Rotary Club of Pismo Beach / Five Cities
Jennifer Farias, Third Place
Grade 8, Middle School Division
Barb Babka, Judkins
It was a bright sunny day and I was getting ready for school. As I got to the entrance of Oceano Elementary School my mom said bye and left my sister and I at the door. I was really excited because it was the last day of school before Winter Break started. During lunch recess my friends and I were talking of what we would do, everybody was talking at once. One of my best friends, Alexa, was really nervous for our math test.
The bell rang and it was time for the big math test everyone had been worrying about for the past few days. As we walked in the classroom Alexa said to me, “Look, there’s Ruby and Ashley”. Ruby and Ashley were the meanest girls in the sixth grade. Halfway through the test Ruby raised her hand and told our teacher, “Alexa is copying my test!” I couldn’t believe it. I knew Alexa wouldn’t do anything like that! It wasn’t the truth; Ruby just said that to get Alexa in trouble.
After class our teacher held Alexa in. Alexa looked really hurt and said, “He believed Ruby, and gave me an F.” I was really angry. I grabbed Alexa by the hand and told her, “Come on, we have to do something about this. It isn’t fair that Ruby gets away with everything and you get blamed for something you didn’t do.” Then I stopped walking and asked Alexa, “Did you really cheat?” She replied, “No, I didn’t and even you know that I wouldn’t do something like that.” I nodded and kept walking.
Ruby and Ashley were playing on the basketball courts. Ruby looked at us and said something we couldn’t understand. When we got to Ashley she said with a mean attitude, “What do you guys want?” I stared and said, “Ruby needs to tell the truth; she knows that Alexa didn’t cheat on that test.” Alexa stepped up and said, “I kept my eyes on my own paper the whole time.” Alexa and I walked off proud because we had faced the meanest girls. On our way to our classroom Alexa said, “Thanks for sticking up for me.” She looked up and hugged me, I hugged her back.
Unfortunately this problem wasn’t beneficial to anyone. After school I stayed to talk to our teacher. Alexa and I asked if we could see Alexa’s test and then asked for Ruby’s test. Then a grin appeared on Alexa’s face and I knew why. I told the teacher, “Alexa’s answers are all correct and Ruby’s answers are all wrong so how could she have copied?” Our teacher just looked and looked at the test over and over. I was right! As for Ruby and Ashley, they got in trouble for lying to the teacher and disrespecting their classmates. Our teacher apologized to Alexa and gave her test an A, which was the grade she deserved. Alexa and I are still close friends. I’ll always put my friends and family’s life before mine.