When she started high school three weeks before, little did Amy know she was about to undergo the most difficult time of her life. She had just started attending a new school in Houston, TX, where her father was transferred as part of his job. Amy was a bit scared about being a new student at The Holly Hall School. However, she felt she would enjoy her studies and eventually make new friends.
It was on the fourth day of school that Amy started to notice something that made her uncomfortable. On the front of her locker was tapped a note saying “Go back to where you came from, we don’t want you here.” That really hurt Amy. She was getting some good grades in class and trying hard to be friendly to her classmates. Maybe someone resented her “A’s” and vowed to try to keep her returned papers private.
Two days later, Amy sat in some half-chewed gum placed on her seat in her science class. As she tried to pull the gum the back of her uniform, Selena, who sat next to her, asked, “What’s wrong Amy? Did you sit in something bad?” Amy was terribly embarrassed, and wrapped the gum in a piece of napkin, pretending nothing was wrong.
At home that evening, Amy thought about the gum incident and what Selena had said. “Maybe Selena is the person who is harassing me,” she thought. “But, Selena is so popular,” she added. “Why would be jealous of me?” Amy decided to be very careful and do some detective work at the same time.
Every time Amy went to her locker, she looked around very carefully. Sometimes, she waited in a corner nearby to see if anyone was touching her locker. The only person she saw was Selena, who said to her, “Wait for me, I’ll walk to class with to science class with you.” Selena was very friendly on the way to class and Amy began thinking that perhaps Selena was not the bully. Then, who was the bully?
The bulling continued. One day, Amy found a piece of gum in her hair. Several times, she found notes about her on the corridor wall. One read, “Amy thinks she’s so smart, but she’s a dummy.” Another said “Amy is a real loser, she won’t gain any friends.”
When Amy found the last note, Selena was with her. Selena said, “You poor thing, that’s rude. Why don’t we report this to the office?” Amy was happy to hear what Selena said, but answered, “I first want to find out who is doing this and get some proof of it. Then, I’ll go to the office with the proof.” Selena responded, “I’ll help you, let’s investigate this together.”
As the girls walked down the corridor, they ran into Angelica, the beautiful and rich girl who was Homecoming Queen the year before. When Selena and Amy said hi to her, Angelica just tossed her long blond hair and walked away. “That’s funny,” said Selena. “She’s usually friendly to me. I wonder what that meant.” Amy wondered also.
The next day, Amy found her locker broken open. A story she had written for Language Arts was missing. She was getting an “A’s” in that class and the missing story would pull down her grade. In class, Amy tried to explain to the teacher why her paper was missing, but the teacher still gave her a zero on it. Amy noticed Angelica smiling as teacher wrote down Amy’s bad grade.
After class, Amy grabbed Selena by the arm and whispered, “I think I found our criminal.” When Selena heard what had happened, she said “We have to catch her in the act of doing something bad, and get the evidence to take to the office.” Selena added, “Let’s pretend we are not friends anymore, and I’ll start hanging out with Angelica again.”
Selena did her job well. After school one day, she caught Angelica at Amy’s locker. “What are you doing?” Selena asked Angelica. The reply shocked Selena.”I am going to put Rolex watch in Amy’s locker,” Angelica replied. “Then I am going to accuse her of stealing it.” “Why would you want to do that?” Selena asked. “Because Amy is a stuck-up goody good.” Angelica claimed. “She gets all A’s and is so pretty, I am afraid she will be homecoming queen this year.”
When she got home, Selena called Amy and told her what Angelica had planned. The next morning, they met at Amy’s locker. After Amy opened the locker, Angelica ran over saying “I’ve lost my Rolex. Oh there it is in your locker, Amy. “Yes,” said Selena, “Just where you put it, Angelica.” Amy was home all evening and I came with her to the locker. We are taking you and this watch to the office to report you. Your days of bullying are over.
The office believed the story of bullying that Selena and Amy told. They called Angelica’s parents to the school and told them what bullying their daughter had done. Angelica was suspended for two weeks. The bullying stopped and Amy had a good new friend.