Together

Amber Williams was a bee. Well, not literally, but that was what her best friend Lucille called her.

"Because you're loyal and industrious. That means hardworking," Lucille liked to say.

Lucille called herself a monarch butterfly, because she was beautiful and graceful. Her parents used to be movie stars, and Lucille always wore pretty, sparkly clothes. Sometimes she let Amber borrow them, but only if she said, "Please, Your Majesty". 

"That's how people talk to queens!" said Lucille.

One of Lucille's favourite hobbies was dancing, and she was always creating new dances. Amber didn't enjoy dancing much, but she liked watching Lucille do it.

One day, a boy named Gabriel came to their class. He sort of reminded Amber of a fish:  he had big, round eyes and puffy lips.

Gabriel acted as weird as he looked. He always wore strange colours and laughed at things that weren't funny. 

Once, Lucille was showing Amber a new dance she made up, and Gabriel, who was passing by and saw it, started giggling.

"How dare you?" Lucille shrieked, her face turning the colour of a tomato. "Right, Amber?"

Amber nodded, but secretly she wanted to laugh too, because the dance was sort of funny. Still, she didn't want to make Lucille angrier, so she kept her mouth shut.

After that, Lucille started to pick on Gabriel. She made rude comments about him, called him names like "Fish Face" and "Grossriel", and ignored him when he tried to talk to her.

Amber thought she was being really mean, but Gabriel was kind of strange. Even the teachers didn't bother Lucille, so why should she?

Besides, Lucille was her best friend, and friends didn't tell on each other. Like bees, they were loyal.

Gabriel didn't come to school the next day, or the next. Lucille was in an extra good mood, but Amber couldn't stop worrying. She kept thinking about what he had said.

"Nobody at this school, especially not you, knows what real friends are like."

If she and Lucille weren't friends, then what were they? She'd always thought they were close, but what if Lucille actually disliked her?

After school, Mr. Rane called Amber over. "Amber, are you alright? You've been looking unhappy for a few days now. What's wrong?" he asked.

Mr. Rane had ignored her before, but he seemed to want to listen to her now. Besides, Amber really needed to talk to someone.

Amber told him everything that had happened with Lucille, the bullies, and Gabriel. "I'm scared. I don't know what to think anymore," she sniffled. Mr. Rane patted her on the shoulder.

"I'm very sorry for ignoring you when you tried to talk to me the first time, Amber. I didn't realize how serious this had become. For now, I think you need to talk to Lucille. Don't be afraid of her: if she's really your friend, she'll listen to you. I'll try talking to her and the other bullies too, okay?" he said.

"Okay," Amber replied. She felt a little better. She didn't know if talking would fix anything, but she would try.

When she got home, she thought about what she would say to Lucille, but none of it seemed quite right. Then she remembered something her dad once told her. "Write down what you want to say first. Then read it out loud. It's important to be honest, but it's also important to be kind."

So she did exactly that.

The next day, during lunch, Mr. Rane went to talk to Lucille in the hallway. A few minutes later, Lucille stormed up to Amber and grabbed her arm. "Come with me," she said.

They walked to their special spot outside. "What's going on?" Lucille demanded. "Don't pretend you don't know." Amber took a deep breath. She remembered  what she wrote down the night before.

"Are we friends, Lucille?" she asked.

"Huh? Of course we are!" said Lucille.

"Then I can be honest with you, right?" Amber continued. Lucille nodded.

"You're smart, pretty, and fun to be with most of the time. But sometimes you can be bossy and say mean things, like to Gabriel. Telling other people to bully him isn't nice, either." Amber waited for Lucille to start screaming at her, but she didn't.

Instead, Lucille started to cry. "I'm sorry! Please don't hate me! I can't help being bossy! That's all I know how to do!"

"I don't hate you! Please don't cry," Amber said, hugging Lucille. Lucille hugged her back tightly.

"I didn't tell anyone to bully Gabriel," Lucille added, sniffing. "No one really talks to me or plays with me except you."

Amber let go of Lucille and smiled gently. "I believe you," she said. "I know you're not being mean because you're a bad person."

"I'm really jealous of you," Lucille continued. "You're always nice to everyone, and your family is great too. My mom and dad never talk to me unless they're yelling at me! They always tell me I should be the best at everything!"

"Then you can come to my house whenever you want! Besides," said Amber, "I can be pretty mean too. Remember that time when Gabriel laughed at your dance? I was about to laugh too. Sorry, but it was kind of a funny dance."