The Day Everything Changed in Room 116

Tommy Belstark was one of those kids who could never seem to catch a break. He did his homework, studied for exams, paid attention in class, and was loved by almost every teacher in school. That wasn't the problem, though. The problem was that almost every other kid in class picked on him. Tommy didn't care too much about it, though. He and his friend Francis, who also got teased a lot, had gotten used to it after awhile. Sure the other kids said some very mean things, but none of it was actually true, so why listen to it?

While he could ignore the teasers, Tommy had a real fear of something else: bullies. Tommy had seen plenty of bullies on TV and in cartoons, and they were all alike: big, ugly, and strong kids who pushed around smaller children, stole their lunch money, and stuffed them into lockers. Tommy was terrified of that happening to him, even though he always brought his lunch from home and his school didn't have a cafeteria OR lockers. He thanked his lucky Spinosaurus lunch bag that the teasers in class stuck to insulting his love of dinosaurs or his small size, maybe lobbing a paper clip at him in class if they were really daring.

Then one day, right before lunch, that all changed.

"Class, I have a special announcement to make," said the teacher, Mrs. McConnell. Everyone perked up and started listening. "It just so happens we're getting a new student today. Class, meet Scott Slorno."

Twenty-eight sets of eyes turned expectantly toward the door of the classroom, through which stepped the biggest, meanest-looking, and UGLIEST 8-year-old anyone had ever seen.

Tommy's eyes grew to the size of baseballs when he saw the giant named Scott. As Mrs. McConnell went on about how Scott's family had moved here from another province, Tommy leaned over to whisper to Francis.

"Look at the size of him! He's a bully, he has to be!"

"A what?" Francis asked back, busy doodling Brachiosaurs on his math homework.

"You know! A lunch money stealer, a locker-stuffer!"

"We don't even have lockers at this school, Tommy..."

But Tommy was too full of dread to hear Francis state the obvious. He was watching Scott take a seat, and he could swear the chair creaked under the big kid's weight. Teasers were one thing, but a real, live bully in class? This changed everything.

Then the bell rang for lunch.

         ***

Tommy watched the new kid intently from his hiding spot behind Francis as everyone walked down the hall for lunch. Since Tommy was a bit taller than Francis he had to hunch over a bit to hide properly. This made the two look rather silly to other kids who passed by them, but Tommy didn't care. This was a bully he was dealing with, and he wasn't about to take chances.

The two crept along like snails, keeping Scott in front of them so he wouldn't see them. They entered the lobby where kids were busy switching their indoor shoes for outdoor shoes so they could go outside and play. Tommy tried putting his sneakers on while watching Scott, but found it was much easier when he could see what he was doing.

As he got his sneakers on Tommy noticed Mrs. Auk walk in. Mrs. Auk was the secretary for the principal's office, and while Tommy had only met her once or twice she was well known for being a nice lady.

Suddenly Tommy saw Scott look at Mrs. Auk and without a word the new kid went and held open the door for her. Mrs. Auk was happily surprised at the good deed and thanked Scott for doing it. To Tommy's amazement the big kid just smiled shyly and blushed a little.

Francis had seen the whole thing too, and turned to Tommy.

"Do bullies do nice things for old ladies?" he asked.

"I... I don't know..." Tommy replied, confused by what he just saw. Then he furrowed his brow. "Clearly we're dealing with a new, sneaky kind of bully here."

Francis didn't quite believe that, but let it go. He just wanted to get to the playground before there was a lineup at the tire swings.

* * *

Tommy's mind was buzzing as he tried listening to Mrs. McConnell's science lesson. He had watched Scott Slorno all the way through lunch break, and what he had seen was confusing. Not once had Scott pushed another kid around, threaten to beat them up, or steal their lunch money. Instead, he had done things like help push other kids on swings. What kind of a bully WAS he? Worse, Tommy had been so busy keeping track of Scott he had forgotten to eat his lunch. Now his stomach was growling like a Tyrannosaurus.

Tommy was still thinking things over when afternoon recess came. Since he was still hungry he grabbed his lucky Spinosaurus lunch bag before he and Francis went outside to find a spot to sit and eat. Tommy had only taken one bite of his peanut butter sandwich when a shadow fell over him and Francis.

"What's this? Having lunch now, Nerdasaurus?"

Tommy looked up to see the trio of Tola, Grant, and Holly. These three loved nothing more than to tease and insult Tommy and Francis, even though the pair stopped reacting to them ages ago.

"Looks like the dino-babies were too busy reading about dinosaurs to notice!" Grant, the fat one, said with a laugh.

"How stupid can you get?" Holly cackled. She was surprisingly mean, for a girl.

Tommy sighed and was about to turn his ears off when suddenly a new shadow fell over him, this time from behind.

"Why don't you three leave these guys alone?" a soft but firm voice said from behind Tommy, "In fact, why don't you leave them alone forever?"

The eyes of Tola, Grant, and Holly all grew to the size of dinner plates at whoever was behind Tommy and Francis. Tola squeaked out something that sounded like "Okay" before the trio ran away really, really fast.

Tommy turned around and looked up right into the smiling face of Scott Slorno. It was strange... from this angle he didn't look so mean and ugly, especially with that smile.

"Um, thanks..." Francis started, not sure what to say.

"No problem," Scott said in his soft voice. Then he looked at Tommy's lunch bag. "Hey, is that a Spinosaurus? Cool!"

Tommy blinked. "You... you know what a Spinosaurus is?" he asked. Not even Mrs. McConnell knew enough about dinosaurs to recognize a Spinosaurus on sight.

"Oh yeah, I love dinosaurs!" Scott said, "My favorite's Euplocephalus."

Francis noticed Tommy was still shocked, so he asked the big question. "You want to sit with us, Scott?"

"Sure! That'd be great."

* * *

Things were different in class after recess was over. Word had spread quickly that Tommy and Francis were now friends with Scott, and that trying to tease them was a bad idea.

Tommy smiled to himself as he, Francis, and Scott worked on an art project together. While he was wrong about Scott being a bully like in the cartoons, he WAS right that today was the day everything changed.