Mean No Harm (1)

At Merryridge High School, Hannah's three friends lived different lives from hers.

She dropped her bag in the locker, and armed with her paper bag lunch, she walked into the lunch hall and witnessed an unexpected exchange from a corner.

Brooke dropped her tray on the table they often shared and leaned in. “It's not normal,” she said to Tessa and Cole. “She’s always so calm, like nothing bothers. How's that?”

“It makes me mad,” Cole chipped in. “Who gets to be that happy with so little?”

Tessa's gaze shifted between the two. “Let's fix it,” Brooke said with a smug smile. “The school fair is Saturday and everyone will be there so we tell Hannah to sell her mother's bread at a booth. Then we make sure nobody buys and see if she will still be calm afterwards, yea?”

Cole laughed and high-fived Brooke who seemed pleased with her idea. Tessa placed down her fork and shook her head. “No.”

“Come on, Tess. We mean no harm. It's just a prank,” Cole said.

“It's cruel.” Her voice shook but she kept going. “She has never been unkind to us, why would you want to do that?”

Brooke rolled her eyes as Hannah approached the table with a smile. She dropped her paper bag and sat down. “Hey, guys.” Cole high-fived her.

“Brooke, are you okay?” Hannah asked, pulling out a fresh bread roll from her lunch bag. A small piece of paper slipped out and fell onto the floor. Brooke quickly bent down to pick it up. “What's this, Han?”

Hannah shrugged and held out her hand. “I totally forgot about that. It's a little note my mom tucks inside my lunch bag.”

“Give it back, Brooke,” Tessa snapped, her mouth full of chips.

Brooke ignored her and read aloud, “‘You are braver than you know,’ Awww, your mom's so cool. I wish my mom would tell me that too.”

Tessa winced, looking uncomfortable while Hannah blushed as she took the note from Brooke and folded it into her pocket. Cole kept his eyes fixed on his salad.

An awkward silence settled over them as Hannah quietly chewed her bread roll.

[To be continued]

I hope you enjoyed reading this short piece. It's inspired by the Freewrite #dailyprompt phrase "mean no harm”.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

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