By: Brady Cheng

One day there was a little girl named Frank. Frank liked her name and did not want to change it. She asked her mother why she named her that, and her mother responded by saying that she looked like a Frank. Frank did not know what she was talking about, and ignored her.

When Frank turned 5, she went to kindergarten. Frank was worried that someone would bully her because of her name. Her mother reassured her that nothing would go wrong on her first day and kissed her on the cheek. Frank found her classroom, and she sat politely at her desk while the teacher called out their names.

“Frank McCraken?” she called.

Frank timidly raised her hand. The students began to chuckle. The teacher also covered her mouth, hiding a smile. The students then fully began to laugh. Frank turned red, embarrassed. She ran to the bathroom and hid in there.

“What are you doing here?” a girl asked her.

“Hiding,” Frank replied.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because of my name. It’s Frank,” she added.

“Hi, I’m Marissa. Do you want to be my friend?” the girl asked.

“Sure,” Frank sniffled.

Marissa was a girl that everyone liked. Everyone wanted to be her friend, but Marissa refused. She didn’t like being popular and wanted a quiet friend like Frank. Everyone was jealous of Frank, and nobody teased her anymore.

One day in seventh grade, Marissa moved away to California.

“Thank you for being my friend,” Frank told Marissa before she left for California.

Even though Marissa had moved to another town, Frank was popular in her school and had lots of friends. But none of her new friends were as nice as Marissa, and Frank missed her a lot.

One day in tenth grade, there was a new girl in Frank’s school. Frank decided to meet her, and the new girl turned out to be Marissa. They hugged each other and reunited. They both studied for the SATs together, and they went to the same college.