Chapter 4: The Park

We just finished an assembly and Jeslyn stood up for herself and told everyone in the school the truth. I was questionable that she could do it but since she is class president material, she can. Anyway, school ended early for the day again so I walked to the park where I was supposed to meet Jeslyn. She did say that she was actually going to bring someone with her to join our discussion. I needed to be calm, be me, and nothing will go wrong.

Jeslyn: "Jalen! Over here!"

Jeslyn was sitting on a bench with a table on it and she had a girl with her. I recognized her quickly and this was Mei-Li Chan. She's actually from here in America but her parents are from China or to be specific, Taiwan. Mei-Li was known to be the smartest kid in our grade but I wasn't sure what she could do to help us.

Jeslyn: "Mei-Li, I would like you to meet Jalen Bernard from our grade."

Mei-Li: "Please to meet you, Jalen. I have heard many good things about you from Jeslyn."

Jalen: "I mean sure but also nice to meet you. Anyway, can you share what you know about Annabelle?"

Mei-Li: "Well sure but it's going to shock you. Basically in fourth grade, Annabelle was a new student that came in the middle of the school year. She was from China like my parents. She seemed like the combination of shy, aggressive, and helpful. Since she looked this way, I decided to help her even though I didn't do this pretty often. She was someone who would be aggressive if students insult her so I wanted to be friends to protect her and help to control her feelings. Things went well for the most part and we became pretty good friends. We even did things outside of school like going to the mall or having ice cream or having a simple chat.

Jalen: "Woah. That's strange so far but to ask this, is she still your friend?"

Mei-Li: "Jalen. I will answer that if you don't interrupt me. Anyway, 5th grade came along and we got into the same class but for some reason, students started hating her. She apparently got into a fight with some kid at a park and broke both of their arms. Many of the students were spying on her for some reason and started hating on her. Those students spread those rumors and people threw stuff at her or bullied her. She at first was someone who cried when getting bullied and teachers would stop them. They listened in that moment but the next day, they did it again and this cycle continued for about two months but over time, she used her words and stopped them. One day though, it was in December and it was the week before winter break, two girls grabbed her hair in the bathroom and Annabelle stood up for herself and started throwing punches. These girls were trying to escape but Annabelle strangled them both and tried drowning them. These girls were Sarah and Liza. Liza was beaten down to the ground with blood on her face while Sarah got nearly drowned in the toilet. Annabelle left but got to class late and had cuts and a tooth was punched. The teacher asked what happened but Annabelle didn't want to tell anyone. She then got her hands grabbed by some officer and was taken to the office. They apparently found the bodies in the bathroom and wanted to suspend her. The police officers asked to have the kid suspended for the rest of the week and all of the winter break and see a psychiatrist. The principal on the other hand didn't think that it wasn't good enough so they expelled her so she can't come back. Annabelle got mad that the teachers did nothing but the police tried to at least handle the situation. Annabelle got mad and wanted to throw a punch at the principal but the police stopped her. Ever since then, she started hating people and her peers for all of the things that they did to her. She kinda reminds of you Jalen. You hate your peers as well?"

Jalen: "Look. I think Annabelle is crazy but there are three ways to solve this. We can try to get her expelled in a way, I fight her, or try to help her."

Mei-Li: "Jalen! That's not going to work. It's going to go bad if we use violence. I think that we should at least show some sympathy."

Jalen: "Honestly, we are going to get revenge. I mean I heard of her before I came to this school last year. I knew that she was going to be the bully and had already been suspended once. Jeslyn gave her the beating she deserved."

Jeslyn: "But I didn't enjoy it. I don't want to hurt people. I believe that you secretly don't want to hurt her Jalen. You just want to do what you can. I'm sorry that we didn't achieve what we wanted today but maybe tomorrow at the ice cream store, it will be just me and you, Jalen."

Jalen: "We'll see."

Mei-Li: "Thanks for today, Jeslyn and Jalen but I have to actually go. See you at school tomorrow!"

Jalen: "Yeah see ya."

Jeslyn: "Mei-Li is kinda suspicious."

Jalen: "I can see that but how so?"

Jeslyn: "I mean how did she know all that? Could she be working with Annabelle or saw all of those things?"

Jalen: "I mean if she saw all of that, she would have said that when explaining the story. If not, then she didn't. That kinda throws me off. How did she know all that?"

Jeslyn: "I know right? She's always reading textbooks."

Jalen: "I mean a friend could have told her. Anyway, let's meet again tomorrow morning before school at the library. I need to say something."

Jeslyn: "Sure! See you tomorrow!"