Making A Difference

• Tiffany Chan, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2012

It was halfway through Semester One when a girl with long brown hair and blue eyes walked into class. The teacher introduce her to the class but I wasn’t paying much attention, neither was anyone else in the entire room. I was still day-dreaming in my own fantasy when I heard a sharp call of my name; it was Mrs Gergenson. “Julia! You will accompany Gemma for the rest of the school day and show her around.” I groaned a little as the last thing I needed was someone tailing me for the whole day!
Gemma smiled at me but I didn’t smile back. During class she didn’t say a word, but when everyone was asked to repeat after the teacher she spoke. She pronounced the word funny. I thought it was hilarious the way she said it, and I wasn’t the only one in the class who heard it. Everyone snickered a little.
When the bell rang everyone rushed out of class and I was still sitting down. I got up slowly trying to ignore Gemma, but Mrs Gergenson gave me a stern look. “Well are you coming?” I asked her impatiently. She nodded quickly. We walked out of the classroom, and I introduced her to all of the things in the school. She didn’t say a word; instead her head would just give the slightest bob of understanding. It was so annoying!
I finally lost her in the hallway! I walked over to my locker and noticed that everybody was whispering about the new girl-Gemma. I heard a few words like “different, weird, quiet.” I wondered what they were talking about! I looked over my shoulder to see Gemma standing alone being teased by the cheerleaders. “Ew, you like totally talk so funny!” taunted Jessica- the head cheerleader. One of Jessica’s friends called back “I know right, I mean like she talks like in slow motion!” One of the guys whispered to me “The poor girl, she’s deaf which affects her speech, but she can read lips, so she knows and understands every word they are saying.”
It hit me like a rock; I had been so cruel to her for something she had no control over. I felt so bad, and there Gemma was standing in front of Jessica being taunted over the way she talked. I butted in immediately “Do you know what you’re saying? Just because she’s different doesn’t make her any less equal than you.” Jessica and her posse stopped laughing and everyone went quiet. I didn’t notice any of these things; all I remember was the gleaming smile on Gemma’s face when I had said all those words.