Bedtime Story (10/10/2018)

We've all been on the wrong side of a person like Pamela!

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"MISS!"

Jenna didn't usually mind sitting next to Pamela at school.  Pamela was very clever and sometimes helped people with their work.  Pamela could be quite funny and she often made Jenna laugh.  And Pamela was generous and sometimes shared her snacks at break time.  In fact, there was just one thing Jenna didn't like about Pamela...

...Pamela was always getting other people into trouble.

Sometimes, it seemed that Pamela's favourite word was "MISS!" 

If Jenna talked after Miss Hansen had told the class to be silent, Pamela's hand would fly straight into the air.  "MISS!  Jenna's talking!"

If Jenna spilt her drink, up went Pamela's hand again.  "MISS!  There's water all over the desk!"

And if Jenna's mind wandered for a second and she lost concentration on her school work, Pamela's hand would be up in the air before Jenna knew what was going on.  "MISS!  Jenna's daydreaming!"

One morning, Harry, one of the boys who also sat on Jenna's table, brought a new toy car to school, to show off to his friends.  Jenna thought it was very cool.  It had a remote control and it could spin around on the table.  Everyone cooed and gasped as Harry made it whizz round and round.  

Then, Miss Hansen clapped her hands and waited for everyone to settle down and look at her.  "It's time to sit at your desks, ready to start the day!"  She smiled, nodding at Harry.  "Toys away now, everyone!"

Harry grabbed his car and stuffed it into his bag, before running to hang the bag on the pegs by the classroom door.

Everyone was just sitting down at their desks, when Jenna noticed that the car had fallen out of Harry's bag and onto the floor.  "Harry," she whispered, as Harry sank into his seat.  "Do you want me to pick your car up for you?" 

Harry nodded, so Jenna rushed across the floor, not realising that everyone else was now settled in their seats.  Sure enough...

"MISS!"  Pamela cried.  "Jenna isn't sitting down!"

Jenna had reached the pegs by the time Pamela finished her exclamation and she held up the car, with a worried look on her face.  "The car..." she began, but her words evaporated as she held it out so that Harry could see.  "One of the wheels has fallen off!"

Pamela's eyes widened.  "MISS!  Jenna's broken Harry's brand new car!"

Miss Hansen frowned.  "Jenna?"  She cocked her head to one side and spoke in a soft voice.  "Have you broken Harry's car?"

Hot tears stung the backs of Jenna's eyes as she shook her head.  "I didn't," she insisted.  "It fell out of Harry's bag and the wheel must have come off when it hit the floor!"

"That's true, Miss Hansen," Harry confirmed.  "And Jenna was only out of her seat because she went to pick it up for me."

Miss Hansen nodded.  "I'm sure we can fix your car, Harry," she said, kindly.  "Jenna, come and sit down quickly, so we can read the register before assembly."

Jenna began making her way back to her table, when she noticed her shoelace was undone.  She bent down to do it up, when...

"MISS!"  Pamela's voice rang through the classroom.  "Jenna still isn't sitting down!"

Jenna's chest swelled and she balled her hands into fists.  "That's ENOUGH!"  She yelled.  "I'm tired of you telling on me all the time!"

Miss Hansen frowned, then nodded quickly at Mrs Hopkins, the class Teaching Assistant.  "I think Mrs Hopkins can take you all into the hall for assembly," she suggested.  "Jenna and Pamela, I'd like you both to stay behind, please."

The girls headed to Miss Hansen's desk, both looking rather contrite.

Miss Hansen took a deep breath.  "Jenna," she said, in a soft voice.  "What's made you feel so cross?"

Jenna couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with Pamela or Miss Hansen.  "I'm fed up of Pamela telling you tales about me," she said, staring at the floor.  "She does it all the time, even when I haven't done anything wrong, like today!"

Pamela pulled a face.  "But you weren't sitting down and Miss Hansen had told you to come to the table."

"My shoelace came undone," Jenna explained.  "I just stopped to do it back up, that's all."

Pamela bit her lip.  "Well...  I didn't know that," she mumbled.

"Just like you didn't know Harry's car had fallen out of his bag," Jenna continued.  "Or that I had gone to rescue it for him and I wasn't to blame for it breaking!"

Pamela shuffled her feet.  "But...  But Miss Hansen said we had to sit down and be quiet and you went rushing off and...  We're not supposed to!"

Miss Hansen smiled at both the girls.  "You're not supposed to rush out of your seats," she agreed.  "But I can see that Jenna was trying to do a nice thing for her friend."

"I didn't know that," Pamela said, again.

"Perhaps you ought to have asked?"  Miss Hansen suggested.  "It's lovely that you're so good at following the school rules, Pamela, but sometimes, people aren't breaking them on purpose.  Like when Jenna's shoelace came undone on her way back to the table - she wasn't deliberately ignoring me when I asked her to come back, she just didn't want to trip over, so she stopped to tie up her lace."

Jenna nodded.  "And if you're my friend, Pamela, you should be able to say to me "hey, you're supposed to be back at the table," instead of rushing to tell the teacher.  I could have explained myself and you didn't give me the chance."

Pamela's cheeks burned red.  "I'm sorry," she whispered.  "I thought I was doing the right thing by making sure everyone follows the rules."

Miss Hansen smiled at her.  "You are," she said.  "And if you see something really bad, like a fight in the playground, or someone breaking another child's things, I want you to know you can always tell me, or one of the other teachers right away."  She nodded towards Jenna.  "But sometimes, problems can be sorted out on your own, just by talking to your friends about what they're doing and why.  I had seen Jenna stop to tie her shoelace - that's why I didn't tell her off for not being at the table."

Pamela glanced at Jenna.  "I got you into trouble for no reason," she sighed.  "I should have taken more notice of what you were actually doing, before I shouted to tell the teacher.  I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Jenna said, a smile beginning to form on her lips, again.  "Just promise me you'll talk to me, in future.  Find out what I'm actually doing, before you get me into trouble!"

Pamela nodded her head.  "I will, I promise!"

"Right you two," Miss Hansen began, taking a look at her watch.  "You've got enough time to head into the hall for the rest of assembly."

The girls made their way to the classroom door, when suddenly Pamela spun round and in a loud voice cried: "MISS?!"

Jenna froze.  Miss Hansen's eyes widened.  "Yes, Pamela?"

Pamela grinned.  "Thank you."

And with that, the girls skipped off to assembly.

THE END