Someone Is With You-- Based on a True Story

The newest story I wrote goes into children's thoughts about braces.  I am Maisley in the story and I met a boy,  who is in the grade above me and also wears braces.  Many of Maisley's thoughts I have thought before and, after meeting him, thought it would be interesting if people who don't wear braces get to see a little bit of what it is like.  People who do wear braces can read my story and know that other kids (such as me) go through some of the same struggles as I do.

Someone Is With You - Based on a true story

Maisley Lomerstey went to her locker, a crowd of girls following her.  Ophelia Olerts, the meanest girl at Westy Middle School, pointed to Maisley’s legs.  Maisley had tight leg muscles, and wore leg braces.  Now, Maisley gave Ophelia and the other girls an upset look.  Just as she was about to cry, Owen Bradfest shooed the girls away.

“Don’t pick on me nor her.  I have them too.  We are all different, and we aren’t perfect,” he said.  Once the girls left, Owen gave Maisley a friendly smile.  “You okay?” he asked her gently.

“Yeah, I think so,” Maisley replied, who took Owen’s outstretched hand and got to her feet.  “I’ll walk you to Ms. Achina’s homeroom,” suggested Maisley.  A relaxed smile crossed Owen’s face.  

“I didn’t catch your name,” he said to Maisley, taking her hand.  

“Oh, um… Maisley.  The girls call me Stinky Braces”.  The smile on her face faded as she looked down at her braces.

“I know it’s hard having braces,” said Owen.  “The boys call Braces-Boy”.  Maisley reached out a hand and touched his arm tenderly.  

“You know, it’s not right to treat us differently than you treat other people,” Maisley said.  Smiling at her, Owen nodded.

He revealed his braces to Maisley.  She revealed hers to him.  Owen helped Maisley up the stairs.  “You know, I thought I was the only kid in… braces,” he told her quietly.  Maisley’s cheeks turned rosy red.  

“Me too,” she said shyly, but then let out a laugh.  “We should be friends, Owen.  We have so much in common.  I’d like to have you to talk to.”  Owen happily agreed with her.  They instantly stopped talking and walked nervously through Ms. Achina’s doorway.  Maisley sat down in the back of the room and Owen sat down next to her.  Ms. Achina’s long red hair was in a ponytail.  She was bundled in a small coat.

“Hello students,” she greeted them, her brown eyes looking over the room.  She nodded approvingly.  “A good looking group,” she said.  A few days later, Maisley got up to go to the pencil sharpener.  She accidentally stepped on a student’s foot.  

“Maisley’s braces hurt me,” groaned the student.  

“It was an accident,” Maisley insisted.  She turned to the student whose foot she had accidentally hurt.  “Sorry,” she said guiltily.  The student limped back to his desk, looking at her braces. 

“Maisley’s clumsy even WITH her braces,” laughed Ophelia.  It took all of the kindness that Maisley had to keep herself from saying something to show that she was angry.

When it was time for their class’ lunch break, the class headed to the picnic tables outside and to the cafeteria to get school lunches.  Maisley and Owen walked to Maisley’s locker first to get Maisley’s lunch bag.  Owen then got his school lunch and the sat down at a picnic table.  Maisley felt tears come to her eyes.  

“That happened to me once, too,” Owen said gently.  “It’s OK to feel sad about it.”  

Maisley nodded her head sadly.  “I don’t want you or me to be teased,” Maisley said, her voice rising slightly with her anger.

Both children felt anger for anyone with braces or wheelchairs.  Maisley, at the moment, felt like giving up.  She took ff her braces, dumped them in the grass, and then ran toward the road.  “There’s Maisley Lomerstey, the clumsy girl with braces,” said Ophelia to one of Maisley’s friends, Amia.  Amia and Owen were Maisley’s only friends.

Amia was a small girl with short hair, tights, and a flannel jacket a little too big for her.  Amia was a little shy, but very sweet to Maisley, who was her only friend.  Amia was helpful and friendly – but her enemy was the same as Maisley’s – Ophelia and the girls who did whatever Ophelia said.

Maisley overheard Ophelia’s words and was hurt and upset.  “oh, if you just would stop observing her looks and really get to know her…” was Amia’s reply.  “Amia!”  Crying, Maisley swept Amia into a hug.  “Are you alright Maisley?”  Amia held Maisley’s hands.  Maisley shook back her dark hair, her blue eyes looking intently at Amia.

“Yes,” said Maisley softly.  Amia put her blond hair in a barrette.  Her sweet brown eyes were big behind purple-rimmed glasses.  “I met Owen.  Oh, he’s so nice,” said Maisley, an image of Owen’s face coming to her.

“Owen dislikes a lot of girls,” Amia said grouchily.  “Because they tease him!” Maisley defended Owen quickly.  “About what?” Amia asked aloud.

“Braces,” Maisley said finally, and fear was shown.  Amia knew that Maisley very clearly dreaded talking about her braces, so Amia was careful no to ask anything that could possibly be hurtful to her.  Very rarely she asked about braces, but sometimes she was curious.  “Oh,” was her quiet reply.

Meanwhile, across the grassy field, Owen’s friend Brandon said, “Owen, kick the ball”.  Owen gave a light kick and fell over.  The other boys laughed at him until Maisley ran to him and helped him stand up.  Owen left the boys and joined her.  

“Hi,” Maisley greeted Owen happily.  She smiled, and he smiled back.  Then Amia went to them and Maisley introduced her to Owen.  Owen didn’t have the slightest interest in Amia in the least.  And Amia wanted Owen to talk to her, so she got mad and tried to find something else to do, and soon it was just Owen and Maisley again.  Maisley always found herself grinning at Owen –the only one at her school besides herself who had braces.  He grinned at her now, too.  

“So, Maisley,” Owen sounded shy and nervous.  “You wanna… hang out… at my house after school?”  Maisley gave a small smile and nodded.

That afternoon, the PE coach, Ms. Alonzo, led Maisley’s class to the gym and had them seat themselves on the floor.  “I love PE,” Rover Saynders, the best player on the PE Sports Team, spoke up.  Maisley heaved a gusty sigh.  

“Easy for you to say,” Maisley mumbled.  River Saynders was very athletic.   River ignored Maisley.  “OK, guys,” Coach Alonzo fingered her whistle as if she were about to blow it.  “Listen up.”  The excited chattering stopped completely.  “The next semester is beginning soon, and I have PE grades that I’d like to share with you,” the Coach said.  She held in her hand the PE Grade Records for their class.

“The highest grade goes to River Lynndelle Saynders, and the lowest grade goes to Maisley Lomerstey,” said Ms. Alonzo.  River pretended to be shocked at her victory.  Maisley began to cry as everyone else around her gathered up their gym equipment and headed to their lockers.  Sadly, Maisley went to the sink and cleaned her face, and then grabbed her gym bag and ran to her locker.  Owen was already waiting for her there.  

“I figure you wanted to talk about this,” he said, giving her a little smile.  Maisley grinned a little bit, held back her tears and nodded.  

“You know, in the long run, you won’t need to use PE,” Owen said, trying hard to comfort her.  

“That won’t help me NOW,” Maisley said, sniffling, crying, and blowing her nose as they walked to Dismissal Hall.  Other students gathered up their notebooks, pencils and lunch bags, talking noisily.  Ophelia Olerst and River Saynders walked by, sneaking a little peak at Maisley and Owen’s braces.  Maisley got stuck in the crowd and fell backwards.  Everyone around her giggled and scurried away.  Owen ran to her and offered to help her up.  Maisley got to her feet and said to Owen, “At least you’re not laughing at me.”  “Maisley, what happened?”  Owen was concerned.

“I fell backwards.  I’m slow and can’t keep up with you,” Maisley said sourly.  Her anger and sadness was rising.  “Owen Bradfest, report to Maisley Lomerstey’s car immediately,” A school staff member said through a microphone.  Owen and Maisley went to the Lomerstey’s car.  Owen helped Maisley practice shooting basketballs through hoops.  Then he told her to run a lap as fast as she could.  It took her sixty seconds.  Then forty.  Then twenty.  At the end of May, Ms. Alonzo had PE awards to pass out.  “The highest and most improved grade goes to Maisley Lomerstey.  And that is an award she has deserved from the start of this class because she has been trying.  And… the highest grade for sportsmanship goes to Owen Bradfest,” the PE teacher said softly, “Keep it up you two.”

The kids hurried to their classrooms, put their gym bags in their desks, and scurried away to their buses.  The bus that Owen and Maisley took dropped them off at Court Street.  “Maisley!  I don’t have to wear my braces anymore!” said Owen, catching up to her.  “That’s great,” Maisley’s voice had an edge to it.

“What?”

“I have to wear mine for three more years.  Since you don’t, I’ll be alone,” Maisley said.

“No you won’t be alone.  We’re friends,” Owen said.  Then, maisley knew she’d keep trying – even in PE – until she went on to achieve her goals.



THE END

Rollercoaster Is Going Down

I decided to wear braces instead.  More people are noticing how I walk, and the bad comments are coming.  I do wonder what's going to happen when I start wearing the braces to my new school.
I wonder if something good is in store for me... or something bad.  Through all this, I still remember what life is: a combination of good AND BAD.  And my family is with me through difficult time.
So I know I can handle it. And you can too: if you believe you can.

Another Challenge; A Mountain To Climb ; The Rollercoaster Is At It Again

Another challenge has come up.  I had Botox last Wednesday and my balance is kinda bad.  Some kind of insect bit me and on the same day, I was walking to my car after school, and I tripped on the curb and both knees bled and I cried as Mom drove me to physical therapy.
   That hurt, but I healed up and I'm feeling a little better, but my bites still itch and my knees hurt when they bend.
   I think it's a little unfair because I also have to sleep with a brace.  I think it's a lot of challenge at once, but I'll make it.  That's the way life is.

Self-esteem

Sometimes we believe bad things about ourselves that are not really true.
I don't really think I'm good at math.  But I am starting to believe that I am.
Just have faith in yourself, and you will be good at that thing.

Going to Therapy

Some people go to therapy.  Therapy is a place where people can get help , but it is not a hospital.
You get a lot of exercise, mentally or physically.  The therapist will push you, (don't worry, not physically.)    No matter how hard they push you, they are trying to help you get to your goal.

I have been to occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy.
Yes, it is challenging.  But you have to stay strong to get through it.  You can't give up.
Sometimes I want to, honestly, but to get to your goal, you can't quit.
You have to actually accomplish it, and have faith in yourself.

Locked Out

My dad 's close friend's daughter had been coming to baby sit for most of the summer.  
When she came to baby sit for her last time this summer, a few weeks ago, we played a few games,  but, thought of a made-up game called Tackle The Ball.  We had played that earlier in the summer,  when the baby sitter had first come.  But, we had been in my old house, which had a yard with shady trees.  The yard now has no trees.  We went outside anyway,  because there was no way that we'd play with a ball in the house.  We hadn't even started to play before my sister realized that we were locked out.  The babysitter thought that there might be a key outside.  There was not.  My sister's suggestion was that we could climb through a window.  I did not like that idea.  The baby sitter said that we could go to a neighbor's house and borrow their phone to call her mom.  Now, I agreed with that.
My sister stuck a jump rope through our dog's collar for a leash.  She walked him along down the street.  Luckily, a neighbor was home and let us use her phone.  Then the baby sitter's mom drove up. She helped my sister, my dog, and me into her car and then she called my mom and she picked us up.

The Hale Flood Adventure

My family and me woke up to a stormy morning.  We turned on the news and saw that flooding was expected the next day.  School was cancelled for me and my sister.  The next day, there was, sure enough, so much water covering the street that you could mistake it for a river.  Mom and Dad decided on packing up things that we didn't want to get ruined by flooding.  We waited at a neighbor's house for a big truck to come and get us, but THAT never happened.  Our adventure was much more than just a truck coming to get us and taking us to a shelter.  It turned out that there was no truck that was big enough to get through the thick water.  Mom went back to the house to get us some food.  When she came back, she said there was a boat tied up in our yard.  My dad untied the boat and we got in with our best things.  My dad pushed the boat to the end of our neighborhood.  My dad helped me out, but unfortunately, he accidentally put me down on a pile of ants.  I wasn't paying attention to much else except my ant bites after that.  A friendly man helped us into his motor boat.  But I could not enjoy it because my ant bites were itching too much.  The man dropped us off at the fire station.  We took a bus to the Oak Point store and my dad's friend picked us up from there.  One day my parents decided to bring us to our grandparents' house because their house was less likely to flood.
We had a good time with them and, when Mom and Dad had helped a good amount of people, our grandparents drove us home.                  

A New School

It is almost time for summer to end and school to start.  Me and my sister are going into 3rd grade this year, at a new school.  Our family moved to Greenwell Springs and spent only a few months
there so far.  The school is nice, but I miss my old school.  The school is so big that I'm worried that I will get lost.  I'm hoping that I can make friends pretty fast.  But soon I think I will get used to it.  Me and my sister won't even be in the same class this year!  Third grade is the grade where you switch classes so I am also worried about that.  I won't even know anyone!  Someone said that my new school gives lots of homework and they don't send textbooks home. The teachers are Mrs. Worsham and Mrs. Rutter.

When you climb a mountain

My dad taught me that there are a lot of mountains in life.  When you complete an obstacle, that mountain goes away.  It feels good to accomplish something, and then you know you can do anything if you try.  You can not wave that mountain away because if you don't try, you are not really accomplishing it.

The mountain I climbed today was getting my casts off.

A House On The Move

When your parents decide to move, it's hard for them, and you, too.  There are definitely some changes in a different house.  First of all, you usually go to a different school.  You leave behind your room because there will be one at the new house.  You can help paint your new room and move in your stuff.  You will probably make a new chapter of memories.

Life on a Rollercoaster

Life has many ups and downs in it, like a Rollercoaster.  You can feel so angry, so sad, maybe a little grossed out, happy, and scared, all in one: that's life.  Some people would rather the marygoround:day after day is the same.  You get more out of the Rollercoaster. The  Marygoround is all joy, but if you never felt any other feeling, joy would not be special anymore.  Maybe if we tried out the Marygoround, we'd feel regret that all we got was joy.

Dealing With Bullies

My name is Ainsley.  My family has faced a lot of obstacles, and I don't know about them, but I liked to be challenged. Sometimes it is hard, but I've learned to ignore people who say rude stuff about what they can see on me, like braces or casts that I wear on my legs to keep them stretched out.  If people can see that you are bothered about what they say to you and they mean to hurt your feelings, then try to let them see that you're not bothered.  They won't pick on you because it takes the fun out of it for them.  Sometimes people pick on others to feel better about themselves. So, try to ignore when they say mean stuff to you.  It usually still bugs me on the inside, but I try to show them I'm not bothered.  That will probably work. You can try to stand up to the person.  Remember, people can change.