A Pumpkin and a Patch

by Jennifer Peel

A silence settled all around us. Reece and I shared a stunned glance before I looked down at my sweet Andi with her tearstained cheeks, doing her best to defend me. In her eyes I saw such courage and determination, it lent me some, as well as a good dose of reality. I should be defending Andi, not the other way around. Not only that, but I knew the way I responded would be an example to Andi, so it had better be a good one. The last thing I ever wanted was for Andi to think it was okay to let anyone push her around or make her feel as if she were less. The way I had felt for so much of my life. In that moment, I knew I had to own it. I had to be okay with the pirate girl, because the little girl whose hand I held in mine needed me to be. And I needed Andi to know that no one should ever tell her how to feel about herself. That she should never be defined by a cruel name. I squeezed Andi’s hand. “Thank you,” my voice crackled with raw emotion. Andi gave me that sweet smile of hers, calming my heart and soul. I stood a little taller and faced Nicolette, who looked as if she might cry as she stared at her daughter’s hand in mine. It was obvious she knew there was more going on here than just a teacher and her student and a parent-teacher relationship. She was aware she was losing something, and I knew it didn’t bode well for me. But in that moment, I couldn’t think about what was going to happen in my near future. I had to take a stand for Andi, and for all the children who w...