Change Of Heart

"But, Mom! I can't go to school like this!" 12-year old Jodi said with his hair all messed up. "That guy, Brooklyn, will make fun of me again." His mom looked at him sternly. "If that boy picks on you again, you go straight to a teacher, or the principal. You hear me, Jodi? No matter what he says, you go tell someone."

Poor old Jodi put on his jacket and said goodbye to his mother. She did not know how that Brooklyn was. Just in time for the bus, Jodi found an open seat at the back.

Suddenly he remembered what happened the day before. Brooklyn sat in that very seat. He had no time to change seats before Brooklyn climbed on the bus.

"Aye, Aye, Aye! Look what we have here. Lucky, lucky Jodi. Don't you remember what happened yesterday? Ha-ha, I wonder what is going to happen today, aye?"

Brooklyn cracked his knuckles. "Get him guys." His three friends (Not really friends. Brooklyn treated them like trash) moved slowly towards Jodi. That day Jodi came home with a blue eye, bruised lip and worst of all, a headache.

"Mom... Bwooklyn and his 'fwiends' picked on me again." Jodi replaced the 'r' with a 'w' because he had a bruised lip which was already swollen. "I did not have time to tell Mistew Widen. He was too busy with the student council at break."

"Weren't there any other teachers around? There are always three or maybe four teachers on break duty - meaning they watch kids, help kids if they need it, and punish bullies." His mom was really serious about this whole Brooklyn thing.

Jodi said nothing. There were other teachers on break duty, but he was too scared because Brooklyn told him, "And don't even think about telling anyone about this, you loser. Otherwise we'll have fun tomorrow after school." Brooklyn was getting worse every single day.

That Night

Jodi was too upset to eat. He just needed a good night's sleep. But, unfortunately Jodi did not get his good night's sleep. He had a nightmare of what Brooklyn would do to him the next day. And that is something you do not want to know.

The next day at school

Jodi was so happy that day. Brooklyn was at home with a tummy ache! No bullying today! Fantastic! His day was starting to get better, until he came to class. There was a new kid in their class and it's a girl. Her name was Jessica Roberts. But everyone called her Jess or Jessie. The second she came into the class, all the guys' and girls' eyes fell on her. Soon (like a minute or two!),  the school had a queen bee! (A Queen bee is like very, very, very popular). Everyone crowded her asking silly questions.

Jodi just hoped she was nice and not like Brooklyn...

Oh no! Jodi forgot to do his homework and it was super hard. His teacher told the class yesterday if anyone, meaning anyone, forgets to do their homework, they will go into The Cave.

Okay, okay. I know what you are thinking now. Let's just pause the story for a moment. The Cave is not really what it says it is. It's just the principal's office. He just gave it a dramatic name. That's all. Back to the story!

Jodi absolutely HATED the cave. It had animal heads (that are stuffed) all over the walls and on the desk. It’s just awful!

"Okay, everyone come and please, everyone turn in your homework. If not, you are going to... the principal's office. 'Wait, why didn't she say The Cave? Oh, right. She's new. Or he... It looks like both!' Jodi thinks, 'Maybe you'll want to introduce yourself? I really want to know who you are! Mind to introduce yourself now??'

The teacher looked at Jodi. "Oh! Right. Thanks kid for reminding me to introduce myself. My name is Maddie Wilson, but you can call me Miss Maddie or Miss Wilson and if you are one of my friends, just Maddie."

'Wait... what? She knew what I thought! She is a mind reader...' Jodi thought. Jodi stood up, grabbed a bunch of papers from inside his bag and then wrote a few lines of weird sentences. Some like:

1. Techer Madie is a male and vemale. Shes a mint reader.

2. Broklyn is the wort he picks on me for no reson?

3. Baba ducki steped outsid e amd then raind al wet.

Okay, so Jodi was not the best speller, though. He took the papers up to Miss Maddie. She looked at them and to his astonishment, read them."So, uhm, Jodie, is it?" Miss Maddie started.

"It's actually Jodi without an 'e', Miss." Jodi explained carefully. "So, I see you are not a great speller. We'll work on that." And then, she smiled at him! 'She did not scold me! I think I'm going to like her here!' Jodi enjoyed the rest of the day.

The next few days Brooklyn didn't come to school. Jodi actually began to feel sorry for the guy. The next day, Brooklyn did come to school. But he did not pick on Jodi. He still had the tummy ache. His friends weren't with him, because they realized how horrible he was to them.

Brooklyn had no friends to play with. Neither did Jodi. So, Jodi decided to be nice to Brooklyn and not be mean. "Hi there, Brooklyn. Mind if I sit here with you?" Brooklyn looked at him as if he wanted to bully him once more. But the only thing that came out was a groan.

He nodded. But he didn't talk. "I'm sorry about your friends. But it wasn't necessary to be mean to them. I mean, a friend actually means kindness. You know that, right?" Brooklyn just nodded. Again. Then he began to talk. "Why are you being nice to me, after all I did to you?" Jodi whispered to him, ”Because, I know deep under all that meanness, is a kind boy. Don't tell anyone I said that though!" 

Brooklyn laughed and then groaned again. "Okay. I won't. But that doesn't mean we are friends!" Brooklyn smiled, "Thanks for cheering me up, Jodi."

What you don't know is that Jodi complained about Brooklyn so much the other day, that his mother and father actually thought of transferring him to another school because of Brooklyn. But Jodi did not know that. So when his parents told him, he freaked out.  He told them that he and Brooklyn were cool. But his parents stood by their choices.

"Brooklyn, I need your help." Jodi asked Brooklyn the next day at school. "Anything for you, bro." Brooklyn said.

After school, the two boys went to Jodi's house. They played football and a little bit of soccer. Then they put their plan into action.

Jodi's mom saw them playing in the garden. She went inside to talk to her husband. They still stood by their choice. The two boys went into the house. "Mom! Mom! I want to stay at this school. My friend, Brooklyn is here! Come and meet him please."

His mother came in. "So this is Brooklyn. We've been hearing a lot of complaints about you"

"Mother! Please, he has changed. He's my best friend now." Jodi explained. "He's my only friend. Please. Don't take me away."

"Please, Miss. Jodi is actually pretty cool." Brooklyn said. "I won't bully him no more. He's my friend now."

Finally, Jodi's mother gave in. "Okay. You can stay, Jodi. Thank you, Brooklyn. Thank you for being my son's friend."

'Hooray! Hooray!' both of them shouted. And, that day, was when Jodi's whole life changed.

Author: Elmé Steyl  [Aged: 10]

South Africa

Words: 1,298