"John what..." Kayla's voice trailed off in a gasp. "Why don't you ask if you can sit somewhere else? No one deserves that kind of treatment," she insisted, truly worried. If John really cut Peter's hair...

Peter said, "If I do that, they will only make fun of me more." He sighed and whispered, "I could handle a couple inches, just as long as she doesn't cut it all off."

"Oh, I see your point." Kayla paused, downhearted. The bullies would just see it as another opportunity to make fun of Peter. "Well, I hope they don't cut any off, period. And just when it's starting to grow back."

Peter ran a hand through his hair, a look of sadness in his eyes. "Same here. I hope Mr. Pole doesn't break out and pull it out again." He nervously touched the sides, which flipped out above his ears. He put his hands down. He could not let them see fear, even if John was still annoyingly snipping the scissors behind his back. He let his thoughts go to Justin, who was at the top of his concern. He knew something had to be done, to make sure his cousin did not go to jail. But what? He asked God to watch over Justin and protect him. No matter how hard he tried to shut it out, he heard snipping and it sounded closer. So, he took his textbook and hit John's hands. "When are you going to learn to quit?"

"Yeah, why not," muttered Zach. "It'll give me an excuse to get away, at least."

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"You are such a loser," Ally snapped at Miranda. "Like you really thought we were friends?" she faked a laugh.

---------

Awesome hon! 😉 Meghan texted back when she saw Jen's message.

Peter smiled at Zach, excited to have a friend on the soccer team with him. Well, sort of friend but still that was better than nothing. "Awesome. It will be fun."
He was glad to get his mind off the bullies, his hair and Justin for a while to look forward to soccer.

"Something wrong?" Zach stiffened and looked around him, searching for the monster that seemed to be haunting Peter. He glanced at Ally and Stacey, who were on the other side of the classroom.

"Do you want to talk about your cousin or not?" he said hesitantly.

Peter ran a hand through his hair. It helped to talk. "I just really do not want my cousin to get killed or in jail fro a long time. The only reason he killed the newspaper guy was because he was trying to protect at least two people. He didn't mean to." Peter lowered his head. "I wish the cops would believe him."
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Justin said to Sue Yoo. I would like to talk abou tmy case. I need to find a way to let them know it was self defense and defending others."
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Miranda took a picture of Ally's angry expression on her iPhone. "Oh this will look great for the paper." She rushed to class and texted John Check out the school newspaper right before second period. When she got to her classroom she started writing for what she would put as cheif of staff. Ally is angry Peter's hair is starting to grow back. She wants it all cut off. Then, she texted John. Remember, I am in control now.
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Peter waited for class to end. He was exhausted from the nightmare last night and was trying not to fall asleep. He made sure he was as far from John's reach as possible. He heard that they were going to read Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, next. Mr. Ray went on to explain that it was about boys stuck on an island who have turned brutal. Mr. Ray said they were going to talk about it because of the bullying that has become prevalent in the school. Peter hoped this would do something about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stacey whispered to Ally. "Glad Miranda left the class room. She's such a jerk."

Kayla stiffened in surprise as Mr. Ray mentioned the bullying. Oh, she hoped it would help. Someone needed to make the bullies stop. She didn't know what to do about it - she was helpless. She shot Nicole a grin.

Rught before lunch, Miranda sneered, as she handed Kayla, Peter, Jen, Nate and Zach the school newspaper. Peter looked at the paper, feeling his pulse rise. "Oh no!"

"What, what?" Kayla felt immediate alarm at Peter's pale face and stepped closer to Peter to see the newspaper. He held it out to her. Kayla took the newspaper and read it. Her jaw dropped in disbelief and horror.

Peter ran a hand through his hair and shuddered at the thought of it being cut off. He knew he could not show fear because the bullies could be watching. "How come they weren't like this last year when my hair was started to grow back from being shaved off form that accident?"

"I don't know," Kayla said weakly. "They were probably too busy bullying other kids," she added. She was fed up with the bullies.

Nicole headed in their direction and saw the look on Kayla's face. "Hey...what's wrong now?" she asked, coming closer.

Tears started to form in Peter's eyes. "The newspaper says Ally is upset that my hair is growing back and wants to cut it all off." He shuddered. "And last night, I had a nightmare Mr. Pole was doing that." He ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "I wouldn't mind a couple inches and don't really want it longer than it is now, but I don't want to be bald or have it shorter than the middle of my forehead!" He put his packed lunch on the table and sat, with his head on his hands. He could hear people laughing, probably at him.

Jen put a comforting arm on Peter's shoulder. "Hey." She stroked Peter's hair. "It's still here," she reminded him.

Peter looked at Ally's table, where she was sitting with Stacey and some other friend. He walked over ot their table adn said to Ally. "Why would you want to cut off my hair, just so you can make fun of it some more?"

Jen watched Peter over at Ally's table. "I hope he's okay."

Miranda saw Peter looked clearly upset when he was talking to Ally. Almsot mad. Oh she had to get a picture of this. She snapped a picture onto her iPhone and texted John. Peter looks angry. I'm going to put in the paper that all he cares about is his hair. She sauntered up to Peter's table. "Can you guys believe it? He left you to ask about his hair. WHat a jerk."
Jen said, "Bug, off, Miranda."
Miranda laughed. "He used to make fun of you. In fact, before he became a Christian.." She pointed to Zach, Nicole, Kayla and Jen. "He bullied you all. You really forgave him that easily?"
Jen thought for a minute about when Peter was a bully towards her and made fun of the way she walked. That did make her unhappy, but he was different now. She answered, "I forgave him." She looked at her friends. "How about you all?" Before they could answer, she walked over to where Peter was standing and touched his arm. "Hey," she teased, "your food is getting soggy."

Peter could feel a gentle touch on his arm and was glad to hear Jen's humorous voice. It was good that this was not hurting her sense of humor. She and Jen walked hand in hand to the table, to hear Miranda snicker, "Yeah what about the rest of you. Do you forgive Peter for when he was a bully?"
A wave of darkness spashed across Peter's eyes, as he thought about who he used to be. He slumped in his seat and picked at his food. Apparently he had grown to like his new friends so much that he forgot about the fact they coudl still have something against him. He looked at Jen, who assured him she forgave him, by squeezing his hand. He was looking away from Miranda and Jen knew why. Tears were starting to form.
Jen whispered, "Want to go sit somewhere else?"
Peter whispered, "If I leave, that will only make things worse."

Finally, Miranda siad, "Well, who's to say Jen wasn't pretending to have been bullied by him the whole time and told him to bully you before he became a Christian?"

Peter and Jen looked at each other and gasped. Peter exclaimed, "That is a lie, Miranda and you know it!"

Miranda chuckled, "Oh yea? She accepted you pretty quickly."
Peter said, "She never told me anything but to stop!"
Peter forgot what he said about not leaving, gathered the rest of his lunch and walked into a private classroom to cry his heart out without being seen by Miranda or any of the other bullies.

As soon as Peter left, Miranda mocked him to his friends. "look, I'm Peter adn everytime someone dare pulls a little hair out or threatens to cut it a few inches, or." SHe pretended to sniff, " brings up my past I go cry." She made a fake wail. "Actually, I go somewhere private. That way no one knows I'm crying. Boo hoo! I'm a big baby. Oh and I will wait for one of my precious friends or cousins to go comfort me and tell me what a handsome, good peson I am. WAH WAH WAH!"

Jen glared at her nemisis. She coudl rush to his defense, but that woudl not do any good. It would just prove her point. She gave Kayla, Zach and Nate a concnerned look, asking what she should do next.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miley took a bite out of her sandwich and said to Chrissa. "Looks like we get to go dress shopping for you."

Chrissa blushed. "I guess so. I have no idea what I should wear, so I'll need your help."

Kayla took one look at Jen's torn, distressed face. She didn't want to say anything out loud with Miranda there, but she shook her head in just the slightest way to indicate that Jen should stay here. She knew that Jen wanted to go comfort Peter, but she thought that Peter just needed some time alone to calm down and recover right now.