“Let me copy!” a voice whispered behind Carlos who was
currently bent over his test, concentrating on the next question. Carlos knew
it was Marc, the new boy who had just transferred from another school. Carlos
had seen the boy bullying smaller kids on the playground. Carlos looked to the
front of the room at Mrs. Potter behind her seat to see if she had heard. “Let
me copy!” Marc repeated, a little louder this time.
Carlos didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to get caught
cheating on a test. That resulted in an immediate F and a call home and
probably a write up! On the other hand, he didn’t want to make Marc angry at
him. Marc was bigger than most of the kids in the 4th grade, and
while Marc wasn’t usually scared of bullies, he didn’t really want to get mixed
up into any trouble with anyone.
Carlos sat thinking of what to do. Suddenly he felt a sharp
jab in his back. “You heard me! Let me copy!” Carlos looked again at Mrs.
Potter, sure she’d heard this time. She hadn’t. Mrs. Potter was still bent over
her desk, grading papers or doing some other work. Carlos cupped his hand to
his mouth and turned a little so Marc would hear behind him. “No,” he whispered
harshly. “She’ll catch us!”
“You better,” Marc whispered back, “or I’ll get you.” Carlos
knew Marc would say something like that. Now he really didn’t know what to do.
Should he tell? Should he risk it and cheat just to keep Marc from bullying
him, too? It annoyed Carlos that instead of focusing on the test, he had to
focus on this new problem.
Marc suddenly poked Carlos in the back again. “Let me cheat
or I’ll—“. He didn’t finish his sentence because Mrs. Potter spoke up then, and
Carlos looked with dismay to see her glaring at both him and Marc. “Is there a
problem back there, boys? Carlos, are you two talking about the test?”Carlos’ blood ran cold. He didn’t want to be a tattle tale,
but he also wanted Marc to leave him alone.
“No, ma’am,” Carlos said, quietly.
“He just accidentally kicked my chair and said he was sorry.” Carlos’ face
burned red with the shame of the lie. “Mrs. Potter, can I sit at the table in
the back and finish my test so that Marc will have more room?”“Of course, Carlos,” she said with a smile. “That’s very
thoughtful of you.”
Carlos immediately jumped up, grabbed his pencil
and test paper and stole a quick glance at Marc as he walked by, but he
couldn’t read the expression on Marc’s face. Was he angry at him for not
cheating? Was he relieved because Carlos hadn’t told on him? He couldn’t tell.
With a shrug, he walked to the back table, sat down and finished his test.
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