Post by Rosemary Jackson on Jun 30, 2014 1:19:14 GMT
Hey everyone, one of my friends told me about a website where you can publish your own book! It's called CreateSpace, and you basically upload your Microsoft Word Document of your story, pick a cover and take care of all that stuff, and then they send the story to Amazon and publish it for you, or at least that was what I was told. So, I'm doing that with one of my stories that I typed on a Microsoft Word Document. Please note that I did not include the "About the Author" or my real name in anything due to privacy and stuff like that, and I did not include chapter headings. And also, this story is fictional.
Link to CreateSpace: www.createspace.com/
I was in a new school and things were already bugging me. I wished Dad would’ve kept me at my other school, but no- Mom and Dad divorced, and I was sent with Dad away to Rhode Island. As far as I knew, Mom remained in Maine. She had said I could write letters to her, but she would probably toss them away and we’d never see each other again. So, letters weren’t really an option. But I had this journal, and I felt safe. I took my journal everywhere, including my school- which I hated.
My school was an old brick building probably built in the prehistoric era. Mold grows in the cracks of the bricks, so we don’t need to put up Christmas decorations on the school- it’s already red and green! But what is worse lies beneath. There are rats in the school, and they don’t bother taking care of the situation. So every week, there’s a rat scurrying across the floor during Art class. There have been thousands of complaints from teachers, students, and parents, and the school still doesn’t deal with it! Maybe Anderson High School wasn’t what it was cracked up to be.
The good thing is, I’d found good friendship in Olivia Anderson, who is actually the principal’s granddaughter. She has an older brother, Sam Anderson, who is in 11th grade at the same exact school. Olivia is nice, and I’m glad I had her to lean on. Her parents are good friends with the Science teacher, Mr. Zany. He’s nice, but I’ve had better teachers. One example is Ms. Faith. She gives us lollipops every Friday and marshmallows every Monday. She is quiet and never yells. The thing is, she has a dark side. Every teacher has one. Hers is she gives kids a tally every time they misbehave. Three tallies and you have yourself a detention. Five detentions and you get suspended for two days. 30 or more detentions and you’re expelled. I thought that system worked out okay.
I have a full list of teachers I wrote down in my neatest handwriting during one day of Math class.
Mr. Zany…… Paul Zany….. Science teacher
Ms. Faith….. Ashley Faith….. Art teacher
Mrs. Margret….. Matilda Margret….. Math teacher
Mr. Derek….. Ian Derek….. Social Studies/Geography teacher
Mrs. Garrett….. Hillary Garrett….. Reading teacher
Mr. Michael….. Jordan Michael….. Writing teacher
Mr. Xavier….. Wesley Xavier….. Gym teacher
Ms. Melody….. Hope Melody….. Music teacher
Mrs. Vazquez….. Nancy Vazquez….. Library teacher
At one point, I thought I had it all. I had a friend, a dad, no bedtime on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, decently nice teachers. Then came along Zeya.
Zeya was nice when she first came. She was a girl from Texas, so she had cute freckles, brown hair, and almost always wore a bandana in it, exactly like Cinderella. Zeya had all the recent styles, cool or uncool. She sat with me at lunch and loved P.E., just like me. At first, I thought she could be my friend. Olivia, Zeya and I could have sleepovers on Fridays and prank some boys. I thought I had the life I dreamed about. I thought I was living like a popular girl. I thought, Life couldn’t get any worse! Boy, was I wrong.
One day, I saw Zeya walking down the street, left backpack handle on her left shoulder, the other backpack handle dangling behind her. Today, she wore an electric pink dress with electric orange polka dots. The dress went down to her knees. She wore a silver chain bracelet on her right wrist and electric green Nike sneakers with electric blue laces. Zeya’s hair was tied in a bun, with a blue bandana as usual. “Hey, Zeya! I was wondering if you…” I faded. I stopped when I realized Zeya was going to say something. “Don’t talk to me anymore,” Zeya glared straight at me. “I don’t need you. Olivia’s my best friend.” Zeya assembled her right hand to her hip, her left arm holding her backpack strap, which remained on her shoulder, and walked away. “Zeya, what did I do wrong?” I cried for forgiveness. Her response was the silent treatment
.
“What could’ve gone wrong?” I wept in front of my father at dinner. He had his new girlfriend over for dinner. “Honey, Zeya’s so obsessed with Olivia that she can’t focus on you. You matter to her, but she doesn’t realize it. Ignore her, tell Olivia, and everything should be fine.” Kari, my dad’s girlfriend, explained. “Kari has a good point.” My dad commented.
“Is she bullying me?” I asked.
“Not at this point,” Kari responded.
“How long will it be until Zeya becomes herself?”
“I can’t tell the future, sweetheart.”
“Will Olivia ignore me, too?”
“I don’t know, Tara. I don’t know.”
“I’m not hungry anymore. I lost my appetite.” I said. I gulped down one more piece of green broccoli, then set my plate on the counter. “Tara, you know I’ll hear you out. Don’t resist if you need support.” Kari called. Too late. I slammed my bedroom door, yelling loudly, “LEAVE ME ALONE!”
I fell face first on my bed. I knew it was wrong for me to take my anger out on Kari. She was just trying to help me. I pushed that thought out of my mind. All that ran through my mind now was, Why? Why? Why? I have never been bullied before. Was this God talking to me? What’s going on with me? Am I not good enough for her? Why? Why? WHY?
I twisted my locker dial to the right. It was then locked. I walked down the hallway, glancing at other students. No one looked at me, except Zeya when I reached the end of the hall. “Hey, Tara! Get over here!” Zeya called for me. “Zeya, you don’t like me anymore. I don’t want to be around you if you don’t want to be around me.” I spoke quietly. “I like you now, Tara. I like you a lot.” Zeya exaggerated. Deep down, I bet she rarely liked me. “Is that so?” I said. “Why don’t you sit with me at lunch? I’ll pick a seat.” “I’ll pick the seat. After all, I’m the boss, aren’t I? Meet me there when I say so.” Zeya bullied me. “Okay.” I gloomily said. Not at this point, I remembered Kari saying. She’s definitely bullying me now.
I walked into the cafeteria, and packed the tray with several nutritious foods: an apple, pasta, salad, carrots, grapes, and a low-fat white milk. “Get over here right now, Tara. That’ll be my lunch, and you can go get your own.” Zeya bossed me. Was she trying to waste my lunch money, or what? “Fine,” I wept. But I didn’t get my own lunch. I ran into the girl’s bathroom, locked myself in a stall, and cried my heart out. This is certainly not how friendship should feel, I reminded myself.
“Tara?” I heard someone call. “What?” I responded rudely. “It’s Olivia.” The voice responded. I unlocked the stall and stepped out. I was suddenly drenched; head to toe, in milk. “Ha, ha, ha! I cannot believe you thought that was really Olivia! You little loser!” The voice said through revolting laughs. “Zeya!” I wept. “Stop being so mean to me!” “You’re so easy to fool, I bet I could pull a million pranks on you and you’d cry every time!” Zeya laughed evilly. I ran out of the girl’s bathroom. Everyone stared at me. “It was Zeya! All of it was Zeya!” I yelled. Then I ran to the principal.
At that time, I wished I had an older brother or sister. I wished I had a person who would support me and give me advice you could actually use. I wished I hadn’t had an outburst. I was sent home for the day to calm down and clean up. Zeya was suspended for the week. I wouldn’t have to worry about her for a little bit, and hopefully not for the rest of my high school years.
When I returned to school, everyone kept an eye on me. Mrs. Vazquez and Ms. Faith were so nice and kind to me. In fact, they put Hall Monitors in the hallways for the rest of the day. No one bullied me, or spoke of the incident, until Olivia caught up with me on the last day before weekend break.
I was standing in front of my locker, just putting in the combination, when Olivia walked over to me. “Hey, Tara. I’m so sorry about what happened on Tuesday.” Olivia half-talked, half-whispered. “That wasn’t your fault. Nothing was your fault. It’s blamed on Zeya.” I forgave Olivia. After all, it wasn’t her fault Zeya had kind of used Olivia to trick me. “I’m gonna tell her that I don’t want to be her friend anymore when she gets back,” Olivia reported to me. “I don’t want to be friends with a bully, nor be her sidekick.” “Thanks, Olivia. You’re a great friend.” I said, before I left her standing at my locker.
At that time, I thought Zeya would quit bullying me. I didn’t know that the bullying wasn’t over.
On the Monday when Zeya was supposed to return, I rode the bus to school, only once, to keep safe just in case Zeya bullied me on the sidewalk. Olivia rode with me for safety. When we arrived at the school, I scanned the hallways for Zeya. I saw no sign of her, until I heard a clique of girls talking loudly in the hallways. At this signal, everyone slammed to the sides of the hallway, making a clear path for someone to get through. I slammed myself against my locker, too, as I peered around the corner. I shivered at the sight.
“Good thing everyone’s moved. Now I can find who I want.” Zeya appeared. She didn’t walk through the hall just yet. Two girls appeared at her sides, one on each side. I realized each girl quickly. The one to Zeya’s left was Jamie, one of the most popular girls who spread and started rumors. The one to Zeya’s right was Jess, one of the meanest, and popular, girls you could find in any group. They must’ve formed a group to bully everyone! I worried.
“Alright, everyone, listen up, I’m only gonna tell you once,” Zeya announced. “Jamie, Jess, and I have formed a new popular group. Our name is the Queen Bees. You mess with us, you get the sting, and it’s gonna hurt. Stay away from us.” No one said or did anything. I finally decided this is too much. I won’t let Zeya and her Queen Bees sting me now or ever again. I walked into the hallway, my knees shaking.
“What’s your input?” Jess asked.
“Zeya, Jess, Jamie, you need to stop bullying. Bullying hurts all our feelings and destroys us.” I spoke loudly. “You think that’s gonna tear down our brick wall? Nice try.” Jamie mimicked.
“She’s right,” Olivia spoke up, walking to my side. “You’ve got a pretty powerful gun, and you’re throwing a ton of bombs to hurt us, but this is our stand to bring back our health. We won’t let you hurt us on the battlefield anymore.”
“Now it’s two people. What do you think you’re going to do to us now? Change our diapers and feed us?” Zeya commented meanly. At that remark, all the Queen Bees laughed.
Suddenly, a shy student named Maxine stood up and ran over to Olivia and me. “Bullying isn’t the way to become popular,” Maxine pointed out, “It’s the way to get yourself disliked, suspended, and you could get yourself expelled. So, you’re pretty much throwing bombs and bullets at your own team.” Lots of people remaining against the lockers gazed at us and nodded like we were a new species of aliens. Can this shut the bullies down? I thought. Quickly, I realized I was wrong.
“Bullying is the way to get yourself liked, not disliked, and we’re trying to get ourselves liked. This is our way to rule the school.” Jamie explained rudely.
Another kid that stood up I recognized was Reed, a boy commonly known as a “smart, thinks-he-is-cool nerd”. “I’ve been bullied before, and it doesn’t feel good. What would you feel like if you were bullied? It’d be like saying what you say to us now to your face.” Reed spoke loudly.
Another girl joined in our anti-bullying group. I knew that girl. She was in my kindergarten class back in Maine. She must have moved too. It was Mackenzie.
“Can’t you just realize that we’re all equal? Why do you think the United States was formed? To bully high schoolers? No, guess again.” Mackenzie spoke in her tiny, quiet voice.
“Wow, that’s a really good squad. Five people? Just great.” Zeya said to us kids that were standing up in a fake tone. She put her hands up like at her sides and put a fake smile on her face, aiming her eyes up to the ceiling, like she was going to surrender. Jamie and Jess laughed cruelly.
Suddenly, another boy named AJ stood up and walked over to us. “You think you’re powerful, but you’re just hurting yourself.” AJ commented. “You’re just throwing sticks and stones at your own team.”
I thought our team was going to win, but the Queen Bees had tons of fuel in their system.
“Boo hoo hoo! I’m so scared!” Jess faked.
“Mommy, save me!” Jamie joined.
Quickly, I spotted Luke and Chris, the most popular (and cute!) boys at Anderson High School. I glanced at Luke, quickly getting his attention. His face told me, Fight back! I can’t be seen! Did I ever mention our dads are friends? Yeah, he’s also my next-door-neighbor.
“Why do you absolutely have to rule the school? Why do you want everyone to be under your control?” I questioned Zeya.
“I never want to be the new girl again.” Zeya explained. “Being the new girl was hard for me. Divorcing parents and moving was even harder.” I studied Zeya’s face, noticing her eyes had softened from tough to baby. I thought I saw a tear in her right eye, but I didn’t know if it was actually there. I was absolutely sure I was wrong when Zeya turned fierce again. “I want everyone to feel the same pain I was going through, and this is the way to do it!” Zeya shouted.
“Well, guess what?” Maxine suddenly cried. “You’re never going to get them to feel the same way by doing this! The actual divorce and move is hard enough! I’ve been through it, Tara’s been through it…” Maxine gave Olivia a face that said, Are your parents divorced, too? Olivia nodded, Yep.
“Olivia’s been through it, too!” Maxine added. Zeya gasped and acted sympathetic. Jamie and Jess’s faces expressed something that said, Are the Queen Bees done? Is Zeya turning away from us? Is she just acting? Zeya laughed. She isn’t over yet, I had thought.
I quickly motioned to Luke, who was hiding behind the hallway corner with Chris, listening and watching the whole thing.
“I can’t believe you would do this to this sweet girl,” Luke spoke, as he came up behind me and acted like I was his girlfriend. He dramatically tossed his head to his right so his red bangs would move to that side. Chris must’ve gotten the message, because he came up behind Olivia (no surprise there; Chris has a major crush on Olivia) and defended her.
“Olivia’s a great girl,” Chris said, “So is Tara,” Chris added to make me feel better. “I don’t know why you would even try to hurt these fearless girls!”
“I… I… I didn’t mean to! It was all Zeya’s idea!” Jamie sputtered.
“I wish I never would have hurt these girls!” Jess cried. I had them under control now, thanks to the help of Luke and Chris.
“Stop bullying them,” Luke said, “And find a different hobby.”
And with that, everyone that had slammed against the lockers joined us for a quick minute. “WE WON’T LET YOU BULLY! WE WON’T LET YOU BULLY!” All the ninth-grade students of Anderson High School that were in that hallway at that minute chanted. Zeya, Jess, and Jamie’s expressions all changed. Before, they were smirking and laughing, but now they were stunned. I also noticed nervousness in Zeya’s eyes.
It occurred to me at that moment that we couldn’t be beaten. We were too strong for the Queen Bees. They couldn’t stop us now. No one could.
Epilogue: Luke and I started a group about a month later called the Anderson High Anti-Bullying Group, or the AHABG. As I hung out with Luke more often, I learned that he had been bullied in elementary school. Also, he started playing football because it taught him to be more aggressive, with the tackling and all. Luke was really sweet and caring, and he knew how to defend someone when they needed it. And so, we started dating.
Luke and I weren’t the only couple. Chris and Olivia ended up dating, too. At the end of the first week they had started dating, Olivia confessed to me that she thought Chris was the best guy she had ever dated- and she had dated a lot of guys, but she had never said that to me before.
Zeya ended up leaving Anderson High at the end of 10th grade. Through the rest of 9th grade and the entire 10th grade year, her and I never spoke again- though she continued giving me dirty looks in the halls and gossiping about me behind my back. But I knew she just did this because I was together with Luke.
Jess and Jamie ended their friendship that year, not only because Jamie was moving, but because they thought it would be best to part their separate ways and move on in life. No offense to either of them, but I could kind of picture this happening anyway.
Back to the AHABG, Luke and I got a bunch of other people to join. Chris and Olivia joined. Maxine, Reed, Mackenzie, and AJ joined. And surprisingly, Jess joined. She found it fun to go around to schools for the AHABG, telling kids about how she once was a bully and how she got confronted and stopped. We got tons of students to join the AHABG, and it makes me proud to this day how everyone wants to inform kids on bullying and share their personal experiences. It’s something you definitely need confidence and strength to do, and I’m glad I have that now, because of Zeya.
Author's Note: Bullying is a big problem in the United States. I once was bullied, and I felt similar to Tara did when Zeya was bullying her. I didn’t know why it was happening. It was confusing and it hurt my feelings a lot. But I told my parents about it, and that helped. If you or someone you know is being bullied, don’t wait, that will make it worse! Talk to a trusted adult, such as your parents, your teacher, or a counselor. They can help you or someone you know through bullying and they can help stop it. Remember, if you are being bullied, be confident and don’t let it get to you.
Please know that all characters and groups like the AHABG are fictional and I tried not to base this book on any bullying experiences I have had.
Link to CreateSpace: www.createspace.com/
I was in a new school and things were already bugging me. I wished Dad would’ve kept me at my other school, but no- Mom and Dad divorced, and I was sent with Dad away to Rhode Island. As far as I knew, Mom remained in Maine. She had said I could write letters to her, but she would probably toss them away and we’d never see each other again. So, letters weren’t really an option. But I had this journal, and I felt safe. I took my journal everywhere, including my school- which I hated.
My school was an old brick building probably built in the prehistoric era. Mold grows in the cracks of the bricks, so we don’t need to put up Christmas decorations on the school- it’s already red and green! But what is worse lies beneath. There are rats in the school, and they don’t bother taking care of the situation. So every week, there’s a rat scurrying across the floor during Art class. There have been thousands of complaints from teachers, students, and parents, and the school still doesn’t deal with it! Maybe Anderson High School wasn’t what it was cracked up to be.
The good thing is, I’d found good friendship in Olivia Anderson, who is actually the principal’s granddaughter. She has an older brother, Sam Anderson, who is in 11th grade at the same exact school. Olivia is nice, and I’m glad I had her to lean on. Her parents are good friends with the Science teacher, Mr. Zany. He’s nice, but I’ve had better teachers. One example is Ms. Faith. She gives us lollipops every Friday and marshmallows every Monday. She is quiet and never yells. The thing is, she has a dark side. Every teacher has one. Hers is she gives kids a tally every time they misbehave. Three tallies and you have yourself a detention. Five detentions and you get suspended for two days. 30 or more detentions and you’re expelled. I thought that system worked out okay.
I have a full list of teachers I wrote down in my neatest handwriting during one day of Math class.
Mr. Zany…… Paul Zany….. Science teacher
Ms. Faith….. Ashley Faith….. Art teacher
Mrs. Margret….. Matilda Margret….. Math teacher
Mr. Derek….. Ian Derek….. Social Studies/Geography teacher
Mrs. Garrett….. Hillary Garrett….. Reading teacher
Mr. Michael….. Jordan Michael….. Writing teacher
Mr. Xavier….. Wesley Xavier….. Gym teacher
Ms. Melody….. Hope Melody….. Music teacher
Mrs. Vazquez….. Nancy Vazquez….. Library teacher
At one point, I thought I had it all. I had a friend, a dad, no bedtime on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, decently nice teachers. Then came along Zeya.
Zeya was nice when she first came. She was a girl from Texas, so she had cute freckles, brown hair, and almost always wore a bandana in it, exactly like Cinderella. Zeya had all the recent styles, cool or uncool. She sat with me at lunch and loved P.E., just like me. At first, I thought she could be my friend. Olivia, Zeya and I could have sleepovers on Fridays and prank some boys. I thought I had the life I dreamed about. I thought I was living like a popular girl. I thought, Life couldn’t get any worse! Boy, was I wrong.
One day, I saw Zeya walking down the street, left backpack handle on her left shoulder, the other backpack handle dangling behind her. Today, she wore an electric pink dress with electric orange polka dots. The dress went down to her knees. She wore a silver chain bracelet on her right wrist and electric green Nike sneakers with electric blue laces. Zeya’s hair was tied in a bun, with a blue bandana as usual. “Hey, Zeya! I was wondering if you…” I faded. I stopped when I realized Zeya was going to say something. “Don’t talk to me anymore,” Zeya glared straight at me. “I don’t need you. Olivia’s my best friend.” Zeya assembled her right hand to her hip, her left arm holding her backpack strap, which remained on her shoulder, and walked away. “Zeya, what did I do wrong?” I cried for forgiveness. Her response was the silent treatment
.
“What could’ve gone wrong?” I wept in front of my father at dinner. He had his new girlfriend over for dinner. “Honey, Zeya’s so obsessed with Olivia that she can’t focus on you. You matter to her, but she doesn’t realize it. Ignore her, tell Olivia, and everything should be fine.” Kari, my dad’s girlfriend, explained. “Kari has a good point.” My dad commented.
“Is she bullying me?” I asked.
“Not at this point,” Kari responded.
“How long will it be until Zeya becomes herself?”
“I can’t tell the future, sweetheart.”
“Will Olivia ignore me, too?”
“I don’t know, Tara. I don’t know.”
“I’m not hungry anymore. I lost my appetite.” I said. I gulped down one more piece of green broccoli, then set my plate on the counter. “Tara, you know I’ll hear you out. Don’t resist if you need support.” Kari called. Too late. I slammed my bedroom door, yelling loudly, “LEAVE ME ALONE!”
I fell face first on my bed. I knew it was wrong for me to take my anger out on Kari. She was just trying to help me. I pushed that thought out of my mind. All that ran through my mind now was, Why? Why? Why? I have never been bullied before. Was this God talking to me? What’s going on with me? Am I not good enough for her? Why? Why? WHY?
I twisted my locker dial to the right. It was then locked. I walked down the hallway, glancing at other students. No one looked at me, except Zeya when I reached the end of the hall. “Hey, Tara! Get over here!” Zeya called for me. “Zeya, you don’t like me anymore. I don’t want to be around you if you don’t want to be around me.” I spoke quietly. “I like you now, Tara. I like you a lot.” Zeya exaggerated. Deep down, I bet she rarely liked me. “Is that so?” I said. “Why don’t you sit with me at lunch? I’ll pick a seat.” “I’ll pick the seat. After all, I’m the boss, aren’t I? Meet me there when I say so.” Zeya bullied me. “Okay.” I gloomily said. Not at this point, I remembered Kari saying. She’s definitely bullying me now.
I walked into the cafeteria, and packed the tray with several nutritious foods: an apple, pasta, salad, carrots, grapes, and a low-fat white milk. “Get over here right now, Tara. That’ll be my lunch, and you can go get your own.” Zeya bossed me. Was she trying to waste my lunch money, or what? “Fine,” I wept. But I didn’t get my own lunch. I ran into the girl’s bathroom, locked myself in a stall, and cried my heart out. This is certainly not how friendship should feel, I reminded myself.
“Tara?” I heard someone call. “What?” I responded rudely. “It’s Olivia.” The voice responded. I unlocked the stall and stepped out. I was suddenly drenched; head to toe, in milk. “Ha, ha, ha! I cannot believe you thought that was really Olivia! You little loser!” The voice said through revolting laughs. “Zeya!” I wept. “Stop being so mean to me!” “You’re so easy to fool, I bet I could pull a million pranks on you and you’d cry every time!” Zeya laughed evilly. I ran out of the girl’s bathroom. Everyone stared at me. “It was Zeya! All of it was Zeya!” I yelled. Then I ran to the principal.
At that time, I wished I had an older brother or sister. I wished I had a person who would support me and give me advice you could actually use. I wished I hadn’t had an outburst. I was sent home for the day to calm down and clean up. Zeya was suspended for the week. I wouldn’t have to worry about her for a little bit, and hopefully not for the rest of my high school years.
When I returned to school, everyone kept an eye on me. Mrs. Vazquez and Ms. Faith were so nice and kind to me. In fact, they put Hall Monitors in the hallways for the rest of the day. No one bullied me, or spoke of the incident, until Olivia caught up with me on the last day before weekend break.
I was standing in front of my locker, just putting in the combination, when Olivia walked over to me. “Hey, Tara. I’m so sorry about what happened on Tuesday.” Olivia half-talked, half-whispered. “That wasn’t your fault. Nothing was your fault. It’s blamed on Zeya.” I forgave Olivia. After all, it wasn’t her fault Zeya had kind of used Olivia to trick me. “I’m gonna tell her that I don’t want to be her friend anymore when she gets back,” Olivia reported to me. “I don’t want to be friends with a bully, nor be her sidekick.” “Thanks, Olivia. You’re a great friend.” I said, before I left her standing at my locker.
At that time, I thought Zeya would quit bullying me. I didn’t know that the bullying wasn’t over.
On the Monday when Zeya was supposed to return, I rode the bus to school, only once, to keep safe just in case Zeya bullied me on the sidewalk. Olivia rode with me for safety. When we arrived at the school, I scanned the hallways for Zeya. I saw no sign of her, until I heard a clique of girls talking loudly in the hallways. At this signal, everyone slammed to the sides of the hallway, making a clear path for someone to get through. I slammed myself against my locker, too, as I peered around the corner. I shivered at the sight.
“Good thing everyone’s moved. Now I can find who I want.” Zeya appeared. She didn’t walk through the hall just yet. Two girls appeared at her sides, one on each side. I realized each girl quickly. The one to Zeya’s left was Jamie, one of the most popular girls who spread and started rumors. The one to Zeya’s right was Jess, one of the meanest, and popular, girls you could find in any group. They must’ve formed a group to bully everyone! I worried.
“Alright, everyone, listen up, I’m only gonna tell you once,” Zeya announced. “Jamie, Jess, and I have formed a new popular group. Our name is the Queen Bees. You mess with us, you get the sting, and it’s gonna hurt. Stay away from us.” No one said or did anything. I finally decided this is too much. I won’t let Zeya and her Queen Bees sting me now or ever again. I walked into the hallway, my knees shaking.
“What’s your input?” Jess asked.
“Zeya, Jess, Jamie, you need to stop bullying. Bullying hurts all our feelings and destroys us.” I spoke loudly. “You think that’s gonna tear down our brick wall? Nice try.” Jamie mimicked.
“She’s right,” Olivia spoke up, walking to my side. “You’ve got a pretty powerful gun, and you’re throwing a ton of bombs to hurt us, but this is our stand to bring back our health. We won’t let you hurt us on the battlefield anymore.”
“Now it’s two people. What do you think you’re going to do to us now? Change our diapers and feed us?” Zeya commented meanly. At that remark, all the Queen Bees laughed.
Suddenly, a shy student named Maxine stood up and ran over to Olivia and me. “Bullying isn’t the way to become popular,” Maxine pointed out, “It’s the way to get yourself disliked, suspended, and you could get yourself expelled. So, you’re pretty much throwing bombs and bullets at your own team.” Lots of people remaining against the lockers gazed at us and nodded like we were a new species of aliens. Can this shut the bullies down? I thought. Quickly, I realized I was wrong.
“Bullying is the way to get yourself liked, not disliked, and we’re trying to get ourselves liked. This is our way to rule the school.” Jamie explained rudely.
Another kid that stood up I recognized was Reed, a boy commonly known as a “smart, thinks-he-is-cool nerd”. “I’ve been bullied before, and it doesn’t feel good. What would you feel like if you were bullied? It’d be like saying what you say to us now to your face.” Reed spoke loudly.
Another girl joined in our anti-bullying group. I knew that girl. She was in my kindergarten class back in Maine. She must have moved too. It was Mackenzie.
“Can’t you just realize that we’re all equal? Why do you think the United States was formed? To bully high schoolers? No, guess again.” Mackenzie spoke in her tiny, quiet voice.
“Wow, that’s a really good squad. Five people? Just great.” Zeya said to us kids that were standing up in a fake tone. She put her hands up like at her sides and put a fake smile on her face, aiming her eyes up to the ceiling, like she was going to surrender. Jamie and Jess laughed cruelly.
Suddenly, another boy named AJ stood up and walked over to us. “You think you’re powerful, but you’re just hurting yourself.” AJ commented. “You’re just throwing sticks and stones at your own team.”
I thought our team was going to win, but the Queen Bees had tons of fuel in their system.
“Boo hoo hoo! I’m so scared!” Jess faked.
“Mommy, save me!” Jamie joined.
Quickly, I spotted Luke and Chris, the most popular (and cute!) boys at Anderson High School. I glanced at Luke, quickly getting his attention. His face told me, Fight back! I can’t be seen! Did I ever mention our dads are friends? Yeah, he’s also my next-door-neighbor.
“Why do you absolutely have to rule the school? Why do you want everyone to be under your control?” I questioned Zeya.
“I never want to be the new girl again.” Zeya explained. “Being the new girl was hard for me. Divorcing parents and moving was even harder.” I studied Zeya’s face, noticing her eyes had softened from tough to baby. I thought I saw a tear in her right eye, but I didn’t know if it was actually there. I was absolutely sure I was wrong when Zeya turned fierce again. “I want everyone to feel the same pain I was going through, and this is the way to do it!” Zeya shouted.
“Well, guess what?” Maxine suddenly cried. “You’re never going to get them to feel the same way by doing this! The actual divorce and move is hard enough! I’ve been through it, Tara’s been through it…” Maxine gave Olivia a face that said, Are your parents divorced, too? Olivia nodded, Yep.
“Olivia’s been through it, too!” Maxine added. Zeya gasped and acted sympathetic. Jamie and Jess’s faces expressed something that said, Are the Queen Bees done? Is Zeya turning away from us? Is she just acting? Zeya laughed. She isn’t over yet, I had thought.
I quickly motioned to Luke, who was hiding behind the hallway corner with Chris, listening and watching the whole thing.
“I can’t believe you would do this to this sweet girl,” Luke spoke, as he came up behind me and acted like I was his girlfriend. He dramatically tossed his head to his right so his red bangs would move to that side. Chris must’ve gotten the message, because he came up behind Olivia (no surprise there; Chris has a major crush on Olivia) and defended her.
“Olivia’s a great girl,” Chris said, “So is Tara,” Chris added to make me feel better. “I don’t know why you would even try to hurt these fearless girls!”
“I… I… I didn’t mean to! It was all Zeya’s idea!” Jamie sputtered.
“I wish I never would have hurt these girls!” Jess cried. I had them under control now, thanks to the help of Luke and Chris.
“Stop bullying them,” Luke said, “And find a different hobby.”
And with that, everyone that had slammed against the lockers joined us for a quick minute. “WE WON’T LET YOU BULLY! WE WON’T LET YOU BULLY!” All the ninth-grade students of Anderson High School that were in that hallway at that minute chanted. Zeya, Jess, and Jamie’s expressions all changed. Before, they were smirking and laughing, but now they were stunned. I also noticed nervousness in Zeya’s eyes.
It occurred to me at that moment that we couldn’t be beaten. We were too strong for the Queen Bees. They couldn’t stop us now. No one could.
Epilogue: Luke and I started a group about a month later called the Anderson High Anti-Bullying Group, or the AHABG. As I hung out with Luke more often, I learned that he had been bullied in elementary school. Also, he started playing football because it taught him to be more aggressive, with the tackling and all. Luke was really sweet and caring, and he knew how to defend someone when they needed it. And so, we started dating.
Luke and I weren’t the only couple. Chris and Olivia ended up dating, too. At the end of the first week they had started dating, Olivia confessed to me that she thought Chris was the best guy she had ever dated- and she had dated a lot of guys, but she had never said that to me before.
Zeya ended up leaving Anderson High at the end of 10th grade. Through the rest of 9th grade and the entire 10th grade year, her and I never spoke again- though she continued giving me dirty looks in the halls and gossiping about me behind my back. But I knew she just did this because I was together with Luke.
Jess and Jamie ended their friendship that year, not only because Jamie was moving, but because they thought it would be best to part their separate ways and move on in life. No offense to either of them, but I could kind of picture this happening anyway.
Back to the AHABG, Luke and I got a bunch of other people to join. Chris and Olivia joined. Maxine, Reed, Mackenzie, and AJ joined. And surprisingly, Jess joined. She found it fun to go around to schools for the AHABG, telling kids about how she once was a bully and how she got confronted and stopped. We got tons of students to join the AHABG, and it makes me proud to this day how everyone wants to inform kids on bullying and share their personal experiences. It’s something you definitely need confidence and strength to do, and I’m glad I have that now, because of Zeya.
Author's Note: Bullying is a big problem in the United States. I once was bullied, and I felt similar to Tara did when Zeya was bullying her. I didn’t know why it was happening. It was confusing and it hurt my feelings a lot. But I told my parents about it, and that helped. If you or someone you know is being bullied, don’t wait, that will make it worse! Talk to a trusted adult, such as your parents, your teacher, or a counselor. They can help you or someone you know through bullying and they can help stop it. Remember, if you are being bullied, be confident and don’t let it get to you.
Please know that all characters and groups like the AHABG are fictional and I tried not to base this book on any bullying experiences I have had.
