The next day, I spotted Melissa and went to her.
"How are you been doing these days?" I asked. "The teachers are worried about you because they noticed your grades started to go down."
"Not so well," said Melissa. "I'm having a hard time about my parents being divorced."
"I bet. Sometimes, they get along better. That's what happened to my stepsister's parents. She had a hard time, but she realized it was the best thing for them to do. They still get along much better. She would know how you feel. Actually, I had that experience, too," I said.
"You did?" asked Melissa.
"Yes. My mother took off one day when I was four leaving me and my father. We never knew where she was all these days. She and I got reconnected recently. She was working at Dave and Buster's. Dad and I were in California. We moved here last summer. I almost didn't want anything to do with her for what she did to us. But we slowly took steps before we had a better relationship. Dad just got remarried to my friend, Stephanie's mom, Miranda. They were friends back in college," I explained. "I visit Mom on weekends because Dad works the final shift at a hospital nearby."
"Wow," said Melissa.
"She asked me if I wanted to live with her, but I didn't want to in case it didn't work out and could take off again. Besides, I'm comfortable with Dad right now. He and I are very close," I said.
"I don't blame you," said Melissa.
"I know," I said. "This is between you and me."
"Okay," said Melissa. "I can see why since you and your mom are doing well and you must be afraid that it would destroy the relationship, right?"
"Yes," I replied.
She felt much better after she and I had a long talk.
At lunch, Eliza thinks Melissa is a bully. I didn't believe it.
"Where did you get that idea from?" I asked.
"I noticed that," said Eliza.
"I think you're a storyteller," I said.
"I'll prove it to you," said Eliza.
Stephanie and I just stared at each other.
"I'll bet she's not a bully," said Stephanie. "She's a very nice person."
"How much?" asked Eliza.
"$10 per person, so which means you'd owe me and Stephanie $10," I said.
"You're on," said Eliza.
Guess what? We won the bet. Melissa said it's a rumor that Eliza's making that up.
"We knew you're not a bully," said Stephanie.
"I wonder who started with that," I said.
"Probably Eliza. I won't be surprised. I don't believe in rumors," said Stephanie.
"Me, either," said Melissa.
Melissa got mad at Eliza for what she was doing and she owed us $10. Eliza tells us it was supposed to be a secret. We laughed at that. She didn't even say that. We wouldn't hide that anyway. It wouldn't be right at all.
"I don't want anything to do with you now," said Melissa as she took off.
"Thanks a lot," said Eliza, who was getting angry.
"She had every right to know," said Stephanie.
"That's right. How would you feel if someone did that to you?" I asked. "You shouldn't tell lies about anyone behind their backs. It's not very nice. To me, that's being a bully on what you did. If that was us, we would be punished."
"Exactly," agreed Stephanie.
That was when we left to go find Melissa. We felt bad for her.
"I never seen her mean," I said.
"Same here," said Stephanie.
We found Melissa at her locker.
"I can't believe Eliza would lie about me like that," said Melissa. "I would never bully anyone."
"I know you wouldn't," I agreed. "If you did, you would tell us about what the problem was."
"I agree with you," said Melissa.
After school, I texted Aunt Betty to tell her what Eliza did. She couldn't believe Eliza would lie about someone that way. I added I didn't believe it and Melissa says she would never bully anyone. She got mad at Eliza and would make her apologize to Melissa or she'll be punished. That's what she told me when she texted me later on.
At home, I did my homework. Mary Ellen texted me and says the teen wanted to move the appointment until tomorrow because she would be on vacation. I replied that was fine and asked her what time. It would be after school like it was planned. I said okay. Her mom would pick her from school and head over to the adoption center.
Eliza texted me and blasted at me for telling her mom on what she did. I said she should've thought about that before spreading rumors about Melissa. I blocked her number after that in case she tries to flip out again. That was the smart move. I wasn't going to let Eliza to be mean to Melissa. Honestly, Eliza is the one who's being a bully for the way she was treating Melissa.
I called Melissa to see if she's okay now. I remembered she would be at her mom's. She wasn't there. She was with her friends. I told her mom about what happened at school earlier. She was glad that I stood up to Melissa. Her mom already knew about what's going on because Melissa told her mom after she came home from school.
"Can you tell her to call me when she gets back? I just want to make sure she's okay," I said.
"Sure," replied Francine.
"Thanks. She has my number anyway," I said.
That night, the phone rang as I answered.
"Hello," I said.
"Hi, Mom told me you called," said Melissa.
"Yes. I was checking on you to see if you're okay," I said.
"I'm doing fine now. Thanks for asking," said Melissa.
"Not a problem," I said. "I texted my aunt and she got mad at Eliza for what she did to you. If she doesn't apologize to you tomorrow, she'll be grounded."
"Good. I'm glad. That would teach her a lesson," said Melissa.
"I know," I said.
The next day, I heard Eliza got a detention for gossiping about Melissa. I'm glad about that. I don't know what's the problem with Eliza lately. Neither does Aunt Betty. Eliza claimed she apologized about yesterday. I felt like saying how can she do that. Melissa told me Eliza never did. I had a feeling Eliza lied about that. School doesn't put up with any bullying or anything else.
At lunch, Melissa told me she's going to end her life. She couldn't stand being bullied anymore. Because of what Eliza did yesterday, no one wanted to bother with Melissa.
"Can we talk some more after school?" asked Melissa.
"I have plans to go somewhere with a friend," I replied. "But you can text me though."
"Okay, I was hoping if we can talk face-to-face," said Melissa.
"It won't take long, so I can come over after that," I said.
"That sounded like a good plan," said Melissa.
Then, I told her what I would be doing and she understood.
After school, I met Mary Ellen outside before we went to her mom's car. We took off to the adoption center. When we got there, the teen was on her way.
"She was leaving Sunday to go on a family trip, that's why she wanted to change it to today," said the adoption specialist.
"That's fine," said Mary Ellen.
The teen arrived five minutes later.
"I'll wait here while you talk in private," I said.
"Okay," said Mary Ellen.
The teen talked about her experience for ten to fifteen minutes. Mary Ellen felt better about it.
"The way I hear about her adventure, I feel adoption is the best choice for me and the baby," said Mary Ellen.
"Do you want to pick the adoptive couple now or do you want to wait?" asked the specialist.
"I'll pick now to be all set," replied Mary Ellen.
"Okay," said the specialist.
Mary Ellen and I looked through the profile and picked the right couple. This couple tried to have a baby for the past ten years since they got married, but it didn't happen. The woman did get pregnant last year, but suffered in a miscarriage. So they choose to adopt kids now. Mary Ellen wants to meet them. It got all set for next Thursday at 3:30 pm.
After we left, I asked them to bring me to a friend's house.
"Melissa wanted to talk to me. My cousin spread a lie about her and as a result, no one wanted to bother with Melissa," I said.
"I heard about that. Since when Melissa bullies people?" asked Mary Ellen.
"She said she would never do that," I said.
"Wow," said Mary Ellen.
When I got to Melissa's, she was on the porch.
"Thanks," I said as I got out of the car and went to Melissa.
"I'm thinking about switching schools," said Melissa.
"I don't blame you," I said.
"I just want to end my life at this point," said Melissa.
I listened while she told me what she had in mind to kill herself. I could see she's so depressed because of what Eliza did.
"Everything will be okay," I said.
"I hope so," said Melissa. "I just can't take it anymore."
"Mary Ellen couldn't believe it about what my cousin did," I said. "She agreed you wouldn't be a bully. The way I see it, Eliza's the one who is a bully."
"I think so, too," said Melissa.
She didn't want me to say anything about this.
When I got home later on, I realized that I was glad that I didn't agree to keep that as a secret. So, I texted Albert to tell him what Melissa might want to do and told him the reason. He told me I was a good friend to care for. He mentioned he would tell Francine so that Melissa can get help. Glad I did that because Melissa thanked me for saving her the following day.
I told her I did the same thing to a friend back in California. Melissa was lucky that she had a good friend like me to help out. Melissa went to the office to tell him she plans to switch schools so that bullying would stop.
"I already told my mom," said Melissa. "My grades started to drop even more because of all that."
"I don't blame you for leaving here," said the principal.
She signed herself off to drop out until she goes to a new high school. She turned everything in. She saw me and told me that.
"You made the right choice," I said. "I told those kids that Eliza said things that weren't true. I told them you're not a bully. They actually believed me."
"Oh, good," said Melissa.
Then, she left when her mom picked her up. I'm glad she's doing the right thing. She doesn't need all that. I bet wherever she would attend, her grades would go up. She still doesn't know her dad is dating my mom yet. I knew it wouldn't be the best to bring it up now. I'll wait until the time is right, which would be the smart thing to do. Stephanie agreed with me on that. Albert might agree on that, too. I was afraid if she found out; her grades might go down even more. It was bad enough it happened since her parents got divorced and when my own cousin spread lies about her. She should never start that from the beginning.
At lunch, I told Stephanie that Melissa left this morning.
"She decided to drop out to change schools," I said.
"Good. I hope things would get better once that happens," said Stephanie.
"I know," I agreed.
"Oh, how did the meeting made out for Mary Ellen with the teen?" asked Stephanie.
"Very good. She felt positive about the choice and already found the couple for the baby. She's meeting them next week at 3:30 pm. This couple has been trying to have a baby since they got married ten years ago. This woman got pregnant, but she had a miscarriage, so the couple decided to another option: sign up to adopt children," I explained. "Mary Ellen just knew adoption was the best choice to make right away after the meeting."
"Wow," said Stephanie.
"Mary Ellen told me about what the teen said. I let them talk in private," I said.
"That was the smart thing to do," said Stephanie.
"Yeah. It was a long story that the teen told her. This teen had a rough childhood. First of all, her father died when she was 5 and her mom took off on her two years later. She has been in foster care ever since. She got adopted by the time she was ten. They didn't know where her mom went to. To be safe, she was put up for adoption. This teen is 16. On top of that, she was abused by her uncle when she was nine during one of the visits, so the social worker put a stop to that. She could only visit other relatives, but not her uncle. They decided to put a restrained order to stay away from her. She was glad they did that. However, that stuck with her ever since. When she got pregnant last year, she knew she didn't want to be the mother at the time. Her foster parents were supportive and understood why she wanted to put her baby up to adoption. She added she might not want to be a mother at all. She had so many bad memories of her childhood. Her boyfriend was not happy with the decision at first because he was ready to be a father, but she didn't care. She wanted to do what was the best for her and the baby. She was afraid she won't be a good mother. He finally understood why she was placing the child for adoption," I explained.
"Wow. I feel bad for that poor girl. She had the right to do what she had to do," said Stephanie.
"I agree," I said. "She had no regrets with her decision at all."
"I don't blame her, especially since she wanted to get her life back," said Stephanie.
"The teen doesn't wish to meet her birth mother right now. She found out her mom was trying to find her," I said.
"She's the one who was out of life anyway," said Stephanie as I agreed with her. "That wasn't fair to her."
"She just gave birth two months ago and signed the final adoption papers," I said.
"Which adoption option did she pick?" asked Stephanie.
"She did an open adoption so that her son can meet her when he turns 18. She wrote a letter to give him a few reasons why she had to give him a better life so they can put that a file. He can read that when he's ready to find his birth mother," I said.
"Wow," said Stephanie.
"I might actually do that, too, if I wanted to," I said. "I'll think about it when time comes. Maybe Samuel would do that with me."
"That would be a good idea to do," commented Stephanie.
"I know," I said. "I'm sure Samuel and I would talk about that soon."
He wasn't there today. He had a cold since last night. He told he gets that twice to three times a year.
"When is she meeting the adoptive couple?" asked Stephanie.
"A week from Friday," I said.