‘The second way,’ said her dad, ‘is to stand tall. You don’t stoop to her level, and you don’t fight back. You stand tall and act with pride, because in the long run, a bully will trip herself up. The other kids will see soon enough who is the better friend.’

‘That’s it?’ said Zoe, unimpressed. ‘That’s my secret plan? To be nice? I just hang around waiting for Isabelle to get bored of being mean?’

‘Yep,’ said her dad. ‘It won’t be easy, though.’

‘No kidding,’ said Zoe. ‘I don’t think it will work at all.’

‘Oh, it will work. Don’t worry about that. You might not think so, but being kind and treating people with respect is very powerful.’

Zoe looked at her dad. He looked completely serious. He wasn’t joking.

‘I don’t think I can do it, Dad,’ she said, at last. ‘I’m so angry with her, I don’t want to be kind.’

‘I know,’ said her dad, kissing her. ‘But you’re a terrific kid, Zoe. You’ll do the right thing. Now come outside, say sorry to your brother and you can have some dessert.’

The next day was Friday, and Zoe tried hard to remember what her dad had said. She tried to think calm, kind thoughts. She imagined Isabelle’s mean comments just pinging off her, as if she were bulletproof.

Sticks and stones, she thought. Words can never hurt me.

But when she saw Isabelle standing in a group with Iris, her heart skipped a beat and she felt afraid.

Nobody will be on my side, she thought. They all want to be Isabelle’s friend. What’s the point of standing tall if you still end up with no-one to play with?

She bit her lip and walked toward them.

Oh, well, she thought. Here goes nothing…

‘Hi, Iris,’ she said. ‘Hi, Isabelle.’

‘Hi, Zoe,’ said Iris, smiling.

‘Iris, we have to organise the skipping semi-finals at recess,’ said Isabelle, as if she hadn’t heard Zoe speak.

‘How is the contest going?’ asked Zoe, determined to be friendly.

‘Look, Zoe,’ said Isabelle. ‘Iris and I are very busy. Please don’t interrupt our conversation again.’

Zoe gasped. How could she keep on being nice to such a mean girl? Her dad wanted her to stand tall, but Zoe felt as though she were shrinking inside.