12- Jessica TRANSCRIPTION (Because of Mr. Terupt)

Act 1, Scene 1
My daily routine included lunch with Alexia and the girls, minus Danielle and Anna—they sat alone—and then recess. Alexia found it funny to see how upset Danielle would get.

Right about this same time, I was finishing the book Belle Teal. I loved Belle. I wanted her to be my friend. She was honest and courageous. What would Belle do in my shoes? That was easy. She would do the right thing. And doing the right thing meant giving someone a chance. Danielle didn’t seem anything like Alexia made her out to be. I decided it was time to talk to Danielle and find out for myself.

Act 2, Scene 2
I set out to find Danielle the next day at recess. I spotted her from a distance. She was drawing in the dirt with a stick.

“Hi, Danielle,” I said as I approached, clutching my latest book, Where the Red Fern Grows, close to me.

“What do you want?” she shot back, jabbing her stick too hard into the ground, causing it to snap in half. She turned away. It sounded like she was crying.

“Are you okay?” I walked closer.

“No. Lexie’s being really mean to me, and it’s all your fault!” She threw her sticks onto the ground.

My fault? She blamed me? Why didn’t I see it coming? It made perfect sense: I was the new girl, and my arrival pushed her out of the group.

“I’m sorry,” I said. I stood there. I wanted to be back in California, anyway. I missed my dad.

Danielle began scratching pictures in the dirt with her finger. “I’m sorry I said that. It’s not your fault.”

I sat down.

“It’s just that Lexie’s ignoring me—talking about me, saying mean stuff,” Danielle went on. “She doesn’t sit with me at lunch. She’s not playing with me. And now all the other girls are doing the same thing. They always do what Alexia says. Anna’s the only one who’s still nice, and I’m not supposed to be friends with her.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“My family, especially my grandma, think she’s a bad influence.”

“I don’t get it.”

“My mom and dad used to be friends with her grandparents and—”

“You mean her parents,” I interrupted.

“No, her grandparents.” Danielle stopped moving the dirt and sat up to explain. “My mom and dad are forty-seven. They had my older brother, Charlie, when they were twenty—the same time Anna’s grandparents had Anna’s mother. They were all friends at church, that’s how they knew each other. Charlie is twenty-seven, so Anna’s mom must be twenty-seven, too.”

“And Anna’s eleven,” I said, quickly putting all the pieces together. “So that means her mom was sixteen when Anna was born.”

“That’s right,” Danielle said.

“And that’s why your family, especially your grandmother, thinks Anna will be a bad influence?” I asked.

“Yes,” Danielle said. “I think they figure Anna will be like her mother, and that’s not the type of people churchgoers should associate with.”

I didn’t like what I was hearing. None of it seemed fair to Anna, but I wanted to learn more about her mother’s story. “What happened after Anna was born?”

“I’m not sure,” Danielle said. “I just know that it’s only Anna and her mother now.”

“None of that’s her fault,” I said matter-of-factly.

Danielle nodded. She bent forward and started drawing in the dirt again. I decided not to push it any more. She seemed upset by it, too.

“I’ll play with you,” I said.

“You will?” The hint of a smile spread its way across Danielle’s dirt-streaked, teary face.

“Sure. And I won’t listen to Alexia.” I slid Where the Red Fern Grows off to the side and dug into the earth with my finger.

“I know that book. My grandma read it to me.”

“It’s very good,” I said. “Everybody always likes a character with a dog. That’s something my dad told me.”

“It’s a sad story,” Danielle said, “but I won’t tell you what happens.”

“Please don’t. We can talk about it when I get done, though.”

“Sure,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

We sat next to each other scratching pictures in the dirt until the whistle sounded. Recess was over. We stood and brushed ourselves off. That was when I saw Danielle’s dirt sketch of two dogs.

“That’s a great picture, Danielle.”

“Thanks,” she said.

I liked Danielle. There were a lot of interesting things to learn about her, I could tell. I grabbed my book and we headed toward the building. Then I saw Anna wandering over by herself. I wondered if she wanted to be a loner. Or did she want friends? Why did she try so hard to be invisible? Was she embarrassed by her family situation? And how many people actually knew all that stuff about her mother?

Act 2, Scene 3
I was walking with Danielle when all of a sudden she rushed ahead and hurried inside. Looking up, I found out why. Alexia got right in my face.

“Like, whadaya doing? I thought I told you not to be friends with her.” Alexia’s head jerked from side to side as she talked. It reminded me of a bobblehead. She blocked my way, her hands on her cheetah-patterned hips.

“There’s nothing wrong with Danielle. Besides, I can play with whomever I want,” I said.

“Fine. Then like, you’re not my friend anymore,” Alexia said. She knocked Where the Red Fern Grows out of my hands. Then she whipped around and stomped inside.

I wasn’t upset—but I’m not stupid, either. I knew Alexia was going to make my life miserable. That was her game. And she was good at it, too. Still, I had no clue how bad things would really get.

Present

 * Jessica Writeman
 * Alexia
 * Danielle
 * Anna Adams

Mentioned

 * Danielle's Grandma
 * Danielle's Mom
 * Danielle's Dad
 * Anna's Grandmother
 * Anna's Grandfather
 * Charlie
 * Terri Adams

Locations

 * Recess Area

Related
Previous Chapter: 11- Anna TRANSCRIPTION (Because of Mr. Terupt)

Next Chapter: 13- Alexia TRANSCRIPTION (Because of Mr. Terupt)