As soon as the bell rang, kicking the school day off, Ms. Tanney greeted us and asked us all to stand to recite the Pledge. Normally I was a quiet kid, the shy one who didn’t raise her hand often to participate, even though I usually knew most of the answers to the teacher’s questions. Today, though, when Ms. Tanney asked for a volunteer to lead the Pledge of Allegiance, I raised my hand.

When she saw me, she was quick to call my name and didn’t hide her surprise. I held my head up high as I went to the front of the classroom, hoping she would notice how cute my shirt was. She gave me a warm smile and nodded encouragingly.

Magnolia raised her hand to volunteer every single day, but Ms. Tanney was the nicest teacher and made sure everyone got a turn. Magnolia sat in the front row, and today I could hear her voice reciting louder than everyone, as if she couldn’t stand for anyone other than her to be the leader. I didn’t let it sway me from my job though. I knew the Pledge like a pro and even knew what all the words meant. And I wasn’t about to let anything darken my new-shirt mood.

After the Pledge, Ms. Tanney read us the announcements, then said, “Okay, class. It’s time for reading circle. Everyone find a place on the rug.”

While we all made our way to the back of the classroom, where there was a rug with a bunch of colorful circles on it, the teacher went to her desk. I was heading to my favorite circle, a bright yellow one on the right side, near the windows, when Magnolia came up beside me.

“New shirt, Chloe?” she asked loudly enough that all the kids around her could hear.

I turned to her, grabbing the bottom hem and glancing down at my teddy bear. “Mm-hmm,” I said proudly.

As soon as my gaze switched to her face, my smile faded because her expression was… not friendly. Not at all.

With a sneer, she said, “It looks like your mom sewed it out of scraps.” She drew the word scraps out, as if that was as gross as dog poop, and then she glanced at the gang of pretty girls around her. They all laughed.

Shame burned hot inside of me, even though I didn’t understand, not really, why the shirt I’d been so excited about was something to laugh at. I did understand that the laughs were not in a nice way.

Shattered, embarrassed, I diverted my path and sat on the circle closest to me, a stupid, ugly gray one. I didn’t care about my stupid circle anyway.