By Jordin, age 12, Calif.
What could it be? I thought. Something really tiny was wrapped in tissue paper. I picked it up to discover...nothing.
"Great!" I yelled out to the world, "I missed
iCarly for nothing! A tissue? I'm not sick! Whoever left this...you're crazy!"
I grabbed the box and stomped inside. Even though I had missed only a minute of commercial break, I was still really upset.
Ever since I started school back in kindergarten, kids had made fun of me and picked on me. I hadn't made a single friend throughout my school career. Now I was in middle school, and things hadn't gotten any better.
The only comfort I found was in books and TV. I would pretend to be a character in the story and forget about my real life. That was why I was so upset when somebody rang the doorbell and left the tissue, I remembered my real life with no friends. I was an only child, so it wasn't like I had ten brothers and sisters. I was alone...friendless.
A few hours later, I was reading a book and trying to pretend that I was in the story, when a thought suddenly hit me. Throughout my whole life, whoever I'd tried to befriend would talk to me for a while and then completely ignore me the next time he or she saw me. Some people changed the way they looked and the clothes they wore, so they could be popular. For me, that wasn't an option. What was an option though, was changing the way I acted toward others. I had a quick temper, and I admit I was pretty bossy. If I was able to fix that, maybe people would accept me for who I am.
For the rest of the weekend, I minded my temper and tried not to be as bossy. When school started on Monday, I stepped off the bus, confident with the new me.
A few days later, a girl named Kaylie walked up to me, smiling. I managed to smile back, when I normally would've returned the smile with a scowl.
"Hello," said Kaylie.
"Hi," I said, suspicious that she might start making fun of me.
"Did you get the note?" asked Kaylie.
"What note?" I asked. "Somebody left a tissue on my porch, but I didn't get a note."
"The note was on the tissue," explained Kaylie.
"What did it say?"
"Want to be friends?"
I felt a sudden surge of joy run through me as I grinned.
