Simon transferred (转学) to the school which Jerry attended after his parents business closed down. Jerry had met Simon long before. After all, his mother once worked as the housekeeper in the large house that was Simon’s home. Since young Jerry had looked at all that Simon had with envy and anger. Jerry’s mother ensured that Jerry treated Simon’s family with politeness, unaware that each time she made him do so, her young son’s hatred increased.

Jerry was seen as the leader in class, being the captain of the school soccer team. The other students looked on him as their hero. When Simon transferred to the school, Jerry knew that it was payback time. He would show Simon that he was the superior one even without all the trappings of wealth. Thus,he always tried to ensure Simon was unwelcome in his class. He always said,“Sometimes, we have to treat people unkindly for their own good.”

One day, Jerry’s teammate ran to him with the message that his form teacher and soccer coach wanted to see him in the teachers’ office. Jerry ran to the teacher’s office. The expressions on the faces of his form teacher and coach worried him. He sat down quietly, hoping that the worst would not happen. He knew that he had not managed to get the minimum score required for a school athlete to remain in the school team. But he was confident that his superb performance in the soccer team would overcome all those poor results. The look on their faces showed that he was mistaken.

As he left the office, Jerry was upset. How was he to achieve the results required by the school before they would let him play in the game due to start in a month’s time? To catch up on all his schoolwork in a month was clearly impossible. His mother would never be able to afford a private teacher and he had no good friends who were capable of helping him.

Just then, Jerry saw Simon and he brightened up.

After a long stop, Simon’s voice rang out loud and clear.

The day of my big solo (独唱表演) had finally arrived. Everyone was there: my mom and dad and my little brother. It was a big event: the Spring Fling Choir Concert. My name was on the cover of the program. “Cindy Hamond … Soloist.” I couldn’t believe it. Not that it was my name, but that it wasn’t Renee Swanson’s.

Renee and I had been friends since kindergarten. She was always wherever I was and she was always ahead of me. Dance-class recital needs a big finish? Renee was picked. Softball? She played first base. And the school plays? Renee would have the leads. The only time I ever came in ahead of Renee was at roll call (点名). Hamond comes before Swanson. I count that as a victory.

The choir concert tryout was stressful for me. We waited while Ms. Jenkins called us one at a time into the choir room. When Ms. Jenkins got to the H’s, my heart sped up and my whole body was shaking. When I came back, Renee smiled at me. Ms. Jenkins called her name and Renee calmly followed her. She was still calm and smiling when her tryout was over.

When Ms. Jenkins announced who had made the special choir group, I wasn’t surprised when Renee’s name was on her list and mine wasn’t. “So,” I said under my breath, “what else is new?”

Sudden clapping came. Everyone was looking at me. I’ve missed something here, I thought. Ms. Jenkins looked at me, “Cindy, you will have to start practicing with me. The solos take extra preparation.” Solo? I got the solo? I could hardly believe my ears. I glanced over at Renee. She smiled and gave me the thumbs-up sign.

Now the day had come. we filed onto the stage and took our places. I was front and center. Ms. Jenkins raised her baton (指挥棒) and we began to sing. I could see my parents were smiling at me.

The spotlight circled me in its bright light. Ms. Jenkins nodded and pointed her baton at me, but I froze right there on the spot.

I couldn’t breathe, neither could I think, and worse still, I couldn’t sing.

The rest of the solo went well.

When I was seven years old, my family moved from Mexico to America. In Mexico, I was a cheerful girl who loved making people laugh with my jokes and inventing fun games to play with my friends. However, when I arrived in America, I found it hard to fit in, and I became quieter.

We lived in a small house with a modest yard where we grew vegetables—my responsibility. While I took pride in watching them grow, there were times when I dreamed of having a beautiful garden like my schoolmate Luella’s, with its delicate tulips (郁金香). Although Luella lived in the same neighborhood as me, we barely knew each other.

It was after a tornado that Luella and I finally became close friends.

The tornado struck on a Sunday afternoon.The gentle breeze transformed into a strong wind, and thick gray clouds filled the sky. Gradually, the tornado took shape, starting as a thin rope and growing into a large black funnel (漏斗). My entire family gathered in the bathroom, seeking shelter from the storm. Terrified, I sat close to my mom, knees in my chest. After the storm had passed, our worries and fears were replaced by relief that we were unharmed and that our house had remained undamaged.

As I stepped outside, I witnessed the extent of the damage the tornado had caused to our neighborhood. Across the street, a tall tree had fallen, crushing Luella’s garden in front of her yellow house. We hurried over to check on it. Fortunately, her family seemed to be away at the time, and no one was injured. However, her once-beautiful garden was in ruins, with the fallen tree destroying the tulips and debris (碎片) spread everywhere. I could only imagine how heartbroken they must feel seeing this.

Then my mom’s usual words rang in my ear, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” and my family started to think about how we could help.

Just at that moment, Luella’s family returned in their car.

Even after the debris was cleared, I could still sense Luella’s sorrow for her lost garden.