The_Pansy

"As usual, this is as good as it's gonna get," sighed Sandry Dickens to her mirror. She was sighing over her looks, or rather, lack of them. Her shoulder-length, mousy brown hair was almost sticking straight out from her head, giving the appearence that a puffball had attached itself to her hair. Her school uniform was in army colours, and made her look like a cow. And Sandry had just gotten the world's biggest zit on the end of her nose.
"Sandry! Are you almost done?" hollared her mom. "You're going to miss your bus!"
"Coming!" Sandry replied. With one last look at her mirror, she hurried down to her mom.
"Hello honey," said Mom. "I didn't have any turkey left for your sandwich, so I gave you some delicious ham!"
"Great," said Sandry, without any enthusiasim. Then, under her breath, "I hate ham!"
"What did you say dear?"
"Nothing Mom. Buh bye!" Sandry waved to her mom. Slowly, she made her way to the bus stop.
And there, just as Sandry had known, was Sara Lee.
"Why, hello Sandraline," Sara Lee said in a sickenly sweet voice. "How are you?"
Sandry stiffened at the use of her real name. "Number one, my name is Sandry. Number two, why should you care how I feel?"
"You're right," replied Sara Lee. "I don't care." And with that said, she flounced over to her prissy friends.
So, Sandry had to wait for the bus by herself. She prayed no one would sit beside her and God must have been listening, because nobody did.
When Sandry got to school, she franticly searched for her friend Virginia, who had also been cursed with a weird name. Sandry couldn't find her, and assumed she was sick.
"Great," Sandry thought to herself. "Now I have to get through this rotten day by myself."
As she walked into school, Theo came to greet her.
"Hey Sandry!" Theo said. "Did you finish your half of the Sci project?"
"Why? It's not due 'til Monday."
"Sandry!!" Theo roared. "It's due TODAY!! How could you forget?"
Before Theo could yell at her any longer, the bell rang for class to start. As she walked into class, Sandry felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Today was not her day.
"Good morning class," said Mr. Andrews. "I hope you all completed your Science projects. Remember it will be worth half of your mark this term. Sandraline, Theo, would you like to go first?"
"Actually sir," said Sandry. "I'd rather go last."
"Well Sandraline, you don't have much choice. Now please."
Teachers must have the special ability to single out who didn't do their work, and call on them, thought Sandry. She walked to the front of the class, feeling much like Marie Antoinnette must have felt walking to her death. Sandry would probably end up the same way too.
She could see it now, as clear as day. A tombstone in a creepy cemetary, with an inscription;

Sandraline Dickens
Killed by her Science Teacher
For not doing her homework
We will remember her always.

Theo nudged her, bringing her back to the world of the living, for now at least.
He began their study on the solar system, giving a detailed essay on the first four planets.
"And now, your turn Sandry," said Theo. And then, just to her, "Make something up!"
Nervously, Sandry stared at the class. "Umm... Jupiter is really big, Saturn has rings, Uranus and Neptune are blue, and..." She paused, unable to remember the last one. "The other one is really small, the end," she concluded. Theo was smacking his head beside her.
"Sandraline," boomed Mr. Andrews' big voice. "Did you do any research at all?"
"Ummm... Must I answer?"
"I will accept no pertness from you young lady. Return to your seat."
"Yes sir," was Sandry's reply. She walked back to her desk, with tears brimming in her eyes, as the rest of the class laughed.
The rest of the day went downhill from there.
Sandry had forgotten they had a French test, and had barely passed.
Her ham sandwich made her throw up, giving the rest of the class another reason to laugh at her, not to mention that she smellt like ham for the rest of the day. And Theo wouldn't even look at her.
Having decided to skip the bus earlier, Sandry waited for the light
to change. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something purple amidst the dull gray of the concrete.
Sandry bent closer, and discovered it was a pansy, her favourite flower. It's delicate, violet petals were opened to the sun. That little pansy wasn't very big , and it certainly didn't fit in with the concrete. But it was beautiful all the same. It had had to strive to reach the surface, and it had succeeded.
Sandry stood a little taller, felt a little better, and whistled on the way back home.