Left Out
by
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The bus pulled up to the curb of the middle school and the knot in my stomach tightened. It’s funny because, even though the sun is shining like a giant hundred-watt bulb, the building looks dark and scary, like a place you wouldn’t go unless you had protection. Yesterday, a lot of weird things happened to me that I can’t figure out. Forget about how huge this place is, just walking in the hallway in between classes is like moving through mud. Every few feet on the way to class, I got hit from one side or the other. Not a little knock on the arm or anything like that. More like a push behind my shoulder. The last one sent me flying forward, but I put my arm out in time to keep from hitting my head on the It’s what lockers.
It’s what happened at lunchtime that has me really convinced something is up. As I grabbed a tray and got in line, whoever was behind me kept giving me little shoves from behind. Once my tray was loaded, I turned and looked across the sea of faces for my friend Shelley. Then it hit me. I wouldn’t find her because she wasn’t here; she had moved away. This achy feeling crawled into my chest, but I spotted an empty table far away from everybody, near the wall. I walked toward it.
Suddenly, something caught my ankle and I was falling forward. My tray with my lunch on it clanked on the tile floor and everything on it slid across the shiny surface. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blue sneaker with red laces pull away fast- the same kind from that morning when I almost hit the lockers. Did someone trip me on purpose? Why?
It got real embarrassing when two lunch ladies rushed over to help me. One grabbed my tray from the floor and brushed it off while the other wiped a cloth across the cellophane wrapper on my sandwich and placed it on the tray with my bag of chips and milk carton. I was able to stand up without their help. Good thing!
“There you go, hon; no harm done. Are you okay?”
“Yep, thanks,” I turned away from the other kids’ stares and headed to the table. I set my tray down then sat with my back to everyone in the room. If Shelley had been here, I probably wouldn’t have felt as bad, but she’s not. So why even think about it. I forced each bite of sandwich down with a gulp of milk then waited until the lunchroom cleared out before I got up to leave.
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About the Book
Abby enters her first year of middle school unsure how she will fit in without the support of her only best friend who moved away. Within the first few days of school, she’s tripped and shoved by a group of four sixth-grade girls she never met before. One time, they trapped her in a school stairway and punched her so hard she fell to the floor in pain. She can’t figure out why they are picking on her. She keeps the attacks to herself afraid if she tells someone, the girls will become meaner toward her
Abby’s spirits are lifted by becoming friendly with Eden, a handicapped boy, also starting sixth grade, who moves into the house next door. Once Eden hears about her problem, he encourages her to determine a way to stand up to them. He even tries to show her techniques to push back, but Abby cannot find the courage to use them.
On Halloween night, when Abby and Eden meet this “pack” of girls on a neighborhood street and they start an attack, Abby shudders in fear wondering if she will ever be able to stand up for herself.
About the Author
M.M. Murray was a classroom teacher and reading specialist at the primary, middle school, and junior high school levels. She currently lives in West Hartford, Connecticut.