One of these is true. Can you figure out which one?
Story #1
She didn’t think about the fact that there might be repercussions. Her pencil sharpener had been stolen and she was angry. As she walked back to her desk, after having to get up and walk all the way to the class pencil sharpener, she suddenly had a brilliant idea. At least she thought it was brilliant. She stopped walking and looked over toward the teacher’s desk to double check that the teacher was highly engrossed in her book and would not see what was about to unfold. Seeing that the teacher was, in fact, quite distracted by her book, the plan was set in motion. She passed her own desk and walked slowly over to the desk of the person she KNEW was the thief. As she approached he looked up at her with that smug look she’d seen so many times before—a look that she both hated and loved simultaneously.
“What do you want? You’d better sit down before the teacher sees you,” he said before going back to writing his spelling words in alphabetical order. She noticed one was out of order and thought briefly about telling him, but instead thought quickly of a retort for his question.
“You know what I want, you little thief!” she said softly, but powerfully. He looked up at her again and smiled. A smile that suggested that he knew exactly what she was talking about, but rather than giving it back to her, as she’d so hoped he giggled a little.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you don’t sit down I’m going to tell the teacher you weren’t working on your spelling words and that you were disrupting class.”
This statement caused a fury to rise inside her and she could feel the blood in her cheeks growing hotter. She wasn’t aware, before this moment, exactly just how angry she could be. She was not going to be the one who got in trouble when he was clearly the one at fault. In the next moment, she did something she didn’t know she was capable of doing, of course, without any thought of the consequences that would surely follow. She brought her arm back behind her and then slung it forward swiftly hitting him directly across the cheek causing him to fall out of his desk and on the floor. She looked at her hand as though it were someone else’s; as though someone else had done the hitting, not her. She then looked at him on the floor. He was looking up at her with a shocked look and there were a few glistening tears in his eyes. She suddenly realized that what she’d done was horrible and felt an overwhelming sense of remorse. She ran around the desk and tried to help him up, but instead of being receptive to her help he pushed her down. She fell to the floor and landed with a thump. She started to cry and didn’t realize that the teacher was now standing over both of them.
“What in the world is going here, you two?” she bellowed. Grabbing both of them by the arm, the teacher heaved them up off of the floor and looked at them. “You two should know better than to interrupt class.”
“She started it!” he yelled out. He wiped his eyes. It was apparent that he didn’t want anyone to know that he’d been crying. She knew that this was the perfect opportunity for her to place all of the blame on him, since he’d really been the one that started it when he stole her pencil sharpener, but instead of doing that she just stayed quiet. She felt horrible for hitting him and didn’t want to make it worse.
“I don’t care who started it! You’re both in trouble! Detention and silent lunch for a week,” the teacher said. It was fair, she thought, for what she’d done. Hitting was not typical of
her and she knew she wouldn’t be doing it again any time soon. All this fuss over a silly pencil sharpener? Having to get up and walk all the way to the class pencil sharpener wasn't so bad after all.
Story #2
She knew there was the possibility of repercussions, but she didn’t care. Her pencil sharpener had been stolen and she was angry. As she walked back to her desk, after getting up and walking all the way to the class pencil sharpener, she suddenly had a brilliant idea. At least she thought it was brilliant. She stopped walking and looked over toward the teacher’s desk to double check that the teacher was highly engrossed in her book and would not see what was about to unfold. Seeing that the teacher was, in fact, quite distracted by her book, the plan was set in motion. She passed her own desk and walked slowly over to the desk of the person she KNEW was the thief. As she approached he looked up at her with that smug look she’d seen so many times before—a look that she both hated and loved simultaneously.
“What do you want? You’d better sit down before the teacher sees you,” he said before going back to writing his spelling words in alphabetical order. She noticed one was out of order and thought briefly about telling him, but instead thought quickly of a retort for his question.
“You know what I want, you little thief!” she said softly, but powerfully. He looked up at her again and smiled. A smile that suggested that he knew exactly what she was talking about, but rather than giving it back to her, as she’d so hoped he giggled a little.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you don’t sit down I’m going to tell the teacher you weren’t working on your spelling words and that you were disrupting class.”
This statement caused a fury to rise inside her and she could feel the blood in her cheeks growing hotter. She knew that she had to restrain herself from taking any sort of physical action against the boy. She knew all too well that if she were to accost him as she wished to do, that she would surely get into great trouble. Perhaps it wasn’t worth the consequences after all. She had all but given up when she saw it. Right there on his desk--in plain veiw--was her penicl sharpner. She could just take it and run. After all, it was HERS. She thought too quickly and grabbed for it, but before she could reach it, she felt something take her arm. His hand had latched onto her arm tightly. She looked down at him and saw a look she hadn’t seen before. A look that could penetrate her soul if she looked at him long enough. It frightened her. He shoved her hand away from his desk and yelled, “She’s trying to take my pencil sharpener!!” She couldn’t believe him; it was not his!
“It’s mine, not his! I was just taking it back from him!” she said to the teacher who had now walked over to his desk.
“Well, dear, you are the one who is out of your desk,” the teacher said.
“I just wanted my pencil sharpener back! That’s all, I swear! I can even prove it’s mine!” she said pleadingly. The teacher picked it up off the desk and examined it. The first thing she noticed was that it was an incredible hot pink. “All right, prove it,” she said, and handed it to the girl.
“See, if you take the plastic cover off, my initials are right here. SAC,” she pointed to three small white letters on the inside of the outside cover. “It’s mine, not his.”
The teacher acknowledged this fact and told her to return to her seat. She walked back to her desk with a smile and little skip in her step. She worked on her spelling words for the rest of the day feeling quite accomplished. She was happy--she had her pencil sharpner back, and he would be duely punished.
