The Best Place to Be

One morning Zelina Bell's mother took her to the park. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly. The weather was just perfect not too hot and not too cold.

Zelina was so excited. She had never been to this park before. It was brand-new and had just opened.  Zelina ran excitedly looking over the park while her mother sat down on a dark green bench.  There were bright yellow swings. There were long red seesaws. There was a giant red yellow and blue climber with slides and tunnels and poles. Zelina didn't know what to go on first.  Finally, she decided to go on the swings.

 Zelina played for about an hour. Her mother sat and watched her. Then, Zelina got hungry. She hadn't eaten breakfast because she'd been too excited to come to the park. Mommy took an old checkered blanket  and a wooden picnic basket out of the trunk of the car. She spread the blanket out on the grass and opened the basket. The basket was filled with muffins. Zelina picked a big chocolate chip one and began eating. It was delicious - ooey gooey chocolatey. "Yum!" she exclaimed happily.

Afterwards, Zelina really needed a drink. "I'm thirsty." she told her mother.

"Oh I almost forgot." replied Mommy. She went to the car and took out a little blue cooler. She put it on the blanket and Zelina opened it up. It was filled with juice boxes. Zelina selected an apple juice and smiled warmly at her mother. "You think of everything." she declared. Mommy smiled back.

After they finished eating, they packed up their picnic and put the basket and cooler back in the car. Mommy was going to put the blanket back in the car too, but Zelina stopped her. "No, don't put it away yet, please." she begged.

Mommy left the blanket on the ground. Zelina was about to lay down on it, but Mommy abruptly shook her head no. "Don't do that." she insisted. "There's crumbs."

Zelina helped her mother pick up the blanket and shake the crumbs off. Then, she lay down in the middle of it and looked up at the sky staring at the clouds and trying to decide what shapes they looked like. "There's a giant bunny rabbit." she stated pointing to one. "And there's a flower." she added pointing to another.  Mommy smiled and took out her book and began to read.

"Mommy, do you know what?" asked Zelina after a while. Mommy shook her head to indicate that she didn't know what. "This is the best to be!" declared Zelina happily.

They stayed in the park a little while longer than it started to get hot. Zelina started sweating and she couldn't get cool enough. She kept going to the water fountain and drinking huge gulps of water and then splashing some on her face.

Finally, Mom said. "Let's go." They got in the car and drove to the mall.

"Ah!" exclaimed Zelina in relief as they walked into the mall and felt the cool of the air conditioning. They walked around for a while. Zelina excitedly pointed to her favorite stores. "There's the Disney store!" she declared. "There's Build A Bear! There's Claires!" They walked around some more and Mommy bought Zelina a pair of earrings from Claires and a couple new shirts from one of the department stores.

Then, it was lunch time. They went to the food court and got some burgers from Wendys. "Do you know what Mommy?" asked Zelina with a mouth full of food.

"Zelina !" exclaimed Mommy shaking her head disapprovingly. She did not like it when Zelina talked with her mouth full.

Zelina quickly gulped down her food. "Do you know what, Mommy?" she repeated. Mommy shook her head no. "This is the best place to be!" exclaimed Zelina. Mommy smiled.

After lunch, they left the mall and went home. When they got there, Daddy was home. He had been away on a business trip and had just gotten home. Zelina was really excited to see him. "Daddy!" she exclaimed bouncing into his arms.

"I missed you, sweetie." he declared hugging her tightly to him and giving her a kiss.

"I missed you too, Daddy." she said.  She kissed him back.

Daddy gave Mommy a kiss too. Zelina quickly closed her eyes. "I don't need to see that." she mumbled under her breath. Mommy and Daddy laughed.

Daddy put Zelina down on the ground and went into the house. Mommy and Zelina followed.  They went into the living room. Daddy sat down on the couch. Zelina scrambled up on his lap. Her mother sat next to them. Zelina smiled contentedly.  She was so happy to be at home with her family. "This is really the best place to be!" she declared.

Talisa Always Tells The Truth

Talisa Ortiz was a very nice girl or at least she'd liked to think she was.  She was smart and she was kind. Well, okay maybe she wasn't always kind. She didn't mean to be unkind, but she had to tell the truth, didn't she? From the time, she was a little girl everyone always told her not to tell a lie so she didn't. So how come  the truth was always getting her into trouble?

"How do I look?" exclaimed Talisa's older sister, Marisol excitedly as she got ready to go to a school dance.

"You look wonderful!" gushed Mommy.

"You look beautiful!" exclaimed Daddy.

Even their brother, Diego smiled and gave his sister a big thumb's up of approval.

Talisa wrinkled her nose and frowned. "The dress is kind of plain." she said, "and it makes you look a little chubby."

Marisol left the room in tears.

"Talisa!" exclaimed Daddy. As Mommy hurried after Marisol to calm her down. Diego just shook his head and frowned at his sister. He didn't like the dress either but that was just because he was a boy and didn't like dresses but he knew better than to say so.

When Marisol was finally calmed down and off to the dance. Mommy and Daddy and Diego and Talisa sat down in the living room.

"How was your day?" Daddy inquired of them.

"I got a 100 on my spelling test and on my math test!" declared Talisa proudly. She hurried to get her school papers out of her book bag to show them.

"Very good, Talisa." stated Mommy looking over the papers when Talisa handed them to her. Daddy nodded in agreement. They smiled at her, and Talisa beamed.

"What about you, Diego?" asked Mommy. "Didn't you have a test today too?"

Diego  looked as though he wanted a hole to open up in the floor and swallow him up. He was not as good of a student as his sister. He reluctantly went to get his own book bag and handed Mommy his papers.

"Oh Diego!" exclaimed Mommy looking at the papers Diego handed her. Daddy looked over Mommy's shoulder and shook his head sadly in agreement.

Talisa came up behind them and peeked at Diego's  papers too. She gasped. "Are you really that stupid or do you just not study?" she asked.

"Talisa!" exclaimed Mommy and Daddy as Diego tried to hit her, but she ducked out of his way. Mommy opened her mouth to yell at Talisa, but Talisa was saved by the ringing of the doorbell.

Daddy went to the door. Talisa and Diego quickly followed him to the door. It was the pizza delivery person. delivering the pizza they had ordered for dinner.  "He's ugly." said Talisa loudly  staring at the delivery boy "and he has a lot of pimples." she added. The delivery boy blushed bright red.

"Talisa!" exclaimed Mommy again  feeling as embarassed as the delivery boy looked.

Diego chuckled quietly in the corner. He was hoping Talisa was going to get it to make up for calling him stupid.

Daddy paid for the pizza. He took it into the kitchen. Diego followed him licking his lips hungrily.  Mommy grabbed Talisa before she could follow as well.

"Come talk to me, Talisa." Mommy said. Talisa frowned but did as she was told. Mommy led Talisa into the living room where they sat down. "Talisa," stated Mommy unhappily "You said some not very nice things today."

Talisa shrugged.

"Would you like it if somebody told you that you looked chubby, you were stupid, you were ugly, you were pimply or something like that?"

Talisa shook her head. "No, but Mommy." she replied. "All those things were the truth. Do you want me to lie?"

"No, Talisa." Mommy told her. " I don't want you to lie, but I don't want you to to always tell the truth either."

"Huh?" asked Talisa in confusion. How could she not lie and not always tell the truth either? "What do you mean, Mommy?" she asked.

"I mean sometimes you just shouldn't say anything. Just because you know something is true doesn't mean you have to say it. Some truths you should keep to yourself. You don't want to go around hurting people's feelings all the time, do you, Talisa?"

Talisa shook her head no. After all, she wasn't a mean girl or at least she didn't want to be. "Okay, Mommy." she agreed. "I'll try not to hurt people's feeling with the truth anymore."

Mommy smiled and kissed Talisa on the head. "You're a good girl." she said."and that is the truth."

Talisa smiled happily. Sometimes, the truth was a good thing.

Handsome Hunk and Beastly Girl

Bessie Labella knew she was not very pretty. Her hair was exactly the color of dirt and her eyes were exactly the color of mud. Her features didn't sit quite right on her face. Her nose was a little too big. Her eyes were a little too small. Her ears stuck out. She knew she wasn't a beauty.

It was bad enough just knowing it. Other kids made it worse. They wouldn't play with her. They teased her and taunted her. They called her "Beastly Bessie." It got so bad that eventually Bessie couldn't stand even going to school. She begged her mother and begged her mother until he mother let her stay home and be home schooled.

Bessie didn't like being home all the time. She didn't like not being with other kids. However, she knew it was better to be alone, then to be constantly harassed.

Bessie heard a loud noise in her backyard one day. She peeked out the window and saw a  cute little dog. It was small and white and fluffy and had a curly tail. "Aw!" said Bessie. She loved dogs. She loved them as much as she hated people. She went outside and brought the little dog in. She gave it food and water and let it lie on her bed.

As she sat on the bed with the little dog, Bessie saw a strange boy in her backyard. Bessie went up to the window and looked out at the boy. He didn't look familiar to her from when she'd still gone to school with the other kids. She definitely would have remembered him.  He was the handsomest boy Bessie had ever seen. He had eyes that glittered and hair that shined. His features were perfect. Nothing looked out of place on his face.

At first, Bessie couldn't stop staring at him through the window glass. Then, she got a hold of herself. Just because she didn't know him didn't mean he wasn't like the others. In fact, she was sure he was just like them and given the chance he would be just as mean.

Bessie left the dog on the bed , shut the door, and went in the other room. She opened the window a crack and called out. "You there! What are you doing in my backyard?"

"I'm sorry." replied the boy. "I'm Beau Lyon. I'm looking for my dog. He got out, and I think he ran into your yard."

"There are no dogs here and you better go away." yelled Bessie meanly as she quickly closed the window. However, she was too late the dog had already heard the sound of his master's voice and started barking.

Beau heard his dog barking and ran toward Bessie's door. He was a couple inches from the door when he tripped over a rock and fell splat on the ground. As he fell something snapped,  and he could not get up.

Bessie peeked out her window again and her mouth flew open whe she saw the boy sprawled out on her lawn. She quickly moved away from the window. When she looked again a few minutes later, he was still there. She opened the window just a little bit and called out "Go away, boy."

"I told you my name is Beau and I am not going without my dog." he called back. "Anyway, I can't go because I can't get up. "

Bessie moved away from the window. Every few seconds, she went over to it and looked out again. Then, finally, she slowly ventured out of her house. She went over to Beau, but she stood with her back to him. "What's the matter with you?" she called over her shoulder.

"Why don't you turn around and face me when you're talking to  me?" suggested Beau, but he didn't say it in a mean way.

Bessie shook her head. No! No! A thousand times no! "Why so you can make fun of me?" she replied out loud carefully keeping her face turned away from him.

"Why would I do that?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't you?" responded Bessie bitterly. "Everyone else does. Nobody likes me. They think I'm ugly. They call me Beastly Bessie."

"They don't like me either." admitted Beau. "They think I am strange." 

"You?" Bessie exclaimed in shock. "but you're beautiful."

"Looks aren't everything." he told her.

Bessie found that hard to believe. Only somebody who actually was beautiful could something like that.

"They think I'm weird because I'm different. I'd much rather sit and read a book then run around playing football or baseball or any other sport like the other boys."

"I love to read too." admitted Bessie warming up to the boy just a tiny bit for a second.

Beau asked her what she was reading and before she knew it they were having a lively discussion about books. Bessie found herself relaxing and before she knew it, she had actually turned around and was facing him. When she realized that she was, she was about to turn back around  way from him again.

"No, don't." begged Beau. He put his hand on her chin and wouldn't let her turn away.

Tears came to Bessie's eyes. Things were going so well and now that he had seen her face it would all be over. He would just think of her as Beastly Bessie just like everybody else. She waited for him to say it.

"Beastly Bessie?" he said but he said it with surprise not in a mocking way. "I don't think so. I think your beautiful. Your eyes are the color of a chocolate chip and your hair is the color of  the bark of a tree. And you have a beautiful smile." he added as a huge smile spread across her face.

Beau's foot was feeling  a little bit  better so he stood up carefully. "I guess I just twisted it." he said. "It feels a lot better." he told her.

"Just be careful." Bessie told him genuinely full of concern.

"I will." he promised. "I better be starting home now. It's late." he added.

"Wait!" she cried. She quickly went in the house and let the dog out. The dog immediately went over to his master and excitedly starting bark. Beau petted his dog,

"Thanks, Bessie." Beau said. He and the dog started heading towards their home.

Bessie watched them go and sighed. She was sure she would ever see Beau again, but she was wrong. He was back the next day and the day after that. Before, she knew it they were best friends. She even let him convince her to go back to school. Her mom and dad didn't think that was such a good idea.  They didn't think that things would be any different than before, but Bessie knew it would. Things were already different. She felt as though a curse had been lifted.

"I know that it will be different because this time I have Beau. Beau is my friend, and he loves me." she assured them and  she knew it was true. "and when you have a friend who that loves you that makes all the difference in the world." she said.

Glory Gets the Giggles

Glory Travis woke up one morning with the giggles. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't stop laughing. It took her extra long to get ready because it is hard to get dressed and brush your teeth and do all those ordinary every day things when you can't stop laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Galya, Glory's little sister when she came in the room. She was supposed to tell Glory that Mom wanted to know when Glory was coming down to breakfast. However, she forgot when she saw Glory laughing so hard.

Glory stared into her little sister's face and tried very hard to compose herself and stop her fit of laughter. However, instead she just burst into a fresh fit of giggles.

"What is so funny?" Galya repeated begging to know. She really want to be in on the joke. She looked at her sister's face turning red with laughter and she burst into giggles too. She didn't know why they were laughing. She didn't care why they were laughing. She just wanted to be a part of it.

After a few minutes, their older brother, Daryl came up to see what was going on. "Hey," he called. "Mom wants you two down for breakfast pronto!"

Neither Glory nor Galya could answer because there were so busy shaking with the giggles.

Darryl scratched his head in confusion. He didn't notice anything funny at all. "What's is so funny?" he inquired.

That just made Glory and Galya laugh even harder. They could barely stop laughing to catch their breathe.
The site of the two of them rolling around on the floor unable to stop laughing was so amusing that Darryl forgot all about breakfast, and he started laughing too.

After another ten minutes or so, older sister, Dana stormed into the room. "What is going on?" she shouted. "We have been waiting for you guys. Mom is ready to serve breakfast." She looked around the room at each of her siblings in turn. "What in the world is so funny?" Not one of them could stop laughing long enough to tell her.


Dana gave her siblings a serious stare. That only made them laugh harder. Before, she knew it even Dana was swept away in the torrent of giggles, and she began laughing too.

By now, Dad came bounding up the stairs. "Where are all of you? " he demanded to know. "Breakfast is getting cold, and Mom is getting angry."

For some reason, this just brought a  fresh round of laughter. "I don't really think this is laughing matter." stated Dad sternly. Still, when he looked into little Galya's giggling face, he couldn't help laughing right along with her and before he knew it, he couldn't stop laughing either.

Finally, Mom came bounding up the steps. "What is going on?" she inquired angrily. "Isn't anyone coming to breakfast?" "What are you  all laughing at?" she added when she saw her hysterical family. She was not amused. She just stood shaking her head at the site of them and waiting for an answer.

Dad was the first to get control of himself and stop laughing. Of course, he had no idea what they were laughing at "Dana? Why were we all laughing?" he asked. 

Dana forced herself to swallow and stop laughing too. She didn't know what they were laughing at either. She shrugged  "Ask Darryl."

Upon hearing his name, Darryl was finally able to gain control and stop laughing too. He didn't have an answer for Mom either as to why they'd been laughing so hard and so long. "Galya?" he said thinking that she had started it and she would know what all the laughter had been about.

Galya shook the last little bit of laughter out of herself. "It wasn't me." she replied. "It was Glory. She was already laughing when I came in."

"Well, Glory?," Mom inquired just about bursting with curiosity about what could possibly be so funny.

Glory took one look at Mommy's serious expression and she too was cured of her laughing fit. "We were laughing at... She thought really hard and then finally shook her head as she suddenly could not remember what she'd been laughing at at all. All she could say was. "I forget."

Who Will Help?

Today's story is not only for my daughter but by my daughter.


Lydia Hennings was a woman with 6 kids 3 girls and 3 boys and her wonderful husband. She knew her family would help her anytime, anywhere or at least that's what she thought.

One day, Lydia decided to make chocolate chip cookies. First, she got the ingredients out. Then, she went to her son Barney. "Barney will you help me make cookies?  Lydia asked.

"Sorry, mom, I'm busy."  Barney answered  trying to get out of having to help his mom. Barney loved his mom but for one thing he was 10 years old so he thought he was too old to make cookies with  his mom. For another thing, Barney did not like helping at all. He ran off before his mom could ask what he was busy doing.

Lydia decided to ask her daughter, Maddy for help instead "Maddy come here!" she called.

"What mom?" asked Maddy as she walked down the stairs

"I was wondering if you want to help me make chocolate chip cookies." replied Lydia

"Oh sorry mom. I'm busy!"  answered Maddy as she ran off. Maddy was Barney's twin, and  she agreed that 10 year olds were too old to bake cookies with their moms. Maddy also agreed that she did not like helping that much, or at all for that matter.
 
Next, Lydia went to find her oldest son, Eric, for help with the cookies. Eric was 13 but he was not very responsible. "Eric!" she called

"Coming!" answered Eric "What do you need mom?" he asked as he slid down the bannister like a little kid.

"Well I was wondering if you wanted to help me make cookies. " mom replied

"Oh mom, I don't want to, and I'm busy anyway, sorry mom."  Eric declared.

"What are you busy doing honey?" asked Lydia

"I'm going to um clean my room." he said proudly.

"Oh honey I love you!"  she replied happily.

Lydia started looking for her oldest daughter, Kelsey. Kelsey was 13 like Eric but she was much more mature then he was which was something everyone knew. "Kelsey do you want to help me make cookies?" asked Lydia.


"Um.. I'm um... um..  I'm reading." she said knowing that she not only loved reading but her mom would be happy with her for reading.


"Oh honey you are such a good girl!"

Next, Lydia found her son, Peter.  Peter was 3 years old. "Peter will you help me make cookies?" asked Lydia

"Mommy, do I have to?" asked Peter.

"I guess you don't have to." Lydia replied

Lydia decided to ask her husband Nick like she should have first. Surely, he of all people would help her. Lydia ran up stairs and found her husband. "Honey will you help me make cookies?" Lydia asked

"Sorry I'm busy." he replied.

Lydia was all upset about the cookies. Then, she remembered Peter's twin Elsa, who was cute and sweet, would probably help. At this point, however, Lydia was not sure. "Elsa will you make cookies with me?" She asked the little 3 year old.

"Yes mommy!"  said Elsa excitedly jumping up and down.

"That's great! I'm glad you want to help." replied Lydia.

They started to bake the cookies. When they were done, the cookies smelled great.  Nick, Kelsey, Maddy, Peter, Eric, and Barney all came running down when the smelled the cookies.

 "What's that  good smell?" they all asked.

"Oh that's the cookies that Elsa and I baked." answered Lydia.

"Can we have some?"  asked Kelsey.


"So none of you would help me make the cookies, but now you want to eat some?" inquired Lydia.

"Yes!" replied Maddy

"Well  I guess you can all have some because Elsa and I can not eat all of them alone."

"Thanks mom!"  they replied gratefully.

"You're welcome, I guess." she replied.

They all ate the cookies,  and they were delicious! However, Lydia decided that next time she was going to tell them that if you don't help you don't get.

Steffi Goes Shopping

Steffi Ridley hated going shopping. "Do I have to come shopping with you?" she complained to her mother in a whiny voice.

"Yes, honey." replied Mommy. "There's nobody available to watch you right now, and I can't just leave you here alone."

Steffi pouted. She was sure it was going to be a long and boring afternoon at the supermarket.

"Please, be a good girl." begged Mommy. "Your baby sister is being fussy today,."  As if on cue, baby Stella began to cry. "and I need you to be my big helper." added Mommy as she lifted the baby up  into her arms and tried to comfort her.

That was all Steffi needed to hear. She loved being Mommy's big helper. She instantly brightened up. "Okay, Mommy." she agreed happily. Maybe, it wasn't going to be such a bad day after all.

Steffi helped Mommy buckle baby Stella into her car seat, and  then quickly got into her own seat. Then, they drove to the supermarket.

Once at the market. Mommy strapped the baby into the front of the shopping cart. She helped Steffi into the back.

In the supermarket, first they got to the fruit and vegetable aisle. As Mommy was gathering other fruits and vegetables, Steffi spied the baby carrots. She loved baby carrots. "Can we buy baby carrots? Please!" she begged Mommy.

Mommy was distracted because Stella was fussing again. Mommy put a pacifier in the baby's mouth and then turned her attention to Steffi. "What did you say?" she inquired.

"Carrots." stated Steffi pointing to them. Mommy nodded as if to say yes there are the carrots. Steffii took that to mean that yes she could have carrots so she reached up and grabbed a bag and threw it in the cart. Mommy was busy getting something else and didn't notice. Steffi decided one bag was not enough carrots so she added two more.

In the next aisle, while Mommy was getting toothpaste and shampoo. Steffi grabbed Mickey Mouse bandaids and  Mickey Mouse gummy vitamins. "You can never have too much Mickey." she told her baby sister who for once was being good and quiet.

In the cereal aisle, Mommy told Steffi she could pick out a cereal for herself while Mommy got one for Daddy and one for Stella. Steffi couldn't decided between Coca Pebbles, Trix, and Cookie Crisp so she threw in one of each as they went by.

They continued to make their way through the store. Along the way, every time. Mommy threw some items into the cart, Steffi threw some in too just to be helpful. Eventually, it started to get crowded in the back of the cart, and Steffi was being squished. "Mommy, can I get out and walk?" she asked.

Mommy didn't like Steffi to get out of the cart because it was easier to keep track of where Steffi was when she was in the cart. However, Mommy could see that Steffi was starting to get squished so she agreed. "Okay." she conceded, "but you stay right next to me."

Steffi nodded in agreement and smiled happily. Now, she would be able to help Mommy even more.  She put up her arms and Mommy took her out of the cart.

Just then, Stella spit the pacifier out of her mouth. Mommy leaned down to pick it up as Steffi grabbed a handful of puddings and threw them into the cart. Stella refused to take the pacifier back and continued to be fussy.

 "Don't worry I can help, Mommy!" declared Steffi. She stood up on her tiptoes and showed how high she could reach on the shelf. Mommy let Steffi pick out everything they needed that wasn't too high for her or too heavy. Each time, Mommy got distracted by the baby, Steffi added something extra or something that wasn't on the list.  Either it was something she liked or something she thought they should try or just something in a pretty package that caught her eye.

When they were in the very last aisle and almost ready to head for the checkout, Stella finally stopped fussing and fell asleep.  Mommy sighed and leaned tiredly on the cart. She was exhausted and couldn't wait to check out and go home. Not Steffi, she wished they had more shopping to do.

Mommy noticed that the cart seemed a bit heavy. She looked at her shopping  list and it didn't seem like there was that much on it. She figured that it was probably because she was so tired that the cart seemed heavier than usual.

Then, out of the corner of her eye Mommy noticed that there seemed to be an awful lot of boxes of macaroni and cheese. Macaroni and cheese wasn't even on the list. They had plenty of it at home.  "Steffi," asked Mommy. "Did you put macaroni and cheese in the cart?" asked Mommy.

Steffi nodded and smiled proudly.

"We don't need any macaroni and cheese. We have some at home."

"Oh, sorry, Mommy." replied Steffi with a slight shrug of her head. "I didn't know that."

Then, Mommy noticed the three big boxes of sugary cereal and all the pudding and a bunch of other things that they didn't need  and some that she didn't even recognize in the cart.  "Steffi?" inquired Mommy. "How many things did you put in the cart?"

"Oh, Mommy!" gushed Steffi  smiling even brighter and feeling even prouder. "I helped a lot."

Pabla Stands Up for a Friend

Pabla Sanchez and Paco Navarro knew each other since they were babies. They lived next door to each other, and they were in the same class every year. They were friends, but as they got older Paco started to develop a crush on Pabla. "Some day, you're going to be my girlfriend." he told her.

Pabla smiled and said. "Maybe." She didn't really think so though. She thought of Paco more like a brother.

Paco was sure he was right though. After all, they lived in a small town and everybody knew each other.  A lot of couples got together when they were young and eventually ended up dating and marrying. Not all of them had necessarily been together since they were babies like Pabla and Paco though.

One day a new boy moved to town.  His name was Jan Smedberg. He was Pabla and Paco's age, and he was put in their class. The new boy stood out not just because he was new and that was unusual enough, but because he was different. He was  a blond haired, blue eyed, fair skinned boy from a Swedish background in a town full of dark haired, dark eyed children mostly from a Mexican background.

Kids in the town were not used to strangers. They were wary of Jan. They were not very friendly to him. They didn't talk to him. They weren't really outwardly mean to him, at least not at first, but they didn't talk to him. They all  just whispered behind his back except for Pabla.

Pabla went up to Jan on his first day in school. "Hi." she greeted him warmly. "I'm Pabla Sanchez. Welcome to Mr. Hatten's class." She extended took her hand to him.

Jan took her hand and shook it. "I'm Jan Smedberg." he replied. "Happy to be here and glad to meet you." he replied with a smile.

After that, Jan and Pabla were good friends. She was the only one in class who spoke to him. She was the only one in class who paid attention to him at all at least in a good way.

Paco secretly watched Jan all the time. He didn't like how friendly he and Pabla were becoming. He was green with jealousy.

It wasn't hard for Paco to get the other kids in the class to turn the silent treatment they were all giving Jan into outward meanness. Paco was tough, and he was a leader in the class. Other kids followed his lead partly because they respected him and partly because they knew he could beat them up. He was one of the smartest boys in the class but also the strongest.

Instead of just talking about him behind his back, the other kids started doing things like purposely bumping into him. They would knock all the books out of his hands and then say "Oh sorry." in a voice that made it clear that they weren't really sorry at all. They would take his things and hide them and laughed when he looked all over for them. Then, suddenly whatever he had been looking for would turn up on the floor or across the room.  The teacher, Mr. Hatten never saw the kids being so mean to Jan. They were smart enough to do them when he wasn't in the room or he wasn't looking.

Paco was hoping the way they treated Jan would get to him. He was hoping Jan would breakdown and cry like a little baby.  Jan didn't, however. He was calm on the outside and sad on the inside, and he wasn't afraid.. He hoped that someday things would get better. and the other kids would accept him.

Through it all, Pabla remained Jan's friend and that's what helped him through. He knew as long as he had her friendship he could withstand just about anything.

Pabla and Jan's friendship enraged Paco. He complained to the other kids about it all the time. "What does she see in that blonde boy?!" he griped angrily to anyone who would listen.  He didn't only complain behind Pabla's back either. "Why are you hanging around with that Swedish boy?" he asked her directly in a not so friendly tone. "Don't you want to be with your own kind?"

Pabla's eyes flashed angrily at Paco. "What do you mean my own kind?" she replied in a huff. "We are all human beings aren't we? Jan is my friend." The more Paco tried to push her away from Jan. The more it cemented Jan and Pabla's friendship which, of course, only made Paco angrier.

"We have to do something about that Jan." Paco said to the to the other boys in the class at recess one day.  He decided to challenge Jan to fight. He walked up to Jan and tapped him on the shoulder. Jan turned around and was surprised to see Paco there, but he was okay with it. He was not afraid of Jan like the other kids. "Hello." he said in a friendly tone.

"You and I are going to have fight." demanded Paco in a much less friendly tone.

Jan shook his head. "Oh, I don't think so." he said. He still wasn't afraid. He just didn't want to fight. He knew it would not solve anything.

Paco tried to grab Jan. Jan pulled back out of his grasp. Paco fell back into the swingset. His head started bleeding. Someone ran to get Mr. Hatten. Mr. Hatten immediately sent someone to get the nurse. "What happened here?" inquired Mr. Hatten angrily while they waited for the nurse to arrive.

"Jan did it." replied Paco.

"Jan did it." echoed the other kids.

"Jan," Mr. Hatten warned him in a serious tone. "This is a very serious matter. You need to go the principal's office.You are definitely going to be suspended, and you may even be expelled ."

"Wait a minute, Mr. Hatten." pleaded Pabla getting in between him and Jan. "Jan didn't do it." She told Mr. Hatten what had really happened.  At first, Mr. Hatten didn't know who to believe Pabla or the other kids. However, he knew that Pabla never lied, and even though he didn't know how bad it was he knew that other kids didn't seem to get along with Jan. He knew that Paco was jealous of Jan and Pabla. He had seen the angry looks Paco gave them when they were together. He chose to believe Pabla.

The next day, however, Jan was transferred to a different class. "Why did Jan get transferred if he wasn't the one doing the bullying?" Pabla demanded angrily.

"I know that." Mr. Hatten replied calmly, "but there aren't enough classes in this school to transfer everyone else out, and we couldn't very well have a class with only two kids." he explained.

Pabla understood, but she wasn't happy about it. She wished they could have a class with only her and Jan.

Later that day, Jan found Pabla on the playground. "Hi." he greeted her warmly.

"Hi." she replied much less cheerfully. "I'm sorry about what happened."

"Don't be." insisted Jan. "Nobody has every stood up for me like that before. I really appreciate it. Besides, I really like my new class. "

Pabla smiled a little. "You do?" she stated with relief. "I'm glad."

"Yes, I do," replied Jan, "and you and I," he continued "we're still friends."

"We are?" she asked hopefully.

"We are."

"I'm glad." Pabla smiled.

"I'm glad too." Jan smiled back.