Written by Alberto Monnar

“Maggie, wake up!” her mom said from the kitchen. "It’s time for school."
Maggie was really mad because she had no friends and her dad was out of
town. When Maggie went to eat breakfast, her mom asked her if she had slept
well. Maggie never answered her.

A few minutes later Maggie heard the bus. Her mom always gave her a ham and
cheese sandwich. “Hurry, the bus is leaving Maggie, go!” said her mom. When
she got on the bus there were two kids named Jake and Philip, and they looked at
her with strange faces. They were mad at her because she would always make
fun of them. Maggie would always tell them that their hair was messy, or
they were too fat, or their glasses were too big.

When they got to school she looked angry and aggravated. On the first day
of school she had told the teacher that she wanted to sit away from all the
nerds, and that she was too beautiful to sit with them. Everyday she was so
mean to everyone. She was even nasty to Mrs. Jenny. Mrs. Jenny was Maggie’s
teacher. Maggie was in fifth grade. The next class that Maggie went to was
her favorite class, which was Math. She was the smartest in her class so she
felt too smart next to the other kids. Math class was the only class that
Maggie was actually good at. It would always make her feel good.

Two hours later it was P.E. She was also good at P.E. She was the fastest
one in her class. But every time they would have to run she would make fun
of the other kids. Her coach was named Mr. Williams but everyone called him
Coach Williams. He was not too happy about this.



Lunch was next. She always sat by herself because she didn’t let anybody
sit next to her. She called it the popular table. She was the only popular
one because she was the only one who sat there. When it was time to leave,
Maggie’s mom went up to Mrs. Jenny and asked her if Maggie did well today,
but Mrs. Jenny said, “No,” in a polite way.



After school when Maggie and her mom got home, Maggie’s mom told
her that they were going to meet her great-grandma. Maggie had never
seen her great-grandma before. In the car Maggie wanted to find out if her
great-grandma was beautiful or not. When they got there, Maggie couldn’t
believe her eyes. She saw the ugliest person ever. At least that is what
Maggie thought at the moment. Her great-grandma was a little upset because
she had heard some nasty things about Maggie. She asked Maggie to sit and talk
with her on the couch.



At first Maggie was a little nervous because she had never had an actual
conversation with anyone. Maggie’s great-grandmother was very wise and told
Maggie many things that made a difference.



Maggie said to her, “I am so sorry.”



Then her great-grandma replied to her in a soft voice, “It is okay, child.”



Maggie and her great-grandma had the longest conversation in their lives,
especially Maggie. Her great-grandma didn’t look so ugly to Maggie
anymore. Maggie started seeing things differently from that moment on.



When her mom called her to leave, Maggie said bye to her great-grandma and
gave her a big hug. Maggie’s mom was so surprised when she saw Maggie and
her great-grandma like that.



In the car Maggie’s mom asked Maggie a question and Maggie answered her
question for the first time. Maggie’s mom felt like the luckiest mom in the
world. Something the great-grandma had said to Maggie made a difference in her
attitude. Maggie changed her attitude from very bad to very good.



A month later Maggie was getting along with everyone and she had nearly 15
friends including the nerds. The popular table no longer existed so
Maggie and her friends moved to that table.



At night she heard knocking on the door. When she went to open the door it
was her dad; she had not seen him for almost a year. Maggie really never
talked to her dad either so when she went to give him a hug her dad got so
happy he started crying. Maggie’s dad said to her with tears coming out of
his eyes, “I missed you, cupcake!”



The next morning Maggie saw her parents crying. Maggie said to them, “What
is wrong?” They replied, “Your great-grandma passed away.” From that day
on, Maggie never forgot that one special day she had with her great-grandma.