The Orange Popsicle

One hot, summer day in the middle of July, a girl named Elizabeth, was sitting on a bench in the park near their home. She was watching her friends playing on the swings. Her face was covered in orange from the popsicle that was melting down her hand. She was a cute, little girl with long, brown hair and freckles. She was smart in school. In fact, her best friend, Ashley and her were the smartest students in their grade. Elizabeth was the shortest of her friends, but her mom always told her she had lots of time to grow up and would be taller in high school. Still, it bothered Elizabeth. On this warm, July day, while she was eating her orange popsicle, she was thinking to herself about her upcoming, tenth birthday and what it would be like. She only liked orange popsicles, because orange was her favourite colour. In fact, it was the only popsicle she would eat. She liked it because it tasted like oranges. Her mom, Sara, was beside her reading a book with her little sister, Emily. Emily’s face was covered in purple. She liked the grape popsicles, because her favourite colour was purple. Her mom reached over and wiped both of their faces with baby wipes. Elizabeth hated when her mom did that, but she knew her mom cared. She wanted so much to be with her friends, but hated when they bullied her. Even her best friend, Ashley was swinging on the swings. Sometimes she wondered if she was even her friend at all. Last year at the exact same time in July, Elizabeth was so excited waiting for her birthday party on Saturday. Her mom always planned the most amazing parties. She was allowed to invite her girlfriends from school to come over to her house for a swim in the afternoon. They had chicken fingers with rice for dinner and a chocolate birthday cake. Her mom also made a special drink with orange juice and soda water. The whole place was full of orange and white balloons. It was the same every single year since she was five years old, but she liked it that way and so did her friends. Some of their parents even attended. Last year, however on her ninth birthday, is when it started. Her friends all laughed at her, because they were having a swimming race. Elizabeth loved swimming and since they had a saltwater pool in the backyard, she had to take swimming lessons every single year even as a toddler. She couldn‘t wait to be a lifeguard when she turned fifteen. Her friend Ashley however was a better swimmer. Elizabeth always thought it was because she was tall. She was better at everything though. Ashley was the popular girl at school and she was super smart. She had long, blonde hair and was the tallest of their friends. So all the girls wanted to be friends with her. During the race that day, Elizabeth just couldn’t keep up, I mean she was swimming her fastest, but all of a sudden she had to stop. She swallowed too much water and was choking. So her mom was frantic. She ran over to get Elizabeth immediately out of the pool and while she was choking, Ashley won the race. Sara said, “Elizabeth, Elizabeth, are you okay? Just breathe, breathe, please breathe!” To Elizabeth's surprise, all of her friends laughed at her and cheered for Ashley. I mean at least Ashley came out of the water to make sure she was okay. Elizabeth just choked and spit out some water. Thank goodness she was fine, but all she could do was cry. She was so embarrassed and hurt, because her friends laughed. Her mom was such an over protective mother, she always lectured Elizabeth about being careful in the swimming pool. Elizabeth didn‘t even like the swimming races, but her friends always insisted on racing in the pool. Elizabeth was shaken up after the incident, but she couldn’t let her friends know. She quietly said, “Mom, I’m fine now, don’t worry. I just slipped in the pool and swallowed some water.” The worst part was that her mom told everyone to leave. After all, they were laughing. Elizabeth couldn’t understand what kind of friends would do that. To her dismay, they even left before dinner and chocolate cake. So Elizabeth and her family had a nice, quiet evening. Her parents bought her a special gold necklace with a ruby charm, the birthstone for July. She loved it. Elizabeth went to bed early that night and tried not to think about the day. Ever since that day, things weren‘t the same. Her friends didn’t speak to her and her next year at school was spent mostly with Ashley. If her friends did speak to her, it was only to ask about homework. She was lucky though, at least she had Ashley. So on that warm, July day at the park, while she watched her friends, Ashley finally came over to sit with her. Ashley wanted her to swing on the swings, but first she had an orange popsicle too. Elizabeth wasn’t as excited this year about her upcoming tenth birthday, especially after what happened last year, but Ashley had an idea. She asked Elizabeth’s mom if there were more popsicles. Sara said, “I brought a whole box of them.” Ashley said, “Can the other girls have one too?” Sara said, “Yes, of course.” Then Ashley told the girls to come sit with her and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was thrilled. She finally started talking to some of the girls. It was just like old times. They all had popsicles. It had been almost a year since they’d spoken to her. Then her mom said, “Elizabeth would love it if you would all come to her birthday party on Saturday, but no more swimming races!” Everyone cheered and said they’d love to attend. So to Elizabeth’s surprise, she had the best tenth birthday party ever! There were no swimming races, but lots of orange popsicles, orange balloons and the best chocolate cake ever!