“Look”! “Here she comes! ”Shhhh” whispered the pack of ra-ras. There she was, walking down the left wing hall of Cardero High School. Carlie Chinseen, she was the most unpopular, the smartest, and the most out of style. There she was, with her grungy, dirty blond hair and her dirty rag clothes covered with holes. No wonder she was the least liked kid in 10th grade. She had not one friend. Even the teachers didn't like her, which was probably because she proved them wrong nearly every day. She was quiet and never said anything to other kids, but she talked to herself.

Every day after school, she would go down to Arnson Bay, sit in the sand and do her homework for two hours. Then she went behind the change rooms, to the park and hid behind a big, huge rock that no one could see over and talked out loud until 7:30 and then she just seemed to disappear. All the other kids suspected that she had problems at home and normally the teachers would get involved, but not this time. They didn’t care at all.

*****

Then, there was Becky Knight. Becky was the complete opposite of Carlie. She was the most popular. She wasn’t the very smartest, she usually got straight B’s and she was majorly in style, like trendsetting league. She had friends, almost every guy in the school had asked her out…and dreamed on. Becky wasn’t the nicest person, though, just a little over-glorified. She thought she had the power to do anything to anyone. She was also a little curious about why Carlie did when she went there to that rock.

*****

Everyone in school was mean to Carlie and played tricks on her, but lately, some rumors had been going around that Carlie was preparing to commit suicide (which of course wasn’t true). The others decided to try and provoke her, harassing her, gossiping, spreading new rumors and staring at her. Becky, the curious, mean person that she was, decided to investigate on Carlie so she could spread the flea-bitten truth.

*****

So one day, Becky followed her to the beach and peeked over the rock. There was Carlie with a small boy. The boy looked sad, dirty and hungry. Becky was so surprised that she fell off the log she was standing on and hit her head. She screamed and the boy started crying. Carlie got up and looked at Becky, then she quietly and timidly asked, “Can I help you?” “Who is that little kid? Are you babysitting?” asked Becky confidently. “No, this is my friend, Jayden”. Becky went to walk towards her and tripped. So they go to talking.

*****

Becky and Carlie talked for two hours and Becky found out that Carlie’s parents were kidnapped when she was nine and so she went to live with her grandmother, who died three years ago. Carlie was so scared to tell anyone with the fear of being sent off to a foster home. Carlie had been living at the park and working at the corner store market, after school, to buy food and cheap clothing. One day, almost two years ago, a mother was at the park with her two kids, a seven-year-old girl and an infant of two and a half months, Jayden. All of a sudden, she set the baby down and ran off with the girl. Carlie picked up the baby and has cared for him ever since. And that’s why she talked out loud, she was talking to Jayden.

*****
Carlie, later saw in the paper she had been using as a blanket, that the mother had killed herself and her daughter, Macey.

When they were done talking, Becky asked with astonishment, “Why did you take Jayden in? How do you support both of you?”

“I knew by the way she put him down, that she wouldn’t be returning, and I wasn’t going to just leave him there”!! said Carlie.

*****

When Becky got back to her friends, she told them Carlie’s selfless story and explained that maybe they should lay off because she’s got a lot on her plate. They just laughed. From then on, everyday after school, Becky invited Carlie over for a shower, dinner and a bed, but Carlie rarely accepted. Then one day, Carlie found a couple of dollars behind the rock. When she got to school, she started getting mad at Becky because she took it offensively. But then, Becky explained that it wasn’t her, it was her little sister, Grace, who put the money there. She had been saving it up to buy a goldfish, but she thought that you would like it more. Carlie started to realize that maybe she did need some help.

*****

From then on, Carlie became a frequent visitor in the Knight home. Mr. And Mrs. Knight were very nice people and treated Carlie like their own daughter. Becky and Carlie became very good friends and realized that they had a lot in common.  Then, on Carlie’s 16th birthday, the Knight family decided to give Carlie the best present of her life. They wanted to adopt her and Jayden!

*****

That night, after her party was over, her friends were gone and she was getting ready to go to bed, everyone crept up behind her and yelled, “SURPRISE!” When Carlie and Jayden saw the grayish colored certificates with the golden stamps, she knew, “We must be the luckiest kids alive”!!

*****

GLOSSARY:
Ra-Ra = Really popular person
Flea-bitten = Utterly horrible