Chapter 2
That day, after school, Stephanie waited for her dad to pick her up. She saw Melanie chasing after some of the popular girls. "Guys, wait up!" Melanie called. The other girls did not slow their pace. Why won't they wait for her? Stephanie thought angrily. Suddenly, Melanie tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground. The popular girls turned around and laughed. "We don't need a useless cripple like you anyway!" one of them taunted.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Stephanie screeched as she ran to see if Melanie was okay. The popular girls just sneered. "Yeah, whatever, Tanner. C'mon girls!" "Seeya!" they said in unison. Then they sauntered off.
Stephanie reached Melanie, who was shakily picking herself up. "You okay?" Stephanie asked in concern. Melanie nodded. "Yeah." Then Stephanie noticed a bleeding cut on Melanie's knee. "Your knee is bleeding. The nurse will give you a band-aid. C'mon." On the way to the nurse, the two girls chatted.
"Thanks for helping me back there." Melanie said shyly. Stephanie smiled. "No problem. I think you're brave, actually." Melanie snorted. "Me? Brave? Are you kidding?" Steph shook her head solemnly. "No. You took a pretty hard fall back there. You didn't even say ow! I think that's really brave." Melanie blushed. "It's not so bad, actually. I've gotten used to falling." Stephanie looked at her new friend in amazement. "Used to falling? How could anybody be used to falling?" Melanie shrugged.
"Because of the CP, I fall a lot, because the CP affects my balance. I've been falling all my life. I guess…..it's easy to get used to something when you've been doing it all your life." They reached the nurse. Melanie sat on a chair with her crutch propped up next to her while the nurse fixed up her knee. All of a sudden, she started to cry.
"Melanie!" Steph said in alarm. "What's wrong?" The nurse just looked at them awkwardly and then decided to leave it to Stephanie. "Its just that…people make fun of me all the time like those girls did back there. And the worst part is, they promised me a ride home! How naive I was….I thought they actually wanted to be my friend. Why is CP so hard for people to accept? In layman's terms, I just walk a little funny-and my balance is bad. That's all! I wish that just for one day, I could be normal. Nobody would notice me, nobody would single me out, nobody would ask questions that I've heard a million times before!" Melanie sobbed. "Also I hate the way people treat me differently with and without the crutch. I can walk without the crutch, its just harder for me. When I walk without the crutch, people treat me like a regular person, then freak out when I fall because they don't realize I'm used to it. When I walk with the crutch, people either fall all over me trying to be helpful, or avoid me completely, or even make fun of me like those popular girls did! But at the same time, the crutch is a signal to let people know that I am handicapped and I will need a little help."
"So there's pros and cons to each thing." Stephanie said gently. Melanie nodded. She wiped her eyes and stood up. "C'mon. My mom should be picking me up soon." Just then Stephanie had an idea. "Hey Melanie, want to come home with me for the afternoon?" Melanie grinned. "I would love to! I just got to ask my mom first." Steph grinned. "And I got to ask my dad. But I'm sure he'll say yes." Both girls headed out to the front of the school, where a line of cars was. The girls scanned the line. "Hey there's my dad's car!" Stephanie cried. "And there's my mom's car!" Melanie replied. Both girls dashed to their cars and quickly asked their parents if Melanie could come home with Stephanie. To their delight, they both said yes!
Danny greeted Melanie eagerly, then noticed her crutch. His face turned from delighted to meet Stephanie's new friend, to slight uncomfortable-ness because of Melanie's disability. "Uh…Melanie?" he started awkwardly. Melanie looked up from the backseat, where she had been chatting animatedly with Stephanie. "Yeah, Mr. Tanner?" Danny's gaze shifted towards the floor, where Melanie had put her crutch. "Do you want me to put that in the trunk for you?" Melanie smiled. "Oh, that's okay, Mr. Tanner. I'll just leave it here. Its too much of a hassle for me to wait for someone to get my crutch out of the trunk for me." Danny grinned. He liked this girl. "Alright, Melanie."
They reached the Tanner household in about five minutes. Melanie walked in with her crutch, and Uncle Jesse and Michelle, who were sitting at the table, looked up. Michelle's mouth dropped open and she stared at Melanie's crutch. A piece of bread that she had been chewing dropped from her open mouth. Stephanie and Melanie both knew what she was staring at, but neither of them said much. "Michelle, it's rude to stare." Stephanie admonished. Then she introduced her friend. "Guys, this is my new friend, Melanie. Melanie, this is my Uncle Jesse and my sister Michelle." Everybody mumbled a hello, then went back to what they had been doing.
"Now girls, I'll be right down here if you need me. Uncle Jesse's here, and so is my friend Joey, who lives with us. If you need any help just call one of us…" Danny started to ramble. Michelle and Stephanie stifled giggles and Uncle Jesse stood up and put a hand on his brother-in-law's shoulder. "Danny, you're embarrassing Stephanie! I think that will be enough." Danny blushed. He hadn't realized he had been rambling. "Ok, now you girls go upstairs and play in Stephanie's room." The two girls went upstairs. Stephanie had a feeling that Melanie was going to be a very good friend.