hi Ashlan, I’m sorry I got made before. I was just surprised you didn’t tell me sooner, and I know it’s not up to me. But when that happens to you, you have to stand up for yourself. I was also mad that you didn’t do that. Don’t let anyone treat you like that.” I thought about what Sam said and she was right. I ask myself why I let them do that to me, but I know it is because I am scared and shy. The next day in school I am leaving the terrible place of Ms. Jones class to go to the other terrible place, lunch. I still hear whispers of what happened as I walk past people in the hall. I sit down at my usual table, all alone, and start to eat. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sabina walking towards me. And here we go again. She gets to my table and I think about Sam’s text. Then I say, “What now Sabina?” “Aww, the little lonely quiet girl is standing up for herself, how brave,” she laughs. I feel more confident in myself so I say, “You know what Sabina, I have had enough of you trying to ruin my life.” I look around and see people looking over at us, including Ella. Good, now everyone can see how the little quiet girl stood up to the most popular girl in school. “So whatever you have 80

to say to me, just say it. I don’t care about what you and your minions think about me, my diary, or anyone else in this school anymore.” I use Sam’s words. “You are just insecure so you have to make someone else feel bad about themselves so you can feel good about yourself.” I think I need to wrap it up now so I take a deep breath and say, “Okay, now can you get whatever it is over with so I can eat my lunch peacefully?” I say all this feeling really proud of myself. Sabina just stands there looking stunned. I bet she never thought anyone would say those things to her, especially me. She finally says, “Okay gosh, you don’t have to be so dramatic,” then she slowly turns and walks away. As I’m leaving my last class I see Ella walking in the hallway. As we pass each other she smiles at me and I know everything is going to be okay from now on. THE END

T w o - F a ced Akira Sitorus

PROLOGUE: Dear Diary, As you know, Sarah, Sabrina, Sabine, Samantha (also known as the “S squad”) and I have been friends since kindergarten. Well, we have been more than friends, we were like sisters. We were always together. We told each other everything, until I ended up telling them too much. It started in eighth grade when I came out to them as lesbian. I thought they would be super supportive but instead the S squad had a sleepover and were discussing how they didn’t want to be friends with a homosexual. It would ruin their “reputation” or so they told me. They said such hurtful things, even Samantha who I had a crush on. But that was over. It was hard for me to debate whether I should still be friends with them since they already knew all my secrets or if I should just end our toxic friendship. Spoiler alert: I ended it. I mean, it was eighth grade. What were the odds that I would ever see the S squad again . . . - Maddie CHAPTER 1: “Maddison!” Mom shrieked. “Come quickly! NOW!” My mom is a very chill person, so hearing her scream this loud and this startled made me sprint downstairs to see what was wrong. 82

“I’m coming! Calm down!” I hollered back. I ran down the squeaky stairs to see my mom sitting down on our couch glaring at her iPhone 11 in such a shock. My mom and I are like best friends, so I know she felt the same pain I felt when I heard the words, “You got into LaGuardia.” “WHAT!?” I gasped. “I said you got into LaGuardia!” Okay, I know that LaGuardia is a good school. Wel,l a great school for people like me who really want a career in the arts. But I recently heard that the S squad got into LaGuardia for the same talent as me: theater. I know that it seems childish that I don’t want to go to high school because of some mean girls, but it’s so much more than that. “Honey, what are the odds you guys will have the same classes? There are so many people who also got into LaGuardia for the same talent.” But I couldn’t handle all this stress. I just needed to enjoy the last two weeks of summer. So I called my best friend Gracie and we headed to our neighborhood lake. CHAPTER 2: I have never seen Gracie so happy. “Maddie, I have huge news!” Gracie says as we hug. She’s wearing her cherry blossom perfume, my favorite one. “Same,” I reply as I try to sound as happy as I can, but somehow even thinking about going to the same school as the S squad made me sick. “You go first,” I say, hoping that it’s something that won’t make me feel even worse than already. “Okay, so you know Brandon,” Ugh, Brandon: another person I hated. Brandon had a crush on the same person I had a crush on, Gracie, so I kinda, maybe, lied to Gracie saying that I liked him so that maybe she wouldn’t go out with him because that would be against the “girl code.” “Yeah of course, I know Brandon,” I shoot back. “Well I sort of, asked him out and we went on a date.” I don’t know how to react to this. “Uh . . . um . . . I . . . I gotta go, bye,” I stuttered. “WAIT! I’M SORRY!” Gracie calls. But I make sure to keep running.

Dear Diary, Wow! Another reason to hate Brandon! I cannot stand to be around Gracie knowing that she has feelings for someone else. Someone who isn’t me. Feelings for Brandon! However, Gracie always thought that I liked him, so why would she ask him to go out with her? That’s suspicious. I need new friends. - Maddie CHAPTER 3: Beep! Beep! I don’t want to go to school. But somehow I manage to roll myself out of bed and slip on my fluffy slippers so that I don’t have to feel the cold hardwood floor. I go into my white, big, modern bathroom and I stare at myself in my big mirror above my sink. I look at myself and I wonder what I did, to be cursed with this body. I pick out grey sweatpants and a pink shirt that ties in the front. I put on my favorite necklace and my white Air Force 1’s. I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard, but I want to look good. “Good morning sunshine!” my dad calls. How did everyone get downstairs before me? Even my 16-year-old sister Olivia was dressed and ready to head to school. “Hey lil sis! I made your favorite!” You see, Olivia is kind of the golden child. She can bake, cook, play volleyball, she’s pretty, and she’s super smart. How does one compete with that? “Today’s your first day as a freshman! My baby’s in highschool!” My mom is so over dramatic. Anyway, I am determined to eat my breakfast slowly so that I can stall this horrid day a little longer. At least twenty minutes went by when Olivia starts to get into the car. Oh shoot! It’s 8:05 AM! I may hate school but I still want to get good grades and I can’t do that if I’m late on my first day. I quickly rush into Olivia’s car and I realize that I don’t even have time to brush my teeth. “Oh well,” I think to myself as I put some minty gum in my mouth. I look out the window of the car and Olivia drives us to school. CHAPTER 4: Wow! There are hundreds of students standing outside 84

the school waiting to get in. As soon as the security guards open the school doors, everyone sprints inside. Not me. I will take my sweet time walking through those doors. Once I go in, there is no going back. I am not ready to be the youngest again! But that is definitely not my biggest problem. I quickly remember the card I had with my class on it and I pull it out of one of the pockets in my sweatpants. “Watch it!” someone said after I accidentally bumped into them. That voice was very familiar. It was a soft voice, so you wouldn’t expect to hear them say those words in such a rude tone. Wait! I look up and I catch a glance of Sabine and her squad pushing through everyone like they own the place. Of course, matching lavender dresses. Bleh! All new freshmen take their seats in the big auditorium. I observe the uncomfortable looking wooden chairs. I take my seat while trying to avoid any contact with the S squad. The principal walks on stage along with a bunch of other teachers. I guess this is orientation. “Good morning freshman and welcome to LaGuardia!” a man wearing a suit and tie announces. “I am your principal Mr. Mangano.” And this was the beginning of a three hour long orientation. After wasting 3 hours of my life, I head to my fourth period class with Ms. Macklemoore for math. “Welcome class!” she exclaims while more and more kids walk into class. “I hope you all had a STUPENDOUS summer! I have written a do-now on the board. This is not graded. It is just for me to see what I should teach you guys.” I take my binder out of my bookbag and I start working on the do-now when I hear giggling and laughter coming from the hallway. I look up to see the S squad, but of course they leave Samantha out and make her walk in front of them making sure she is missing out on their “fun.” They are so toxic. Each member of the S squad gives me dirty looks as they walk by me. I can’t stand to even look at them. It’s sickening and disturbing that they know everything about me and they can use it all against me but I know nothing about them. Dear Diary, I need to figure out how to get revenge on the S squad. I need to find some dirt on them. At least something that I can use against them. Or something that will make them not 85

want to expose my secret anymore than they already do. I’ll think about it more after school. -Maddie And just like that, fourth period is over. “I hope everyone copied down everything on the board, you’ll need it.” Ms. Macklemoore glares at me. “Um, yeah totally.” I slowly back away. I look down at my schedule. “Theater,” I whisper to myself. Finally, something I enjoy! Maybe this will take my mind off of the whole S squad drama. CHAPTER 5: “Helloooo class!! I am Ms. Liz!” She seems so happy and preppy. I bet that will all change tomorrow. It’s too good to be true. “I assume you all know how to act since you are in the drama talent, so your first assignment is to find a partner to do some cold reading!” I would have rather done improv but cold reading is also fun, I guess. My partner was Hannah Foster and when we were acting out our scripts I got a huge idea that could hopefully save me from a horrible freshman year. Dear Diary, Here is my plan for having a good freshman year and possibly stopping the drama with the S squad (so that I don’t forget): Buy cute clothes to catch the S squad’s eye Start pretending to be nice to them Slowly find my way back into their friend group Get them to trust me Find their secrets Tell them the truth about what I’ve been doing Blackmail them CHAPTER 6: It’s Saturday and instead of sleeping, I’m online 86

shopping at stupid, basic stores. Ew. Not my style at all. But I need to find something cute to wear so that I can stand out to the S squad. Is this what high school is going to be like? If it is, then I’m dropping out. “Hey honey,” mom whispers as she walks into my room, “Woah! Maddie? Awake at eight o’clock in the morning on the weekend? Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?!” she jokes. “I’m shopping,” I laugh. “What! Without me?!” “Okay, bye mom.” That’s my signal for her to leave the room without being rude. “Have fun shopping!” she winks at me. Honestly, I’m kind of enjoying shopping for clothes. What has high school done to me? I take a break from shopping and finding some really cute things after two hours. Wow. After breakfast I go back upstairs to my room to practice how I will approach the S squad. “Uh . . . ‘Hey it’s been a while.’ Nope not that. ‘Wanna hang?’ Ugh, why is this so hard? You know what? I give up!” I plop down face flat on my bed in complete frustration. CHAPTER 7: Dear Diary, First of all, it’s Monday and I am currently awake at 4:30 AM. Why am I like this? Well, I can’t fall asleep, so I will just write my feelings down. If I’m being honest, I’m kind of really nervous for today. I mean, is this the right thing to do? Do I even want to do this? At least, I think I do but I just don’t know. I still haven’t even found a way to approach the S squad. I’ve only been at high school for less than a week and I already hate it. Oh boy. It’s going to be a long four years. And that’s only if I graduate. Great, now I feel worse. Ugh! I really wish I was sick today. Whatever, I just have to push through. I guess I should start getting ready for school. Wish me luck, I’m going to need it. -Maddie Ding, ding, ding! Seriously. Someone is really delivering a package at 5:53 AM. I go downstairs to sign for the package 87

and it’s my new clothes! I ordered them on Saturday and they came faster than I expected. I can’t believe my family is still asleep, even after the loud sound of the doorbell. I run up to my room very eager to try on my new clothes. After maybe 20 minutes of my private fashion show, I chose to wear this white cropped shirt with a butterfly in the middle, with this high waisted yellow plaid skirt. I examine myself in the mirror in my room and I actually feel good about myself. Something I haven’t felt in a while. Especially since I dicovered I was a lesbian. I have always been surrounded by steryotypes about homosexual people and stupid homophobic jokes that people think are okay. Everywhere I would go, I always felt so out of place by people who use LGBTQ+ related slurs and people who are mean about other people’s sexuality in general. They forced me to hate who I am and hate how I feel about girls. That is the reason why Sabine, Sabrina, Sarah, and Samantha were the only people I came out to other than my family. Holy crap! It’s already seven o’clock! I go along with my regular morning routine trying to avoid my family. I don’t know why but I just don’t want to talk to them. “Hey sista!” Olivia seems happier than usual but I’m not in the mood right now. I ignore her and get my stuff so I can head to school. “Do you know what’s going on with her?” I hear my mom whisper to my dad. “I’M FINE!” I yell with tears bursting out my eyes. I feel so stupid. I have no clue why I am upset, but I just can’t help it. I get on the bus and walk to the very back. I keep my head down. When I get off the bus I look at my phone before entering the school and there are twenty missed calls from mom and dad, eighty-three messages from Olivia, dad, and mom. But I don’t respond to them, I just walk into the school. CHAPTER 8: “Hey, how’s it going?” I look up to see Sabine and all of the other members of her squad, surrounding my desk. This is my shot, I think to myself. “It’s pretty good. We haven’t spoken in a while.” I’m trying my best to make small talk. 88

“We miss you.” I’ve always known Samantha to be the only truthful person in that group. So I knew she wasn’t lying when she said this. “I miss you guys too.” Those words taste like vomit, but I tried to keep a smile on my face. Sarah butts in and says, “Well, I’m having a get-together after school, and I would really appreciate it if you came.” Wow, this is easier than I think. “Yeah, definitely! At your house?” I try to sound as excited as I can. “Yup!” Sarah confirms. “See you there!” Samantha says. “Okay class take your seats!” my literacy teacher calls as he walks in. He’s twenty minutes late. But I don’t mind since it gives me extra time to relax before class starts. CHAPTER 9: “Huh?” I whisper after I get tapped on the shoulder. Did I fall asleep in class again? I jerk around and I get handed a note apparently from Sabine who sits all the way across the room from me. The note says: “Hey girl! Since we are all friends again, I wanted to know if you wanted to sit with us at lunch today. xoxo” ~ Sabine I cannot believe I actually accept their invitation. I despise myself. “Have a good day y’all!” Mr. O’Brien says after the bell rings. “Hey!” The S squad says in unison as they hug me from behind. We all start walking to lunch and they start talking about random things in their life. I try to keep up by saying somewhat interesting things, but also making sure that whatever I say can’t be used against me. However, now that we are all “friends” again, I realize how much I miss our friendship. At lunch, we talk about basic things like boys, shopping, social media, all of which I know nothing about. While we are all talking, I notice Samantha practically drooling while staring at our classmate Hannah Foster. I wonder if she’s . . . 89

she can’t be . . . Is she . . . A LESBIAN?! After all these years of bullying me for being homosexual, I see her doing this! I can’t keep up with this act. I grab my stuff and run to the nearest girls’ bathroom. “Hey Mads! Where are you going?” Samantha calls after me. I keep running. Sabine and her squad all stand up and run after me. CHAPTER 10: “Hey, hey, wake up.” I find myself on the floor looking up at a nurse, multiple teachers, the principal, and a lot of students, including the S squad. “I’m fine.” I assure the nurse, “I’m just going to head home.” “Okay, feel better.” The principal replies. I pick up my stuff from the ground and I walk home. Ding! Ding! Ding! My phone is blowing up with text messages as I am walking home, but I’m not going to answer them until I get home. Should I confront Samantha? As soon as I got home I decided to call Samantha. I need to tell her how I feel about what she did. “Hello, this is Samantha, how may I help you?” “Hey Samantha, it’s Maddie.” “Oh, hi Maddie! How are you feeling?” “I’m feeling better thanks for asking.” After five minutes of small talk, I decided to get this over with. “Um . . . Samantha, I have a question.” “Go for it.” “This might sound a little bit . . . uh, are you lesbian?” “What! Why would you ask me that?” “Well, today at lunch, you were kinda checking Hannah out.” “Don’t tell ANYONE. But I am lesbian.” “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” My face felt really hot. “YOU SPENT THREE WHOLE YEARS BULLYING ME FOR BEING LESBIAN AND I COME TO FIND OUT THAT YOU ARE LESBIAN TOO!?” “I’m really sorry, Maddison.” 90

“No you aren’t.” And those are my last words that I will be saying to Samathna for a while. Hopefully. CHAPTER 11: My parents let me stay home from school today, so I mostly just lay in bed thinking about how much I hate Samantha. She bullied me for 3 straight years knowing the thing she bullied me for was the major thing we had in common. And it really hurts because I was starting to like her again. Ring! I check to see who’s calling me. Ugh! It’s Samantha. I have no clue why, but I answer. “What do you want?” “Okay the reason I bullied you, was because I like you. I like you a lot.” “That makes absolutely no sense.” “Listen. I knew you always liked Gracie, and I was angry.” “So you really do like me?” “Yes I’m in love with you.” “Oh.” “Do you like me back?” “Um. Come to my house today.” “Can I come now? I didn’t go to school today.” “Yeah.” “Okay bye.” Beep! Dear Diary, I don’t know how to handle this. Samantha doesn’t know this but, I actually had a crush on her and Gracie. But after Samantha betrayed my trust along with the other S’s, that’s when I started liking Gracie more and more. Should I make a move on Samantha? She’s here, I’m going to let her in. -Maddie CHAPTER 12: I go downstairs and I take Samantha up to my room. When Samantha leaves my room to go to the bathroom, I look at her phone to make sure she isn’t recording us. When she gets 91

back from the bathroom we sit on my bed for a couple of minutes in awkward silence. Then Samantha puts her hand on top of my hand. As soon as we make eye contact she says, “I’m in love with you.” We both lean in closer and our lips meet. That kiss made me feel safe, like nothing bad will happen. I kissed her soft warm lips. It felt magical. “So what now?” I ask after our kiss. “Well, I don’t know.” “Do we date?” “Do you want to?” “Yeah, yeah, I do.” “Let’s do it.” I take a glance at my phone. “Oh shoot, it’s two o’clock! You should get home before your parents do.” I walk her out and we share one last kiss before we separate. “See you tomorrow,” she says while leaving my light gray house. CHAPTER 13: At school the next day, Samantha and I walk into school hand-in-hand and we fight against the rude homosexual jokes and steryotypes. I hear all the whispers about us, but we just stop and kiss in front of those heartless homophobic people so that they know we couldn’t care less about what they think of us. And we are not going to listen to how they think we should live our lives. We are fighting against that. I’m sick and tired of living my life based on what other people think. They don’t control me, you, or us. We deserve better. Don’t let anyone say otherwise. I had to learn that the hard way. But now, Samantha and I are happy. All of those LGBTQ+ related slurs just bounce off of us. We will live our lives the way we want. And no matter what you say, you can’t change how we feel. So yeah I’m lesbian, and there is nothing you can do about it. THE END

R a cism Ciara Thomas

One beautiful family: Mariela, Kyan, and their two beautiful kids Karina and Caleb. Mariela is twenty-one years old and Kyan is twenty-two years old. Karina is eleven and Caleb is twelve. Mariela and Kyan told Karina and Caleb to, “go with auntie and uncle and we’ll be back.” Karina and Kyan nodded and said, “To do what, Ma?” Mariela said, “It’s a secret”. Mariela and Kyan went to the car and when Mariela went to open the door she saw a white policeman staring at her. Then the policeman went inside the police car. Mariela said, “Trouble.” Kyan said “Ignore it—Maybe he’s just staring out in space.” “Okay then.” Mariela got into the car and left. Since they were on the road, Mariela decided to text Karina. . . Mariela: “Hey hun is everything ok?” Karina: “Yea mom why?” Mariela: “No nothing, just checking up. . .” Karina: “Okay whatever you say Ma!” Karina: “Okay my auntie calling me for dinner” Mariela: “Okay bye baby love you!” 93

Karina: “Bye mom!” When Mariela shut her phone off they were pulled over by the white policeman that Mariela saw before when she was getting into the car. Then she realized that he was trying to get them in trouble and she told Kyan that there was trouble and she texted Caleb immediately. Mariela: “Hey Caleb, there’s trouble and tell the family. . .” Caleb: “Oh okay, Mom are you okay?” Caleb said, “GUYS THERE’S TROUBLE WITH MOM AND DAD, BUT THEY ARE OK!” Mariela: “You told them?” Caleb: “Yeah mom” When Kyan pulled over, the white policeman knocked on the window and said, “Were you drinking sir?” Kyan said, “No sir, I was not.” “ “May I get the license and registration sir?” said the policeman. “Yes sir, I’m reaching with two fingers and opening the glove department.” Kyan gave his license and his registration. Then somehow the policeman pointed his gun at him. Kyan and Mariela were so confused that they were dragged out of the car and they were going to get arrested. Mariela was arrested for “threatening” and Kyan was arrested for “putting hands on” and a couple of hours later they weren’t freed and had to go to court before they could leave and if they were found not guilty they would be free but if they were found guilty they would have to stay in jail for two years or more if the police officer was injured. A few hours passed and then the judge proceeded with Mariela. “Do you swear that the evidence that you shall give shall be truth, the whole truth,and nothing but the truth?” “I do,” said Mariela. ”Is it true that you’ve threatened this police officer?” said the lawyer. 94

“No it’s not true. What really happened of what this officer said was all a whole LIE.” The lawyer said, “Then what really happened?” “So what really happened was that me and Kyan was driving and then Kyan saw the siren and then Kyan just decided that he would pull over. Then THIS police officer came over and knocked on the window,and just said, ‘May I get the license and registration sir?’ Then Kyan said, ‘Yes sir I’m reaching with two fingers and opening the glove department,’ Then somehow he just put his gun at us and him and his partner dragged us out of OUR CAR and now this is happening and our kids are now scared to death because they thought we were shot!” “Kyan you are to proceed,” said the judge. “Do you swear that the evidence that you shall give shall be truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” “I do,” said Kyan. “Is it true that you’d put hands on?” said the lawyer. “No I didn’t.” “Was Mariela’s story that happened true?” “Yes it was,” said Kyan. “Was it true that you had been touched and you didn’t touch anyone?” “Yes, I’ve been touched by the policeman and no I did not touch anyone.” The judge had decided that Kyan and Mariela were not guilty and that they were free to go home and the police man would have consequences for making a lie that would very badly hurt Kyan and Mariela. Kyan and Mariela have been home and safe and never had to deal with this issue ever again. The End

Post er s Camille Vitse

“Wake up Alex, you don’t want to be late for your first day!” To be honest, I couldn’t really comprehend whether my mom or my dad yelled that. I was too tired. I had stayed up almost all night. I got up and rubbed my eyes, which made the whole room foggy. I walked to my closet and picked up the outfit I had carefully chosen the night before. I pulled the curtains back from the large windows so that the sun could brighten the room. I took a second to enjoy the beautiful September morning. “Alex, stop daydreaming and come get breakfast!” That time, I knew it was my mom. “I’m coming!” I quickly slipped on the outfit and ran into the kitchen. Naturally Jenna, my best friend, was already waiting for me. Even though she didn’t live here, she always managed to be here before I was awake. “You look really tired,” she commented. “I know, I stayed up almost all night trying to find an outfit that still fits me,” I replied. “We should get to school. We’re already late.” I nod and grab my bag as I walk out the door. The first day of school went by super fast. I hugged Jenna goodbye and walked to the subway station. As I walked onto the platform, I noticed a girl that was in my math class. She was with some boys that I also recognized from our school. As I watched, I noticed they started to crowd around her and get up in her face. She was trying to push them away and was 96

obviously very uncomfortable. “Leave her alone,” I only slightly yelled, not wanting to make a scene and embarrass her even more. The boys all looked up and stared at me for a second. Finally one of them said, “Let’s just go, she’s not worth it.” They all nodded and walked away. I let go a deep sigh of relief. “Are you okay?” I ask the girl who I knew as Elizabeth. “I’m fine. You shouldn’t have done that, it was none of your business. Besides, I was handling it,” Elizabeth said as her cheeks got redder. “Okay,” was all I said back. I started to walk away when she said, “But thank you for helping me.” I turned my head and smiled. But I was still really upset that boys from my school would disrespect her like that. Schools are supposed to teach you to do the opposite. Over the next few days, I noticed how much of that stuff actually happens in my school and how unnoticed it goes. That’s what made me the most mad: the fact that people acted like it was normal when something was really wrong. People had to take notice of things like this and if they weren’t going to do it themselves, I had to do it for them. I stayed up almost all night again, making hundreds of pieces of paper with quotes from many different role models and people that spoke about racial and gender rights. The next morning I searched for Jenna in the courtyard until I finally spotted her. I presented my idea and showed her the posters that I had made the night before. Tto my surprise, she was really excited and said that she had experienced those types of things before as well. We got started the second we got inside. We must have put a poster in every part of our huge school. By the time it was lunch, people started to talk about our posters. Once the seventh period started, almost everyone was talking about the posters but I should have known that not everyone would like them. At the end of the day the loudspeaker came on: “Alex Parker and Jenna Twinkle, please come to my office immediately when your classes end!” The whole class quickly turned their heads to look at 97

Jenna and I. Once we got out of class we went straight to the principal’s office, as we were told to, and sat in the two seats in front of his desk. “Do you girls know why you’re here?” he asked as he folded his hands. “No sir,” I lied. There was a moment of silence. “You’re here because, although those posters send an important message, I think you took it a bit too far. Multiple fights have been reported to me today, and all of them were over disagreements about your posters.” Jenna and I looked at each other with surprised faces. “Therefore, I have no choice but to punish you for your actions. You will have to take your posters down.” “But Principal Johnson, that’s exactly my point! These are quotes about everyone’s rights. They are supposed to be part of what this school teaches. Yet every single day, people are doing the exact opposite!” “Don’t raise your voice at me young lady, I’ve made up my mind, you will be puni—” “You want to punish me for bringing attention to these things?! I am doing the job that you are too lazy to get off your butt and do!” I knew I shouldn’t have said it, but not one bit of me regretted it. “THAT IS ENOUGH! You will be suspended for the rest of the week! That is all. You are dismissed!” We just sat there shocked, looking for words, until we decided it would just be better to leave. On the train ride home, I searched my mind for what I was going to tell my mom. She would ground me for life if she knew what I said to the principal. After a while of thinking, I decided it would just be safer to not tell her at all. But I still couldn’t believe the principal would yell like that to his students, or that he could yell like that at all. Despite what Mr. Johnson thought, I wasn’t giving up that easily. That night I stayed up later than I ever have because my new plan was even better. The next morning came and I had barely gotten any sleep. Dark circles had formed underneath my eyes that were barely open, and yet, I wasn’t at all tired. I was about to do something that would bring attention to what needs to change. The second I walked out of my house, I called Jenna. “Hey Jenna, I need your help with something. Can you 98

meet me at the school?” “Alex, did you already forget? We’re suspended and I’m grounded.” “I know, but I have a bigger and better idea than what we did yesterday.” “Alex, you’re gonna get yourself expelled. I want to help, but don’t want to get expelled either.” “So what if we get expelled? We’re bringing awareness to a problem that needs to be fixed.” “Sorry Alex, but you’re on your own for this one.” “Whatever, if you actually wanted to make a difference you would help me but you obviously don’t. And never did.” “Alex I—” But I had already hung up. I didn’t want to talk to her or see her right now or maybe for a while. Once I had made it to the school, I snuck to the back of the building where I intended to start hanging up the posters. About two hours had passed and I was almost finished covering the entire building. I was on the last poster when I saw the principal’s assistant walk past me. She must have been late to work. I quickly tried to hide but it was too late. She had already noticed me and what I was working on. She ran inside and didn’t look back. I decided that I should just finish what I was doing before leaving. After all, there was only one poster left. I realized that I needed more tape to put the poster up so I reached in my bag but t I couldn’t find any tape. I looked and looked until I finally found it and before I knew it, ten minutes had passed but I was determined to finish the job. I quickly hung up the poster and turned around to walk away, but it was too late. I watched as two police cars pulled up in front of me, their sirens blaring. Everything was in slow motion. The police officers got out of their cars and ran up to me. Each of them grabbed one of my arms and started to drag me to their cars. I turned my head and saw Jenna running up the block unable to speak. “PUT ME DOWN!” I screamed. People began to gather around and videotape. I saw Principal Johnson on the corner speaking to another police officer and pointing his long finger at me. All I wanted to do was strangle him! I kicked and screamed, trying to break the grip of the officers, but I wasn’t strong enough. “Arrested?! For vandalizing your own school?! You’re lucky they only put you in a holding cell!” is what my mom 99

yelled at me when she picked me up from the police station. I didn’t feel lucky, not at all. I felt betrayed. By Jenna, by the principal, and most of all, by life itself. For the rest of the week, neither me nor my parents said a word to each other. I hadn’t spoken to Jenna since the fight that we had, and to be honest, I really missed her. Being my stubborn self, I wouldn’t admit that until she did. Monday finally came, and trying to avoid awkward silence with my parents, I left for school before they woke up. As I approached the school yard, I noticed that Jenna was there as well. She must have gotten up early and not had anywhere to go but my house, but she knew she couldn’t have gone there. I turned around and tried to go back home, but she had already noticed me. “Alex, please wait” She sounded so desperate that I couldn’t just walk away. I turned around and looked at her. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. She must have been crying. “Aww, Jenna, are you okay?” She was my best friend, I couldn’t just let her be sad like that. She burst out in tears. “I tried, I really tried to come help you. I should have done that in the first place!” she said as I embraced her in a soothing hug and tried to calm her down. “I know. This is stupid. Why are we fighting?” “I don’t know,” she said. There was a quick silence where we just looked at each other. We both burst out laughing in a joke that no one but us could understand. “I missed you so much!” she wailed. “I missed you too!” We hugged one more time before walking into school, our hands laced together. The second I walked through the doors of the school, people started to crowd around me. They were all congratulating me and yelling my name in a chant. “What?!?” I said, finally getting only one of them to speak. “Principal Johnson was fired!” A girl said. “What?! Why?” I asked. “Because of what he did to you and because of all the things he let happen! They said that he should have made us aware of these things and that all this was his fault” I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say. I got our principal fired! Jenna hugged me but I could barely hug her back, I wasn’t able to move. “You did it Alex, you did it!” 100

The next few days went by in a blur. A bunch of people would just randomly come up and congratulate me. But getting the principal fired wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t what I was so shocked and happy about. I was so happy because for the first time, I was able to make a difference.

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Th e On e Change to Sav e Ev e r y t hin g Angelina Rose Wallenstein

I was only fourteen years old. I got my first job as a cash register clerk and little did I know it would change my life forever. Let me tell you my story. Work was great at first. I made a lot of friends and even repaired some old friendships with Jamie, Seth, Gabriella, Mark and Nick (even though I’ve known Seth my whole entire life and this was something new and a brand new challenge). It was the first day of work and my two best friends were Jamie and Nick. I knew Jamie since the fifth grade but after we graduated we went our separate ways so when I learned we would be reunited I was ecstatic. When we saw each other we were both like, “OMG, Hi!” and we were talking and conferencing and then I was like, “I’m so excited to see you!” and she replied, “ME TOO!” We were so excited to be reunited once again and for the reuniting path. This all started from just one simple payment. We just had gotten our payment for the month and the boys got a thousand dollars but the girls only got five hundred dollars. Gabriella and I stormed to our boss and argued, “Why do we only get five hundred dollars and they get one thousand dollars? It isn’t fair!” “It’s not fair just because we are female. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get equal pay,” ranted Gabriella. “You should be lucky you even have this job! NOW GO BACK TO WORK!” said Nick. Later, Nick came to me as I was stacking apples up and they kept falling. “It’s just five hundred dollars short,” he said. “I don’t even care about the money. It’s their excuses!” 102

“But that’s how it is so. . .” “YOU AREN’T HELPING! LEAVE ME ALONE!” “Well don’t ask me to help your parents anytime soon with the mortgage.” “Well, fine then. We didn’t need the help anyways.” But not too long after the payment happened we had a major protest for women’s rights and of course, the boys didn’t really care. But the owner was threatening so we went to court and sued. So the judge ordered them to pay fifteen hundred dollars every month to everyone and after that it was a dream come true and I will wait to see you next time for the new story. The End.

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L i l y ’s M om Allyssa Wilson

One day Lily and Blossom were walking from school and they talked about how life is hard for adults. All of a sudden, the topic was brought up about, “Why some people are poor and some people are rich.” They were both going to Lily’s house to hangout. When they walked up to the house, Lily said, ‘’Oh my gosh!” Something did not look right, there was a problem and they saw it in her mom’s face. As Lily and Blossom walked home, they talked about life and about how people with a lot of money can do everything while people with no money can’t do anything. They were happy until they noticed that someone threw all of their stuff outside.They wondered why. Lily said, ‘’What’s going on?’’ Blossom said “I don’t know what’s going on. Go and get your mother.’’ Lily was frustrated about her stuff and worried about her mom. That night they had to sleep in the car and it wasn’t comfortable at all. This was because they didn’t have enough money to stay in the house so the bank was taking it away. The next day her mom said, ‘’Go to school and I will find a way to make money to get our house back.” Lily and Blossom ran home to see Lily’s mom. All of the stuff was back in the house and Lily’s mom was standing by the front door. Lily laughed and said, ‘’Mom did you rob the bank or something?! Where did all this stuff come from?” Mom said “ No! What? Are you crazy?” But secretly, her mom knew it was true. She did have to rob a bank to get the money to save their house. 104

After a few days, Lily and Blossom were hanging out and noticed on the news that a bank was robbed in the area where they live. They turned to each other and at the same time said, “ Oh My God!” The girls found out that Lily’s mom had robbed the bank and Lily was right all along. They had to make a decision whether to call the police or not. They needed to go do the right thing even though Lily’s mom would get in big trouble and they might lose their house. They decided they had to call the police. The police came to the house and arrested Lily’s mom and then she went to jail. Lily was so upset and had to go live with Blossom and her family. Years later, Lily’s mom got out of jail and she felt like a new person. She got back home, met Lily, and told her she had to change her ways. She was not going to rob or steal anymore! Lily’s mom said, “I’m sorry honey, I shouldn’t have done that.” Lily said, “How could you?” Lily’s mom said, “We needed the money! We are not rich people and I wanted you to be happy.” Lily turned to her mom and said, “Mom, it doesn’t matter where we live. We have each other and that’s all that matters.” They hugged and Lily’s mom gave her a kiss on the cheek. Lily looked at her and said, “Mom, that’s disgusting!” The End

105

B el i ef Spencer Ahyee

If you are told to do what you don’t want to do To say something you don’t want to say To act in a way you don’t want to act Like a puppet being controlled by the puppet master Because of what you believe IN You will feel like you’re always wrong like everything you do is incorrect You will feel down like a weight being thrown into the big endless sea But you need to remember to believe in what you believe in Stand up for what feels right even if it’s wrong in other people’s eyes

106

M ax

Ashley Bones

I am Max. I am going to a new school and I am not happy where I live. “It is not a bad school but it is a bad school,” my mom says to me. I love to have fun on the bus. The bus is fun but I made a new friend, his name is Alex. He sat next to me on the bus. He asked me to be his friend. I said yes. We arrived at school. A teacher that was black told us to come with her. Our teacher was nice but our class was in the basement. It is not nice but I was okay with it. School is over. The bus came to pick us up and we went home. I wanted to tell my mom everything when I came home but to my surprise I did not see my mom. I saw my mom with a guy I haven’t seen before. My mom came up to me. She said, “Oh good, you’re home. I have a friend for you to meet. His name is Timothy.” But I wasn’t happy to meet Timothy. I wanted to talk to my mom about how I feel but she was talking to Timothy. I mean I was okay with it. My mom wasn’t there when I needed her the most. Well, I went up to my room. I started doing my homework. My mom called me down for dinner. I went down. It was spaghetti and meatballs but my dad didn’t come home yet. He called through the house phone. I ran to pick it up but my dad said, “Hey sweetie pie, I’m going to be home late today, like around 12:00 AM because I have something to do for work. All I want to say is goodnight and I love you.” I said, “I love you, Dad.” Then I hung up. Well, I finished my dinner. I rested my food and took a shower. My mom told me to go to sleep. It was only eight o’clock. Why do I have to go to sleep around eight? My bedtime was around nine o’clock but I did what she said. I 107

wasn’t really tired so I cracked the flashlight on and opened my book my dad got me for my birthday. I read it until I got tired. I was pretty tired so I put my flashlight down in my book and went to sleep. The next morning my mom said, “You have no school today.” I said, “Why?” and she said, “Because you’re not going to school today.” I was pretty happy to not go but my mom said, “You are not happy at the school you are in,” and she is not wrong. I got dressed because she told me to. My dad told me my mom and him are getting a divorce. I wasn’t happy about that so I ran as fast as I could and took my tiny purse with me. I was so happy I had that tiny purse that I could put a pencil in with my book, my writing book. So I ran into the park and just wrote about how I felt until my mom found me but she got mad at me. Then my dad came and he said, “I was worried about you.” He said, “Are you okay?” I said, “Yes.” Well, I didn’t really want to live with my mom after she yelled at me because she never asked if I was okay. I did want to live with my dad. So when we went to court they asked me who I want to live with and I said my dad which I’m pretty happy about doing. That was the best decision I ever made. He’s a pretty fun dad. I love him.

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M ar ia Genesis Brown

Hi, my name is Maria. I came from London and I moved with my parents to Los Angeles and I just turned thirteen years old. I was scared that I was starting school but I was ready. We moved to a dream house. The next day was my first day at a new school. I walked in and thought to myself, “Gosh, this school is so big. Okay, I can do this. I’m just going to walk into school.” “Okay, class we have new students to introduce themselves”, said the teacher as I walked into the classroom. During the day, I wondered if it was just me or were there so many different kinds of people or was I the only different one? I met good people but there were some kids looking at me weird like pointing at me and talking about me like I did something. The following days I told my parents that there were kids that were looking at me weird. They were talking about me behind my back so I was going to the guidance counselor every week. At school when I came in, all I saw was them looking at me so I went up to them and said, “Why are you looking at me so weird?” I heard them say that it’s because I’m a different race. I told them, “Just because I am different doesn’t mean you look at me the way you look at me. I am still a human.” I didn’t care. I told a teacher so they got in trouble and then they apologized but I expected they would apologize. Now everything was like my old school. There was no problem. But I still went to a guidance counselor.

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H um a n s a n d Elv e s Sanaa Campbell

Prologue Narrator: Have you ever been so scared in your life that your body refuses to move? Well, I have all my life. I’ve been scared of the elves, them taking our land and making our people slaves just made me sick to my stomach. The only thing that calms me down is this legend that my mother would read to me. It says, “A chosen hero shall be chosen to take back our lands and our freedom.” I always loved the legend but I knew it wasn’t true. It was just a little tale that the adults in our kingdom would say to the little ones to make them have hope. I didn’t really understand why they would tell such a lie, maybe to give them hope if it was never going to come. After my mother was done, she would tuck me in bed and kiss me goodnight and say, “I love you, Marley.” I would then say, “I love you, too,” and she would walk out the room and close the door. As I was drifting to sleep I had the strangest dream. There was fire everywhere, people were screaming, and babies were crying and I saw my mother there. She was screaming, “Let go of my baby!” At this moment I thought this was all a dream but as soon as I looked up I saw elves. After that it was all a blur. The only thing I knew was that my family was dead. Chapter One: Not my land (Carriage moving on the road.) Queen Willow: Are we almost there? Couch: Yes, my Queen, we are. Woah! 110

(The carriage comes to a halt.) Queen Willow: Why have we stopped? Couch: There is a child on the side of the road. Queen Willow: What? (Queen Willow jumps out of the carriage.) (Queen Willow walks towards the child.) Queen Willow: Who would be laying down on the ground. Are you okay? (Queen Willow turns the child over.) Queen Willow: That symbol. Couch: My Queen we must get moving. Queen Willow: Yes. (Queen Willow picks the child up.) (Queen Willow gets in the carriage.) Marley: Where am I and why am I here? Queen Willow: Hello child. Marley: Who are you? Queen Willow: My name is Willow Alexandria the Third. I am as known as Queen Willow. Queen of the Elves and starting today you are my servant. Marley: What? But what happened to my village? Queen Willow: Your village was burned to the ground. There were no survivors. We accepted you of course. Marley: That’s not true. It can’t be real. It was just a dream. (Queen Willow sits down) Queen Willow: Oh sweetheart, your village is gone. Burnt to ash, so get over it. (Queen Willow sighs.) (Queen Willow stands up.) Queen Willow: Servant! (Servant walks in the room.) 111

Queen Willow: Take her to get changed and put her to work. Servant: Yes ma! (Servant picks Marley up and out of the room.) (Servants quarters) Servant: Put this on. I’m sure it will fit you and when you’re done you’ll be given work. (Servant walks out the room.) Lily: Are you new here? Marley: Yes I am, what’s your name? (Lily walks closer.) Lily: My name is Lily. What’s yours? Marley: Marley. Lily: Well, it’s nice to meet you. Marley: You too. Person (yelling): Lily! Lily: Sorry, I have to go. Bye. Marley: Bye. (Door closes) (Marley sighs) Marley’s thought: Well, at least I have someone to talk to now. (Marley put the dress on.) (Marley walks out the room.) Servant: You there! Marley: Yes? Servant: Go down to the ballroom to mop the floor. Marley: But why? Servant: Because there’s a gala tonight. (Marley starts walking the other way.) Marley: Wait, where is the ballroom? 112

Servant: Go all the way to the last floor, take two lefts, and there it is. Marley: Okay, thanks. (Marley opens the ballroom doors.) (Marley walks inside.) Marley: Woah, this is huge! (Marley grads a mop.) (Marley mops the floor.) Marley: And I’m finally done. (Queen Willow walks into the ballroom.) Queen Willow: I want to have the instruments there and the tables in the corners of the room. I believe that is all. You can start setting up now. (Queen Willow walks away.) Queen Willow: Oh, and Marley? Go put on something nice. You look like a... (Marley sighs.) (Marley walks in the room.) (A box is on the bed.) (Marley opens it.) Marley: It´s so nice. (Marley looks in the mirror.) (Lily walks in the room.) Lily: Um, excuse me. Marley: Oh, hi lily. Lily: You’re needed downstairs to serve the guests. (Both walk out of the room) (Ballroom) (Guests talking.)

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Marley: Would you like one? Person: Yes, thank you. (Person takes one) Marley’s thought: There are a lot of people here. (Plate falls.) (Silence.) Woman: How dare you! (Marley looks over.) Woman: I ask for a drink of water and you go and give me wine. Lily: I’m sorry miss, but I was told to give all the guests that. Woman:I don´t care if you were told that. I gave an order and you are supposed to follow through, you stupid servant. (Woman raises her hand) (Woman tries to hit Lily but Marley catches it) Marley: What do you think you’re doing?! (Everyone looks at Marley.) Marley:You can’t just put your hands on a little kid or anyone, as a matter of fact. Woman: Who do you think you’re talking to? (Prince James walks up to Marley.) Prince James: What do you think you are doing? (Marley and Woman turn to look.) Woman: Well this girl wasPrince James: I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to her. Marley: Excuse me? Prince James: You made a large commotion for a little thing. 114

Marley: Little thing? She was about to hit this little girl. Prince James: And? Marley: And is that really what you have to say? (Lily pulls on Marley´s arm.) Lily: Please don’t. I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me. Marley: (Sigh) Okay fine, I won’t. Let’s go. (Lily and Marley walk out the ballroom.) (Chatter) (Prince James sighs.) Prince Sebastian: Well, that was fun to watch. Prince James: Prince Sebastian, of the North Elves. It’s been a while. Prince Sebastian: Yes it has. Prince James: How is your project going? Prince Sebastian: It is going very well. Prince James: That is good to hear. (A large group of people surrounds James and Sebastian.) (Servant quarters) Lily: Ow, that hurts. Marley: If you would stop moving, maybe it wouldn’t hurt. Lily: Ow. (Marley laughs.) Lily: That reminds me. (Lily turns around.) Lily: We don’t really know each other so I was thinking, how about we get to know each other by asking questions about ourselves? Marley: Okay, that sounds fun. Lily: You go first. Marley: Alright, where were you born? Lily: I was born in the village of Restwood and you? Marley: Laura. 115

Lily: Oh, I heard that Laura is a beautiful village with lots of flowers. What is it like there? Marley: It was a peaceful and quiet place. Lily: That sounds nice. And your family? Marley: I only had my mom but she died. Lily: I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. Marley: It´s okay. There were a lot of good memories. (Lily turns around.) Lily: LIke what? Marley: Well, my mother would read me the legend of— Lily: The Chosen Hero. Marley: Yeah, I always loved having my mother tell it to me just before bed. Lily: Can you tell it to me? Marley: Sure. So this is how it goes . . . (Marley chatting to Lily) (Morning) Marley: How was your sleep? Lily: It was great, how was yours? Marley: Good. (Servant walks in) Servant: You two are both needed in the Princes’ offices. Marley: Okay. (Marley and Lily enter the Princes’ offices) Marley: You needed us? Prince James: Yes. Marley: Oh aren’t you that rude guy from yesterday? Prince James: Aren’t you that annoying girl from the gala. Marley: My name is Marley and this is Lily. Princes James: Prince James. Now the reason why I ask you here is because you two are going to be my personal servants. Marley: I’m sorry, we’re going to be your what? Prince James: My personal servants. 116

Da r k n ess Aiden Chen

Darkness. Darkness was all around me in this boxcar. What time is it? There weren’t any clocks as white men can’t be kind enough to the slaves getting transported miles and miles away. It must have been four days ago that my former master Trevor sold me to a new master Louis. Hi, I’m Joe and I’m a slave. I have had many professions but nobody wants to hire a black male, free or not. After my master got fed up with me he “was gonna send me where he should’a sent me years ago,” and sold me to Louis. Darkness. Darkness among fifty of my brethren. Then finally, light. “Get out!” a man screamed. I learned later that he was my new master, Louis. We stumbled towards the barn and once we got inside he explained that we would be living here. When was the last time you smelled something bad? Triple that smell and that is a brief explanation of our living quarters. But this is actually considered lucky compared to free black men who not only get paid but can’t build houses. Then it was time to work. After a while I was tired but suddenly, Bang! “Get up you useless slave!” Louis bellowed. Yikes! I quickly ran into a corn maze. He followed but he got lost while I ran into the house. “Oh, some sugar! Don’t mind if I do. There’s no way I could get in trouble right? Right?” I thought. Wrong. Next thing I know, twelve men are on the ground, bloody bodies peppering the ground. Then darkness. I needed to get out of this horrible place so I ran but as I ran 117

I still heard gunshots, not pointed at me but the other slaves helping me. I kept on running until I saw it: Pennsylvania. I quickly rushed to a store and asked to work. “I would never hire a dumb slave!” The man said. I was crushed and I stormed outside and started to look around me. The town I was in was pretty big and had many stores with food, weapons, clothing, and people. After the confrontation people started jeering. I was angry. I quickly stole a gun, grabbed ammo from a store, grabbed an axe and ran to some boulders and hid. “This is it,” I thought. Everyone surrounded me. After so much, I i thought I was dead until a man appeared and he was kind enough to help me. At the start, it didn’t go so well. People stopped paying him when they came to buy things. Nobody wanted to help a black man. But the man I was staying with was kind and amazing. No matter what I did wrong he turned it into a learning experience. After months, a man came in to buy food. After he bought it he said, “You’re a pretty good worker despite your color.” My life became great after that and things went back to normal. I tell this story to my child everyday and he asks what’s the point. I always answer, “Racism is bad and people never will get over it. There will always be hate in this world but that’s okay as long as you can do good and work as hard as the others, it won’t matter what skin color you are.”

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H ow I Di d It Keyonni Franklin

Hey! I’m Max and this story will be the most dramatic story you will ever hear. So dramatic that your jaw would drop to the floor. I’m going to tell you how I told everyone I was a Bisexual. Well, everyone in my school that is. Here’s how it started: “When are you gonna tell them?” May said to me. “I don’t plan on doing that soon. How about in college?” I said, as I sat on her bed. “Uh. . . No.” We began to laugh. As me and Beatrice walked to school, these boys started to tease us. “What are you? A couple or something,” one of them said to us. We didn’t say anything. “Ooh, so you do like each other?” another said. “WELL MAYBE WE DO?” I wanted to say, but it was only in my head. “How about y’all shut the F-” I stopped Beatrice and said, “It’s fine, I’m fine.” I lied. “I was gonna say freak,” Beatrice said. “I’m worried about her, you know? What’s going on?” Beatrice had asked my sister. “Oh nothing she’s just shy or whatever,” May replied. Beatrice left the room knowing that wasn’t the case. “Okay I’ma head home.” Beatrice told me. “Okay see you later!” After, I walked into the kitchen to hear my parents whispering something like “worried” or “maybe she’s just. . .” and more. “You should do something for the dance,” May told me. 119

“This is why I love you,” I tell her. I ran into my room and the first thing I did was call Beatrice. “Hello,” she says. “Will you be my date for prom?” I say super fast. “Of course,” she replied. After that call, I ran to the bathroom and made my teeth super white—with toothpaste. I bolted to my sister’s room. “Can you do my hair?” I asked. “Yeah, sure.” As she was doing my hair, I looked around at her bright pink room and saw a picture of a girl with a red heart around her face. “Who’s that?” I asked. “That was my first ever girlfriend,” my sister replied. “ “WHAT?! Oops. Whaaaaaaat?” I say in shock. “Yep, but I was worried that people wouldn’t want to be around me because of that and she was straight anyways,” May said. “Wouldn’t like you because you were you, wouldn’t like you because you stood out of the crowd,” I said. “I guess so,” May said. When she finished there were two long braids going down to the lower back. “Thank you,” I said. “No problem,” May replied. I ran to my parents room and borrowed a suit. I stuffed it into a bag, put on a pink dress and ran out. “I thought you were going to wear something a little different,” Beatrice said. “Of course I would,” I replied. I changed into the suit in a bush. I put the pink dress in the bag. We showed up holding hands and everyone stared super hard. “Why do you like her more than us?” one of the boys from the group said “Because she has what you don’t,” I said. I felt all the eyes on us while we were there but we just kept being us. “And the winner of prom king and queen is. . . Max and Beatrice!” We screamed and jumped for joy. And then came the kiss. From that moment on we were a happy couple. Now what’s left is to tell my parents. The end. 120

B oom, Ro aste d! Eric Hernandez

BOOOOOOOOOOM! “Jackson got roasted so bad,” Alex said. Jackson started walking away. “Hey honey. Why are you sad?” said Jackson’s mom. “I don’t want to talk about it, mom.” “Son, tell me. I’m your mother, tell me.” “Fine, since you’re begging me so much. Well today I got roasted in front of everyone at school.” “Son, who roasted you?” “He’s the most popular kid in school. His name is Brandon. He said something that hurt me really deep in my heart.” “What did he say to you, son?” “He said, ‘What do you call a mexican that hops the border? Immigration.’ Everyone at school started to say ‘OOOH!’ Then I got really embarrassed.” “Son, listen, you’re not the only one who got embarrassed. In this world there are many other people who get embarrassed okay?” “But mom, that’s totally not cool what he said. That’s messed up and racist. You know what, I’ma embarrass him in front of his crew.” “Okay and how are you gonna do that?,” Jackson’s mom said. “I know mom. Trust me.” ***** “HEY BRANDON!”” screamed Jackson, “I challenge you to a roast battle in front of your friends right now.” “’Listen kid, don’t make me embarrass you again’’ 121

“Okay, whatever you say, Willi.” “Hey, don’t call me by my nickname’’ “What are you gonna do about it? Cry?” “GRRR! What did you just say, Jackson?” “ARE YOU GONNA CRY or are you gonna do something about it?” Brandon came running towards me at full speed and punched me. Then I got angry. I started to get angrier than ever. So I ran up to him and as hard as possible, I punched him in the jaw. He started to cry and went to the nurse office. Everyone started to chant, “JACKSON JUST DID WHAT.” I felt honored. I don’t know why but I felt like a king. I felt like I owned a palace. Then a few minutes later I saw Brandon and all his family members and they started to ask me why I wasn’t in Mexico. I said, “Can you shut your little racist a$% up?” and other people started chanting “Mexicans need their rights!” I felt protected by the people saying Mexicans need their rights. So Brandon started cursing me out and left with his family members. (Hopefully you guys liked my story and don’t be racist because you never know how bad you’re hurting them and there’s people out there that are crossing borders just so their sons and daughters can have a good future.)

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R espec t th e A ni mal s i n t he W o rld Melanie Jimpikit

One day Matt was walking around the dog park. He was having a good day and he was hearing music with his headphones. “I have to take you all the way to this park and I hate doing this,” the lady yelled to her dog. Matt saw the dog put his tail between his legs and start to whimper. Everyone in the dog park was looking at her. Matt felt heartbroken. The dog looked really dirty, like he never had been washed. He had a lot of bruises and was sad. So he went to go talk to the lady. “What do you want?” she said in a rude way. “Can you please stop treating your dog like that? Treat him with respect!” said Matt in a mean tone. The lady grabbed her dog by the belly and stormed off. “Hey, I’m talking to you! You can’t just storm off,” Matt yelled after her. Matt turned away from the woman and walked home angrily. Once he got home he sat down to watch TV. A commercial came on that showed dogs in a shelter. “I need to help that lady realize that she should treat animals the way she wants to be treated,” Matt thought to himself. A few weeks later, Matt went to the park to walk around again. He saw the same lady again. “STOP treating your dog like that. Would you like it if anyone treated you like that?” Then the lady was thinking and she said, “No. Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry, Max. I love you so much.” 123

My F ir st Job Sharika Khan

Baton Rouge, Louisiana. March 1st, 1995. My name is Nore Harin and today I will tell you about my first job. This happened to me around 1991. It was June 24th. Today is an amazing, sunshiny day. However, I can’t find the sun shining in me. I am going to do something that no other girl in our town wants to ever do or dares to do, WORK IN MR. LAVERA’S STORE. I heard “rumours” from people who previously worked there that he would be really mean to his female workers but be the kindest person to male workers but I was in extreme need of money and I had no choice but working there. So I shook those thoughts out of my mind and walked to his store because it was kind of close to my house. As I walked in, he welcomed me not-so-nicely, “Oh Nora, welcome to my store. Now get to work.” “Okay but what am I supposed to do?” I asked “Wait, before you get to work, here are the rules only for the useless female workers in my store. No talking back to me, no talking to other co-workers of yours, do what is asked of you, and everytime you go to the bathroom I will time you and you have to work after your work finishes as many extra minutes without pay. That includes lunch breaks and water breaks because you foolish women don’t do a lot anyway.” This is the moment when my first job felt like I was lifting one million pounds of weight and I wished I never even agreed to work in his store. As days went by he kept treating all the femaleworkers like trash and even worse so. After work one day I gathered all the 124

workers and went to the local police station and reported his activities to the police but they said I needed more evidence. So I took my next step. Every time he was being mean to the other female workers or me I recorded him in secret. Like once he was yelling at one of my female co-workers because she accidentally dropped something on the floor but it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ruined or anything. When I had enough evidence to show, I went to the police again and showed them the evidence and the next morning while he was being mean to another female worker the police came and witnessed how he acted towards female workers. The police arrested him and put him in jail for a few years for being so mean to these innocent women, to his female workers, and they cancelled his business license forever and he is not allowed to do business anymore. And as for me I have a great job and an amazing life now and whenever I remember my first job now it makes me laugh but that job taught me how to be strong and defensive towards myself.

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Th e Yea r of Cringe fo r TikTok Rhoc Kwawununu

October 10, 2019: what I call, “The Year of Cringe for TikTok.” My name is Rhoc and I have experienced some stuff. It all started when Renegade/Charlie Demilio started a rebellion against the government. She wanted to start at the Golden City for the you page. Many people joined the army: little girls and the memers even joined. She had TikTok in her little palm until she heard this: “Welcome to da nail salon,” from @steven.vuv on TikTok. When that happened, that was her downfall. She got slapped so hard she got put in a coma. When that happened, everyone was free. Everyone except the little girls. That’s when Ding ling became a legend to all TikTokers except the little girls who had planned something: use the rebellion then the dark side. The FBI came for Ding ling and put up the sign, “Bizniz Closed.” When that happened, after a brief interrogation he came back, the god of all TikTokers. Then the little girls started to attack but then we saw the person who really made the renegade: a little black girl named Jalaiah Harmon. They threw shoes at Ding ling. everyone except Jalaiah Harmon. Then the anime weebs came and then the memers. The little girls were outnumbered. They lost the war. When that happened everything went in peace. Everything went quiet, too quiet because Belle Delphine was selling bottles of gamer girls bathwater and the little stupid gamers were drinking it and they did this all to protect @steven.vuv.

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R eun it ed Nashawn McLeod

One day on the TV, Trover finds Michel. Then Trover gets in his car and drives to Michel’s house. When Trover gets there and walks inside, Michel sees him and is speechless and says, “Hey Trover, how’s it been?” Trover says, “Good. Looks like you got yourself a nice house with a wife and kids.” Michel says, “Thank you Trover.” Trover says, “Let’s take a drive.”

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H ow Losin g Yo ur J o b Christian Mercado-Murphy

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The Big Sho w Aaliyah Montgomery

The sun glared into my eyes from the hotel window and forced them to open. My brittle, crusted eyes from last night, from crying for no reason. I cracked my back and then sat up, a simple routine for others but a mess for me. I walked into the bathroom and I looked in the mirror. I saw an exhausted 23-year-old trying to pull her life together. After getting dressed and brushing my teeth, I slowly realized today was the day and my eyes widened. “How did I forget today was the day?” I rolled my eyes and left the hotel room and the security guard Tom was there. Tom had a smug look on his face. He wasn’t happy, Clearly something was wrong. Had he heard me in my hotel room? I didn’t say anything about it. We got onto the tour bus and I sat in the very front, blocking my mind from anything really. I hated this, being on a tiny bus waiting for everyone and everything. “Hey, look over there!” He had drawn his attention to me. “What?” I said in a dark voice. He pointed at the pride flag hanging up by a nearby bar. “They should burn that flag, honestly.” My eyes widened but I didn’t respond. I silently got up and got off the bus and walked into the big venue, the Staples Center. It smelled like machinery and paint. I saw a glitch on the backdrop from the visuals going off and could hear sound check was about to start. The venue 133

was big but I didn’t expect it to be this huge. We got in the back and my roommate said, “She’s on vocal rest, don’t talk to her.” The sign made me laugh really hard. After four hours of getting ready, the venue filled up and I got insanely nervous. I wasn’t expecting my nerves to get like this. I walked out. “Great, five minutes left,” I thought. “It’s okay. Breathe. You got this. Just say words that you’re proud of, Steph!” “You okay? You seem more nervous than most shows.” I looked at him with a side eye, but being so short it was like looking up at him. “I’m nervous at every show.” He chuckled. “Not like that. You’re very hyper!” I kept wanting to tell him, “Tom, leave me alone,” but my gut told me not to. I heard them screaming REALLY LOUD. I didn’t think it would be this big. “Why are you SO HYPER!?” he said with an angry face. “Tom, it’s little people things. Short people are hyper,” I said with a glare and then an eye roll, because I felt like it. “Okay what about tall people things?” he asked, crossing his arms. “You guys are like trees. What’s the point?” I did the same back. “You’ve got such an attitude,” he said. “Now you notice?” I said, rolling my eyes. My manager handed me the microphone and I walked on extremely slow. And waited. After a couple of songs, I talked to the crowd. “I have something to share that is gonna shock you.” I saw Tom getting confused. Even if he was homophobic, he’d never support my answer before I said it. “Okay, it’s really random but... I’m bisexual.” The crowd stared and then screamed. It got too loud. The drastic look towards Tom’s face made him disgusted. He walked to the back. I wasn’t surprised. After the show I felt proud and less shaken up, I guess. I was in my dressing room and I saw the note he had left. “I’m sorry l just can’t work for you anymore.” I shrugged my shoulders. 134

I looked in the mirror. “You finally did it.” I smiled for once and felt proud. I walked out and left the venue with smiling fans and I got on the tour bus. I saw Tom packing his stuff and shaking his head with his disgusted look like I was an alien. “Bye,” I said as he looked back and glared. I wasn’t expecting the worst. The bus started moving and I knew it was a new road. “What just happened?” I said in my head as I let out a nervous laugh. A couple of hours later I woke up from the sunlight. I hated it. I didn’t realize everyone left the bus. I was more than five minutes late. Then I had a reality check. Everyone was asleep and I thought of why they would leave me? But they were by my side and I felt amazing and loved.

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S e par a t ion Nathaly Najera Collado

My parents separated because I broke one of their plates and they had had enough of me breaking things. I didn’t understand, they could have just bought another one. They also wanted to take some time off. They decided to take me to my grandma’s house, where I live now. “NOAH!” yelled Noah’s mother. “Yes?” Noah said as he was coming down the stairs. “You broke another plate,” his mom said in disappointment. “He broke another plate,” his dad said angrily. “Yes,” said Noah. “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU NOAH!” his dad yelled. “If you break another plate, I am leaving.” “WHAT?! YOU CAN’T LEAVE!” she yelled. “I have to leave,” his dad said. “I’m tired of him breaking things. It’s too much work.” “It’s just a plate. Buy a new one. I don’t understand it’s not such a big problem,” Noah said. “Things cost money here. We are not made out of money,” Noah’s dad said angrily. “I want some time off. I’m tired and stressed out. I have to leave,” His dad said. “I also want some time off.” “Well . . . Ok, I guess,” She said in sadness. Noah’s dad leaves and his mother is taking Noah to his grandmother’s house. “Have fun at your grandmother’s house.” Noah tried to hold back his tears, but he couldn’t.

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7 Years Later It’s been seven years and Noah’s grandmother died, so he is staying with his aunt now. He’s not breaking things and has been more careful. What I want people to learn from separation is some people get mad for weird and dumb reasons, but it’s because they only care about themselves. Also, remember the fun and happy moments you had with them. Be happy because you have people who love you.

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X e n ophobia o n th e Rise Xavier Nelson

Since December 2019, a virus has been spreading throughout Asia. This virus that is now called the “Coronavirus” or “COVID-19” and has now spread throughout the world! This pandemic is very extreme and we should stay home. Since most people have cell phones, we should minimize our social interaction by texting or calling friends and family who are either stranded or at home. Since the virus has started, people have been panicking. People throughout the United States have been discriminating against Chinese men and women because they think they have the coronavirus. This virus is so dangerous that schools across the country have been shutting down. Xenophobia is when a group of people of the same race is being discriminated against because of either their nationality or religion. The following video is about an Asian man that was accused of having the virus: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=UoeG1lcNPfg Even though the virus did come from Wuhan, China, that doesn’t mean that everyone who came from that specific area in China has the virus. Because of this virus, Asians have been afraid of people because they are afraid that they could get beat up or maybe even killed. African-Americans have faced racism for hundreds of years and I think it’s similar to how Asians are now being treated. I feel very scared because if you can’t leave your house this must be very serious. People have to walk around with masks on because of this virus. This virus is being spread by coughing, breathing it in, and touching other things with 138

bacteria on your hands. This coronavirus (COVID-19) is very scary for most people. I suggest everyone stay home, disinfect the home by cleaning your home, and minimize social interactions.

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No Just ice, No Pe ac e Steven Robinson

As a horde of black people walked towards the line of cop cars and cops, Jake the leader yelled, “What do we want?” “Rights,” the crowd said. “When do we want it?” Jake said. “Now!” replied the crowd. Jake was leading a protest march to fight for the rights of black people. See, it was 1964 in the south, where there were Jim Crow laws to keep black and white people segregated. As the protest continued, a cop yelled, “Stop!” Then he said, “Look, I can’t just go and give you rights but, I can give you a 50% reduction off your bus fare for now.” Jake yelled, “No!” and the horde started moving. The cop said, ”Fine, fire the gas.” Gas fired in the air like a jet. Jake was arrested for out of control protesting and protesting without a permit. The food in jail was gross and breaktime was very hard. Jake’s jail cell had a bedframe with a pillow and a toilet. As Jake was listening to the radio from down the hall, something caught his attention. The news had a breaking story. “Segregation is no more,” the radio announcer stated. After all of those years of protesting to end segregation and fighting for black people’s rights, Jake had finally won. THE END

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Bean Girl Jacqueline Santos

My life has turned in a few days. You may be asking what is happening at this moment. In order to tell you, I have to go back in time. So it all started on the first day at middle school. I was happy the night before, because I always wanted to go to school. Little did I know that my dream turned into a nightmare. I woke up the next day with the sun shining in my eyes. “Wake up before you are late,” shouted mom. Oh no, class starts in 10 minutes and I missed the bus and to get to school it is a 15 minute walk, I thought to myself. I changed out of my pjs and raced out the door. About 10 minutes later after running to school I got there. “Have a good day at school Luz,” mom said. ”And make sure to GET TO CLASS ON TIME!” Only then had I realized that I was 5 minutes late. I ran to the office and the teacher, my art teacher, Ms. Crow took a look at me. “Hi Luz, my name is Ms. Crow.” When I got to class I saw lots of kids fooling around. “Ok class, today is your first day in middle school. We will share our names and where we are from,” said Ms. Robin. When everyone was sharing where they were from, I saw this kid who looked like a bully from my favorite TV show. His name was Ben and when I said I was from Mexico, he had a little smirk on his face. At lunchtime Ben came up to me. 141

“Hi bean girl.” I saw the kids standing right there. I kind of thought they might care. Everyone started to laugh. I started to cry. The kids called me, “Weak!” It felt like a nightmare, but they were standing right there. I ran out to the hallway. When I went out to the hallway, I realized that I wasn’t by myself. I heard this other small voice behind me when I was running out to the hallway. This girl introduced herself to me while I cried. “Hi my name is Star. I saw you running out crying, are you OK?” “What do you want?” I said in a crying voice. “I came to check if you were OK.” “Why would you care!?” “I also have been bullied before because I like to learn.” Then I saw lots of marks on her face. I asked her, “Did the bullies do this to you?” “Yes they have, but I don’t want to talk about it.” “Hey, do you have any friends?” “Used to have fake friends who used me for my homework. Hey! Didn’t get your name. What’s your name?” “My name is Luz.” “Hey Luz, do you wanna be friends?” “Sure, but the bullies like Ben wouldn’t stop even if you’re my friend.” “As long as I’m here, no one can hurt you. They don’t deserve you.” “If they knew what they said would go straight to my head, what would they have said instead?” “I don’t know.” “We should head to class.” “OK.” “Bye.” “Bye.” After that we became best friends and people have stopped talking about bean girl, but this one day didn’t end so well. I went to my locker that day and there are many mean notes on it like, “why don’t you just go back to where you came from” or “your race is not welcome.” And the same day, Star’s parents told me that they were moving away. Before she left she told me, “Never listen to those mean 142

notes, because they are not true.” After Star has moved away, my life hasn’t been the same. Many people wouldn’t leave me alone about my race and I never felt valued. Days after Star moved away, this boy in an older class followed me home with my mom and took a picture of my house. My house is not one of those happy neighborhood houses, it’s more like a poorhouse, that’s what people would say. I realized that he took a photo of my house the next day when I found the poster saying, “Luz is a Mexican and poor.” I saw many people crowding the poster. When I got to the poster I felt water in my eyes and the little pieces of tears came out of my eyes from that poster. I have told them before to stop, but they wouldn’t listen. I have told teachers that they are bullying me but some of them, well they wouldn’t listen they would just say, “You should get bullied because your people are ruining our country.” When I told Star this in a letter she said to give the letter to the teacher which I did and then he threw the note in the trash. When I grabbed it out of the trash it said, “You should have not got that job with that kind of attitude.” I have told my parents before, but they would just say, “deal with it” or “don’t listen to them,” but they would never do something about it. This one time the mean kids and Ben tried to kill me by drowning me in the toilet water. I tried to scream but my head was underwater and they called me, “Weak.” This felt like my breaking point, I couldn’t handle it anymore, the torture that they have given to me, it’s impossible not to suffer from. After this I fell into a deep depression. I felt like life has no meaning anymore. At that point I started to starve myself. In Mexico there’s a lot of animals so people started to treat me like a cow. Since people never listen to me I felt like I have no voice. Find I was falling in a dark void with no place of escape for awhile, and no one knows about my depression except Star. My principles noticed that I started to get skinnier and skinnier by the days. He asked me if I have been depressed lately. “No, I feel fine.” “Are you sure, because if you need something, you can talk to me.” 143

“Actually these kids in my class and the older classes bully me about my race.” “Since the parent-teacher conference is coming, I will discuss this with the parents.” “Thanks for your help.” “You’re welcome.” At the meeting I went and convinced my dad to go to the meeting and he said, “My child has been bullied many times and I feel bad about myself.” “Then why did you not stay in Mexico?” Days after that bad meeting I found many people marching in the city and thought they had a voice, but that gave me an idea that if they had a voice I might have one too. That’s when I made a protest myself to help stop racism too.

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The Tr u th Abo ut Te am Md Abrar Sharar

Ring RING “Now what is it,” I said as if I was being forced to do something. “Of course it’s always this alarm clock. Never did anything good anyways.” I walked downstairs, but nobody was there. “Hello? Mom? Dad? Anyone here?” There was no answer. I walked outside my home. Just then I see my best friend Nel. “Hey, uhhhh… Oh yes, I remember your name now, isn’t it Onite?” “It’s pronounced On - eete, but it is still spelled O-N-IT-E,” I correct Nel. “Oh yes, I completely forgot. There is a new scientist in this town. He said he wanted to give you a special gift.” “Oh, yeah that. I hope the gifts are actually good for once. But I doubt it. You know gifts aren’t always what we think, right Nel?” “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s just head to his lab now, alright?” We walk down the path to the place where it reads “Professor Kyeuto’s Lab of Xeno’s” It was ENORMOUS. Definitely not what I expected. It had around 49 floors. But let’s be real here: the year is 4067. We’re in the future now. We’re supposed to expect this. We entered through the double doors. As soon as we entered we were greeted by a man. I saw my and Nel’s parents right next to him. “Oh well well, if it isn’t Onite and Nel. Welcome to my lab. My name is Professor 145

Kyeuto. But you can call me Prof K for short. You two were probably wondering where your parents were. But no worries! They’re right here. Oh and yes, I completely forgot, I have gifts for you two.” Nel and I looked at each other and understood that this could be important for once. The Professor took 12 boxes out from his drawer and placed them on his desk. “Okay, so I am a Professor on Xenos. Before you make fun of what I’m giving you and start teasing me, let me explain what Xenos are. Xenos are a wonderful type of species that stay on Earth. They even have the potential to battle against other Xenos. So I would like you two to pick a Xeno that is of your choice. Go ahead and choose between 12 of these boxes.” Nel chooses some weird electric Armadillo. I choose an Angler looking thing. “The Armadillo is Electric and it’s name is ‘Voltilow.’ The Angler is water and it’s name is ‘Yangler.’ Enjoy you guys’ gift! I’ll just talk to your parents about something. Okay? Have a good day!” Me and Nel leave the lab. We check each other’s Xeno. “Wait , how do you even battle?” We both say, looking at each other, being confused. We sprint back into the lab. “Woah, anything wrong happened?” asked the Professor. “Yes. Um, Professor, do you mind teaching us how to battle?” I ask. “Oh yes! Clumsy me, I even forgot to teach you how to battle! Well, listen up boys, your Xenos, they have moves to do. Let me give you an example. Okay, so you see this Xeno, oh by the way this Xeno is an actual Exotic one. It’s name is -- wait I shouldn’t spoil this. Well, Onite, your Yangler has a move called Splashing Water, test it out on Nel’s Voltilow. Nel, your Voltilow has a move called Electric Ray. Use that on Onite’s Yangler. Oh and I should also teach you this: some Xenos might be faster than others. LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!” Nel’s Voltilow used Electric Ray! And it affects Onite’s Yangler a lot! The hit had more power than usual! Onite’s Yangler used Splashing Water! Nel’s Voltilow used Electric Ray! And it effects Onite’s Yangler a lot! Onite’s Yangler passed out! Nel Won! “Well Nel, congratulations on your first victory. However, don’t take one victory thinking you’re better than Onite. Onite, don’t feel bad about yourself. One battle doesn’t end 146

the world. Settle out to your adventures, boys. WAIT! I have something to tell you. Your Xenos will change form until it is fully grown. But, you can still bypass that form. I’ll teach you that very soon. Now you may proceed to your adventure.” “Good Battle Nel.” I say. “Nice Xeno” says Nel. “I hope we battle again soon. Well, I’m going to start my own adventure! See you later Onite!” He dashed away. I walked into a forest and there were even more people with Xenos. We battled each other. I even encountered some Xenos, and with the Xenos, the Professor gave some Cases to capture and carry them. He said if I catch more than 5 Xenos, the rest I capture would end up in my phone and I could swap them in and out. I headed to an entrance of a new town, but as soon as I went near it, I heard somebody call my name. “ONITE! it’s me Nel! This is URGENT AND I’M NOT JOKING. COME BACK HOME. I HAVE TO EXPLAIN.” Nel says. I knew something happened and it’s big. I dash home. I see the Professor there. “Oh just the person I wanted to talk to. This is sad news Onite. I’m sorry, but your parents have been kidnapped. I don’t know how, but they were kidnapped by a group of people called ‘Team Ignite.’ I highly suggest you not do anything to them as they are an official business and considering how young you are, you probably are no match to them. I highly doubt you’d do anything. Don’t dare to do anything.” He walked away. “He seemed pretty different,” says Nel. “Now what am I going to do?!” I say sadly. “It’s okay Onite, I’ll help you get your parents back in no time! And even defeat whatever Team Ignite is,” says Nel encouragingly. In my mind I feel SUSPICION IN THAT PROFESSOR, but did he do anything, I can’t just assume. “Let’s continue our adventure. We’ll get your parents back. Don’t worry.” Nel goes away back into that forest and so do I, on my own way. I enter that new town this time and I am greeted by people. They tell me a way to find Team Ignite. I enter a passage and find a new way to a city named Alpha City. There, I was told to challenge the leader of that town. His name was Kunai. This was my first time having a battle this big. I was so excited! After I defeated him, he told me to head to other 147

cities for other battles with the leaders: Beta, Delta, Gamma, Omega, Myk, Utor, and Nova cities. After defeating Alpha City’s leader, Kunai, my Xeno changed it’s form. Yangler turned into Aqulit (Aq lit). After defeating Delta City’s leader, Zueno, I went near a shop and when I came out, I saw Nel being captured. Team Ignite members were surrounding him, then kidnapped him. But I remembered something... After I defeated Team Ignite members, an old man came out. He had his granddaughter named Teni, for a moment Nel awkwardly stared at her and then snapped out. We promised to keep her safe. I ran to the place I last saw her. I told her what happened to Nel. “We have to save him!” She replied, cautiously. We had to take a shortcut so Team Ignite wouldn’t get us. It was Gamma City’s Sewer System. “Yuck! Smells like a skunk taking a bath in here!” After we got out of the sewers, we saw Team Ignite. We saw the members with Nel. “Oh what’s this, some little children I see. WHAT DO YOU WANT? CANDY? YOU AIN’T STOPPING US KIDS!” And they took Nel away. But I remember that Teni gave me some weird mineral of some kind, and another one. “What’s this for?” I ask. “You just wait and see!” She says, enthusiastically. Now I’m here remembering Team Ignite failing horrendously on catching Xenos that are recognized as “Exotic Xenos.” Luckily, I stopped them in time before anything happened. Now I’m here hoping for Nel and my parents to come back. Just then, I see a weird cave. I remember back in the day my parents used to say that there was an extremely powerful Xeno here and to be cautious at all times. Luckily, I was prepared and ready to go! As soon as I entered the cave, I was immediately sent into battle mode. That Xeno nearly destroyed my Xenos and myself. And it went by the name Vetu. It got DNA and somehow was created by a man named “Yunio Kyueto.” That name seemed familiar, but I couldn’t remember where it came from. So I captured the Xeno and sprinted out of the cave before anything harmed me. And then I notice something awkwardly strange, even 148

more awkward than Nel looking at Teni and accidentally saying things. “It looks like a beam,” I say to myself. As soon as I run there, I see familiar logos. It wasn’t a beam at all, it was a BASE. But who did this base belong to? “Team Ignite: Official Service. The Base Of Team Ignite Corporation” IT BELONGED TO TEAM IGNITE! I gasp so loud that the base door opens. All the members are there. “Well, well, look who we have here, a little child,” a manager says, wickedly. “What’s this? You want to ruin our business? Get outta here! You ain’t fooling anyone here. Look at you! You’re just a kid, and we’re adults and teenagers, unlike you,” they all say. I see Nel in the corner with those disgusting Team Ignite uniforms. He looks at me miserably. “Well, the boss is going to destroy you if you do anything to us!” a manager says. “Speaking of our boss, here he comes!” We all look at the doors opening. “Well, well look who it is!” the boss says with his wicked voice. Me and Nel look. Suddenly, we seem to recognize the face. “PROFESSOR KYUETO?! WHAT IN THE WORLD OF XENOS ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHERE YOU THE ONE BEHIND THIS MISCHIEF?” “Well, yes. And let me tell you my story why I’m doing this. When I was a young child just like you were, I lived in a society that was so unfair just like you are doing. I was mistreated and underestimated. Just like you were. Now if you’ll let me leave. And you kids are coming too.” He points at Nel. Suddenly, I hear a voice yelling. “STOPPP! YOU ARE NOT TAKING HIM AWAY! NEITHER IS YOUR MISCHIEF GOING TO DO ANYTHING!” We all look back. “What’s this? Some girl? She ain’t gonna do anything men. We’ll summon another beast,” says Evil Team Ignite Leader Professor Kyueto. “WELL BE QUIET YOU OLD HOOLIGAN!” Teni screeches. “Onite, can you please handle this? You’re our only hope!” Teni looks into my eyes and so does Nel. “Okay then. I’m ending this nonsense once and for all!” 149

Everybody gasps. “This is going to be so easy!” says Boss Kyueto. “WHAT?! I GOT BEATEN BY A KID? YOU LITTLE BRAT.” “We will summon a beast to teach you all a lesson. Hope you’re not scared.” He throws a ring at the wall. Something comes out and it turns enormous. “RET! HELP OUR MEMBERS MANAGERS AND ME!” begs Boss Kyueto. A giant portal formed. Suddenly, Nel got up. “YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE POWERFUL. BUT IT TURNS YOU WERE NOT!” “LOOK BACK THERE! SOMETHING BAD IS HAPPENING!” Team Ignite looked back, confused. Suddenly, he picked up Boss Kyueto and threw him in the portal. “WHAT DID YOU JUST DO YOU LITTLE KID?” everyone yells. “I don’t care what I did. You should.” “THAT’S IT WE’RE GOING IN THE PORTAL TOO!” They all jump in. Suddenly a box started to topple all the way near the portal. “TENI! NO!” Nel pushes Teni safely. “NO! NEL!” He fades away in the portal. “Onite, you should do something about this! Remember: you are only hope!” A voice comes. I look back. I saw my parents all safe, and then I saw Teni, crying. “Okay, then! RETI, YOU’RE GOING DOWN!” It felt even more powerful than Vetu. (That was actually made by Professor Kyueto.) But at least I caught it! “YOU DID IT!” my mom, dad, and Teni shout happily. “Honey, you became an incredible person who has gone through so many challenges. Thank you so much!” We all cry in happiness. Just then, a man comes. “Whew! That was hard.” “What do you mean? Are you another Team Ignite member?” we all ask suspiciously. “No worries, I’m not. In fact I helped you guys with that portal and that box. Before you ask, yes, Nel is safe. I sent him to a dimension to where he will come back again. And those Team Ignite punks? Them and their hooligan 150

(Professor Kyueto) have gone into a dimension where they will get crushed.” “Thank you so much!” says Teni looking at me. “Oh by the way, have you tried those minerals?” she asks, waiting for an answer. “Honestly, no,” I say. “Well, let me teach you! These minerals can help you make your Xeno, the one you originally had. (Oh and this is Onite, totally not the author, but after defeating Gamma City’s leader, Auqlit changed form once again! This time it’s Walgon. This is Onite, definitely not the author.) “So your Walgon, put that silver mineral on Walgon and put the gold mineral on your wrist. Now press that gold one! Hope you enjoy it!” *Walgon’s mineral is reacting to its owner’s mineral! Walgon bypassed it’s form and turned into Eternal Walgon!* “And that is how you bypass it’s form. Don’t worry after the battle is finished, your Walgon will return to normal! And you can bypass it in another battle!” says Teni, happily. “Onite, you have had a magnificent journey, I think you should rest,” Dad says. “Yes, he deserves a rest,” says Mom. “I’ll head home!” says Teni, “Bye!” I take a train home with my parents. After we reach home I go to my bed and take a rest. BUT THEN I REALIZED SOMETHING. I wake up and I go downstairs, I see everyone safe and I check everything I had. There was no Xeno or weird creature... IT WAS ALL A DREAM/NIGHTMARE THE END Hello everyone , this is the author. The reason I made this story is to teach a life lesson. There are many social injustices in this world we live in. In this story, I covered the social injustice about age. Just because somebody is younger than you, doesn’t mean they’re weaker than you nor stronger than you. Just because somebody is older than you, doesn’t mean they have more power nor less power. Thank You All for reading this.

151

W h at ’s Wr ong With Me ? Karen Sosa

As a kid I was bullied for wearing a flower crown. I don’t know why it was a big deal. My parents said I looked like a girl and that I should act more like a boy. When I started high school I got punched EVERY SINGLE DAY. Also I would get screamed at by my dad when I got home. It would be the same every day and the same words. First, Jake and Elias would say their hurtful words to me. Second, they would beat me up and laugh. Third, they would run away to their class and I would sometimes go to my counselor. I go to counseling 3 times a week and it helps a lot. Ms. Jennifer is the only person I can talk to. I feel safe in her class room. “How are you feeling today?” she said in her calm voice. “Not really well,” I responded. “Why, what happened?” I wanted to tell her that I get beat up everyday but that would cause a bigger problem. Also she knows my parents dislike me because I’m transgender. “My parents,” I finally answered. “Again?” she responded. “Yeah” I said in a really low voice. She asked me more questions and when she finished I went to class. On my way to english I thought why was it bad to be transgender. When I entered the classroom Jake screamed, “Oh look its that stupid transgender kid!” The class was laughing and I noticed Sophia was not 152

laughing. She screamed at Jake, saying, “Okay he’s transgender, but at least he’s not a big jerk like you that judges people for that kind of stuff.” The class was silent. I went to the seat right next to Sophia. “I’m sorry for what Jake said to you,” Sophia whispered while the teacher was calling the principal about how Jake behaved in the classroom. “It’s fine, I’m used to it,” I whispered back. …...………… When school finished I was happy because I had finally made a friend, it was Sophia. Me and Sophia walked home together and to a surprise, she lives on the same block as me. She dropped me off home and I entered my house and I saw my dad on the couch drinking. “Hello mistake, go to your room,” he said to me. “Okay, nice to see you too,” I whispered but he did not hear me. I went up the stairs to my room and I just started to do my homework. ………………… I went downstairs to eat dinner and when I sat down my dad said, “Go upstairs you don’t deserve to eat dinner.” My mother agreed with my dad. I got up from my seat and yelled at both of them. “WHAT DID I DO TO YOU? I WISH I HAD PARENTS WHO CARED ABOUT ME AND DID NOT JUDGE ME FOR BEING TRANS!” I ran to my bedroom and started to cry. Then I heard a knock on my bedroom door. “Sebastian, can I come in?” “Fine.” My mom entered the room and sat on the side of my bed. “I’m so sorry Sebastian for everything that I have done to you.” She began to cry and hugged me. “I thought I was doing the right thing to yell at you and say to not be trans, but I was wrong.” “I’m so sorry I just wanted to be a good mother but I did not know I was hurting you this bad. I hope you can forgive me.” “Of course I can forgive you, but can you change my room to pink and black?” 153

“Yes I will change the color of your room.” “Thank you.” The next day I woke up and I felt so happy for once and went downstairs to eat breakfast and I told my mom that I get bullied for being transgender. “I’m going to your school and I’m going to talk to your principal, if that’s okay with you.” “Yes, please come to my school.” This change of my mother has made me happier and this was the love I was missing from my mom. My mom came to my school and told the principal about Jake and Elias bullying me and she said she would take care of it immediately and they would be suspended for 1 month for what they said and did to me. When Jake and Elias came back after 1 month they started to bully me again but this time I ignored them and Sophia and my mom were there to support me. My mom got a divorce with my dad cause he was drinking too much and kept judging me for being trans. I was finally living my dream life even though I’m still getting bullied but I put that aside to not let it crumble my whole world. Don’t ever judge someone because you think they are different from you. This was the story of my life.

154

The H ype Lilianna Vasquez

Charly and her friends live in one big house in Canada. The owner is Mr. Red! He’s controlling them and everyone knows it. In the house, they are not allowed to cook and they order about 20 times a day. Also, they have to make 3 to 4 tiktoks a day. One day, Charly was over it, she ran away this time for real (but that’s a different story). PS they made Lil Hudy and Charly date just for fame/clout. She doesn’t even like him. Charly ran and never looked back; first she went to the polluted beach with no tide. After she ran home to her 2 dogs and 4 cats and her parents, she called her real friends and had a party. She got 20 million more followers than what she already had. In conclusion, she was happier with her real friends and lived happily ever after.

155

J ea lousy Jenny You

“I’m back home,” I said through the hallway. “Ok, be quiet, don’t be so loud. David is sleeping.” I rolled my eyes, and went to my room. “Lunar! Why am I getting so many calls from your teachers for not doing your homework?” Later that day, I was staying home with David. “Can you at least clean the toys before you play with it?” I asked him in a mean way. After a while I heard a loud bang in the kitchen. I quickly ran to the kitchen. Then my face went all red. “David! What do you think you’re doing?” I yelled After telling him not to do those things, I cleaned the kitchen. I wiped the glue, turned off the sink. My mom came back and asked, “I thought you were going to study?” I replied, “Yeah, but David made a mess in the kitchen.” Few months passed, I got my report card and she asked, “Great, you improved. What do you want for the improvement?” I said, “Can I have a sleepover?” Later that night. “Hey Ashlee, wanna come to my sleepover?” “Sure,” she added. “I will ask Linya too,” I said. The day when it’s the sleepover. “Pillow fights!” *Knock knock* 156

“I will go open it,” I said. “Yes, David?” “Wanna play with me?” He asked. “No, maybe next time.” I said quickly and shut the door. I can even hear his footsteps, I turn back to them. “Any of you wanna get something to eat?” “Ok let’s go,” Ashlee and Linya said. We went to the kitchen and got some pizza, we went back to my bedroom. “David, are you kidding me? Stop putting the glue on my bed!” I grabbed him out. My mom came in and yelled at him. “My sleepover is ruined because of you!” I shouted at him and slapped him in the face. My tears suddenly came out. I went outside and took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down.

157

Th e Town Dala Yudeh

Back in the 1980’s, there was a man named Albert and Albert came into a town where people had a different skin color from him. Albert walks to his new home in the town. As he is walking, people in the town look at Albert and whisper to each other. The next day Albert goes to a store to buy some fruits and vegetables; as he was getting the things he noticed people pointing and laughing at him so Albert tried to ignore them. As he was walking to checkout, the cashier said, “We don’t accept skin colored people here.” Albert got really upset about this, dropped the food and ran as fast he could go and hid under the covers of his bed. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Time Passing, The Next Morning Albert woke up the next morning wanting to find a job. As he was walking into town, people were pointing at Albert and whispering rumors about Albert. Howard was chewing up the emotion. Just then, the Mayor Felipe came and heard all the news. He yelled, “That is enough!!” and then said, “Why are you all treating Albert this way just because of his skin color, he should be treated equally like the rest of us.” The people in the town were agreeing and then said, “We’re sorry Albert, we didn’t know you felt like this.” Albert replied back, “It’s okay make sure to never do that again to anybody.”

158

The 2 v2 Fi gh t O v e r Bask e t ball Sulaiman Cekic

It was a day like any other. Jayden, Mike, Linda, and Jamie want to play a game of basketball. They agree to play and have fun. Mike and Jamie were fighting over the ball since they both wanted to have the ball. “No! I should get the ball!” Mike said. “YOU STOLE IT FROM ME!” Jamie said. “Calm down dude!” Jayden said. Then Jayden had the ball, he shot it through the hoop. Then it was just one win away then Jayden and Linda would win. Mike and Jamie got really mad at each other and then started to say mean things. “You should have given me the ball!” said Mike. “No! I should have had the ball since you stole it from me!” Then they started hitting each other. “Stop! Stop! STOP!!!” Jayden said. Mike and Jamie stopped. “You guys are fighting over nothing!” Jayden said. “Yeah, the most important thing to have in a team game is teamwork!” Jamie and Mike looked at each other. “I’m sorry for saying mean things to you,” Jamie said. Mike said, “I’m sorry as well. I should not have acted that way.” But, after that conversation, the round started. Then, Mike had the ball. He looked and saw Jamie and Jayden behind him. “Please throw it to me!’ He threw it at him, with a perfect catch. Jamie ran, and so did Jayden, so he ran faster than him, so Linda tried to block him. So he tried to catch the ball, but she hurt herself. Jamie jumped over her and kept running. Jamie was about to run out of stamina, and 159

he saw Mike across the field, so he threw it at him, and he ran to the hoop. But the second he was about to shoot, he ran as fast as he could. Mike shot the ball. Jayden tried to grab the ball with his friend, but missed. The ball went up above the hoop. The ball went in a circle 7 times, and then after, went out of the hoop, but in the hoop. “This is super surprising,” Jayden said. “Yep.” Linda said. Then after that, the ball stopped, then went into the hoop. Everyone was shocked, but Jamie and Mike celebrated even though they lost. Jayden and Linda were impressed. “Jayden and Linda, thank you for teaching me that teamwork is the most important thing to have.” Jayden and Linda said, “No problem.” Then Jamie and Mike wanted to play another game. They asked, “Rematch?” Mike answered, “Rematch.” After that, Mike and Jamie learned a valuable lesson they kept for the rest of their lives. They appreciated how Jayden and Linda did something like that. And Jamie and Mike never fought again from that lesson. The End.

160

Check mate Augustus Colt

It was raining. Not the good type of rain that creates the rainbow, but the bad one. The hard pellets were more like hail than actual rain and it was cold. So cold. The sky was a drab grey. The color of the sky was a good representation of my mood right now. My boss had just fired me for something I had not done. I tried to tell him but he wouldn’t listen. He has had a grudge against me ever since I beat him in a roast battle. I bet he was excited to get rid of me. So now I didn’t have a job, I was living in a 1 room house with a bathroom, and a kitchenette with a broken oven. … “Yes, who is it? This is Luke.” I said into the phone. I was barely awake and it was 8:00 am. That is way too early for me to be up. I have been waking up at 9-10 recently so whoever was calling me had better have a good meaning or I was gonna be mad. I also was extremely uncomfortable in my army cot. I couldn’t afford a real bed. Anywho, I remembered that someone was calling me so I put my Blackberry to my ear and when I heard his voice I was so happy. He was my best friend, my main man, the creator of Rocket Co. “HECTOR!!” I shouted into the phone. Then I remembered his big ears and how sensitive they are. “YO you gotta be a bit quieter,” he said. Anywho, if you don’t know Hector you better wish you did. Me and him have been tight since the dinosaur age. We once rode a dinosaur. “Sorry, but anyway whats up!” I said. 161

“Not much but I did just get something great,” he says. “What is it!” I say. “I just got a great house up in Montauk! It’s right next to the beach…” he continued on for what seemed like hours. When he talked about how he had enough money to buy an entire other house, it was too much for me to hear. Ever since I had moved out of my parents’ house I had struggled to find money. At one point I was in a tent in the park for a week! “It is all from my awesome job I have,” he ended. First he had destroyed my soul by announcing his new beach house and now with his epic job. I just hung up. No words. I was sitting in my trashy home that was filled with rats and roaches the size of your thumb. I was barely able to pay the rent for this horrible home and he could buy another house. I was steaming with frustration and decided to go for a run. It didn’t help. It was still raining and I couldn’t seem to warm up from the coldness. I played some games on my phone like Hole.io and Supermarket tycoon. When I got bored of that I watched the news on my 3 channel TV. I thought of going to Chipotle to get a burrito but it was too expensive. So to end my “fantastic” day I ate some Cup of Noodles. Then I went to bed in my hard army cot with mold on the sides. I drifted off to sleep dreaming about a castle with many rooms, a soft bed, and delicious foods. The next morning I woke up to the sound of rain slamming against the windows. I barely crawled out of bed to check my phone to see what the time was. My phone said that it was 10:45 but it did not feel that time. So I crawled out of bed to get up and go to the bakery down the street. I was very cold with just my poncho to stop the rain. When I entered I looked at the board of posters to see if there were any job offers and there it was. One single poster as a sales manager at Multilayar Paper Co. The interview was on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. “I have to get that job,” I said to myself with a fire in my eyes. This is my chance to get a job I thought in my head. I ran home much happier and with bigger strides. I had to get this job. I was sitting in bed thinking of the new house I could get. I really wanted a house in Harlem but I knew houses were more expensive there than here. That was okay though. I did some research on the library computer and it said that the job I could get paid really well. Then I could get that house 162

in Harlem and maybe join a chess club. I love chess, I want to figure out how to defeat the computer. I am very good at chess and try to play as much as possible. When I get my new house I’m going to deck it out with tons of posters. It will be great. I climb out of bed to grab something to eat. The only thing I had was some dried out triscuits. I ate them anyway because I was starving. They tasted like dry with some sprinkled dry. I wrestled with my pantry until I found some chess cookies. I ate those. They tasted much better than triscuits. They also reminded me of the good old days when I lived with my parents and I never had to worry about money. It was the day of the interview. I was ready as ever. I put on my suit and tie then slipped on some Converses just because they were the only shoes I had. I would put on business shoes but I had none. Maybe with this new job I could get some nice shoes. I looked back into the house I had lived in for years and thought of a new beginning. It had brought back some bad memories. It was filthy. I remember seeing all the roaches scurrying under the sink. The lights were so grimey that it barely made any light. During winter I had to wear coats all day because the heat did not work. The ground had so many splinters that I had to wear boots everyday. I was outside the building taking some deep breaths before the interview. I wanted to be as calm as possible. This was my last chance. I decided that waiting would just make it worse. I marched into the building with a confident but not cocky smile on my face. “Hello, Luke Santos. The boss will see you now.” “Ok, thank you,” I responded, I wanted to be as nice as possible. “Hello, are you Luke Santos?” the woman said. “Yes that is me.” “Ok, will you please take a seat.” “Will do,” I said. “So it says here that you want a job as a receptionist at Multilayar Paper Co.,” she says. “Yes, I would very much like this job,” I say. “I have a few questions that I would like to ask you if that’s okay,” the woman says. It continued on like this for an hour or more I was not sure. I tried my best to hold on to what she was saying but it was hard. A good sign though was that I fully understood 163

what the job was and whenever she asked me a question I had a good answer or at least I think so. “Okay thank you for the interview, you may leave now. I will contact you when I have decided on the job,” she says. “Thank you, and goodbye,” I say with a smile on my face. … It was 5 months from when the interview had happened. I had gotten the job. I was now living in a much better house not thinking day by day but in the future. I had successfully joined a chess club and qualified for the Chess World Cup. I am happy and content. I guess you could say I had won the game of chess. Checkmate.

164

A Child’ s Transfo rmati o n Ryan Cruz

Once Jimy Brown saw the scale, he was mortified. He didn’t want to step on because it can scale his weight and he knew he was heavy. “Step on,” the nurse said. “But - I don’t wanna!” Jimy yelled. “Step on the scale, Jimy,” his mother replied. “We will talk about this later.” Jimy thought to himself, am I going to get diabetes? But as soon he had stepped on the scale, the numbers were flying crazy! His fear was rising through the roof as soon he’d seen his weight. “Alright,” the nurse said while she was writing “228 lbs” on her notebook. “I… I CAN’T DO THIS!” Jimy cried and ran out and went to the waiting room. The patients hear his stomping while he was running. “Come back mister!” yelled his father, sounding more furious than ever. “Or you will be punished once we get home!” Jimy came back to the nurse’s room where his parents were, sobbing on his way in. “This was all your fault!” yelled Jimy. “If you didn’t give me so much food and candy, I wouldn’t be this heavy!” “Oh really!” Jimy’s mother answered back in a sassy voice. “You were the one that always asked for extra snacks and always went with pizza instead of fruits and veggies. AND you always sneak into the pantry to steal chips and food that isn’t healthy for you. We also stated that you shouldn’t keep 165

this up or this would happen to you so don’t you dare to blame it on us!” “Jimy, your mom is right,” said Jimy’s father, agreeing with Jimy’s mother. “You barely even exercise. When I was your age, I always tried to find a way to exercise even though I can’t. You should be grateful next time we even give you an opportunity. Next time you WILL do it. Do you understand?” Jimy was shocked by what they said and replied “So THIS is how you motivate your child? Great job Mom! You too Dad! That was so nice of you. And yes I do understand how beautiful parents you are. High five!” Clearly, he was being so sarcastic on what he was saying. His voice sounded like he was sarcastic as well. As the nurse saw, they were arguing for the next hour. “Are you guys DONE?” yelled the staff team. “We have patients to take care of y’know?” After the Brown family stopped arguing, they went into a room where Jimy’s specialist was. It didn’t take too long for the doctor to enter because of the fight. “Hello guys! How are you?” said the doctor. “Hi doc! We are great today. And how are you?” asked Jimy’s father. “I am doing great as well Mr. Brown,” the doctor replied. “My name is Dr. Robinson and I will be your assistance for Jimy’s diet today. Now where is he? “Right here…” said Jimy when he was behind the bed for checkups. His face had marks of his tears from trauma. “Hello there Jimy. How have you been?” asked Dr. Robinson. “I am doing okay I guess…” replied Jimy. “It’s been hard to lose weight.” “I know it is,” said Dr. Robinson. “A lot of people go through this and you’re not alone. If you try your best. Try eating more fruits and veggies and exercise daily for at least half an hour, then you will be feeling better than ever. Also Mr. and Mrs. Brown, try to motivate your child by doing exercises with him and stop buying candy and junk food. It’s okay to eat that stuff once in a while. Balance is key.” Jimy’s mother and father thought about what they did before they met the doctor, and now they feel horrible for their actions. However, they don’t want to show their feelings. Have we been horrible parents? They thought in their head. They wanted to apologize, but they had to go through the 166

examination first. After the examination, the Brown family went to the waiting room to schedule another appointment in two months. Jimy’s parents agreed to the time of the appointment and left the clinic. Once Jimy and his parents returned home, Jimy went straight to his room and closed the door. He saw everything he had, chips, candy, soda, juice, fried foods, and his gaming setup. He took the food back into the kitchen and threw the fat food into the garbage. “That… actually felt good!” Jimy said to himself. He turned on his PC, and started a new chapter of his life, a transformation, an upgrade. This was his new opportunity to become better. Jimy switched into a healthy life, he ate healthy, exercised daily for 3 hours, and hung out with his parents and friends. However, there was a problem. His classmates and schoolmates made fun of him while doing that. On his first day of his new healthy life, he went back to school like it was prison for him. Jimy Brown was about to leave the classroom and arrive at his next class. His class walked into a line and he was in the front, like a line leader. “Can you move faster, fatty?” asked Christan. “Can you not? And I am not fat,” said Jimy. He was trying his best to be calm. “If you’re not so fat, then move FASTER or we will be late to class because of you! And you are such a terrible line leader. I am going to ask Mr. Robert to switch line leaders, everyone vote me!” said Ashley while everyone was laughing and agreeing with her. Jimy went into tears because of the bullying. He couldn’t take it anymore. I mean, do you blame him? Sure he turned himself fat but that doesn’t mean he should be humiliated for what he is. As the class went into the next class, the teacher noticed Jimy’s tear marks and asked, “Why were you crying? Is everything okay Jimy?” Heather replied, “It’s because he slowed us down to our next class and he’s ashamed of it. I mean, look at him, he shouldn’t be line leader at all.” Everyone except for Jimy and his teacher gave agreeing signs. “Well then Heather, then you should be ashamed for your parents receiving a call about what you just said!” the 167

teacher yelled back and everyone froze. “And this will go to the principal too! Good luck with that.” For once Jimy was defended! He thought to himself, maybe some people do really care about me. That’s what you get you jerky Heather! Jimy felt better on the rest of his school day. He never knew that karma can hit you hard until now. “Thank you, Ms. Applegate!” thanked Jimy. “You’re welcome,” replied Ms. Applegate. “It is my pleasure to help you.” After school, Jimy walked on his way home instead of the bus, he forgot the directions so he walked to each bus stop that he remembered. Once, he got home, he did his homework, exercised, and had fun. Finally, after many months, Jimy had lost weight! He never thought he could do this but he did! His parents congratulated him and got him into a big house party, all of his friends and family went there and had a good time. The last thing Jimy thought to himself was, I did it!

168

U n f air Ybo Engelkes

I walk through the main doors of the school. I look around, everything is white. White kids, white teachers, white parents, white walls, white floors, white doors. Everything is white. Everything except me. Me and my parents walk to the cafeteria, or at least they say it’s the cafeteria, but I believe them because they’ve been here before, I haven’t. I open the big white metal doors to the cafeteria and there are so many kids. I expected a private school to be only a small group of kids but I guess I was wrong. I said goodbye to my parents and sat at an empty table. It looked kind of gross with black beans smeared on the table top but at least it was an empty table. I sat down and the first thing I thought was that it’s time to go meet some people. I got up and looked around there. I saw a red haired kid that looked nice so I walked over to him and said, “Hi, my name is Evan.” “Um okay?” the red haired kid said. “About that loser who was sitting over there,” he said pointing at the empty table I was sitting at. I stood there for a second shocked at his reaction. “Well anyways, what do you want?” he said. “Nothing, it’s fine,’’ I said, still a bit shocked. I looked at the kid sitting next to him. It looked like he had a tear in his eye but he looked away before I could really see. “Oh and my name’s Brian.” I nodded and then walked back to the table I was sitting at. BEEEEEEP. The bell and all the kids began standing up and walking to the big, white, metal doors, so I stood up and followed everyone else still thinking about what Brian said to me. I looked on the schedule that my parents gave to me 169

before we left for school. It said I had social studies with someone named Mr. Aldino, room 278. I looked at all the room numbers 256, and then I heard my name being called “Evan! Evan!” Then I saw the kid that Brian was sitting next to running towards me. I stopped and waited for him to catch up to me. “Hi, my name is Chandler, I was sitting next to Brian during breakfast.” I nodded. “I just wanted to say sorry about what Brian said to you.” I nodded again saying, “It’s cool, I know it’s because I’m different from everybody else.” Chandler just stared at his shoes and then said, “Okay, I just felt bad for you.” I nodded again and he started walking away. 257, 258, 256 and then eventually 278. I walked in the room and Chandler and Brian were surprisingly also in the same first period as me. All the other kids were also mostly there. All the desks had name cards on them so I just walked around the room looking for mine. Kingsly, Chandler, Anaka, Brian, and then Evan, shoot, I thought, I had to sit right next to Brian. “Wassup loser,” Brian said as I sat down. I just tried to ignore him, but I still didn’t like it. Like ten minutes into the lesson Brian started whispering to me. “Evan, Evan,” he whispered. “Take this,” he said as he handed me a piece of paper. I opened up the paper and started to read. Dear Evan, was the only thing I could read because I felt someone breathing on my neck. I turned around and stared straight into Mr. Aldino’s eyes. “What is that?” Mr. Aldino bellowed. “Nothing,” I pleaded in a small voice. “Give it to me now!” he hissed. I slowly forced my arm up and dropped the note into Mr. Aldino’s massive hands. He took it and started reading it. “Brian, Chandler and Evan meet me in my room after school for detention.” My whole body froze when I heard him say that. The last thing I wanted today was to have detention, especially not with Brian. I looked at Mr. Aldino and just nodded. It was finally recess, time to get some fresh air. I walked 170

out onto the playground and sniffed it all in. Then Chandler called me over. “Hey Evan, wanna play basketball with us? We need a third player because Brian is way better than me so it can be me and you against Brian,” Chandler asked. “Wait no, don’t let Evan play,” Brian demanded before I could even answer Chandler. “Why not, is it because I’m different?” I blurted. “No just because we don’t want you to play, right Chandler?” he replied innocently. I looked at Chandler and he just shrugged. After that I just decided I was done with them and walked away. After school that day I started walking to Mr. Aldino’s room. There were a ton of kids outside in the halls talking to their friends and happy that the school day was over. But I had another hour of it. When I got to his room there were some kids from my class getting their coats because you have to leave your coat in your first period class, but I wasn’t here for my coat. I walked in and looked around the room. Most of the lights were off, the only light was coming from the open door. I also didn’t see Mr. Aldino anywhere. Right then I was really hoping he went home and forgot about his detention. Obviously that didn’t happen and Mr. Aldino walked straight through the door with Chandler and Brian. “Hi Evan, thanks for being responsible and coming to detention,” he said, as he turned on the lights. I just nodded. Mr. Aldino was holding a large stack of papers. I think it was the work we had to do. He told us to sit at any desk and then handed us each a packet, they were huge. Then he sat down and began grading papers. About ten minutes into the period Mr. Aldino stood up and said, “I am going to go to the restroom real quick just stay put.” All three of us nodded and he walked out of the door. As soon as he did, Brian started talking. “This is all your fault Evan, you got us into this...” “Shut up,” Chandler interrupted. “Make me!” Brian snapped. Chandler just stopped talking. “Yeah that’s what I thought, speechless aren’t you. Anyway Evan, if you hadn’t taken that note from me then you wouldn’t have gotten us into this, so just realize that you are the one that got all three of us into detention,” Brian said. 171

“Enough, Brian! All you do is blame the things you do wrong on other people who are different like Evan. Just like last year there was also a kid with a different skin tone and you made him so sad that he switched schools, so just stop bullying people and realize that you’re the one who did something wrong,” Chandler cried. “C’mon Evan let’s get out of here, Brian is the only one who deserves detention here.”

172

The Beaut y o f a Handl e o f S t e e l Mahtabul Faroque

I’m walking down the street of Stoke City, the city with beautiful trees, cool skyscrapers, and glamorous skys. After some time I saw a girl with a sword and the sword was shining like a star. After I saw that I wanted a sword too, so I went to the sword academy manager. He had no hair and was six feet tall and looked a bit old. “Hey, can I join the sword academy?” His face was red as a tomato. The manager yelled, “READ THE SIGN, IT SAYS NO BOYS!” Ok geez I was just asking for a sword. “What is wrong with having a sword?” My house was a mess. It looked like I was playing tag in the house. At night it was as dark as a cave. I was thinking about the sword and concluded that if I can’t get a sword I will make one myself. I got all the materials I needed. I burned the metal into the shape of a sword and then connected it with the handle. The second I held the sword I felt so powerful. “Hey! Why do you have a sword?” I ran inside because I didn’t want to get exposed because I was not following the rules so to clear everything I just went to sleep. When I woke up there was a mob of people outside my house. I breathed in and out. “The thing I did was correct that all people should be allowed to do fun things that can make people happy.” Soon everyone was allowed to sword fight now which made everyone happy. 173

K i tchen Ashley Guzman

I’m in the kitchen feeling hungry because I hadn’t eaten all day. It was only me, my dad and little brother. My mom had gone to work; it was the weekend. I opened the fridge and there was almost nothing there. There was a cup of yogurt and vegetables in drawers and some milk. “I’M SO HUNGRY!” “Chris, Chris,” I wondered what he was doing. Out of nowhere my dad comes into the kitchen and he calmly says, “Make me some food Claire you have to start learning so you can cook for your husband.” I start thinking what? Here we go again. The last fight he and I had was last week. I shouldn’t be surprised that this is happening again. Every time he says something like that I get mad. I know I can stop the fights, but in order to do that I would have to let him talk to me like that. I feel like if I let him talk to me like that he’s going to think he can talk to me like that everyday or like as if I’m fine with it. I know how he acts and how he thinks and it’s horrible and disappointing. If he would’ve told me to make some food for your little brother I would’ve understood but still he is the father, he should be taking care of us. I know I’m in the kitchen but I leave the room without actually leaving. I’m in my mind - it’s a dark blue sort of color and I start to think. The way he said it was like all the other times except he didn’t say make me some food so you can learn to cook for your husband those times. He would tell me that’s not the way a girl acts or you’re not allowed to do that because you are a girl. I felt like he felt I had done something wrong or something was expected of 174

me. But I never listened to him all those other times; I would stand up for myself. So like those other times I also did this time and whenever I needed to I told him, “You’re the dad, why is it my responsibility to make you food? You should be making me food.” Then he turns around and says, “What? You’re the girl, you’re supposed to be in the kitchen.” I’m surprised every time I argue with him. I’m arguing because he’s sexist but how come he doesn’t get that into his head? Why doesn’t he realize I’m fighting with him because of the way he acts? That’s when I realize he probably thinks I’m the crazy one. He really thinks what he’s saying is right. He’s never going to change the way he thinks or like he’s ever going to say something like that again. I know he will and I know I will have to stand up for myself again. It’s just going to be like those other days, quiet and awkward and not being able to talk to him. But who I really feel bad for is my mom, she gets it the most. Every time he says something to her or wants her to do something for him. I just want to say something but I can’t. If I say something he’ll get mad at her and then they’ll get into an argument and that’s worse. I decided not to call him dad anymore now, I gave him many chances. I just want to move out but it’ll be a long time until that happens so until that happens I just have to be patient. Meanwhile I plan to do what I have to and if he says something I don’t like I’ll stand up for myself and I’ll let him know what I think.

175

W e st

Shameul Haque

Bob and West were playing tag in the park then suddenly a guy came out of nowhere and pushed West down to the snowy ground. The guy picked up a shovel from the ground and started hitting West with it, but then a famous person named Kyle Jacob rammed into the bully then he fell on the ground. “Are you hurt?” Kyle said to West. “What do you think?” West responded. “Ok,” Kyle replied. Kyle picked up West and they started staring at the bully. “MY NAME IS JALE SAN AND THIS ISN’T THE LAST TIME YOU WILL SEE ME AGAIN!!” The bully suddenly said. As the bully took off West and Kyle were really confused from what just happened. “At least we know his name,” West said. AUGUST 7TH 2609, West was walking to school when the same guy who beat him up with a shovel ran past him. He went to the principal of Norwal Middle school which West goes to. The principal was holding the bully’s hand. West assumed that the bully is the principal’s son, but West wasn’t completely sure. “Son you should be eating more veggies,” said the principal. “Yeah I know,” replied Jale. West was in shock that a principal is a dad of a bully. West knew what he was going to do. He was going to snitch on the bully!

176

AUGUST 8TH 2609, West was feeling happy today since it’s his day to get stitches because snitches get stitches. West did his daily routine and went outside the door after saying “bye” to his mom. West walked to school rushing to get towards the principal’s office. “Sir,” West said. “Yes?” said the principal while getting papers out of the drawer. “Your son did the worst thing to me. He pushed me on the snowy ground and started beating me with a shovel at the park! AND I DO HAVE WITNESSES!” said West. “Calm down West,” the principal said. “I will give him a really big punishment, but first he needs to say a big apology to you,” responded the principal. The principal went to the big speaker and said, “Jale San please come to the main office now please.” Once Jale arrived the principal just stood up and said to him “SAY SORRY TO WEST SINCE YOU HIT HIM WITH A SHOVEL!” “But I didn’t do anything though…” Jale replied. “LIES I WILL GROUND YOU FOR LIFE!” the Principal said. “OK I’M SORRY FOR HITTING YOU WITH A SHOVEL!” Jale yelled. “It’s fine just never do that to anyone including me,” said West. “NO VIDEO GAMES FOR 5 MONTHS!” the Principal said. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Jale yelled. The End.

177

H omeless Do c to r Toby Harris

“Get off the street you filthy rat,” scolded the man who walked by me. You start to get used to it after being homeless for two and a half years. I want to be a doctor but my parents died in a car accident when I was only 15 years old, and I have no money to pay for or even look nice enough for them to have me go near their facility. “It’s time to face my fears and go to Curon Medical School, to ask for a scholarship.” It took a while to get there since I had no money for transportation and nowhere to put my stuff. .... When I finally got there I remembered it’s beauty. The two big marble doors with beautiful gold handles looked like they would lead to a magical land with angles and sparkling fish who looked like they could fix everything in your life! But when I opened the doors I got bumped back down to reality. “Hey, what’s that smell?” “I think it’s coming from over there,” another man yelled. I felt small and unwelcomed, I burst out without even saying a word. I messed it up, I didn’t even try. .... The walk back to where I usually stay was longer than ever, especially knowing I screwed my dream up. I always like to pick up a newspaper when bored, and the one I’m currently reading is very interesting. It brings 178

me into my own private place since my tent has very little privacy. The newspaper is all about special deals and events. OMG! The next page is titled Curon Medical School, and it’s about a special test you can take to get a full scholarship. This is a golden opportunity that I can’t miss. But, once again, I get bumped back down to reality. The test is today and I’ll have to leave right now in order to be on time. .... “Holy smokes,” the test starts in 45 minutes and there’s a line 50 people long ahead of me. My palms are sweating and my heart is broken. I had managed to screw my dream up once again. .... “Only 25 spots left, I repeat, only 25 spots left.” The principal of Curon Medical School yells. I’m number 27 in line and only people up to 25 will make it to the test. “My water broke! My water broke!” a woman in front of me yells. “Babe, I’ll skip the test. I need to meet young Lila,” her boyfriend says. It just hit me - now, I’m the 25th in line. I’M GONNA GO TO CURON MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!!! .... The next morning when I woke up in my tent camped outside McDonald’s, and I think someone is trying to get my attention. “Hellow, is this Manny Harris?” the woman asks me. “Yes it is - what for?” “I’m here to tell you that you made it into Curon Medical School, with a FULL SCHOLARSHIP!” THE END

179

No Clip Liev Hawkins

[Test Chamber 1] That’s what Tom’s computer screen says. It’s fifteen till ten at present, Hiey. He walks through the narrow blacktiled hallway in-game. He walked into the chamber, his footsteps echoing down the bottomless pits that surrounded him. The ambience was unsettling and seemed like there was no happiness to be found in this place. Tom started to feel lonely, even though his partner in science was there too. Still, it didn’t feel right. The grey room was empty. Want to see a trick? says PlayPrice08, his partner, over the computer speakers. Sure, says ThatOneGuy. ThatOneGuy is Tom’s username. [Console: sv_cheats has been set to 1] What does that mean? All of a sudden, he sees PlayPrice08 flying through the air and walls, spawning in turrets, buttons, Franken cubes, and more. How do you do that? You have to map a key to the dev console. Done. Really? Yup. Now hit that key, then in the console, type “noclip”. [noclip] 180

[ENTER] Woah! says Tom. *BOOM* PlayPrice08’s character in-game explodes. What the… *BOOM* Tom’s character in-game explodes. Really? *BOOM* He explodes again. STOP IT!!!!!!! yells Tom. I’m leaving now. Bye. says PlayPrice08. Gtg. [The server has been shut down] It’s half past one in the afternoon. *ding!* Tom checks his phone. He has a new message. It’s from PlayPrice08. [Y’know, I’ve been thinking about this, and I think that you and I go to the same school. But just to make sure, what school do you go to?] Tom replies with [I’m sorry, but do I know you? I know you from earlier today, but why should I tell my personal information to a random stranger from Portal 2?] [I just want to know if we go to the same school or not. Also what’s your name?] [I’m not going to tell you anything about me at all, whatsoever.] [Okay then…] [Heh…] [ … ???] *ding!* *ding!* *ding!* *ding!* *ding!* *ding!* *ding!* *ding!* 181

*ding!* *ding!* *ding!* [You’re stupid! Nobody likes you! Not even your parents! You have anger issues! You have no friends and you will never have any! You’re too shy to ask anyone for help because you’re afraid that they’ll turn you down and make fun of you! You’ll never be successful! You were born alone, you live alone and you will forever, and you will die alone from depression! Go get a life! Oh, wait! Everywhere is sold out! Guess you’ll never have one, and you never did to begin with.] [BLOCK] Tom was about to blow. I SWEAR to god if he says ONE MORE THING about me I’m gonna– *ding!* … [ThatOneGuy was the biggest mistake god ever made!] … … … Tom blew. [WELL GUESS WHAT? THE ONLY REASON YOU EXIST IS BECAUSE GOD DIDN’T HAVE ANY OTHER CHOICE! HONESTLY, HE COULD HAVE JUST CHOSEN TO NOT HAVE YOU EXIST AT ALL, AND I KNOW HE SHOULD’VE DONE THAT! JUST BE THANKFUL THAT YOU F***ING EXIST!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO DIE IN A F***ING HOLE YOU DUMBA** MOTHER F***ER!!!!!!!!!!!!] The time is four to four. [The only reasons why you would bully other people is that you have issues in your life that upset you and you take it out on other people to make you feel better, you’re afraid that if you don’t bully people, they’ll bully you harder, or you just want attention from other people. Even if you mean it as a joke, people may not take it the way you think they will, no matter how well you know them. And that’s not okay. Believe me, I know from experience. Sometimes, bullies don’t even know that they’re bullying. If you need help—and I’m not saying this in a mean way—you could go see a psychologist or you 182

could talk to a friend about it. Just doing that helps a lot. I’ve made mistakes, and you’ve made mistakes.] [Thanks for the advice. I’m sorry.] [I promise this won’t happen again with me. You’ve really helped me.] [–Your long lost friend, Oddesey]

183

Th e P r ot est Yaquelyn Hernandez

“Excuse me, where is seat D-5?” I asked the flight attendant. He shows me to my seat. I am so excited to go to San Francisco! I sit next to a man with a big beard. “It might take a while to get there because of traffic, but here is THE address to my house. It should be cleaned by the end of the day.” I scoff. “What makes you think I’m a maid?!?!” “Not sorry,” he said quietly, thinking I wouldn’t hear it. The next day I go to my new job as an accountant. I notice there is no energy in this room and I am the only female accountant at this job! So I kind of feel weird around them. I finish my day at work by being the only person with no one to talk with. A month has passed since I first started here today. We are getting our checks! So I saw the manager pass around checks and everyone was happy about what they got so I was excited until I saw my check. I looked over to the person next to me and I noticed that I got 15% less than him! And I saw that everyone got the same amount as him except for me. I had worked my butt off to only get 15% less money than everyone else? I am pretty mad that I go to my boss’s office, there are coffee cups everywhere and then I rant about asking why I got that amount. “Why did I get less money than everyone else?” I shouted loud enough that even everyone in the other room heard me. “You only got this amount because you just started here!” I don’t believe it. It seems like he is hiding something and I have worked here for over a month. I storm out of the office 184

without saying anything else and everyone is whispering about me. I go back to my little section. I was curious so I searched up “how are women getting treated?” I learned that all women are experiencing the same thing as me! I didn’t realize that this was happening to me. We are all getting treated differently because of our gender, like women aren’t even allowed to vote! I started reading about Susan B. Anthony and I decided to do a protest as well. The only problem I have is I just moved here a month ago and no one knows me. Then I got this idea about talking to people around here about my protest and see if they want to help me. If I can get at least one man to help me that would be huge! So I started talking to the people in my job and none of them agree with me. I try to convince them but they won’t budge! So instead I went to a place near Manhattan and started talking to people. A half hour has passed and I found at least 20 women! Veronica (one of the women) has a husband who is a news reporter! I go to work all happy and Michael (my boss) has made my life awful ever since I asked him that question. Anyway I figured he would say no if I asked him so I didn’t. But when I asked Caleb (my coworker) one more time he finally said yes! So I told him the location and when we had meetings. “We have meetings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for an hour or more,” he nodded. Today is a Monday so when we all met at my house we set up a date for when we protest. We also planned where we were going to have it, we will have it at Times Square. We are doing it there because a lot of people pass through there. We will have it in one week. Veronica’s husband already knows everything that will happen. Caleb and I will be the ones speaking. We are currently making placards and preparing what to say. One week later… It is the day of the protest. I am nervous but right now we are looking for Veronica’s husband. People are staring at us. We finally found him in front of a donut shop. It was time so we started shouting and we held up the placards as high as we could. Veronica’s husband goes up to me and says, “What are you doing?” with the camera right in front of me. 185

“All around the world females are getting paid less, not getting a certain job, mistaken for someone they aren’t just because of our gender and we should end that!” I finished the rest of my speech and then Caleb went on. “For males watching this, imagine watching as one of them. Wouldn’t you want to fight for your rights?” I was happy about what Caleb had said. Caleb was still talking until he got interrupted by the police! They had told us to leave so we left proud of ourselves. While we were holding the placards and shouting people started joining in! I didn’t realize Caleb had said my phone number right before we left. So I didn’t know how people were randomly calling me and I didnt know how to react. I especially didn’t know how to react when the President called me!!! Everyone was still with me when he called. I answered and he said, “I was surprised by what you said and I’ve given a lot of thought about this. I have decided to make a law that women have to be treated mostly the same as men, they could have the same jobs, they could do almost everything a man can!” My mouth was wide open that a hamburger could fit in there! “Thank you so much sir you will not regret this.” I hung up and everyone started hugging each other and we celebrated by going to the dinner. Everyone who helped was really excited about the new change. The President made the law a week after he told us. I have decided that I want to try to be in the army. I start training today! A year has passed since the new law has happened. I got accepted into the army, so I quit my job as an accountant. Everything has been going really great for women and that’s all that matters to me! The end...

186

Of f ice Do ugh nut Wes Holdaway

Hello my name is Officer Doughnut and this is the story of how I arrested Kingpin. “You did not complete your quota today, you will pay,” said Kingpin. “Please have mercy Kingpin,” whispered the thug gasping for air. “Too late,” said Kingpin as he let go of thug and he fell limp onto the floor. “Now let this be an example to all of you, do not fail me,” said Kingpin. _____________________________ | LATER IN THE POLICE STATION | “Hey Billy have you made any progress on the Kingpin case,” said Sheriff, as he stepped in gum. Ugh, this precinct is a mess, thought Sheriff. “Nothing yet,” yelled Officer Billy as he opened a letter filled with cash, it was bribe money from Kingpin. “Hey Billy what is in that letter,” said Sheriff curiously. “Umm a letter from my mom,” said Billy nervously. “Ok,” said Sheriff skeptically. “Well your shift is up, time to go home,” said Sheriff. “Hello officer Doughnut, my star pupil, I heard that you just solved your last case,” said Sheriff “Yep now Scarface is locked up for good. I was wondering if I could help Officer Billy with the Kingpin case,” said Officer Doughnut. “I would but Billy hates sharing cases with other Officers and it might slow his progress even more,” said Sheriff. 187

“Ok,” said Officer Doughnut. “I get that he should do this by himself,” said Officer Doughnut. _____________________ | LATER THE NEXT DAY | “Hey Sheriff I was wondering if Billy could take Tinkles (the precinct sniffer dog) around the city to try to sniff out Kingpin because we still have that suit shred from his old hideout that Tinkles could get his scent from,” said Doughnut. “That is a good idea Officer Doughnut, I will go tell Billy right away thanks Doughnut,” said Sheriff. “Hey Billy, tomorrow you are going to walk Tinkles around the city to see if he picks up Kingpin’s scent ok?” said Sheriff. ______________________ | TOMORROW MORNING | “Hey Sheriff, I saw Billy and Tinkles over by the hot dog cart downtown when he was supposed to be looking for Kingpin,” said Doughnut. “Ok, I will talk to him about it, thanks for telling me Doughnut,” said Sheriff. Then he walked over to Billy’s desk and asked Billy, “Why were you at the hot dog cart instead of looking for Kingpin?” “Oh you saw that umm I was just getting Tinkles a snack,” said Billy nervously. “Ok,” said Sheriff with a skeptical look on his face, “but while we’re on the subject did Tinkles find anything?” “Oh nope,” said Billy. “Really he never let up before,” said Sheriff. “Umm well I guess there’s a first time for everything,” said Billy nervously. “Ok,” said Sheriff. “That’s all I wanted to ask,” said Sheriff as he went back to his office. ______________ | 2 DAYS LATER | “Mail call,” said the mailman. “Coming,” said Sheriff. “Oh there’s one for Billy I am sure he won’t mind if I see what is inside,” said Sheriff as he walked over to his office and carefully opened the letter and he could not believe what was inside. A bunch of cash and a letter it read here is your monthly fee, keep up the good work from your secret admirer. It can’t 188

be, Billy can’t be corrupt, but he could not ignore the obvious facts and with a sagging heart he went over to Billy’s desk with a pair of handcuffs and arrested him for fraud, injustice and for aiding a criminal mastermind. In a matter of months Kingpin was behind bars and that’s the story of how I, Officer Doughnut, arrested Kingpin.

189

No t P la yin g Game s Luis Angel Landero

One day two brothers in Mexico named Miguel and Luis were playing outside in their backyard when their mother told them “ven aca” because their Aunt was here and she had a surprise for them. When the two brothers came inside their mother told them to go play upstairs with their toys. While downstairs their Aunt talked to their Mother about airplane tickets to New York and if they were old enough to go. Little did they know, Miguel and Luis were listening and they thought they were old enough. Luckily they were both 14 years old so they went back inside their room to play video games. Two hours later, their mother called them down and they came down. Their mother said they are going to New York so they should pack their bags and they are going on a plane. Once Miguel and Luis heard that, they already knew what to bring to New York in both of their suitcases. They had a few shirts and pants with shorts and 1 jacket and their phone and a VR headset. They were ready but their Aunt had one last surprise: the tickets were 1st class tickets. Miguel and Luis were so excited that they already wanted to leave and when they finally left they did not know when the flight was going to leave so they went back home and their Aunt said “in 3 hours.” When they got to the airport 1 hour later, they got into the line in the airport. The line took an hour but when they finally got past it, they got to their flight number and they waited. When their flight came they got into their first class seats and took out their nintendo switches and played fortnite for the whole time. 190

When they finally got there, they grabbed their things and got ready to go to a hotel. When they got there they went to their room and took 40 dollars and went to the Game Stop and got a game. When they put the game in the VR headset and it said what color are you colored or white, the white had a better way to play the game and the colored was way worse. They were mildly mad but they chose white. Later they went outside to get cup noodles and they saw a bunch of segregated things from stores to restaurants. Almost everything was like that and that made them feel outraged. So they decided to start a non-violent march so they started to get people for the big march. In 3 days they got at least 1,000 people to come. On the day, they sent out an email to all the people who were coming that they were going to meet at the town park. Later everyone was there and they started the march. The march was hard because people were throwing things at them and one of them almost died. With that, many people left. Eventually, only when they were there they knew they couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t continue their march, so they gave up but tried again the next day. In the morning they tried again but this time they had some policemen and army men in the march so they thought some of the people 2 days later. They were ready, while the people were marching, the people who were training got lazer guns that just stun them because they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to be violent and they succeeded. The president of the new galaxy announced it was illegal and the two boys were known as the best activist in the two worlds.

191

Th e Act ion Th at Ch ange d Ev e r y t hin g Alexander Lipatov

I bestowed upon the giant building reading Canadian Bank in the bright blue letters. The smell of halal from the trucks near the building filled my nostrils. A giant sign towering over me, I walked alongside the hordes of people in suits entering the building. This was my big day and I was not going to miss it, I said to myself under my breath. I took a deep breath while smelling the mouth-watering halal once again as I thrusted through the revolving doors. The click of my heels made a satisfying sound as they stepped on the floor of the marvelous marble lobby. I walked proudly to my assigned room. As I slowly stepped in the room, the man in the chair was looking at me in a confused state. We looked at each other for a while until he said, “Sorry to ask but who are you?” I replied, “The new employee, Morgan Lane.” The man then replied, “Oohhh.” I then said, “Is something wrong”? “No,” I hear as the answer fades away slowly. “Anyways, here is what your job is.” After that the man talks for about 15 minutes explaining everything that I need to know about the job. I was so excited nothing could show my excitement. Today was the day that I was going to show the world how much I have grown up. As I entered the elevator and walked to my office I said hi to everyone I passed by. Everyone so far looks friendly, of course if you don’t count the man I first met. It felt like hours until it was lunch but soon it was lunch. During lunch I made many different friends from my group. 192

But then that’s when I started noticing how undiverse this bank is. I started seeing many male and white people. So for that reason I started wondering if anyone else had issues on the interview stage. So I asked my group to find out that everyone who was male and white had no trouble, but everyone who wasn’t - any of those like me and a few others - had experienced the job to be more difficult and all of the higher level employees to be more rude and aggressive to them. I was outraged to find this out, I had to take action. So the next day I decided to group up everybody who had unfair relationships with the administration and we planned to do a boycott. So that same day I and my group went to the manager and complained. The manager then in his defense said, “Like you leaving will make a difference.” So we left. After about 2 weeks me and my friends get a call from no one other than the manager. According to him, “The leaving of you and your group caused the collapse of our company please come back.” So we replied, “Under one condition if you make it fair so everyone has the same equality no matter their gender, race, religion, or age.” “That is understood,” the man replied. We were so excited and as our group entered the building I noticed how diverse and wonderful the company has become for our appearance and work there. I was so proud of how much I have impacted the world in a good way. For everything that has happened after all I have to say is that I’m happy that no matter who you are, you are accepted here. I also hope that everybody does this so everybody in the world was treated equally no matter who they are.

193

H un t in g Or cs Elio Mancinelli

The Elven city of Notalos guards the cavern of Kiirion. The cavern found by Kiirion was filled with magical power so the elves built a settlement to mine the powerful ore. Now the elves are under siege by orcs and are desperately holding out until reinforcements arrive. The only reason the battle isn’t already over is because of the orc’s rage and thirst for elven blood. They act as a mob rather than an army. Octavian is awoken by a loud crash and soon after, screams. He looks outside his window and sees that there is a large hole in the roof of his neighbor’s house. He grabs his sword and rushes over. When he gets inside he sees a large hole through the building up to the sky. After searching the house he finds his friend Oscar dead, no one in his family survived. He knew Oscar as his friend who was annoying in a good way; he could never sit still and relax. He was always asking to play ball or practice archery. One time Octavian asked him if he liked being a soldier. Oscar said it was fine with him because if we ever marched to war we could see the world. He never expected the war to come to him. #1 The Siege. Two weeks into the siege, Octavian can never find a moment to rest, being assigned chore after chore. The only person he sees that he knows is Arvid - he is Octavian’s decurion (sergeant, he has a higher rank so he is in charge. A decurion is a Roman cavalry officer but I used it as an 194

infantry officer.) Arvid is big for his age and thinks that strength is the only reason someone would respect you as in charge. He is one of the best swordsmen in the century. Octavian hated mornings because he had just gone through the trauma of the night attack and then he got to see the larger impact on the city, the debris, the damaged houses, etc. Our contubernium (same thing as a squad but Roman; it was made of 8 legionnaires) was assigned to transport arrows to the tall beautiful and decorated walls. If you look for more than a glance you’ll notice the cracks, holes, missing towers, and piles of crumpled stone laying at the foot of the wall. When we got there we had a clear view of the city. Octavian had been up there many times but the city was in flames. It is almost every night, orcs love to burn things down. They drop bombs from the top of the cliff that Notalos uses as a back wall, and it just got a lot worse the orcs finished their first trebuchet. The orcs are bombarding constantly and in one night, they killed 140 elfs. From up on the walls he could see the progress on the other trebuchets; looking back to the city he found people running to wells with buckets even though it is poisoned. The orcs made sure of that. The leader of the city, a high elf wizard Runnan, was rushing from fire to fire with a group of soldiers extinguishing them. They would put out all the fires by morning only for the orcs to start them again next night. #2 Octavian’s Journal Today was a disaster the orcs attacked and broke through the gate. Luckily only a few orcs sneaked past but those who did burned at least 7 homes even though they were empty. Those elfs now live in the shelters that are scattered over the city. Most of the homes next to the wall are pancakes; the light materials of elven homes have almost no resistance against the trebuchet, catapults or even the crumbling wall. Those people weren’t as lucky. My guess is that 90-150 elfs died there and no one can retrieve the bodies so we don’t know the real number. I wonder how many more will die? #3 The Questions After 4 months under siege Octavian and Arvid are on their 27th time guarding the wall at night. “Why have they not attacked with full force?” Arvid wondered “The longest known orc siege was 9 months long. 195

We are almost at 4 and a half months, and they haven’t tried to overwhelm us with all their troops, why?” “What do you mean, they have attacked many times with full force, we barely held them back?” Octavian replied clearly confused. “No, they only used expendable troops like greenskins (normal orcs have green skin) and goblin mercenaries. Sure they mixed in some expensive troops like boar riders and great weapon orcs but almost no Black/Red Orcs (depends on the color of their armor), no chariots, trolls, giants, nothing! Why?” Arvid explained. “They could have completely decimated this city but they didn’t, they are holding back, they have a plan and we should try to find out.” #4 The Find Octavian put a lot of thought into Arvid’s idea and agrees with it but he doesn’t know how to react - should he keep it to himself or ask someone else what they thought. … Octavian’s contubernium was assigned to guard a shelter right next to the cliff. Octavian thought it didn’t need protecting because it was so far from the battle, but there were reports about an orc roaming there. Octavian thought it was stupid but they were sent there anyway. Octavian did a round expecting not to find anything, but something caught his eye. A side of a building looked burnt but not severely. He walked closer and found a piece of cloth that was light tan and smelled horrendous. Near it was something that looked like a booger but liquid, and there was more; it made a trail. it must have been orc blood. He ran back to shelter and told Arvid about it. He said we should investigate. Octavian, Arvid, Irvol, and Foldac would investigate and Olers, Izura, Divame, and Sarol would stay. We followed the path to a small crevice. Arvid entered first then Octavian, Irvol, and Foldac came after. They were in a medium-sized cave by Octavian’s standards. He spent time in the cavern of Kiirion so he wasn’t impressed, but about 20- 40 orcs could fit in there. They kept going until it expanded into a large tunnel that turned right and around the corner came noise. Orcs! They dashed back to where they came and met up with the rest. Arvid decided that they had to charge the orcs and kill 196

them before they left to go report if they could do harm in that time. Back in the tunnel, Arvid was the first to emerge and the rest followed after killing the orcs. Octavian pulled out a torch and lit it and saw that they were standing in a giant tunnel that led farther than he could see with a torch. It must have led to the orc camp, they needed to tell Runnan. All the elfs looked at each other and they all started running for the exit. More orcs could have easily seen the light. The contubernium emerged outside and sprinted full strength to the walls. Octavian could see the elfs up on the walls, their shadows shifting from the burning homes behind them, the flaming projectiles coming at them, and the moon all at the same time. 8 elfs in full armor running to the walls as if death was chasing them was quite easy to notice and when they were almost there, 2 elfs came out from the walls to meet Octavianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contubernium.

197

A New Wor ld Elijah Martinez

The current population of the world is 100 billion people. The world is split up into two different groups: the dragons trying to control the population by increasing the prices for food, and the seahorses trying to stop them and take back control of the food system. The seahorses are being forced under the sea while the dragons rule the dry, barren land destroyed from over-farming. Ronald tells me what’s happening now; the dragons are invading the base trying to take over the system and take the people we have. Ok try to stop them by closing all of the gates and putting the poison gas in each closed section, alright let me do that, Ray we have a problem what? The gates aren’t working and the poison gas is offline. Ronald gets Tracy on the line RIGHT NOW! “Yes sir.” Tracy we have a big problem right now the dragons are invading the bad and the gates and poison gas are offline. “We need reinforcements quickly. It’s only me and Ronald right now, we think we found a way to stop the dragons for good.” “Ok we’ll send our best trained men right away.” Ronald what do we do they’re almost to the main counter and we can do anything. Ray calms down. I know it’s how to get out of this situation, but we need to break a lot of things to get me that wrench please. Now we need to break the window and sneak out of the base then we need to pry the doors open, but we need someone to open the door. It’s impossible to open the doors with your bare hands. Why do I think I’m here? Ronald no what about your kids and your 198

wife. Tell them I love them goodbye Ray, Ronald noo! Get going bye, nooo stop Ronald no I can’t get the door open I can’t save him, not again, Ray go now if you don’t leave now this will all be for nothing now go, fine I guess I’ll leave but when this is all over I’m coming back okay I’ll see you. Ok now Ronald opened the door so I can get out, yes sir good luck im going to the core of the attack right to salvator open the doors ok now that I’m out I’m gonna go into the vents and sneak pass all of them give me the screwdriver please, ok. Let me just open this alright now let’s get going. Ok so how are we going to navigate these vents let me think... oh I know since I know the hallway layout of the base I can use that to I think they’re laid out exactly as the hallways so if I take a left then a right and then another left I should be able to reach the center of the attack and put a end to this all ok so the first right is right here then the left should be in a second and if I am correct ah yes the left is right here. I see a salvator now if I can get behind him I can finally put an end to this dreaded life. I sneak behind Salvator and steal the keys to his ultimate weapons. I then get caught, the guards pick me up carrying me away to the holding room. Then black. I wake up tied to the chair with a table in front of me. I’ve never seen the place in my life. White all around me. I start to see a picture on the wall of me going in and out of me with my family and me sitting in the chair. I need to get out of here. The picture goes black everything goes black I’m still awake but the room is terribly dark then. I feel a needle in my neck. Everything goes red blue white black. I have to get out of here, I wake up with a guard in front of me. I start silently rubbing the handcuffs against the chair I’m slowly getting through then I’m through. The guard then falls on the floor. Behind him comes Tracy. “How are you doing captain?” “Very bad.” “Well let’s get out of here and finally stop this.” We’re back at the base Tracy what do you see. “Salvator is alone, don’t go in yet.” I’m going in. “I just said don’t go in!” but he’s alone. I’m already going down, be quiet. There’s no one in there just him. I’m gonna get his keys again now. I’m going to hide in the closet and ambush him when he least expects it. Ok he’s off guard i’m going in. “Ok.” I slide under his chair and go behind his head with 199

my gun. He gives up automatically. I don’t trust him. He’s up to something I don’t know what though. “I’ll give you everything back and your land too just please don’t kill me.” “Very well give me the keys to your weapon.” “Ok.” How do I get to your base? I’ve been above ground and it’s nowhere to be found. “It’s underground.” I should have thought about that. “I’ll make you a deal. I let all of the food markets go, if you let me go.” Very well but how can i trust you, I’ll give you my keys to the computer here. It’s 5 years in the future and life is thriving. The land is lush and grassy with people all around happy and here is where my story comes to an end. “Hey dad, is that story really true?” That’s up to you son now go to sleep you have school tomorrow. Ok good night dad.

200

The Tige r Henry McLean

Hi, my name is Phil. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m Canadian. I went to Washington, D.C. on a trip. The story starts off when I arrived at the airport. When I arrived I was thinking of all the places I could go. I always wanted to go to the D.C. zoo. Friends said that there are so many cool animals there. I got out of the airport going to see the Washington, D.C. zoo because I heard from the airport and the temperature was really nice because it was spring. I conveniently found a shuttle bus going straight to the D.C. zoo. I could see there were lots of tourists on the bus like me going to see the zoo. When we arrived at the zoo I saw the entrance with a big sign saying D.C. zoo. I walked through the entrance and immediately I saw such a big line just to get tickets to go to the zoo. I waited in the line for about 1 hour, it was so long, but the wait was worth it once I saw all the animals. There were monkeys, gorillas, crocodiles, sea otters, lions, cheetahs and even a giraffe. First, I went to see the monkeys. The monkeys were so much faster than I thought swinging from tree to tree. Also I saw one of them eating something that looked like a banana. I took a few pictures with them. There were lots of tall, big, green trees that the monkeys were swinging on. They looked like they were having so much fun. Next, I went to see the cheetah habitat. I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sure how to get there so I had to do all the work to download the D.C. zoo app to get on the map of the zoo. I followed the map and found the cheetah habitat. There was tall, green grass everywhere and for a while I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find the cheetah. But I finally found it hiding inside the tall, green grass. It was so 201

well camouflaged that most people thought the cheetah was having a break or something. After that, I saw the giraffe habitat really close to me so I walked over there to see it. The neck of the giraffe was almost as tall as the trees inside. And it surprised me how long the tongue of the giraffe was and that it was purple! After that I went to see the gorilla habitat. I thought the gorilla seemed lonely because it was just the one gorilla in there but he looked so strong. The last animal I went to see was the tiger. When I got to his habitat I was very surprised because his habitat wasn’t like the others. There were no trees or grass. It was just a cracked cement floor. The tiger looked really bored and didn’t look like he was eating enough food and the habitat was too small. I felt really bad for that tiger. It was smaller than the frog habitat. I asked one of the workers at the zoo why the habitat was so bad and she didn’t say anything and made an excuse. I got frustrated about the tiger and I wanted to help him! I was thinking of a plan to get him to a better habitat or zoo. I eventually thought of promoting a protest in front of the D.C. zoo. I hoped if I promoted enough that it would get a lot of attention and lots of people would come. I started off by promoting the protest on Reddit, Facebook and Instagram. And my friend has a YouTube channel so I asked him to promote it there. I thought to myself if it gets enough attention it might be on the local news station. We set the date of the protest for May 10th. In the post we wrote that on May 10th everyone will meet in front of the D.C. zoo at 3:35 PM and you should bring signs talking about getting the tiger a better habitat. The day of the protest I got interviewed by the local news station. They asked questions like “What do you want for the tiger? How did you figure out that the tiger’s conditions were so bad?” That morning there was so much relief because I knew a lot of people would watch the morning news so they would come. Also I was happy that the post that I did got to the top of reddit. I was pretty sure that this protest was going to be a big success. At home I made my sign for the protest. I wrote on it, “help the tigers!” When I got to the spot of the protest there was an amazing surprise. When I got there I saw thousands of people standing outside the zoo with signs saying stuff like “free the Tigers” and like “Help the Tigers.” I think the protest was a really big success! The D.C. zoo 202

constructed a whole new habitat for the tiger! When I went to the zoo again after it was constructed I was so happy to see the tiger running around being so happy. The new habitat is a lot bigger than the last one. It has big, tall trees, lots of grass, and even a cave for the tiger to go inside.

203

It ’s Not F air Marley Pitagorsky

“Not again! It’s been raining for days!” my twin brother Joey says. He is packing his bag. “Mom! Where’s my mouthguard?” “It’s in your hand, Joey.” Joey is so annoying, but he is in all of the advanced classes, and the school lacrosse team. “Oh yeah! I found it mom!” I roll my eyes. He acts so smart! Although, he is. “Joey, I found it. Not you.” “Shut up, Allison!” After he says that, he steps back like he’s scared. He almost trips over the steps. I turn around. My mouth curves into a smile. “Papa! You’re home!” Papa was on a business trip. I hug him. “Joey. What did you say to Allison? Go to your room!” My dad points upstairs. And Joey runs. Really fast. “Now how’s your day been, Beanstalk?” “Fine. But today is going to be rainy. I guess it’s just a normal day in Seattle, Washington. How was it on your trip?” “Good. Joey texted me that they have a game on Friday. You want to go? Isn’t your friend Ashton on the team?” “Oh! Right! I was going to tell you that, I think I want to see if I can try out for the lacrosse team!” “Really Beanstalk? That sounds great! You’ve been playing for forever. But isn’t it an all-boys team? Do you think they’ll let you try out?” “Don’t even bother, Allison! You’re not good enough, and it’s all boys only. Don’t even try!” My dad’s eyes go from happy to angry, and his eyebrows clenched together, as he 204

steps forward, he grabs Joey by the shoulders. “Ow!” My brother howls. But Papa keeps pushing him. “Stay there until dinner! No video games! So Alli, are you going to tell Ashton? Or wait until Coach Jack accepts you?” “I don’t know if I made the team. I haven’t even tried out yet.” My hands go behind my back, and touch the opposite elbows, like I do when I’m nervous. “Don’t worry, Beanstalk. It’ll be the same as playing with me and Grampy. Just do your best,” my dad says. His eyes sparkle. I smile, and go into the kitchen to help my mom with dinner. *

A while later, when the pork chops are on the stove, I ask my mom’s opinion on me being on the team. “Well, do you think that Ashton would like it? He might not. Or, what about Joey? He might not like you being on the same team as him?” I roll my eyes. Who cares? I know Joey won’t like it. “Well, mom, I just want to try out. If I don’t make it, I won’t really care. I just want a shot. Papa said he thinks I will make the team. Do you mom? Do ya?” “It’s not Ya, it’s You. Like dad, I know you will do great, but I am also worried that you will upset the boys on the team. Also, I don’t want people to be mean to you because it is not normal for a girl to be on a boys team.” DING. The timer goes off for the food. I get it and put it on a plate. I wipe my hands, and I walk out. “It’s not fair,” I whisper to myself. My dad always supported me with everything, unlike my mom. My mom never did. I usually agree with my dad, and not my mom. I know my dad is right. I will try out and I will make it. Yes. I will do it. I will wear my lucky socks and make the lacrosse team. I’ll be better than the boys. Ashton is going to be happy. I can do this. I put my hands behind my back, and touch my hands to my opposite elbows. I can do it. I know it. *

My eyes flutter open as a blinding light comes into my room. I see that my mom pulled the curtains open when I was sleeping. I look out the window, and I see what I always 205

see: the city. For me, the city is so calming when I don’t hear anything, but I see people. I threw my blanket to the end of my bed, and I grabbed my clothes. I choose my favorite pairs of pants, and my favorite shirt. And of course, my lucky socks for my tryouts. After that, I start to brush my long, dark brown, with a hint of red hair. It is almost so long that I can’t brush the ends. But I put it in a ponytail and go downstairs for my breakfast. “Hey! There’s my blue-eyed girl! You ready to show ‘em what you got?” “I guess…” I touch my elbows. “What if coach Jack doesn’t let me try out?” “Don’t worry, Beanstalk! You’ll be fine.” If you’re wondering, I got the name Beanstalk because, one: I am really tall and skinny. Two: When I was young, I loved the book “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Whenever Papa came home, I would tell him to read me the book, so the nickname stuck. I pack my lunch, and my bag. “Joey! We’re going to miss the bus! Come on!” “Sorry Allison. I was getting my mouth guard. Hey are you still thinking about trying out for lacrosse?” “Yes, why?” “Because I told all of my friends about it. They told their parents, I think their parents told the school.” “Umm…” I look out the window and I see the bus. “Joey! The bus! Go!” I run as fast as I can, and it looks like Joey is too. By an inch or two, I think I am beating him! Luckily, we make the bus, and I sit in my usual seat next to Ashton. “Hey Alli. Is it really true that you are trying out for the cross? That would be awesome! I bet you’re better than me!” I smile. We talked the whole rest of the way. When I get in class, over the loudspeaker I hear, “Allison Johnson, please report to the main office.” I don’t know why. But I get out of my seat and walk down the stairs to the office. I see coach Jack sitting in the principal’s chair. “Allison, take a seat.” “Why did you call me here?” “Because I heard that you are trying out for lacrosse.” “Yes. I’ve been playing it for a long time. I know it’s boys only, but I know I am as good as anyone, maybe even better. Ashton is on the team, Joey is on the team, and seven more people. That’s nine kids, but you can have ten. The last place would be me. Just think about it. Please.” He leans forward. 206

“Allison, parents aren’t happy about this. Teachers, too. Students aren’t happy either. So it’s a no.” He holds up the sign for the lacrosse team. He points to the ‘All Boys’ in bold letters. “All boys. It says it right there. I’m sorry, Allison. But if you want to come to practice, I might have a chance to see you play. If we need you, I might think about it.” “Ok, thanks for listening.” My face melts. I think about what coach Jack said. ‘Parents aren’t happy about this. Teachers too. Students aren’t happy either.’ Why wouldn’t parents be happy? and the teachers are telling us to be the best version of ourselves. This is the best version of myself! And students should be happy, especially the girls! Why are they unhappy for me? Stupid coach Jack. But, I will go to practice, learn from the guys, and if he does see me play, I will knock his socks off. But today, my lucky socks didn’t bring me luck at all. *

“You know, Alli, maybe he will see you play and put you on the team?” “It’s never gonna happen Ashton. But I am coming to practice. I will prove I am good. But he won’t put me on the team.” But I should’ve known that I could do it. Coach Jack didn’t stop me. Everyone doubted me, so I doubted myself. But later, I did it. I should’ve known.

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Tr y out s - Alle nhurst , NJ , 1992 Sonya Ruvinsky

(To herself) I felt the crunch of my cleats all worn out from the hours of practice, against the dirt of the field as I walked on. The familiar smell of freshly mowed grass and chewed up bubble gum filled my nose. (Play track of record spinning in reverse) (To herself) But when I snapped back to reality, I felt all eyes on me. FRAME: Show OLIVE. Eyes wide, self-conscious. Boys in the Field Talk to each other, whisper and point at OLIVE. Unintelligible. (To herself) Oh yeah? I can see you staring, you know. I’m not blind. FRAME: OLIVE shakes her head. Annoyed. (To herself) Oh yeah. I almost forgot. The park. I wish I could forget, but I can’t. I did something that I’ll regret for a very long time. EXT: PARK-DAY 208

FRAME: Wavy screen transition to the park zoom into: INT: HILL-DAY (To herself) The crack of my bat as it hit the ball is almost too loud to hear Jeremy and his goons walking up the hill while I was practicing. Jeremy is on the team. And he knew I was trying out. He would do anything in his power to stop that. Jeremy Hey look! It’s little Miss Wannabe. (Snicker) Goons (Snicker and converse jokingly with each other.) Jeremy I don’t know why you’re gonna even bother. The spots will all be taken before you get there. Goons Yeah! Hahaha! FRAME: Show JEREMY’S face glaring towards the GOONS and they immediately stop laughing and look down at the floor. Olive What’s your problem? Are you scared that I’m going to get on the team, and replace you? FRAME: Show OLIVE move forward a few steps and cross her arms. Jeremy Ooooohhhh, little Miss Wannabe is sticking up for herself. Aaawww, how adorable! FRAME: Focus on OLIVES clenched fists at her side. Olive Oh yeah?! Well how adorable is this?!! (OLIVE punches JEREMY in the face. He falls to the ground. OLIVE surveys the scene, breathing heavily looks 209

down, then runs out of the park, quickly grabbing her bat and ball.) FRAME: Wavy transition to the present day. INT: Baseball Diamond (To herself) Well anyway, I’m going to try out today. It’s a big moment for me. This has been my dream since I can’t even remember. Max Um, Oli? Coach Reynolds wants you to see him. He doesn’t know why you’re here. You didn’t tell him already? Oh Oli, you better go. Olive Did he seem angry or anything? Oh no. Max I don’t know! Just go. And hurry. FRAME: Show OLIVE jogging over to COACH REYNOLDS. Coach Reynolds Umm, are you lost? Do you need me to call someone? Olive No. I-I think you’re confused. I’m here to try out. For the team? Coach Reynolds Are you sure this is not a joke or anything? I mean you are aware that this is a boys team, right? Olive I’m not joking. I’m actually here to try out. I can try out for the team if I want to. Is there a problem with that? Uh, nope. You?...

Coach Reynolds

FRAME: OLIVE watches a few other boys take their turn 210

at bat. Max Oli? It’s your turn. Good luck! (OLIVE breathes out heavily) FRAME: Change to the pitcher. Strike one!

Umpire

(To herself) What? How could I miss that? Probably just nerves. Breathe. In. Out. Ok. Get focused. Keep your eye on the ball. Strike two!

Umpire

(To herself) Oh no! Only one more shot. FRAME: Zoom out then slowly fade into OLIVE getting hit in the head and collapsing. Loud pop noise as the ball hits her helmet. Blackout. FRAME: Zoom out to show COACH REYNOLDS, TEAMMATES, PARENTS, etc, rushing to where OLIVE lies unconscious. EXT: HIGHWAY-DAY- Follow the ambulance to the hospital. INT: DOCTORS and NURSES rush OLIVE on a stretcher through the hospital. INT: Recovery room. Machines beep around OLIVES hospital bed. FRAME: Show OLIVES eyes opening. It’s so bright in here.

Olive

Mom Oh, Oli! You’re awake! How are you feeling? I was so worried about you! Are you okay? Do you need anything? Do 211

you want me to call someone? Olive Typical mom. Asking questions a mile a minute. (Rolls eyes). NURSE: Makes her way over. Nurse You should rest honey. I am just going to check your vitals, and the doctor should come in a bit to check on your head. Olive Excuse me? What are you talking about? My head? What?? Nurse Oh sweetie, you got a boo-boo on your head. That’s all. (To herself) A boo-boo? How old do you think I am? Wait! No. NOO! Come back! You didn’t answer… my question. (Trails off because the nurse walked away.) Olive Hey mom? Why am I here? Mom I’ll tell you when we get home. (To herself) Wh-what! Why is nobody telling me? It can’t be that bad! Mom Oli, all I’m telling you is that you shouldn’t have tried out for the team anyway! Don’t waste your time on a boy’s game. Grandma and Grandpa told me to focus on what’s right for a woman. Olive Don’t bring Grandma and Grandpa into this! That was their fault for raising you that way! THIS ISN’T THE 60S ANYMORE MORE MOM! AND YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT AND MOVE ON! 212

(To herself) For once my mom was speechless. But now everybody was looking at us. This is so embarrassing! Thanks Mom. (OLIVE pulls the covers over her head, then pulls them down to show her in a different room with colorful pictures on the brightly colored walls.) Dear Diary, Today, I got moved into a rehab center, because I was doing so much better. I found out what happened, and apparently I got hit in the head with a 70 mile per hour pitch. It knocked me out, and I fell in a weird way, and it temporarily paralyzed my left leg. I have been in the hospital for about 2 weeks, and then today I started the 2-week journey of rehab. It’s going to be hard work, but it will pay off. My brother came to visit today. It was awesome! He used his allowance money to buy a cool new pair of walkie-talkies, so I could listen in on practice. Luckily, the rehab center is across the street from the field, so it should pick up the sound pretty well. We tried it out later today when he left to go to practice, and I couldn’t believe what I heard. My brother made an ultimatum. For me! He said that he would quit the team unless I got another tryout. He said he has seen how good I am and he thinks that I would be a great addition to the team. But instead of being the nice coach we had always thought he was, he said that Max was off the team. I felt horrible. We have to do something. This isn’t fair to Max. He worked so hard to get on the team and progress to where he was. What was he thinking? -Olive FRAME: Show everything that she is talking about without sound.

2 WEEKS LATER

(To herself) My dad found out what happened, and now, since I was released, we all marched down to the field to protest against Coach Reynolds’s decision. After Max got booted from the team, he hasn’t been acting like himself. He tries to hide it, but he’s not very good. 213

Dad So where is this Coach Reynolds guy? I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind. Olive Wait, Mom let me try out again? Dad Well, not exactly. But lucky for you, baseball is my favorite sport. (Makes his way over to COACH REYNOLDS and talks angrily to him. Meanwhile, OLIVE gets another tryout. After DAD is done chewing COACH REYNOLDS out, he watches OLIVES tryout and makes his decision.) Coach Reynolds Hey kid, you’re pretty good. What’s your name? Olive Olive. Coach Reynolds Olive, congratulations. You made the team.

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R a cism Andy Uraga

We were running down an alleyway where puddles and garbage were everywhere. “Are they coming?” “I don’t see them Betty.” “Ahhh!!” Betty screamed while she sat up on her bed. Betty was panting fast. Betty saw the door handle twisting and it was her mom opening the door fast. ”Are you ok, honey?” Betty’s mom said. “Um, yeah mom, I’m alright. It was just a bad dream.” “Oh, ok Betty.” “Now just get ready for your first day of sixth school (middle school).” “Alright mom.” Betty was getting ready and she was all over the place back and forth. Moments later she was ready. “Mom hurry let’s go!” Betty screamed. But there was no answer so Betty walked around the living room waiting for mom. ”Ok I’m here, let’s go Betty,” Betty’s mom said. “Yes, let’s go mom,” Betty said. They walked every block to come to school. “Here we are Betty. This is your new school Betty and it’s a fresh start. There’s your class, go on, I got to go to work.” As soon as I got there they started to call out names. “Leo?” “Here!” “Betty?” “Here!” I shouted. “Ok that’s everyone,” the teacher shouted. “Lets go inside now. You guys can choose your seats.” 215

W a r a n d V io l e nc e A re No t W e lcom ed Shrey Vertes

May 14, 2032 “Ryan!” Mom calls out. “You are going to be late for school!” She is a single mom who has been taking care of me and my brother for my whole life. “Yeah, come on Ryan,” my brother Ellis says sarcastically. “Go to school.” He is home from college with two weeks off. “Guys, I am leaving,” I exclaim. I did not want to miss the bus either so I put my lunchbox in my bag, got my mobile phone and shut the door locked. To be honest, I don’t like school just like a lot of people. Especially in sixth grade, the first year of middle school. I hop on the bus and go to school on what would be a regular Monday. That is because I can’t focus with a war going on in Iran. It makes me stressed out. * * * I get off the bus from school and the door automatically opens with my presence. I hear sobbing from mom’s bedroom. It seems like my brother and my mom are there. “What happened,” I say cautiously. Mom and Ellis were looking at a letter from the mail. Old fashioned. Tough, only super important stuff goes through the mail. The letter was from the U.S. government. “There is something we have to tell you,” mom says. “You know the Iran War that is getting out of hand. They are drafting people for it.” 216

“Yeah…” I say hoping what I was thinking was wrong. “Well-” mom paused. “Ellis got drafted into it.” I look over at Ellis but he looks down. This can’t be happening! “There has to be some other way. No, no, no!” I sit down trying not to cry. I can’t do that in front of Ellis. I look at the letter hoping it is a very bad prank but from what I see it was signed by the president. “I’m sorry, Ellis.” May 19, 2032 My brother is packing his last required items. He is leaving tomorrow so the stress is high. These last few days have been horrible for everyone for obvious reasons. On top of this, I have not been getting good grades. Also, Ellis and mom had to fill out a lot of paperwork. Also, my brother’s college was suspended. Lastly, mom is stressed. When I say stressed, I mean it. But I still can’t imagine what is going on in my brother’s head. I am very worried about him. May 20, 2032 We wait at the gate ready for my brother to board. I may never see him again. We have to say our goodbyes for now. “I’m going to miss you guys,” Ellis says. “I am really scared about this experience. I never got a chance to process this situation.” “I’m going to miss you too,” mom says, trying not to cry. “You are going to be alright.” We all hug as Ellis and some other people around his age go onto the plane. We watch as the plane takes off. There has to be some other way. War is stupid. Why is it a thing? May 21, 2032 I wake up and I glance over to where Ellis is supposed to be sleeping. But he isn’t there. I find mom looking down at nothing. The eggs were boiling on the electric stove. “Hey mom,” I said. “Just want to check-in.” It was an hour until the bus came so we talked about what we were feeling. We decided we had to do something about it. There was a protest in New York which we found on Facebook about backing out of the war. 5,000 people said they were going but that’s too little. We signed up for the event. Just as mom 217

and I were getting into it, the bus arrived. I grab my book bag to go to school on a not so regular Monday. * * * I walk to my house but mom is still at her work. I went onto my console and started playing some video games. I had some homework but I figured I would do it later. But something just doesn’t feel the same since Ellis was drafted. Mom walks into the house. It looks like she had a long day at work. Although, she surprised me when she said, “Let’s get back to where we were.” So we do that. We contact the person who started the event on Facebook. He didn’t seem interested in what we had to say as he said it was supposed to be a small thing. But we convinced him that it is more than that and if you want attention you have to go public. He eventually agrees and lets us post positive stuff about this protest. We got to work and by 8:00 we already got 5,000 more people to sign up for the event. The event is on June 3rd. I have a good feeling but something in me still worries me. May 26, 2032 I slept in a little, but when I checked my mobile phone and went to Facebook now 50,000 people are going to the protest. Though some haters disagree about backing out of the war. But I am not going to listen to them because there are going to be a lot of them. There have been some hate replies but I don’t want this to become dirty. I think most people agree that war is not the answer. Mom and I were able to call Ellis only once. He is still training. He said he was miserable and he wishes he weren’t there. I feel awful for him, he doesn’t deserve it. June 3, 2032 “This is a big day,” I say to myself as I get out of bed. We are going to start the protest at City Hall and go down to Central Park. We made all of these signs to give away and use. * * * 218

We take the A train to Fulton Street. We see the people organizing the protest and they invite us to be one of the people to lead the protest. It will start in 10 minutes. As people start to gather it must have been thousands, maybe 100,000 people. “This is great!” I exclaim. This is an awesome opportunity. “Boo!” A man yells from his apartment building. “You guys are softies, let them fight!” “Yeah, remember the old days?!” Another person in their car exclaimed. “Sometimes fighting is the only option.” Mom and I rush to the front of the line as some people reply by yelling back. But I know you shouldn’t argue back because that would start another war of its own. At first, we are going to start surrounding City Hall. I hope this is going to be a success. * * * Wow. Let’s just say that protest was a success. Even though I said people didn’t agree with us, we outnumbered them and went across Manhattan. Even people who did not originally go on the protest tagged along. I hope the government sees this and makes a change. Mom and I just got back from Manhattan since we live in Brooklyn. We got City Hall’s attention. Not to mention all around the country, they have been doing these protests but not as big as this one. It got a handful of famous people’s attention which is great. “Long day, right,” mom says. She looks exhausted but so am I. ”Yeah,” I replied. “But I feel like I accomplished something or I did something positive in this world which makes me feel good.” June 28, 2032 This is the last day of school. I am happy because we are not going to do anything hopefully. Mom has breakfast ready and since I woke up ten minutes late, I eat quickly, then leave for the bus. * * * “Finally!” I say as I leave the bus and walk into our house. 219

“School is over!” But something in me still isn’t satisfied. We called Ellis a week ago and he is in Iran. It is very scary. Though if he gets hurt the army would tell us. Mom is already home from work after coming home early. “Hey Ryan,” my mom said. “Sit down, let’s watch some TV.” We decided to watch our favorite TV show, The Office 2. All of a sudden the TV automatically switches the channel to BREAKING NEWS. What is going on? They only did this with something important. Mom leans in to look closer. The president looks like he is about to give a speech. “We interrupt your broadcast to give America this news,” the president exclaims. “As of June 28, 2032, the United States of America has backed out of the war due to people’s concerns about fighting and the situation we were in, it made no sense to keep our soldiers and drafted soldiers out there. This conflict is not over but will be taken care of outside of violence.” I look at mom and she looks at me. We hugged for a while. She cries in happiness. Mom and I pick up the phone to call Ellis to make sure he’s okay. He reassures us by saying he is coming home. Us including millions of Americans fought back peacefully and it paid off. June 30, 2032 We wait at the airport where others are also waiting for someone to pick up. I am not sure if that is Ellis but it looks like him. “Ryan!” Ellis exclaims as he runs up to us. “Mom! I am so glad to see you guys.” “We are too,” I say as we all hug with mom in tears of joy. “We missed you as well.”

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F lyin g Co lo rs Samantha Wilcox

I walked out of my house still putting on my coat. I could feel the chill of winter on my skin as I walked to the bus stop. I’ve always tried to buy super expensive clothes to fit in as much as possible with the rich white kids and to not look like a poor black girl. My 99% white private school isn’t very acceptive of black people. Still I somehow made three friends in the 2nd grade even though that’s when all of the racism started. I remember the first day I got some variation of racist names. The one I get called the most is “Monkey” and I hate it so much. I commonly get called this by a group of girls that have a lot of power at this school because their parents are all super rich and pure white. I waved at Leah and Kaetlyn as I approached them at the bus stop. “Hey Serenity!” Kaetlyn replied as the bus pulled up. We walked onto the bus and plopped into a couple seats in the back and went on our way to school. ………. “Go away, Charcoal!” I hear Rachel yell as I pass by her. She’s one of really rich girls that has a lot of power. Emma, Cassandra, and Sarah began laughing and yelling names at me as I kept walking. I could feel my face turn redder as I made every step. I knew if I tried to fight back I would only get detention or yelled at by a school official. My friend Genesis tried to help me over to our table but I shook her off and gave her a look of “I’m fine.” I didn’t mean to hurt her but I know that she has no idea how it feels to be called racist names on the daily. 221

Later that day I took the bus with Leah to our houses. We get off on the same stop because we live so close to each other. On the bus, an old white woman walked on the bus holding a purse and wearing those generic oversized cat eye glasses that all rich white moms wear. As soon as I saw her head turn in our direction I knew that something was about to happen. Her white hair glowed in the sunlight from the late afternoon. I looked at her for another second and then went back to talking with Leah. “Why are you talking to the beautiful blonde girl?!” The woman yelled. Startled, I didn’t respond and looked back at Leah. “Back in my day blacks like you wouldn’t dare talk to a pure white girl like her!” She kept yelling until Leah and I finally got off. “That’s right, get off this bus and never come back!” I heard her yell one last time. We had only gotten off the bus like a stop away from where we usually get off so we just walked back to our houses. ………. It was Wednesday evening and I had gotten home from my after school curriculum. I walked in the door and began to hear sobs from the living room. When I entered the living room my parents were on the floor crying and my sister was nowhere to be found. “What happened?” I asked as I closed the door behind me. “Your father he… he has stage 4 cancer.” My mom struggled to say. I fell to the floor and cried for a bit before excusing myself to my room. I could hear my sister crying in her bedroom and ran past it into my room. I flopped on my bed and sobbed my heart out. I pulled my blanket over my head and just rested. The next day I walked into class to Leah and Kaetlyn glaring at me. I sat down at my desk and put down my bag. They both walked over and looked at me with small eyes. “You know what Serenity, I’ve been thinking a lot about what that woman said and she was right. Blacks like you shouldn’t hang out with pure Aryans like ourselves,” she said, giving a slight smirk to Kaetlyn. I looked at her shocked. I could feel my stomach drop to the ground as Kaetlyn jumped in. “I may not have been there but, criminals don’t deserve an education meaning you’re lucky to even be here,” she said and they began to laugh. I 222

could feel tears filling up my eyes. I pushed them back as much as possible before Genesis waved me over. I walked over to her and wiped a tear coming down my face. “I don’t know what has gotten into them, but racism is never okay,” she explained. I smiled and gave her a quick thank you for her reassuring words before walking back to my desk when the teacher walked in.

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B a c k Then Abdiel Zelaya

I was a baby, I was just a year old. I’ve been hearing my parents talking all of the time like “I don’t know what to do.”

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Acknowledgements Through its In-Schools residency program, 826NYC places specialized Teaching Artists in Title 1 New York City public schools. Sixth graders at MS88 explored social justice themes through creative written works ranging from short stories to graphic novels. Like a Balloon That Wants to Pop is a compilation of their work. A huge thank you to 826NYC writing tutors who worked alongside students as they turned social justice ‘rants’ into narratives. James Whitely, Varsha Kalyani, and the indefatigable Maria del Carmen Clegg, your kindness as well as your expertise helped students grapple with often difficult subject matter. Thanks as well to the volunteers who helped turn these pieces into bound printed matter. To Lucy Pang for her beautiful design. To copy editors Jessie Chasan-Taber and Hannah Slater and proofreaders Lala Jackson and Chad Hewitt for their careful attention to each of the student’s pieces. We are especially grateful to the educators at MS88. Ms. Stephany Weaver, whose dedication to her students is evident in every moment of class time, who welcomed 826NYC into her classroom with enthusiasm and a spirit of collaboration, and who, when schools closed after only 4 of 6 scheduled sessions, prioritized completing the course remotely. Thanks as well to Paul Masullo, Cristina Sunseri, Cliff Ginsburg, and Glenn Thomas. Last but not least, thank you to the sixth grade students for your hard work. Each and every one of you exhibited bravery in engaging the most pressing issues in our society. We look forward to seeing your work, on and off the page, for many years to come. 225

826NYC Location and Leadership

826NYC and The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. 372 Fifth Ave Brooklyn, NY 11215w 718.499.9884 www.826nyc.org Staff Joshua Mandelbaum, Executive Director Aarti Monteiro, Director of Education Nico Garbaccio, Volunteer and Programs Manager Thais Vitorelli, Programs Coordinator Corey Ruzicano, Programs Coordinator Summer Medina, Community Engagement Strategist Jesusdaniel Barba, Programs Coordinator Lauren Everett, Communication & Fundraising Coordinator Chris Eckert, Store Manager Sonya Moore, Retail Associate Board of Directors Tammy Oler, President Ted Wolff, Vice President Ray Carpenter, Treasurer Michelle McGovern, Secretary Michael Colagiovanni Laurie Malkin Amir Mokari Arjun Nagappan Katie Schwab Danielle Sinay Andrew Sparkler Liza Steinberg Alyson Stone Maura Tierney Thom Unterburger Kathryn Yontef 226

826NYC Programs After-School Tutoring We offer free tutoring four days per week for students ages six to eighteen. Students work with volunteer tutors in small groups to finish homework assignments, complete independent writing projects, and to read independently, in pairs or in groups. We serve students of all skill levels and interests and work with parents and teachers to create independent learning objectives and support plans for struggling students. Evening and Weekend Workshops We offer writing-based workshops that provide in-depth instruction in a variety of subjects that schools often cannot include in their curricula. These workshops cover topics such as college entrance essays, comic book–making, creative writing, journalism, poetry, and filmmaking. All workshops are taught by teaching artists and are limited in size to ensure that students receive plenty of individual attention. In-School Support for Teachers The strength of our volunteer base allows us to provide inschool support to work with students in New York City classrooms. We recognize that large class sizes make it increasingly difficult for teachers to provide individualized feedback and guidance on research and writing. We send volunteers to the classroom to assist teachers with providing this essential one-on-one support. Hosted Field Trips 826NYC welcomes classes from public schools for mornings of high-energy storytelling activities. Our most popular field trip is our Storytelling and Bookmaking project, in which elementary school students write, illustrate, publish, and bind their own books in a two-hour session. At the conclusion of this trip, each student leaves with his or her own copy of the book and a newfound excitement for writing. Our other field trips cover topics such as memoir writing, screenwriting, and more. Student Publications Through our writing workshops and after-school tutoring program, our volunteers work with students to help them create stories, poems, and ’zines. Because we believe that the quality of students’ work is greatly enhanced when they are given the chance to share it with an authentic audience, we are committed to publishing student works. By encouraging their work and by guiding them through the process of publication, we make abundantly clear that their ideas are valued. 227

A homeless gets a scholarship to medical young boldly lesbian boldly A homeless man getsman a scholarship to medical school. Aschool. youngAlesbian her rainbow on the of her freshman year. AMexican young Mexican wears herwears rainbow pin on thepinfirst dayfirst of herdayfreshman year. A young girlupstands up to anti-immigrant onlyof some of the stories girl stands to anti-immigrant prejudice.prejudice. These areThese onlyare some the stories Like a Balloon ThattoWants Pop, a collection short stories, in Like ainBalloon That Wants Pop, atocollection of shortofstories, memoirs,memoirs, poems, and graphic novels written by 6th graders at MS 88 in Park Slope, poems, and graphic novels written by 6th graders at MS 88 in Park Slope, by the pressing socialissues justiceofissues of our day. BrooklynBrooklyn inspiredinspired by the pressing social justice our day. salebook of this book 826NYC, benefit 826NYC, a nonprofit organization ProceedsProceeds from thefrom sale the of this benefit a nonprofit organization to supporting six to eighteen, withcreative their creative dedicateddedicated to supporting students,students, ages sixages to eighteen, with their and expository skills, and to helping inspirestudents their students and expository writing writing skills, and to helping teachersteachers inspire their to write.to write.

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