September 1976

Six year old Rachel Green snuck into the kitchen and looked around. She noticed that the housekeepers were not there so she went to work. She grabbed a bowl of sugar off the table and walked towards the trash and dumped the sugar in the trash. She walked into the pantry and pulled a blue container that she knew was salt. She poured the salt into the ceramic bowl and placed the bowl on the table. She then ran back to her bedroom and proceeded to get ready for first grade. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She was wearing a denim dress with red triangles on it. She wore a long sleeve red top under it and red tights and her red Mary Janes. She put her long brown hair in pigtails. She was so happy that her mother let her dress herself. She was good at that.

"Girls, breakfast!" Rachel's mother yelled from downstairs. Rachel grabbed her red backpack and walked downstairs. She was the middle child. Her sister Amy was nine and her sister Jill was three. As she took her spot at the table between Amy and Jill, she noticed her mother picking up the ceramic bowl that she had filled with salt. She watched as her mother took several spoonfuls of salt out of the bowl and put it in her coffee and stirred. Her mother than spit out her coffee and started hacking. She looked angrily at both Amy and Rachel.

"Who put salt in my coffee?" Sandra Green asked.

"Amy," Rachel spoke up. Amy's mouth dropped opened.

"No, I didn't. You're lying. Mom she's lying," Amy yelled.

"Amy go to your room," Sandra said. "This is not how we are starting the first day of school."

"But she's lying. She's always lying," Amy cried.

"Go to your room until it's time to go," Sandra said pointing towards the stairs. Amy let out a huff and stormed off towards her room.

"I'm not lying mommy," Rachel grinned.

"I know," Sandra said, giving Rachel a kiss on the head. Rachel let out a sigh. She was nervous though. She was starting a new school. She hated her kindergarten. She was always in trouble there and her parents yelled at the principal. So they pulled her out and took her to a new school. They pulled out Amy as well which Amy hated. The entire car ride to school Amy complained.

"I don't know why I had to switch schools because Rachel is a bad kid," Amy said.

"I am not," Rachel said.

"Your sister is not bad. They just didn't understand her," Sandra said.

"She cut a girl's hair off," Amy remarked.

"Because it was frizzy," Rachel said.

"And fingerpainted a boy's outfit," Amy said.

"It was a boring outfit. It needed color," Rachel said.

"They didn't understand your creativity," Sandra said.

Amy rolled her eyes and Rachel gave her a smug look. She looked at Jill sitting in her carseat next to her and began to play with her. She loved Jill far more than Amy. Jill was sweet and kind. Amy was just mean.

Once at the school, the principal walked Rachel to her new classroom. It was a big classroom with a colorful carpet in the middle. It was brightly lit and there were bins of toys everywhere. Her new teacher, Mrs. Gold approached her. She was wearing a long dress and a white turtleneck. She was bony and her hair was in a tight bun.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Gold. I'm your first grade teacher. What's your name?"

"Rachel. That's an ugly outfit. I wouldn't wear it."

Mrs. Gold looked at the principal who let out an uncomfortable laugh.

"According to her mother, she's a bit a fashionista," the principal said.

"Oh, I see," Mrs. Gold said before leaning into Rachel, "honey, that's not a very nice thing to say. Only nice words in the classroom."

"But that is nice?" Rachel asked, confused. Mrs. Gold and the principal laughed as they exchanged a look. The principal left and Mrs. Gold motioned for Rachel to follow her. Rachel did as told and followed her towards a heavy set brunette girl playing with a doll.

"Monica," Mrs. Gold said.

"Yes, Mrs. Gold," the girl said, looking at them.

"We have a new student today...and I was wondering if you would like to play with her and make her feel welcome?" Mrs. Gold asked.

"Okay. Hi, I'm Monica," she said looking at the girl standing next to Mrs. Gold who was staring straight at Monica.

"I'm Rachel."

"Hi, Rachel. You wanna play with me?"

"Okay."

"Rachel, Monica will be a good friend to you and she'll make you feel right at home," Mrs. Gold said as she gently pushed Rachel forward. Rachel looked around the classroom. Monica was very heavy and she was wearing a tight cranberry sweater and blue bell bottoms.

"Do you like babies?" Monica asked.

"Yeah. I have a sister who's three," Rachel said, thinking the girl seemed a little strange.

"Oh. I have a brother. He's six and in the second grade. Do you only have one sister?"

"No. I have an older sister. She's nine."

"Oh."

"What's her name?" Rachel asked, pointing at the doll in Monica's arms. Rachel knelt down next to her and peered at the wrapped up bundle.

"Emma. When I have a daughter, I'm gonna name her Emma."

"That's pretty."

"What are you gonna name your children?" Monica asked.

"I'm six. I am a children," Rachel said.

"When you're a grown up."

"Oh.. I don't know but my mommy told me once that it's better to marry someone who has lots and lots of money and then you can buy children."

"You can buy children?" Monica asked.

"Yeah, on an island right by Kentucky."

"Wow. No, I don't wanna buy my children. I wanna have a billion of them."

"That's a lot," Rachel said.

"I know...and I'm gonna have a really cute husband, too. His name is Matthew."

"You've named your husband?"

"Of course. You have to plan for these things, Rachel. You can't just let it happen. My mommy said that only crazy people let things happen," Monica explained, her eyes widening, "okay, Emma's finally asleep."

Rachel watched as Monica stood up and walked towards a tiny plastic, pink crib and placed Emma in it. Monica turned and looked at Rachel, smiling at her. "Okay, come with me. I'll introduce you to all the kids and then you'll have lots of friends."

"You will?" Monica asked.

"Yeah."

"Thank you. You're nice, Monica," Rachel said. She really liked this girl. Even though she was dressed badly, Monica seemed so kind. None of the kids at her kindergarten were kind. They were mean and always got mad at her when she would fix their outfits. Monica grabbed Rachel's hand and introduced her to every single kid in the class. She felt so good and happy. She wanted Monica to be her best friend.

Lunchtime soon came and Rachel and Monica sat across from each other on the playground. Rachel's lunch was filled with all sorts of healthy things, carrot sticks, salad, even her sandwich was healthy. Monica's was quite the opposite, filled with Twinkies and cupcakes.

"Your lunch looks yummy, Monica. My mommy and daddy always say that my lunches are oran-ganic."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that if you eat a lot of carrots, your pee turns orange."

"Ewwww. That's gross."

"I know."

"Why do your mommy and daddy want you to have orange pee?"

"I don't know. What is that?" Rachel asked, pointing to the Twinkie in Monica's hand.

"It's a Twinkie."

"Can I try? I've never had one."

"You've never had a Twinkie?"

"My parents say it's bad for you," Rachel said. Her mom never let her have sweets and she wanted sweets, junk food. Monica looked at the Twinkie and handed it to Rachel. Rachel ripped it open and took a bite. It was amazing.

"Whoa," Rachel said.

"I know," Monica said.

"Fatty," another girl said as she approached them. Rachel saw three girls that she remembered Monica referring to as Nancy, Sharon and Mindy standing there. They were dressed very cutely.

"Oink, oink, piggie pig," one of the girls said.

Rachel was confused. She wasn't sure why they were being mean to Monica. She was nice.

"Rachel, you wanna play with us. You don't wanna play with Piggie because she'll eat you," Nancy said.

"Oh...um..." Rachel said.

"You can be in our secret club," Mindy said.

"Mindy," Nancy said, looking upset.

"Sorry," Mindy said.

"I'll...I'll play with you. I wanna be in a secret club," Rachel said, standing up. She quickly grabbed her lunch, glancing at Monica. "I'm sorry."

"No, her name is Piggie," Nancy said, grinned.

"Okay," Rachel said as she gave Monica a sad look as she walked off with Nancy, Sharon and Mindy leaving Monica alone. She felt sad leaving Monica sitting there alone but she wanted to be liked. She was not liked in kindergarten. They hated her and bullied her. These girls wanted her in their secret club and they dressed nicely. She would talk to Monica later. Maybe Monica would understand. She didn't want the girls being mean to her.

The next day, Rachel sat with Nancy, Sharon and Mindy. Nancy, Sharon and Mindy really seemed to like to make fun of Monica. Everytime Monica walked by, they would take shots at her or they would walk towards Monica as she was playing and let her know they hated her.

"Elephant, elephant...walks like an elephant," Sharon said as she, Rachel, Mindy and Nancy passed by Monica on the playground. Monica sat brushing the hair of one of the dolls in the classroom.

"Piggie and smells like one too," Nancy said.

Monica looked over at Rachel. Rachel looked sad for a moment. She didn't want to make fun of Monica but she didn't want them to turn on her.

"Monicow. She's Monica and she's a cow. Monicow," Rachel said. Mindy, Sharon and Nancy all stared at Rachel, grinning.

"That's good," Sharon said.

Rachel smiled as Monica's eyes filled with tears. She stared at Rachel who suddenly looked alarmed. She didn't want Monica crying. Suddenly, Nancy, Mindy and Sharon raced off, all three yelling to anyone within earshot that Monica's new name was now, "Monicow". Rachel stared at Monica.

"I'm sorry, Monica."

"Leave me alone. I hate you."

"No, don't hate me. I don't want you to hate me. We can be secret friends? That's better. Then we get to share more secrets? Will you be my secret friend?" Rachel asked. She wanted Monica to be her friend so badly. Maybe if they were friends in secret, that would be better.

"I guess," Monica said.

"Rachel, get away from Monicow," Nancy yelled from across the playground.

"I have to go," Rachel raced off towards Nancy. Soon, everyone was calling Monica "Monicow". She hated that she had started that nickname. She didn't want to start that nickname but she didn't have a choice. Mrs. Gold eventually caught on to the mean nickname and asked people who started it. She was shocked when Nancy told on Rachel.

"Rachel?" Mrs. Gold asked.

"It wasn't me, Mrs. Gold," Rachel said.

"It was too," Nancy said.

"It wasn't," Rachel said, looking over at Monica. Monica looked away. Rachel looked back to Mrs. Gold.

"It was Rachel," Monica said.

"It wasn't," Rachel said.

"Rachel, go to the office please," Mrs. Gold said.

"I didn't do anything," Rachel said, tears filling up in her eyes. She started to cry, "I didn't do anything. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do anything. I just...I'm sorry Monica. Please. I don't wanna be in trouble."

Rachel sobbed harder, so much so that she could barely breathe. Mrs. Gold looked at Rachel and her look of anger seemed to melt into sympathy. She walked over to Rachel and knelt down in front of her.

"Honey, it's okay. It is. Remember we use nice words," Mrs. Gold said.

"I know. I will, I promise. I'll use nice words. I don't wanna be in trouble," Rachel cried.

"Okay, I will give you one more chance," Mrs. Gold said.

"Okay," Rachel said. Mrs. Gold hugged her and as the teacher walked back towards the board, Rachel looked over at Nancy and grinned. Nancy's mouth dropped as Rachel sat down on the carpet. She looked over at Monica who looked angrily at her and turned back to look at the teacher. Monica didn't understand.

During lunchtime, Mindy, Sharon and Nancy surrounded Rachel. They wanted to discuss what had happened in the classroom.

"You're a bad kid," Nancy said.

"I am not," Rachel said.

"You lied," Mindy said.

"Naw-aww, I just didn't wanna go to the principal's office," Rachel said.

"You're cool," Sharon said.

"Thank you. If you can cry, you can get away with stuff," Rachel grinned. It was her secret weapon. She let the tears flow. It got her what she wanted.

Of course, Mrs. Gold told Sandra as soon as she picked Rachel up from school. She told Sandra that Rachel had started a mean nickname. Sandra smiled at Mrs. Gold and told her that Rachel was a naive, sweet girl. She didn't mean anything by it. Rachel smiled the entire car ride home. She did need to talk to Monica though. She liked Monica. She did.

That night, Rachel overheard her parents talking in their room. They were talking about her. Sandra was telling her dad about what happened at school and her dad kept saying that they were letting Rachel get away with too much. Sandra disagreed.

"Mommy? Daddy?" Rachel said, walking into room.

"Go to your room, Rachel," Leonard Green said.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Rachel said.

"Go to your room," Leonard said.

"She's only six and she didn't do anything wrong," Sandra said.

"She got kicked out of kindergarten for being a bully and now she's doing it again," Leonard said.

"I didn't do anything," Rachel said.

"Did you call a girl, Monicow?" Leonard asked.

"No, I didn't," Rachel said.

"So your teacher is lying," Leonard said.

"I-I-I didn't do it," Rachel said.

"Your sister also said you were the one who put the salt in the sugar this morning and got her in trouble," Leonard said.

"Jill did it," Rachel said, immediately before realizing her mistake. She was scared standing there in front of her father. "I mean, Amy. Amy did it."

Leonard stared at her and Rachel sniffled when her dad immediately grabbed her and sat down on the edge of his bed. He put Rachel over his knee and proceeded to spank her. Rachel let out a cry and Sandra yelled at her husband.

"Stop, Leonard. Stop it!" Sandra said. When Leonard was done spanking Rachel, he took her to her room and sat her down, facing a wall. Rachel was crying, real tears now. She had never been spanked before. It scared her. Sandra soon appeared in Rachel's room and looked at her daughter.

"I understand, Rachel. You didn't do anything wrong," Sandra said.

"No, I didn't," Rachel said.

Sandra gathered Rachel in her arms and held her as she continued crying. She kept crying and soon she wasn't even crying about getting in trouble. She was crying because she knew what being a bully meant and she didn't want to be one. She was nice, at least she thought she was.