cassandra walker

By the time I reached eighth grade, I’d heard every joke about being tall and skinny. I was called such names as "too tall bone," "Olive Oil," "Jolly Green Giant," etc. you get the picture. I just couldn't take it anymore.
So, I felt relieved when another tall and skinny girl arrived at our school. She was a new seventh grader named charlotte. Charlotte was a quiet girl, with big eyes and longblack hair. She walked down the halls with her books held close to her body. I'm sure she felt intimidated by the older kids, especially those who teased and mocked her as she walked by. Some of the eighth graders made what they referred to as "charlotte jokes." they tried to come up with the funniest thing to say about how charlotte walked or looked, or any other cruel remark. I wish I could saythat I didn't laugh at these jokes, but I did. Although I didn't think the jokes were funny, I laughed just so those kids wouldn't tease me.
We noticed that charlotte often didn't show up for school. And when we’d go outside for gym, charlotte would watch us from a classroom window. For some reason, she didn't ever come outdoors during gym, and the just gave everyone another thing to tease herabout.

One day, when we were outside, I hurt myself and had to go to the nurse´s office. The nurse immediately gave students ice. (She always gave students Ice. whether you had cramps, a bump on your head, or internal bleeding, she first gave you ice.) I sat down with my ice pack, and, out of the corner of my eye, noticed that charlotte was sitting near me. She smiled.

I looked around to make surethat no another kids could tease me for talking to charlotte, and, seeing that the coast was clear, I smiled back. I decided to ask her how she was fine and asked me if I had, and then I found the courage to ask her why she never came outside during gym. What she said really had an effect on me and the way I treated people from that point on.

"I can´t go outside because I can´t do all of thephysical activities required in gym," said charlotte. "I have a bad heart, and I have to take medicine to keep it working. I’ve had to be in the hospital and doctors' offices all my life. That’s why I miss so school. But I don't fall behind in my school. Work because I study while I’m in the hospital or at home.
"It’s hard for me to make friends because I’m absent from school so much," charlotte added."Kids tease me but that's because they don't understand me. I’m really a very nice person."
I found out in a short amount of time that charlotte and I had a lot in common: we were both tall and got teased, we both had big feet, and we both were given ice whenever we went to see the nurse.
I realized that charlotte was nice and had a good sense of humor. After a few more minutes of talking,charlotte had to go back to class. But before she left, she said: "on Friday, I’ll be going to the hospital for open- heart surgery. I’m glad that I’ll have this operation, even though it's kind of scary. After the operation, I’ll be different. No more needles, and no more pain. I’ll be a new person. Will you pray for me and tell the other kids to, also? It would make me feel good. I’ll see you when Iget back."
When I returned the class, I told my friends what had happened. Some of them were kind and said they would remember charlotte in their prayers. But some of them weren't so kind and started telling new charlotte jokes about how she had an "old lady heart."

On Friday, when charlotte was going in for her operation, the principal told everyone to make get-well cards for charlotte duringhomeroom. He said that on Monday he would give us the hospital name and the address so we could mail the cards. When Monday arrived, I could hardly wait to get the address so I could send the special card to my new friend. The principal's voice came over the loudspeaker, giving us an update on charlotte.

Charlotte had been right when she said that after the operation there would be no more...