by T. M. Meek
As Alex walked the halls of North Ivy with other students, she saw and overheard another student call a nearby passing girl “fat.” Alex didn’t know either of them nor what grade they were in. But that didn’t stop her from walking right up to the boy who did it and chastising him in front of other students.
“That’s rude! You shouldn’t call her ‘fat.’ You know better than that. How would you like it if someone insulted you in front of a bunch of other people?” The boy just stood there and scoffed. He wasn’t expecting anyone –– especially a cute girl like Alex –– to object to his choice to insult someone else so he wasn’t sure quite how to handle it. The pressure of all eyes upon him caused him to freeze in his tracks. He tried to hide his insecurity of others looks of disapproval by acting like he was cool. He hoped Alex would walk away soon but she had only begun. The clearly overweight girl who was the recipient of his insult, Heidi, stood nearby to watch Alex stand up in her protective defense. Alex was trying to prevent this guy from every bullying again and the girl didn’t want to miss it. She spoke to him further.
“Look. I don’t know who you are or what grade you’re in but I believe you’re smart enough to know that, generally speaking, when you treat people well the chances you’ll impress other people skyrocket through the roof. Being kind to others isn’t weak in most situations. But being someone who enjoys destroying someone else’s sense of self-worth is about as weak as it gets. Even if you’re ‘just kidding’, if you don’t make sure they know you’re kidding and make sure that they’re okay with it, you might find you’re crushing them to death and what happens if they commit suicide? I’m not saying this girl will commit suicide over what you just said but the fact is, we just don’t know what might happen if we choose to insult someone else today. You don’t know that your insult wasn’t the twentieth or thirtieth one she’s heard from someone since she woke up this morning. Do you want to be the one who pushes her over the edge in heartache? I wouldn’t want to be someone callous enough to do that. Think about it for a minute. When someone did something super nice for you, that probably made you feel good and then you liked that person even more. You can be popular and cool while treating people with consideration and compassion if you’ll just believe it. Try it more often and you’ll prove it more often. What’s your name?”
“Dale,” he replied cautiously. He was impressed by what Alex said. She spoke the truth and he knew it and she wasn’t even insulting about it.
“Well Dale, prove me if I’m wrong but I’m telling you I’m not. And I can guarantee you another thing. If I ever hear you insulting someone else again, this won’t be the last conversation we have. Do the right thing and you’ll be all the cooler for it. Why don’t you find something to compliment her on instead?”
Alex then looked over at Heidi’s shoes. “Those are cool. I like boots. Where did you get them?”
“They were a gift from my sister,” Heidi answered somewhat shyly.
“Sweet! Your sister must be pretty nice sometimes, huh?” Alex asked her as the crowd around them grew larger.
Heidi smiled, “Sometimes.”
Alex nodded with a warm smile but her smile faded somewhat after she turned her attention back to Dale. “Think about what I just said and see if I’m not trying to get you the best results in life for more success – which is the exact opposite you did for her. Man up and apologize to her. If you do it now you’ll have less of a guilty conscience later. Be cool, man. These other people around here may not be looking out for you now but I am. Be cool. Apologize.
Dale swallowed hard and walked over to Heidi.
“I’m sorry for insulting you. That was lame of me to do,” Dale said as sincerely since he could for he wasn’t used to apologizing to others. He knew it was a good thing for him to admit his faults and correct them and he hoped she wouldn’t commit suicide over it later for then the whole school might blame him since Alex had brought on so much attention to so many others nearby as to what had happened that there would be little doubt in others minds as to what role he played in encouraging her despair. Heidi struggled to accept his apology so the silent half-smile she gave back to Dale was the best she could do. He couldn’t blame her for not instantly acting as if the world were all rosy now so he simply hoped she believed him and he walked away.
“Thanks for doing the right thing, Dale. I’ll see you later. Stay cool,” Alex said to him as he walked away. He turned back to look at Alex and give a shy smile as he felt a mix of emotions as he was a bit embarrassed yet he liked the good feeling he felt to do the right thing and to see someone like Alex set a good example for others. Heidi was still in shock as Alex walked over to her. Some students began to leave since no fight started but still others hung around to see what would happen next.
“What’s your name?” Heidi asked softly.
“Alex. What’s yours?”
“Heidi.”
“Cool.”
“Thanks. I can’t believe you just chewed out Dale – one of the meanest eighth graders at school,” Heidi said in relief that someone could be so unafraid of such a well-known bully. But Alex swallowed hard and felt faint over this information since she didn’t know who he was or just how bad his reputation was before she approached him. She tried not to look too surprised or afraid though she might have been more afraid to approach him and say what she did had she known more about him. But it was too late now and despite his fearsome reputation held by others things seemed to work out well this time.
“You’re welcome,” Alex said “Look, the next time someone insults you, just remember: They are probably miserable inside and don’t even like themselves so they think they have to be mean to feel better but it doesn’t work. Maybe they heard something about you that makes them jealous. Maybe he wishes he had a nice sister that would buy him gifts so instead of just saying that to you, he thinks he has to tear you down to ‘balance out the injustices of life.’ It’s a creepy mentality but some people just don’t see themselves as creepy or at least very misguided. So feel sorry for them for whatever problems they are hiding that make them that way. I hate it when someone calls someone else ‘fat.’ You’ve probably tried to lose weight and keep a good weight. And if he or anyone else is too stupid to think you’re not trying your best for your circumstances, then their opinion doesn’t matter.”
Heidi was amazed that this very pretty girl who seemed to have a perfectly healthy weight – Alex – wasn’t the one who walked away laughing like so many other prettier girls would do to leave Heidi to suffer in silence. “What lunch period do you have?” Alex asked.
“Second” came Heidi’s cautious reply.
“Same here. Would you like to sit with me at lunch?” Alex asked. This surprised Heidi even more.
“Sure.”
“Great! Just come find me. Sometimes we talk about eating healthy so don’t take it personally. We’re just trying to be smarter about food choices,” Alex then leaned in as if to whisper a secret to Heidi. “This sometimes shocks adults who think that we’re too young and stupid to make the right choices for ourselves. It throws them for a loop that they don’t actually have to force us to make the right choices because we’re already doing it,” Alex said with a sarcastic wink of her eye. Heidi laughed.
“Your parents teach you how to eat healthy?” Heidi asked.
“Yeah.”
“Cool. Same here. It’s just hard to do when healthy foods cost so much. My parents divorced and my mom has full custody of me but she lost her job six months ago and she still hasn’t found another fulltime job. She’s working part-time now until she can find another good paying fulltime job that isn’t some demeaning form of employment.” Alex nodded that she understood. For most families, times seemed tough financially. As more and more people stopped gawking and left, Alex and Heidi walked together down the hall, both now late for their next class.
Heidi gasped with cheerful excitement. “Hey! Aren’t you the one who’s made a team that goe
s around talking to big companies about investing or something about money?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“My dad is the vice-president of a large company. He’s the head of over fifty different stores. Nearly half of the big stores he’s over are right here in Silver Streams and the surrounding areas and that would be at least two thousand employees. Do you want me to hook you up with his company to give a presentation? I can do that easy. He practically adores me and just last month he set up a trust fund for me that gives me five million dollars after I graduate from high school.”
“Wow!” Alex responded in pleasant shock. “Yeah. That would be great!”
“Okay. Consider it done,” Heidi smiled. “I’ll see you at lunch!”
“Thanks! See you there!” Alex replied. As Heidi began to race off to her next class, Alex had a thought. “Heidi!” Alex called out. Heidi stopped and turned around to listen to Alex. “Hey,” Alex said running closer to Heidi to tell her something quietly so no one else would overhear. “I’d be careful who you tell about your inheritance if I were you. If more people learn about your multimillion dollar trust fund, it might be harder for you to know who really likes you for you as opposed to those who might just be acting friendly in hopes you’ll share your money with them. So just pretend that you never told me about it and then stay quiet in the future. At least that’s what I would do if I were you.”
Heidi knew that once again, Alex was giving the best advice, this time to her and for all of the right reasons.
“Thanks. I’ll do that,” Heidi smiled. Alex smiled back and couldn’t help but think how good things seemed to be working out as she had never expected she would make friends with someone today that would help her team get more appointments and raise more money. With so many local stores and employees managed by Heidi’s dad, even getting just three more appointments would be great! She would soon discover it would take five appointments to reach most of the employees as attendance was voluntary. If Alex hadn’t known Heidi, she may never have had a chance to get such a big company as a client.
Alex took off running to her own class. She had already been late to other classes before and she would soon be reaching her limit for allowable tardies before she would be in more serious trouble. At least there were multiple witnesses that she and Heidi weren’t goofing off.
After school, Julio came running over to Alex and Leena with a big smile on his face. He seemed eager to share some good news. “Hey guys! Word on the street is there’s a party at Jake Little’s house tonight. Let’s go!” Julio said excitedly as he showed them his text invitation.
"Who's Jake Little?" Alex asked.
"He's the one with the house that has a bowling alley and basket ball court in it," Leena answered. "But that's probably not why Julio wants to go. I think he's hoping Jake's cousin, Amy, will show up," Leena said flirtatiously. Julio gave a big smile. “What time?” Leena asked.
“It starts at 8pm. But I bet a lot of kids don’t show up until after 9pm,” Julio replied.
“Why would people show up at 9pm when the party starts at 8? Showing up late is rude,” Alex wondered.
“Not when you want to look cool,” Julio smiled.
“How is showing up late a cool thing?” Alex asked skeptically.
Julio scoffed, “Because it makes you look like you’re too busy with more important things. It’s an image gimmick.”
“People also get the impression that you don’t care enough about the party to begin with. Like sending a message that you think you’re better than the host of the party. Which, of course, is basically rude,” Leena added as she looked at Alex in agreement.
“Who cares?” Julio protested. “Let’s go anyway. We can show up at 8:30pm for all I care. Let’s just go. A lot of cool people are supposed to come. Maybe Lewis Perry will be there too. I’d like to talk with him about his Dad’s experience with celebrities. That would be so cool to be friends with him when his Dad works with famous people,” Julio said excitedly.
“You wanna go?” Leena asked Alex as if looking for support to go herself.
“Yeah. Why not. Maybe it’ll be fun,” Alex said with as much excitement as a bored kid at a Laundromat.
“Look. We all know that probably none of our parents will let us go to this because Jake’s parents won’t be there. So we have to come up with a plan to sneak out and get to the party,” Julio suggested.
“Whoa. That’s a game changer for me, Julio. No way,” Alex said firmly. Leena wasn’t sure what to think yet.
“Come on. It’s simple. We’ll all just say we’re going over to each other’s place to do homework and we’ll meet up at the park near my house. I can get my dad’s golf car and we can all ride over together,” Julio said trying to convince Alex and Leena it would work. Both Alex and Leena looked unsure of his idea. “Jake’s house is less than a mile away from my place, we all live within a few blocks of each other, we could be there for only a couple of hours and then leave,” He said with a charming smile.
“Maybe it could work,” Leena timidly replied as she looked for Alex’s reaction.
“I really don’t think it’s a good idea,” Alex sighed.
“Okay. If any of us isn’t having a good time, we’ll all leave early. Sound good?” Julio compromised.
“I’m okay with that,” Leena replied with a little more excitement.
“I just don’t like the part where I have to lie to my Uncle Samuel and Aunt Meredith. It’s not right,” Alex worried.
“Look, like I said. If any of us isn’t having a good time, we’ll all leave early together and none of our parents will ever
know.” Leena half-smiled to Alex with an anxious look that told her she really wanted to go and hoped Alex would come too.
Alex looked back at Leena and let out a long sigh before saying, “All right. Let’s go.”
“Sweet!” Julio smiled. Leena gave a small hop and clapped her hands as she smiled excitedly at Alex. “We’ll meet up at the park bench closest to my house at ten till 8pm,” Julio added.
“I’ll see you guys there!” Leena said happily as she ran off.
Julio gave Alex a confident smile.
Alex let out another sigh and mumbled to herself, “If we get into trouble, Aunt Meredith and Uncle Samuel will bury me for this. Maybe I should just put a note in my pocket now describing for you the casket I want to be buried in.”
“We’ll be fine. See you tonight,” Julio chuckled. He then darted off leaving Alex alone to wrestle with her doubts.