You would not believe the amount of fuss that was made. A trip to hospital for me (I woke up in the ambulance), and a bad fright for Mum, when a garbled message reached her at work. She thought I had actually been run over. She ordered a taxi and rushed to the hospital, where I was sitting with my feet up watching “Neighbours”.
The bus company sent a letter to the school, saying children at bus stops should be kept under control. They also pointed out that if the bus driver hadn’t reacted so quickly, “a fatality might have resulted”. In other words, my story would have ended right here.
The head teacher, Miss Green, read the letter to the whole school. “And I want to see Denise, Emily, Rose, Rachel and Charlotte in my office, straight after assembly.”
She gave us a long lecture. Then she took us outside and made us look at the skid marks in the road. Two long black snakes, ending just where my head had been lying… I felt a bit sick.
“Denise, come back to my office please. The rest of you can go to your classroom – for now.”
Oh, help! Now what? Even more trouble?
She sat me down and said quite kindly, “Now, Denise, I know you haven’t had an easy time since you joined this school. I know you and Emily don’t exactly get on.”
She paused and looked at me expectantly. I said nothing.
“I’d like you to tell me what happened that afternoon at the bus stop.”
Suddenly I realised that this was my chance to drop Emily right in it. She pushed me, miss, she pushed me right in front of the bus. She wanted to kill me…
Somehow I couldn’t say it. After all it wasn’t true, was it? She had hit me, but she hadn’t pushed me off the pavement. And she wouldn’t have hit me if I hadn’t said those things about her dad.
And then I remembered something: Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.
I had forgotten all about it. At the bus stop, when Emily said things that hurt me, all I thought of was getting back at her. Why hadn’t I kept my big mouth shut? I could have said nothing at all – like Jesus did when people mocked him and hurt him.
“Well?” said Miss Green. “Don’t be afraid. Just tell me what happened.”
I swallowed hard. “We had an argument. She said some things; I said some things. She hit me, and I stepped back and then I fell off the kerb. It was an accident, really…”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded.
“The reason I’m asking is because a man who was passing said that one of the girls pushed you over – actually pushed you in front of the bus.”
“No, Miss Green. It wasn’t like that.”
“All right. But next time someone starts any trouble, you must come and tell me at once. Remember that.”
Suddenly I imagined her as Superman, swooping down to the rescue, glasses gleaming and cardigan flying. “Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s SUPER-HEAD! Pow! Zap!”
“Thank you, Denise, you can go now. Ask Mrs Bell to send Emily here, will you please?”
***
I never did find out what Miss Green said to Emily, but it must have been pretty bad. She kept out of my way for ages.
Eventually all the fuss died down. My bruises faded and so did the skid marks in the road. Nothing was left… except the memory of Emily’s face just before she hit me. What I said had really got to her, hadn’t it?
“It’s not true! It’s a load of rubbish!”
In that case, Emily, why get so upset?