From Bully to Buddy

The closing school bell rang. Lily put her books away, grabbed her backpack from her locker, and walked to her desk. Suddenly, she noticed that Scruffy was missing from her school bin! Where could he be? Lily looked around the classroom, but couldn’t find him anywhere. “Have you seen Scruffy?” she asked the kids near her, but no one knew where he was. “Lily? Is something wrong?” Mr. Peters, the third-grade teacher, asked. “I can’t find Scruffy!” Lily cried. “Class, has anyone seen Scruffy?” The students shook their heads no. “I’m sorry, Lily, but it’s almost time to go home,” Mr. Peters said. “I’m sure he will turn up somewhere.” “But he always stays with me!” Lily buried her head in her arms on her desk and cried. She remembered when her Dad bought Scruffy for her as a birthday present, and ever since her Dad left last summer, Scruffy never left her side. A few minutes later, Mr. Peters called to Lily, “Lily, your Mom is here.” Lily looked up from her desk to see her Mom standing at the classroom door. Lily wiped her eyes with the edge of her coat, strapped on her backpack, and shuffled to the door. “I hope you have a great winter break!” Mr. Peters said cheerfully. He crouched down on his knees to Lily’s eye level and whispered, “Don’t worry, we’ll find your bear.” Lily held her mother’s hand as they walked down the hallway and out the front doors of the school. The sky outside was gray and dark. Her Mom held an umbrella over their heads to keep them dry from the rain. “Did everything go okay at school today, Lily?” her Mom asked on the way home from school. “No…not really,” Lily sighed. “Matthew and Riley were being mean to me again.” “I’m sorry, Lily,” her Mom said. “What happened?” “They pick on me all the time,” Lily whined. “At first, they made fun of me because I’m the youngest in my class and everyone else is older than me." Lily felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to control herself. "But today…they laughed at me…for praying before…I ate my lunch…. and I…I lost Scruffy at school!” Lily started crying again. Lily’s Mom pulled the car into their driveway, turned the car off, and opened Lily’s door. She sat on the seat next to Lily and gave her a hug. “Lily, everything will be okay,” her Mom said. “We can check the lost and found when you go back to school after your Christmas break is done and see if a janitor might have found him. We’ll find Scruffy somewhere.” Lily stopped crying and her Mom helped her out of her booster seat. The two walked hand-in-hand into the house.