The next day at school was the first of many of the worst days ever of Luke’s life. Even with Lori being told not to tell anyone at school, she could not wait to share. Lori betrayed her brother and told everyone right after their mom dropped them off at the bus stop. As soon as the Brat Princess closed the car door, she opened her mouth and with joy in her voice Lori said “Luke likes wearing dresses.”

Lori was as carefree about the ramifications of saying those words as what she said was about the truth. Her dad might be mad, but Lori believed that she would not get into that much trouble. After all, Lori was told not to tell anyone at school, and they were at the bus stop. When that fact came to light, Lori’s mom would do everything she could to be lenient on her daughter.

When those words left Lori’s mouth, the truth did not matter. All the kids left the conversations they were in and their attention gravitated towards the lie. Something new to tease a kid was like a shiny object to a 7 year old. Most of the kids waiting for the bus started to tease him. Tracy Armstrong did not.

Luke did try to defend himself by telling the truth, but there were too many kids ganging up on him for his words to matter. Even if it was only a couple picking on him, Luke’s words would have been useless. For words to have meaning, others needed to pay attention and those kids were not listening to Luke. Those kids did not care about the truth. The lie they heard was juicier.

The only one who listened to Luke’s words was Tracy. What he said made more sense to her than Lori’s story. She spoke up to defend the boy. Then Lori said that Tracy liked Luke. The other kids started the sitting in a tree chant using her and Luke’s name. The taunting made Tracy feel small. She did like Luke and they made her feel like there was something wrong with it. She was past the stage of thinking boys carried the cooties. Even if they did, being around Luke would be worth catching them.

Being Cootie infected might not be bad, but having your friends pick on you was. The teasing was not the type to get a laugh with the target, but to laugh at the person. Tracy did not want to cry so she bit her bottom lip. Then just to distract the kids from her standing up to them she blurted out. “I don’t like Luka.” Right then the boy who was the subject of his classmates’ ridicule name went from Luke to Luka.

Even with christening Luke with his new name and declaring not liking him, Tracy could tell that some of the kids were still not convinced she was with them and not the new exile. To make sure there was no doubt Tracy was with the group she became even more vocal by asking Luke to tell her about the dress.

Tracy turning on Luke was the second act of betrayal he had to endure this morning. This one hurt more than the first. He was not surprised that her sister told everyone about his mother putting him in a dress. She was always trying to be seen in a better light than him by everyone. Luke knew she did not want to share anything with him. The spotlight should always shine on her and never on him.

Luke had been silent the entire time. He told himself to just not say anything. Maybe if he just ignore the kids, they would find someone else who was shinier and get their attention. This was starting to work up right until Tracy asked about the dress. Lori joined back in and said it was the blue and white jersey dress she was wearing and that Luka asked her to wear it.

It was not the lie which made Luke give up on the vow of silence. Lori’s smirk was what made him speak up. That smirk was her way of showing she got one up on him. Luke needed to set the record straight. His sister did not get one up on him. His sister did not make him cry. His mom was the one who got credit for accomplishing Lori’s goals.

Luke blurted out “You picked out the dress.”

The pause Luke made when trying to get the next sentence out, was enough time for Lori to step back in the conversation and change the narrative. Instead of her brother being able to tell the truth of their mom putting him in a dress as a punishment, Lori was able to make Luke correct another lie. “Yeah but you liked it. You said the blue complemented your eyes and your hair.”

Luke’s eyes were the same shade of blue as the dress and Lori was jealous. She thought it was so unfair her brother’s eyes were prettier than her own brown eyes. She also yearned to have her brother’s golden hair. Her hair was as black as her heart was feeling towards Luke’s this morning. She blamed him for getting her in trouble with their father.

As Lori was making Luke pay for her actions, Tracy saw a chance of making sure she was seen with the other kids and not Luke. She started the chant of “Luka likes dresses.” The other kids joined in and formed a circle around Luke. Them repeating the new taunt over and over droned out Luke’s attempt to get the truth out.

The teasing of Luke came to a sudden stop when the kids saw the school bus pulled up to the corner. The tormentors were not even going to take a chance that the bus driver, Mr. Ray Ray, would hear them. They knew he would not be happy. He demanded his passengers to be well behaved as he drove. Kids being loud and unruly could be a huge distraction to the driver, and he wanted the trip to be as safe as possible. If a kid would act up, Mr. Ray Ray would go to their home to tell their parents.

On the way to school Luke looked out the window. He was hoping that if he didn’t interact with his fellow passengers, they would then forget about the teasing. Them having a break from the fun of getting under his skin might make them find something new to occupy their time. Deep down Luke knew his hopes coming true were as possible as a child forgetting Christmas.

The sight of the sad boy trying to disappear hurt Tracy. The guilt stricken girl sat right behind and could not escape seeing what she was responsible for. She knew that she was part of the reason why Luke was withdrawn from everyone. Tracy did not want to hurt Luke, she only was trying to protect herself. To make herself feel better, Tracy leaned up to the seat in front of her and whispered “Sorry.”

Tracy’s words were too faint for Luke to hear them. His body was on the bus but his mind was so far away. The boy not responding to Tracy’s apology made her feel worse. Luke should have said OK to make her feel better. Now she was mad at Luke because of the pain her actions caused her. She was going to make sure the other kids kept up on picking on Luke.

The bus got to the school. As the bus turned into the parking lot the chattering of the kids got louder. Hearing that none of the topic was him in a dress made Luke think that maybe his hope was as misguided as he thought. The belief that today was going to be like any other day at school was quickly squashed as Luke got in line to exit the bus. Tracy was behind him and said hurry up Luka. Hearing the new name forced upon him, made Luke dread the day.

Then as Luke got off the bus a smile came to his face. He saw he had backup. His best friend, Blake Sellars was in the schoolyard. Having real support made Luke feel better about facing whatever Tracy and his sister were going to say. Blake would defend him just like Luke defended Blake when the other kids got on him for crying for his mom on the first day of kindergarten. Enough of the other kids would listen to Blake and this would not be an issue.

Then the third betrayal happen, this time by Blake. As soon as they were in the school’s courtyard, Tracy declared that Luke liked to wear dresses. Blake laughed. He waited a second to join in. He followed Lori’s lead. Blake liked Lori and wanted her approval. He already had Luke’s and thought he would not lose it. After all, Luke was there for Blake when he needed him. Blake’s assumption was wrong. Not helping Luke in his time of need did indeed end their friendship right then.

Luke’s ex-best friend thought that the teasing about the dress would not last long. The kids razzing Luke would last only a day. Today was Friday and they would all forget about how much fun razzing Luke was over the weekend, Plus, Luke was a good kid and his fellow classmates liked him. Blake’s best friend was always willing to help others. As soon as one of their classmates got help from Luke the other kids would stop making Luke being in that dress the focal point of who he was.

Little did Blake know that his actions made what should have been temporary permanent. Little did he know he was going to become one of the Luke’s biggest antagonists. Little did he know not treating Luke how Luke treated him had made them foes. Turning his back on his friend created a divide between them. This divide came from Luke being hurt by Blake’s actions and Blake believing his best friend was overreacting.

Now Luke was all on his own. He was the other. Luke became an easy target. There would be no one else to say stop it. The kids would be able to bring up Luke to get unwanted attention away from them. They would be able to put him down to get a cheap laugh.

Facing so many people making fun of him did not get to Luke. His best friend joining them was what made Luke go in the school before the first bell. His classroom would be a place of refuge. Their teacher, Mr. Noth, would not take any bullying in his classroom.

Mr. Noth was doing some final prep work for his class when Luke came in his homeroom. The teacher looked up and saw his pupil was feeling down. Mr. Noth knew to ask Luke what was wrong. Being in this profession for over 30 years gave Mr. Noth the insight to when it was the right time to inquire on his students.

After Luke replied to the question by softly saying nothing. Mr. Noth knew that Luke was not being honest with him. The caring man knew that his students were cautious about opening up to adults. The reason was the child thought that the adult would treat the issue like it was trivial. Mainly those adults who forgot how hard being a child could be in those situations and thinking them now insignificant, was mainly due because other adults treated the situation seriously when they were young.

Mr. Noth repeated the question. This time Luke’s teacher had a more sympathetic tone. The man who wanted to help, also reassured the sad child the problem would be treated seriously. As Mr. Noth had once been young and knew it could be hard.

Luke opened up to Mr. Noth and his teacher was true to his word. The teacher was saddened by how Luke was treated by his fellow classmates. Mr. Noth was also saddened that his opinion of Lori went down so much. The teacher knew she was only seven years old and hated that he thought she had told that secret in spite. Not giving the benefit of the doubt was not in Mr. Noth’s nature. Now Mr. Noth would have to make an effort to make sure he treated Lori just like any other student.

Damage control started. Mr. Noth promised the young boy that no one would get away with calling him Luka in his class or bringing up the humiliating punishment Luke had to experience. Those words were true. His classroom had a zero-tolerance policy about bullying.

The other students came in and they laughed and snickered as they walked by Luke. Even with them knowing their teacher would not approve, it was hard for Luke’s fellow students to hold in the involuntary response. As Luke spent his time in the classroom feeling small, Lori spent her time telling tall tales about Luke. She talked about how Luke spun around in the dress and pranced. That he insisted that they put a bow in his hair and call him Luka.

Tracy hated hearing those lies. She knew that none of this was true. It made her feel bad that her blurting out the name Luka was now being used against Luke. Tracy also knew there was nothing she could do without joining Luke as an outcast. Not feeling good about oneself might be bad, but to some people not being accepted by others was worse. Tracy was one of those people, so she just kept her mouth shut until she walked in the room and forced herself to join in the laughter.

Lori had a smug look on her face. How could she not? She was enjoying the fact that Luke was being treated as an outcast. The best part was that she hardly had to do any work now to keep Luke in this role. Maybe, the way Blake laughed at Luke would help her brother know his role in life. As a distant second fiddle to the star of the show, herself.

Mr. Noth, staying true to his word, asked the kids what was so funny. There was no answer. The question was a way to get the kids to stop laughing. After a couple of seconds of silence, Mr. Noth instructed the students to stop laughing if nothing was funny. The kids listened, they respected Mr. Noth as a person and also his authority. The reason was Mr. Noth treated them fairly. There was no favoritism in his class.

The day was going like any other day until Mr. Noth started to pair up his students to work on a math worksheet. The teacher would always make sure to pair up someone who was good in the subject with someone who needed help. Blake needed a little help in Math and Luke needed a little help feeling better, so he paired the two friends.

Lori was sitting next to Blake and whispered to him in a disapproving manner “You are working with Luka.” The words were not loud enough for the rest of the class to hear. Those words made Blake upset. Lori was not seeing him in a good light because of something out of his control. Wanting to stay in Lori’s good graces, Blake without thinking said “Don’t put me with Luka.”

Other than Luke the rest of the class started to laugh. Mr. Noth quickly corrected Blake and told him to never use Luka again in his class and that he had to stay in the classroom for recess. Then the rest of the class was informed that if they laughed about Luke’s punishment again they would also be punished.

After dealing out Blake’s punishment his judge wrote a note. The guilty boy knew exactly what the note was. A reminder to inform his mom and dad about his misbehavior. Blake now had a real concern, being punished at home. Lately he had been disruptive in class and his parents were starting to take privileges away from him. Mr. Noth doing his job was so unfair. Blake thought that losing recess should be enough.

Matt Thayil was one of the few second graders who still believed in Santa Claus. This came from his faith that people would not lie to him. His logic of lying was wrong so people did not do it. Matt saw the best in people. Him believing every word that Lori said when Luke was not there made the boy correct the teacher.

Lori sat there oozing smugness as the other kids started to laugh again. The punishment which was about to come to the class was going to push her brother further away from them. Lori being pleased with herself was short-lived. Mr. Noth did not investigate it and sent Lori to the principal's office. Her spreading those lies about her brother was bullying.

Even with knowing better than to protest Lori did. She repeated the story which was becoming the class’ myth as the reason why Mr. Noth should not send her down to see Ms. Goldberg. The protest was not going to change the outcome. Mr. Noth sent down Luke to make sure the principal got the truth. This was the best Lori could hope for in stating her disagreement with Mr. Noth. Her brother might get flustered by her lies enough to have him not be able to contradict her story.

************

Alice Zahn was having a nice day at work. The morning’s weekly conference call with the home office was quick. When the targets were being hit there was nothing more for management to say other than thank you and keep up the good work. The customers she dealt with were all a delight. They were all patient when she was filling in their information. The internet connection was not acting glitchy so there were no long delays in getting confirmations. Alice’s day was going so good that she decided to change her mind about doing overtime.

Her last second plan got changed as quickly as she made it with one phone call. It was from Ms. Goldberg about her son being bullied. Alice did not think she should be dealing with this. Luke was a boy and they needed to be strong. They had to deal with people not being nice to them.

Then when Luke’s mother was told Lori was the main culprit of the bullying made Alice defensive. In Alice’s mind there was no bullying involved. How could Ms. Goldberg be telling Alice what really happened when Lori could do no wrong. Hearing Lori went directly against what she was told to do, made the mother start to justify her favorite child’s actions. Lori was just joking with her brother about wearing a dress. Alice knew her daughter was told not to tell anyone, but she meant no harm.

Before Alice could get a word in and explain that Mr. Noth misinterpreted what went on, Alice got the last bit of information. Luke told the school his mom forced him to wear the dress and also mocked him. Luke should have known better. Her son should have never told the school what happened last night. There was no need for the teachers and administration to know the truth.

Hearing that Luke told them got Alice livid. Those people would judge Alice without caring about the rest of the story. Her parenting skills would be looked down upon by people who had no right to judge her. Ms. Goldberg and Mr. Noth did not know why. Any money that her son left out the fact he was not listening to her, and that he was also making Lori cry. Alice in thinking that the entire story would make people sympathize with her, conveniently forgot the parts which made her look bad. That Lori started the teasing between the siblings. That Alice instead of doing what was right to stop the bickering, did what was the easiest by only telling Luke to quit. Deep down Alice knew that Lori would not listen to her.

Once Alice was ready to talk she did her best spin doctoring to try to do damage control. Everything she said was met with I know. Even with it becoming apparent Luke told the entire story in an unbiased manner, Alice still thought her son went out of his way to make her look like an unfit mother.

After hearing out Luke and Lori’s mom Ms. Goldberg asked Alice if she would like to set up a plan on handling Lori’s treatment of Luke. This request was standard procedure for the school in any case of bullying. Alice took the request personal. There was no need for a meeting when Lori just went a little over the line in friendly ribbing of her brother. She forcefully declined the request. The answer was expected by how Alice responded, so Ms. Goldberg quickly said her goodbyes.

While Luke and Lori were in the Principal’s office their classroom was a little tense. All their fellow students were mad that they were going to miss recess. This was the end of April and the weather in the Mon Valley was finally nice enough for them to not have to wear coats during recess. Being out in the sun was a real treat.

Mr. Noth understood why the kids were upset. They did not understand the punishment. He knew that 7 year olds sometimes needed to be reminded of the rules. He took a break from today’s lesson and talked about treating others how they wanted to be treated. That picking on someone and lying about them was not nice. That they would all have felt as bad as Luke if they were being laughed at.

During the little moral lecture the mood in the room changed. Most of the kids started to feel bad. A couple felt so bad about being mean they started to cry and say sorry. Kids that age are very sympathetic. Most of the class learned the lesson. Mr. Noth gave them a chance to make amends by saying sorry to Luke. The ones who did would be able to go outside. Punishment was about behavior modification and not revenge.

The walk back to class was long for Luke. He knew the other students were going to blame him for missing recess. Lori reinforced Luke’s feeling of dread saying that now the other kids liked her better than him. Friendship in a social group was not a competition, yet Lori had to win.

Then they finally got to class and to their surprise everyone in class except Blake and Tracy gave a sincere apology. Blake because he blamed Luke for whatever punishment his parents were going to give him and Tracy because she could not admit out loud how much a part she played in Luke being hurt today.

Then Mr. Noth gave Lori a chance to make reparations. She stayed quiet. Lori had no remorse. Telling that tale put Luke in his place for a little while. She might lie to get Luke in trouble, but there was no way she would do so to make him feel better. Saying an unforced sorry would give him the upper hand in their personal battle that only she was waging.

The rest of the day went back to being a normal day in Mr. Noth’s classroom. Luke thought that the ordeal of being forced to wear a dress was over. He was wrong. During recess Lori, Blake and Tracy talked about how much they did not like Luke anymore. Lori knew she had two allies in the War of the Twins. These two should be able to get more kids on her side. Lori also learned to wage the war only without adults around. They were impartial moderators who would side with her enemy.

If being unaware of having a war declared on him was not bad enough, Luke was going to have to deal with his mom when he got home. She was going to make him learn the lesson of what happens in their home stays in their home. This afternoon was just the calm before the storm.