On a beautiful Monday morning, Babbs and Jackson are walking to school together on their own for the first time. They also start to look both ways before crossing the street, being aware of their surroundings and not talking to strangers.
"Gosh Jackson, I hope today's lunch will be Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes with Gravy. I'm SOOO hungry." giggled Babbs playfully patting her small belly. "I hope so too. I heard the lunch lady, Eileen, is gonna put out a surprise dessert for each tray at the cafeteria. Isn't that neat?" Jackson said excitedly, as the two continued to walk to school with no problems throughout.
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When Babbs and Jackson finally reach school, they see many children from Grades 1 to 5 playing together in groups. Babbs is happy everyone is having a wonderful morning before the first bell.
"Next time, you better say excuse me before you bump into someone!!!! Ya get it, or you don't!!!" exclaimed a girl named Alana with Down Syndrome who has an attitude problem. She picks on a girl, Stephanie, who was born with blindness. Stephanie was sitting on the grass on her knees crying. "I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean to, I swear…!!" sniffled Stephanie.
Babbs sees this, comes in and kindly asks Alana to stop hurting Stephanie. Alana turns to see Babbs furiously, then stomps in Babbs' direction. Jackson saw this and was so scared, he hid behind his friend for protection from Alana.
"Did YOU tell me to STOP BULLYING?!" angrily asked Alana. Babbs gulped in fear, but she tried to stay as brave as possible.
"Um… y-yes…?" stuttered Babbs, fearfully. All of a sudden, the school bell for the first period begins to ring. Students from 1st grade to 5th grade start to head to their classroom to begin their activities in school.
"Hmph!! I'll deal with YOU during recess. Ya got THAT?!" Alana exclaimed rudely. Babbs, who was still scared, slowly nodded. "M-Mm-Hm, yes ma'am…!" said Babbs, still stuttering. Alana stomped to school, as all of the kids see her and are completely afraid of her.
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Babbs heard Stephanie was still crying while sitting on the ground because of Alana picking on her. She and Jackson ran in the direction to kindly help Stephanie out to get to her classroom.
Babbs asked, "Um… excuse me, is your name Stephanie?" "M… Mm-Hm…" sniffled Stephanie sadly. "I-I… I accidentally bumped into Alana in the hallways earlier today and she chased me inside the school. But I was too slow to run because I'm blind." Jackson chimed in and then asked, "And what did Alana do to you after that?" "Um… she took my walking stick and threw it on the ground. A… And I wasn't able to find it because of her…!!"
Babbs and Jackson felt sad for Stephanie as she started crying again. Suddenly, the principal stepped outside the school to see what was going on. "Hello, kids. What seems to be the matter?" He asked kindly. "There was this girl, Alana and she was picking on Stephanie because she accidentally bumped into her," Babbs explained to the principal. "But I kindly asked her to stop doing so without using physical violence which is good, right?" Babbs explained again. The principal understood the problem. He smiled and was amazed at Babbs' bravery and heart. "Well, I'm really glad that you stepped in to help a fellow schoolmate."
He happily takes something out of his blazer pocket. It was a hand-size sheet of star stickers. The principal removed one from the sheet and proudly placed it on Babbs' shirt. Babbs was confused but happy. "Babbs Francesca, I hereby award you with a gold star sticker! And I now donned you the title of classroom helper of this school." Jackson was surprised about Babbs' first accomplishment and smiled at her.
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Shortly after that, Babbs and Jackson helped Stephanie find her way to her classroom by asking her the way to her homeroom which was not easy at first, but they handled it well like a charm. Stephanie also used her walking stick to help guide her and Babbs and Jackson to the second-grade classroom.
As the three successfully reached the room, Babbs kindly knocked on the door to see if Steph's teacher was inside the classroom. The teacher opens the door from inside the classroom and sees Babbs and Jackson assisting Stephanie to her teacher's homeroom. He was surprisingly happy in tears to see one of his students okay and well.
"Stephanie! Oh my gosh, we thought you weren't going to come to class today." Said her teacher, as he started to hold her hand, and thanked both Babbs and Jackson for helping Stephanie get to her classroom. He took out a hand-size sheet of star stickers, removed one from the sheet, and placed it on Jackson's shirt which was also confused but happy just like Babbs.
"Jackson Perez, I hereby award you one gold star sticker. And donned you the title of assistant classroom helper for your friend, Babbs Francesca." Said Stephanie's teacher proudly. Babbs smiled at Jackson, then gave him a victory hug which made Jackson blush a bit. But still appreciate it nonetheless.
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When the two children finally reached the first-grade classroom, their teacher, Mrs. Silverado was worried about where they were. Babbs kindly explained that they were helping Stephanie get to her class shortly after she was bullied by Alana, and stopped Alana from doing so without using physical violence. Startled, Mrs. Silverado gave Babbs and Jackson a big hug as she was also relieved that her two students did not get hurt.
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After classes, all of the students from grades 1 to 5 begin to have recess at the school's playground. Each of the children was either playing hide 'n' seek, hopscotch, chalk drawing on the ground, or having fun at the playground.
Babbs and Jackson were climbing on the monkey bars, as they began to talk about their roles as classroom helpers Babbs also suggested protecting kids from bullies in a very healthier way as classroom helpers too. "Are you sure you want to protect kids from bullies like Alana, and Babbs?" asked Jackson. "Yes, I do. We were picked on by bullies when we were small, and I protected you from the bully on the first day of school. So why not?" said Babbs, determinedly.
"Babbs… you do realize that not everything is a superhero story. Try to remember that, okay?" explained Jackson. At first, she did not want to believe what her friend was saying. However, Babbs began to understand even as a six-year-old that the world is not always complete with sunshines, rainbows, and positivity. The world is sometimes filled with conflict, politics, and negativity. By all means, everything's imperfect. Especially people, as well as children like them. Babbs began to agree with Jackson, as they continued to climb the monkey bars until they finally reached the top mat, sat on it, and sighed.
"Awww… aren't you two so ROMANTIC!!!" snickered Alana, as she stomped her way to their direction at the monkey bars. "What do ya want now, Alana?" asked Babbs in a tone of annoyance.
Alana was irked but pushed it aside for now. She then grabs the bars with her rough, meaty hands to get Babbs and Jackson's attention. "I heard a simple rumor that you two are now classroom helpers. Nope! Scratch it, classroom helper and her assistant who's been a scared-pooch since the first day!! Now he's got a GIRLFRIEND." Alana makes kissy faces at the two, which makes Jackson turn scarlet. Babbs looked at him and became confused.
She sighed calmly as she decided to stand up for Jackson and herself. "You know what Alana, I honestly don't understand why you're so mean to all of us kids in this school." Alana pauses from making kissy faces and sneers. "Wait a sec… whaddya say to me?" She then scoffed. "Did you call me mean?! HUH, DID YA?!?!?!" Alana shouted. Alana started shaking the monkey bars a bit in frustration.
"I said… you're flippin' mean!!!!!!" exclaimed Babbs as she and Jackson tried to hold their balance on top of the monkey bars.
Kids from different grades heard this commotion and chimed in to see what was going on at the monkey bars. "Hey, look at that! Babbs' standing up to Alana!!" said one of the fifth graders, as they assumed there would be a fight between the two girls. All of the children were shocked yet excited to actually see a girl fight between Babbs and Alana.
The kids from first grade to fifth grade yelled: "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!!!!" around the monkey bars which made Jackson scared because he doesn't like fights, and refuses to let Babbs get into a fight of her own. "Nobody calls me… MEAN!!!!!!" Alana was so enraged that she continued to shake the monkey bars even harder to make the two friends fall to the ground.
"Alana, stop! You're gonna make us fall…!!!" cried Babbs, trying to hold on the bars tightly. "Nope! I'll never stop unless you take back what you said!!! You got that?!" exclaimed Alana. "N-Not if you apologize to Stephanie for picking on her, okay?" said Jackson fearfully while holding onto the monkey bars alongside Babbs. The two friends were holding on for dear life, with Babbs starting to lose her grip, as she was the first to completely fall from the monkey bars.
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Meanwhile, Stephanie was playing on the seesaw with her classmate, Lowenthal, a boy her age with cerebral palsy. "My gosh, Alana really picked on you for bumping into her accidentally?" asked Lowenthal concernedly. "Yes, she did…" sadly sniffled Stephanie while getting very teary-eyed.
Lowenthal sighed, as he firmly told Stephanie to be more careful and to use her ears to listen and to be aware of her surroundings next time. She smiled and thanked Lowenthal for the advice. Suddenly, the two heard a big scream and THUMP at the monkey bars. Stephanie and Lowenthal got off the seesaw, he gave her the walking stick, and they swiftly walked all the way to the bars to see what happened.
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When the two children reached the monkey bars, Stephanie, Lowenthal and the rest of the grade school kids saw Babbs who fell on her back from the bars. Babbs began to cry, and this worried every child in the school's playground, specifically Jackson. He then ran to the school building to find Mrs. Silverado as he explained to her what had happened.
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Mrs. Silverado was shocked to hear this, thus she and Jackson ran out to the playground to help Babbs and stop Alana from hurting her more. Alana began to kick Babbs on the ground as a warning to not tell on her. Babbs, while still crying, refused to take Alana's warning. Alana became infuriated and kicked Babbs even harder.
"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON!?!" Exclaimed Mrs. Silverado, as she and Jackson reached the playground. "Alana Bleischer, WHAT is the meaning of this!!!" Silverado angrily asked. Alana saw how furious the teacher was with her, and decided to tell the teacher a little white lie as a way to play innocent in front of the entire school.
However, Jackson chimed in to expose her bullying behavior and how she picked on Stephanie for bumping into her by accident this morning. Now she's hurting Babbs for refusing not to tell the teachers or the principal what she did to Stephanie.
Mrs. Silverado finally understood the situation, and then she walked towards Babbs with a concerned expression and Alana with a very stern expression. The teacher crouched down to carry Babbs with her left arm, as well as grabbing Alana's wrist with her right hand. Mrs. Silverado takes Babbs to the nurse's office for her injuries then takes Alana to the principal's office for her bullying behavior. This really worried all of the children in the school, as well as Babbs' friend Jackson who was the most worried out of the rest of the folks in grade school. And the whole playground was in complete silence.
Jackson sadly watched his friend getting carried to the nurse. He shortly fell to his knees and began to weep. Another student who was sitting on the bench saw the entirety of the situation between Babbs and Alana, as well as Jackson who was still weeping for Babbs in the process.
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The student remembered that he bullied Jackson on the first day of school too. Jackson was holding the student's favorite snow globe which he let him borrow for the holidays last year. Jackson was rushing to give the snow globe back to the student as fast as possible before the first bell.
However, Jackson was running so fast that all of a sudden he stepped on a spoiled banana peel and clumsily fell to the floor. The snow globe flew out of his hands and the glass began to break into pieces.
The student walked in and saw Jackson on his back to the floor, then saw his favorite snow globe that was accidentally destroyed and the water from the globe had completely spilled out on the floor. Jackson saw the student, turned around and sat up to apologize for breaking his Christmas snow globe. "I-I-I-I'm really sorry…!! I didn't mean to break it. it was an accident I SWEAR!!!!!!" The student was so distracted by the broken snow globe that he got very angry at Jackson and grabbed his shirt and gave him a huge scolding for his clumsiness shortly before Babbs entered to save Jackson.
The student would never forget how Babbs defended Jackson from him without knowing what the situation was. However, she has become a better friend to Jackson than the student ever was. He got up from the bench and walked towards the crowd of kids to check up on Jackson who was still on his knees continuously weeping for his friend, Babbs. Suddenly, the student comes in, places his left hand on Jackson's right shoulder, and asks him: "Hey, are you okay?" Jackson turns to the student as he recognizes him with his weepy eyes.
At first, Jackson believed that the student was going to hurt him. But he wasn't, the student was worried about him and Babbs and hoping she would be okay. The student helped him up, and then the two boys walked slowly to the nurse's office to see if Babbs wasn't completely hurt. Oh, Babbs… you better be okay pal. I really can't live a life without you. I just CAN'T!!! Jackson thought, as he continued to weep but in silence.
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Meanwhile, Alana was sitting silently on one of the student chairs waiting for the principal to call her into his office for her bullying behavior and attitude towards Stephanie and Babbs from this morning and during recess. Alana pulled out a mini tape cassette and headphones from her left overalls pocket to listen to music while she waited for the principal to call her.
Alana began to play the music of Marley the Dynomutt who is a character from a popular children's book series now turned into an educational anime adaptation for the actual demographic. Just then, Mrs. Silverado opened the door and called Alana to the principal's office next to her. Unfortunately, the child was not listening to the teacher, as she was still playing Marley on her tape cassette.
This really infuriated Silverado so badly, that she furiously pulled off the headphones from her ears to get Alana's attention. Alana shockingly flinches when her headphones are taken by Mrs. Silverado, and tells her that the principal would like to speak with Alana at once. Alana sighed roughly and responded to the teacher. "Yeah yeah…" she replied. Alana removes herself from the chair and begins to walk normally as she follows Silverado to the office for the principal to speak with her about her bullying behavior and attitude problem.
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The principal was patiently waiting for Alana to enter his office. He was keeping himself occupied with painting as he was using a bowl of waxed fruit as a reference for inspiration while listening to classical violin music in the process.
All of a sudden, he heard a knock on the door from outside of the waiting hall from his office. "Principal Quadrious? Are you in there?" Aw phooey!! He thought as the principal flinched in fear. He rapidly puts away all of his art supplies, the canvas,the easel, and his bowl of waxed fruit. Alongside his painting smock, apron, and beret so that his suit would not get filthy with paint whatsoever. Quadrious also fixed his toupee on his head to make sure it was neat, tidy, and ready for the conversation with Alana.
Principal Quadrious sighed in relief as Mrs. Silverado brought Alana to his office for a scolding and lecture about this morning and during recess today.
He cleared his throat as he began to speak with Alana about her actions towards Babbs and Stephanie. "Now Alana Bleischer, do you know why you're here in my office?" asked the principal very firmly. "Because… you're nice?" Answered Alana nervously while fibbing at the same time. Quadrious disappointedly sighed at the child. "Because… you hurt two students in this school today, and it's unacceptable for a child such as yourself to do so."
Alana averted her eyes in denial, but she knew that she was very rude, mean, and disrespectful to Babbs and Stephanie. "I'm certain there is a reason for this unusual behavior of yours is there not?" answered Principal Quadrious. "Nope, nothing at all sir," answered Alana. Quadrious then kindly asked for the child to apologize to Babbs and Stephanie for hurting them. Alana crossed her arms, turned her head to her right, and rudely pouted. The principal saw this but had no choice but to come up with a solution as a punishment for Alana.
He sighed frustratedly. "Very well… then I hereby suspend you from this school for three days. I hope you're very happy, young lady!" Alana turned her head to Quadrious and was shocked to hear that she got suspended for three whole days. Her eyes began to water until the tears then slowly streamed down to her cheeks. Alana started to wail as her face turned bright red in the process.
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Meanwhile, at the nurse's office, Babbs was getting treated by the school's nurse, Rida for her injuries. Rida was putting some pain relief cream on Babbs' chest and tummy after Alana kicked her in front of the entire student body of the school. The nurse said that she was impressed by how the child wanted to protect the kids in grade school from bullies like Alana as the classroom helper, just like a superhero.
Nurse Rida explained that being a classroom helper isn't always about protecting other people. It's about providing them with the best assistance in the greatest way possible. We may not be perfect at first, however, we can learn from our fellow staff and classmates as well as they learn from us. And that's the beauty of it. Babbs may be young, but as she grows she'll learn what it means to be a true classroom helper to her class and the school.
Babbs was confused at first, but then she began to understand what the school nurse was saying bit by bit. Babbs smiled kindly and said: "Okay, I understand. Thank you for telling me, Nurse Rida." Rida also smiled kindly at the child, as she was very happy to see that Babbs was really taking her advice and finally taking it to heart from now on.
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Nurse Rida then placed a big cooling patch on Babbs' chest and torso to help heal the painful wounds that Alana gave her at recess today. She then advised her to make sure that none of this would ever happen again in the school. Babbs happily nodded, put her yellow t-shirt back on, tucked the bottom into her skirt, then put her suspenders on, and said thank you to the nurse for treating her wounds.
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Babbs walked out of the nurse's office and opened the door to see that Jackson was waiting for her in the hallway. Apparently , he wasn't alone, Jackson was with the student who bullied him on the first day of school. Babbs was so shocked to see the student again that she flinched back away from him in order to protect herself and Jackson.
Thankfully, the student came to her and kindly apologized for his behavior towards Jackson. He then told her that her friend borrowed the student's favorite snow globe for the holidays last year, and Jackson slipped on a spoiled banana peel and it flew out of his hands and broke it by accident. And the student got angry over a small thing for no reason, and he felt very bad about it.
Babbs who had now finally understood the previous situation smiled softly and gave Jackson and the student a big hug and also apologized for not knowing what was going on. Jackson blushed and the student smiled as they both hugged her back. Babbs asked if the student wanted to have lunch with the two together. Surprised, the student smiled happily and said yes.
Babbs was so glad that she made a second new friend with the student who she thought was a bully, but he wasn't at all. The student got angry over a little snow globe. Babbs turned around to ask what the student's name was. "I'm Eddrick. Nice to meet you, Babbs." Answered Eddrick. Babbs smiled sweetly at him and Jackson as they began to walk to the cafeteria to get lunch.
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After three whole days of Alana's suspension as well as being scolded by her parents, she was finally ready to go back to school. But hopefully, she will have a change of heart in the process. When Alana reached the school, all of the children were giving her mad expressions at her for hurting Stephanie and Babbs. Some of them were upset with what she did, while others wanted her to officially leave the school forever which made Alana question her actions against her community of people with disabilities.
Alana then approached her classroom which was next door to Babbs and Jackson's classroom. Reaching for the doorknob until she heard Babbs, Jackson, Eddrick, and Stephanie walking towards the classroom as they also were having a conversation about their favorite show, film, comic, anime, book, or game in particular. As well as talking about what goes on in the real world as a whole. Alana couldn't help but hear their conversation, then decided to walk to the three and apologize for her bullying and bad behavior.
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"U-Um, excuse me?" Asked Alana shyly. "Oh, hello there. And your name is…" "Alana. Alana Bleischer… we met three days ago outside of school before the first bell rang. I remember that you kindly asked me to stop picking on Stephanie, right?" Stephanie heard Alana's voice, and hid behind Babbs for protection from Alana, believing that she was going to hurt them again.
"It's okay Steph, she's not gonna bother us anymore. Hopefully, she's not, right?" Questioned Babbs while tilting her head with curiosity. "Mm-Mm…" said Alana, shaking her head no. Alana suddenly explains that she too was bullied as a small girl herself in preschool and kindergarten. The children at those schools would trip her down to the floor, throw toys and plushies at her, and call a slow dummy when she couldn't keep up with her classmates.
Unfortunately, this experience caused Alana to bully the kids who picked on her as well as the kids of her community with disabilities.
This behavior became a habit of hers and had been doing it ever since. Eddrick heard this and could understand how Alana was feeling. He was also bullied by classmates in his youth. Not to mention his grandmother who said she hates him for being born into this world. However, his only friend growing up has always been Jackson. And yes, he bullied his pal over a snow globe, but Babbs showed Eddrick that bullying is wrong and he shouldn't do it. It's also wrong to bully your friends over simple items they care about. Even if they do break them. Why? Because accidents always happen. Now the two boys are friends with Babbs and Stephanie who care about them so much. And they feel that way too.
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Babbs reached her left hand out to Alana, and kindly asked her to be a part of her circle of friends. Alana was shocked and scared that this was the first time she now had friends who cared about and loved her. Alana quickly remembered all the times that she had hurt her classmates in the past, and her parents would often scold her for doing so while putting their daughter in timeout. Alana's eyes began to water, and then she ran toward Babbs and gave her a great big hug. Alana started to wail, but it was a good wail because she finally became a part of Babbs' group of friends forever. And Alana never bullied Babbs, Stephanie, and everyone in school ever again.