What▓s Holding Her Back Prologue:
Once, there lived a girl by the name of Taylor McCoy. She lived in the lush fields of Green Grass Valley. Her life seems so simple and complete. After all, Taylor had strawberry-blond hair and deep blue eyes. In addition to that, Taylor has better grades than anyone in her class. However, it▓s not that easy on the inside┘ Taylor McCoy ┘ has asthma. It feels like a bomb; it can explode any minute and her life would be over. For Taylor, it▓s easy to carry her inhaler around. Everybody knows she has asthma and they don▓t seem to mind. But that all changed when Brianna Martinez moved to her neighborhood┘ Chapter 1: Meeting Brianna One normal school day, Taylor was walking into class with her best friend, Emma Jackson, when she saw a new girl standing in the front of the classroom. She wore a white dress and matching ballet flats. Her hair flowed midway down her back, tied in neat braids. The girl had a friendly smile on her face, ready to face the challenge of being a new girl. Once everyone was settled, Taylor▓s teacher, Ms. Rodriguez, began, ⌠ Good Morning, class. Today, we have a new student. Her name is Brianna Martinez. Why don▓t you tell us a little about yourself, Brianna?■ Ms. Rodriguez ushered our attention to Brianna.
Brianna started, ⌠ My name is Brianna Martinez and I▓m from Dennis Town. My parents and I moved here because they think living in t countryside surrounding is healthier for me to grow up. I hope to make friends with all of you.■ After she was finished, Brianna beamed brightly at Ms. Rodriguez. Taylor had a feeling that she wouldn▓t like this girl anymore┘ Chapter 2: Taylor gets Embarrassed During lunch, Taylor sat at her usual seat and saved a spot for Emma. She pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from her brown paper bag and started eating.
Several minutes into eating, Emma arrived with her hot school lunch, ravioli. She plopped down onto her seat besides Taylor and began, ⌠Brianna is a show-off. Did you see the way she grinned at Ms. Cheung after her speech?■ Taylor replied, ⌠Oh well. At least she▓s out of our way┘for now. I have a feeling that she won▓t like us.■ ⌠Possibly,■ Emma replied and took a big bite of her sandwich. The rest of lunch was pretty quiet.
After lunch, everyone went to the playground for recess. The kids in Ms. Rodriguez▓s class was listening carefully to Brianna about a game of jump rope. While the other students were so busy, Taylor and Emma decided to rest on the bench next to a shady oak tree. Half an hour into her daydream of being a cheerleader, Taylor was awoken by Emma▓s call.
⌠ Taylor,■ Emma shakes Taylor▓s arm. ⌠ Brianna is challenging you to a jump rope contest.■ Sure enough, when Taylor looked over, Brianna was waving her over. ⌠Come here,■ This was bad news to Taylor. She can never jump rope that long, despite her talent, because of her asthma. But she couldn▓t back out to the new girl. Slowly and regretfully, Taylor gets up and walks to the crowd. ⌠ Look,■ Taylor says to the group. ⌠ I can▓t jump rope.■ ⌠Why?■ Brianna asked in an innocent voice. ⌠Are you afraid?■ she questioned with a snicker.
That made Taylor really mad. ⌠Bring it on!■ She shot back.
⌠Ooooo,■ the audience said with a shock. Shy student Taylor McCoy just shot an icy combat at new student Brianna┘ Chapter 3: The Jump-Rope Contest ⌠Contestant ready,■ announced Simon, a boy in Ms. Rodriguez▓s class. ⌠ We will begin in 3, 2, 1, START!■ following that came a loud burst of cheers for both contenders. The two girls jumped to the beat of the rope, longing to beat the other out. Three minutes later, Simon said, ⌠Now, that was the end of a quick, but exciting first round! Let the second round begin in 5...4...3...2...1... START!■ Cheers began to rise once more as the two rivals jump like crazy to beat out each other with all their might. And just with a slip of Brianna▓s foot, Taylor picked up the victory for the second round. Taylor started to gain some confidence as the competition moved along. ⌠Ouch,■ Simon says, trying to act like a real reporter. ⌠that confirms the victory for Taylor, McCoy, but we still have to play the third round, ┘for fun!■ After accepting a loud cheer, Simon continued his oration, ⌠Contestants next to the jump rope. We are ready to begin our third and final round! Ready┘Get set┘GO!!!!■ Taylor knew she had already won, but she didn▓t want to lose the final round to Brianna, mainly because the new girl had been so mean to her on the first day. The third round lasted quite a while, and Taylor pasted them with a breeze. About 7 minutes later, Taylor began to feel difficulty. It became harder and harder for Taylor to breathe. She struggled to continue and keep up with the beat of the rope. Finally. When she couldn▓t take it anymore, Taylor missed a jump, allowing Brianna to win. ⌠Yes!■ Brianna said with triumph. ⌠I won, I won, I did it!■ then, she went to Taylor and pretended to give a few friendly pats on the back. In between, Brianna managed to whisper to Taylor, ⌠You may of won the competition, but I won the fame.■ Then, she walked away to the crowd that awaits her. However, Taylor was still under pressure to breathe. Emma ran over and asked, ⌠Are you okay?■ ⌠I┘can▓t┘breathe┘■ Taylor managed to spurt out in between deep breaths. ⌠Get my inhaler. It▓s in my front-right pocket.■ Emma acted right away as Brianna turned to face Taylor at the sound of the word, ⌠inhaler.■ ⌠Oh,■ Brianna said. ⌠So Taylor has asthma.■ She snickered evilly. Taylor▓s cheeks turned a deep red as Emma pulled her up and helped her to the nurse on the second floor. ⌠Don▓t listen to her,■ Emma whispered soothingly into Taylor▓s ear. But Taylor was thinking.
She thought, and I thought everyone didn▓t care about me having asthma┘