Page 4 of Humility

“I’m going to tell on you, Tiger. You have a potty mouth,” he said and turned to walk away. Panic set in. I jumped and grabbed his arm, hating that he was so much taller than me.

“No, stop! I didn’t mean to say that.”

Angelo stopped and glared down at me. “Get off of me, shit for brains.”

“Stop calling me names.” I hung onto his arm tighter.

“Ow! You clawed me.” He shoved me, and I tripped over my feet, landing on the ground hard. My dress had flown up over my head, and I quickly pulled it down, but the damage was done. All the boys were staring, pointing, and laughing.

“She landed in dog shit. Look,” one of the boys said, and I looked down to see he was right. There was a stinky, brown stain on my pretty dress. The laughing got louder as they doubled over and held their stomachs.

Tears filled my eyes and burned as I tried to ignore them. I wiped the poop that got on my hand on the grass, but it was no good. I couldn’t block them out. Leaping to my feet, I acted without thinking and punched Angelo in the face.

Everyone went quiet as he fell on his ass. For just a second, I felt powerful, like a superhero taking on the mean people in the world. I swallowed hard as Angelo lifted his head, his face twisted in anger.

“I’m going to kill you,” he growled, and I screamed as I ran for the school.

“Get her,” Angelo yelled, and it felt like I was being chased by a pack of dogs.

Fear made me run faster than ever before. I looked over my shoulder and saw they were gaining on me. Tears flowed down my cheeks as I screamed again. All the other kids just stared at us, making me feel small and alone.

“I swear I’ll kill you,” Angelo said from right behind me.

The door to the school opened, and Mr. Nardis walked out. I skidded to a halt and heard the boys behind me do the same.

“If you snitch, you’re dead,” Angelo hissed.

“What is happening here?” Mr. Nardis demanded.

I didn’t care about Angelo’s threats and turned and pointed at him. “He pushed me into dog poop.”

“She was swearing and grabbed my arm.” He held out his arm and pointed to the nail marks I’d made.

“Did you do that,” Mr. Nardis asked me.”

“Yes, but I did it because he was being mean to me first.”

“No, I wasn’t. You attacked me,” Angelo argued.

“Yes, you were.” I stomped my foot. “Don’t lie. Lying is bad.”

“I’m not lying. You’re the liar.”

“Enough. That is quite enough from both of you. You’re both going to the office, and the principal will call your parents and get this sorted.”

“But Sir…”

“Now, Angelo.”

The cool air of the school hit me as we walked inside, and I could smell the gross poop on me now.

“I’ll get you back for this,” Angelo said as we entered the office, and Mr. Nardis went to find the principal.

I stuck my tongue out at Angelo. I hated him so much.

Chapter Three

ANGELO