Kansas was a... different place for Nelly. Nelly was used to seeing lots of greenery in her small remote village, but now it was different. She had moved to the city where busy streets were full of noise, big places and lots of stores. She didn't like it one bit. The only thing that made her happy was the city greenhouse. Now, as she went to her new school, she had a little plant pot inside her backpack.

When she went inside the classroom, she was introduced to everyone else and she quietly introduced herself. As she went to her desk, she took out her small plant and placed it at her desk. The teacher didn't mind this, and already had 7 plants in her classroom, including Nelly's. At lunchtime, she carefully put some water on her plant and kept it inside her cupboard. She took out her lunch bag and started walking to the cafeteria.

As she was walking down the hallway, she met some big kids. "Hey, it's the new weird girl!" one of the big kids said, laughing. Nelly was confused. How was she weird? Was it because of her plant? "Well, nice to meet you." she said politely, and turned to resume walking. "Hey, you can't go just like that" said one of the big kids, stepping forward.

Nelly was starting to feel uncomfortable. These kids were being mean to her, but Nelly didn't know how to stand up for herself. "First, why don't we take you to the classroom of some other grade?" the big kid asked, not really waiting for an answer. Nelly looked around and realized what was happening. These kids were bullying her!

Nelly started to feel very, very uncomfortable. It wasn't just that. She was hungry, and there was only five minutes left for lunch time! Those five minutes quickly passed, and the bullies went away, laughing. Nelly sadly walked back to her classroom. When she got home, she ate 3 apples and went to bed straight away.

Her mom looked up in surprise. Nelly didn't act like this usually! She figured something was up and knocked on her door. No answer. She came in, only to see Nelly crying a lot. "Nelly, what's wrong?" she asked, sitting next to her on her bed. "Well, some big kids came up to me and made fun of me and didn't let me eat lunch." she said, and burst out crying.

"Nelly, that's ok." said her mom, quite understandably. "I also faced bullies when I was your age, but I learned how to stand up for myself." Nelly looked up at her and quietly whispered, "You did?". "Yes, I did, and you should learn how to stand up for yourself too. Crying doesn't help. You've got to say to the bullies, "I don't care of what you say! I like myself and that's all I need!" said her mom, patting her back.

Nelly felt more confident about herself after talking with her mother. The next day, when it was lunch time, the bullies came up to her again. "Hey, look who's here!" snorted a big kid with a chubby face. Nelly wasn't going to have this again. So she stood up for herself. She said everything she felt about them and how rude and mean they looked and acted.