I love this story by Shelby, a story of hope and determination

I walked into the school and thought to myself, this
year, the last year before I say goodbye to all of my
friends. It will still be the best year of my whole life, yes my
whole life.
Let me introduce myself. I’m Rosie. I’m at a school
where everybody, I’m not kidding you, everybody is as
white as a fluffy marshmallow and I’m not that way. I’m just
a light chocolate coat of brown. As I walk into school I see
her…
Zella, the evilest of all evil. She has done really bad
things to me, and I mean bad! Not bad like when you talk
out of turn, I mean bad as when you tell the teacher that
they are ugly and need a makeover. I might add she
actually went up to a teacher and yelled that in her face.
We’re on our way to our first class. She sits right up
by the teacher at his desk. I look to see why. She is his
daughter. No , I think to myself, I don’t dare say that
because I know that I would have been gone for good. So
I kept it all to myself.
She is giving this long speech. I just zone out
because this is all nothing, but I do think that her father is
blind and deaf because he is just looking at her, not trying
to stop any of it. I just wait and wait. It’s like, why isn’t the
bell ringing? I’m bored out of my mind. I hear it, the bell! It
rings it’s big ring! I run out of that prison you call a
classroom like there’s no tomorrow.
Then it hits my small brain. We have lunch next,
where it is determined if you are popular, a nerd, or if you
are lame. As I think of this horror, my body starts to slow
down like I’m going to the worst place and I don’t want to
be there. My slowness is right. I don’t want to be there, I
want to go back in that prison we call a classroom. I want
to go back instead of going there, the place where you are
determined.
I don’t walk slow enough. I got there. No. No. I just
stand there alone in line by myself. I have no choice, I
have to eat it there. I get my food, and as I’m walking to
find a seat, Zella comes and bumps into me meaning to
make all of that slop go on my new shirt. My life is gone,
it’s all gone. I dropped the tray and ran. I go into the
bathroom. My lip starts to tremble, my eyes start to get
foggie with tears, my mouth starts to wail loudly as I cry
my last cry, I breath my last breath. I look into the mirror,
and I see her, that girl inside of me that wants to leave the
school; run out in great horror, just leave or fall into a world
where I don’t see her, the one who hurt me bad, really
bad.
Then I don’t why, but I just felt like I wanted to go up
to her and punch that little mean, nasty, ugly, rude face of
hers. I walked out of that bathroom, then I went up to her
and said, “Stop being mean because I will go up to your
dad and tell him all of this.”
Zella replies back to me, “Well, it won’t matter, he
could care less. All he sees is a good girl along with every
teacher, so you can’t do anything about it. I can torture
you all I want.”
As I hear of this great horror I try really hard to block
this. Then I have a lightbulb moment! “Well, I can just tell
my mother and your whole scheme will be gone.”
She pauses. “You wouldn’t dare!”
“I would, because you may not see it, but you have
made everybody but your group a horror nightmare and
you hurt everybody. You just won’t stop and you are
clearly blind. You don’t see what you do to people.”
Wait just one minute, you don’t think I see what I’m
doing? Well, I see all of it. All of the pain, the horror,
misery, pain, sadness. That’s why I do it all. It makes me
feel good inside, and honey, you can tell your mom, it
won’t hurt me. And by the way you just dug your grave.”
As she walked away, she flipped that long shiny black hair
of hers.
I walked away in great horror. I just realized what I did
to my poor old soul. So I did what any teen would do. I
planned how I would take over her, and make her wish
she didn’t hurt me. But I’m not going to be a bully. I’m just
friendly going to teach her a lesson. It may get messy but
who cares? Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt her at all. I
mean she is going to get messy.
As I plan my great scheme, she is also planning hers.
Zella speaks with great anger inside. “I shall destroy her
bad, and I mean bad.”
“What are you actually going to do?” one of her
friends says with great concern.
“Don’t worry. I will make her pay, bad.”
“I’m not worried about that. I’m worried that you’re
going to hurt her.”
“Honey, you must be new. I have hurt her before, but
oh, this one will be the most painful one of all!”
“Are you going to hurt her like how her boyfriend is
about to break up with her?”
“That’s just perfect! That’s the first way I will hurt her.
Wait, there is going to be multiple ways! Yes, of course!”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to kiss her boyfriend.”
“That might be a really bad idea.”
“Why?”
“Because she will flip, and I can promise you she will
make you regret that you did that for the rest of your life.”
“Really? Why do you say that?”
“Because I kissed one of her previous boyfriends and
she got me back hard.”
“What did she do?”
“She made my boyfriend break up with me and she
came up to me and full on smacked me really hard! That is
that red mark on my face.”
I care why come let’s go so they went with her about
to crush Roses heart bad crush and stomp on it hard.
They went up to him and zella kissed him right in front of
Rose. She did not approve of this “you did not just do that”
“yes I did if you thought that was bad you don’t know
what’s coming”Rose finally went up to that rude mouth and
told her “you can brake me down you step on me you can
hurt me. All you want but Zella Star I want you to know.
That I don’t give up I will not break. I will not run I will stay
here and stand my ground. I will fight back with all of my
heart Zella you can try hard but I will not fall.” Zella was
mad to the point that she actually went up to Rosie and
smacked her, so bad it drew blood. Zella takes off her
shoes and says, “Come on let’s fight.”
“I don’t fight. I will not hurt you.”
“ I won’t hurt anybody.”
“Well that’s a lie. I thought that you hit my friend.”
“Well I did but didn’t mean to and I have changed. So I will
not hurt you.”
“Well that makes it easier to hurt you really bad.
“Come on do it I dare you.” Zella striked back hit her
even harder this time making more blood. “I told you
once I’m not going to hurt you.” Oh I know that’s why
I’m going to break you.”
“I’d like to see you try.” “Ok hold my hopes this about
to get ugly.”
Zella says she kicks punches hits Rose but to
water no tear in her eyes. She just stands there still.
Zella did it she made her cry. Give up fall to the
ground. Zella told her, “you want to know why you
won’t fight. You know that you can’t win you have tried
but you lose. You try and try and try but you just lose
you have all those feelings inside of you but you don’t
let go of them. you know that you will lose inside you
always know you will never win.You just can’t win.”
Zella hits her so bad after saying all of this the
crying, the bleeding face, Rose gets back up and
says. “You want to know something you bully and hurt
people because you know you can’t win. I don’t care
that you call me names because I’m happy to be me.
You may have hurt me but I just think you think I’m
you. Guess what I’m not so don’t blame me for what
you did.”
Rose walks away. Zella is so mad she really wants
to hurt Rose. She can’t think of how. She got it she
knows what makes the Rose beast come out she’s
going to tease her and her family about their color of
their skin. “You wouldn’t dare do that.”
“Yes I would and I’m going to do it.”
She did it to she told her that she was ugly and
her family was too. Their skin color was ugly and she
should have to leave this school because, You don’t look
like the rest of us. you’re just a brown little freak. “You did
not just say that to me.”
At this point people came out and they heard it all.
“Zella that was uncalled for and why is her face all red and
bleeding.”
“I beat her up.”
Rose is right now down in tears crying so hard. She
gets up and stands, and tells her, ”You want to know
something you were wrong. I will not lose, Zella you hurt
me. I want you to know something. You told me that I was
ugly, I shouldn’t be able to go to this school. You may think
that you will break me but right now I’m covered in tears.
You have failed, you made me a lot stronger. You may hurt
me bad. You may make me fall but I will not give up. Zells,
I feel bad for you. I hope that you will become more nice
and stop breaking people because nobody has hurt you
bad and you will have a rude awakening.” After all of this
Zella finally sees the damage that she did and all the pain.
She wants to fix it. She goes up to Rose and says with a
weak voice, “I’m so sorry.”
Rosie says, “I accept your apology.”