"Hey, Freak!"

I watched as Danny Fenton turned around when Dash Baxter called out.

This was the normal routine each day. Danny would come to school, Dash would tease and hurt him, and Danny would just stand there and take it, not even attempting to fight back.

And I had to watch it every day.

I sighed. "Someday, I'm going to put a stop to this," I muttered.

And then, I had an idea.

XxX

"Today," I announced once every student was seated. "We're going to mix things up a bit. I've got two apples here." I held out two apples in front of the class. "Now, what the's difference."

"One's green and one's red," someone shouted out.

"Yes. Now," I took a knife I had set on my desk for the lesson and peeled the skin off each apple. "Now, which was the red one and which was the green one?"

No one answered.

"The answer: It doesn't matter. Whatever was on the outside isn't important after you find out what's on the inside. That experiment was an opening to today's lesson. Today, we are going to be learning about seregation. How many of you here have heard of it?"

All hands shot up like lightning, and I smiled mentally. This lesson was going well already.

"Good, now, who can tell me what it is?"

All hands were pulled down.

"All right, then. I guess I'll have to choose myself," I scanned the room, as if trying to decide who to choose, but I already had one student in mind.

"Danny," I said after awhile, staring at the teenage boy in the first row. His face grew pale and he looked tense, and he looked around the room nervously. "Uh..."

"It was when the African Americans were treated badly and stuff because their skin color was... well, different." He slowly answered after awhile.

"Good. And what kinds of 'stuff" would happen to them? Dash?" I shifted my gaze to the blonde-haired jock in the second row.

"Um... white people would make black people sit at the back of the bus, eat at different restaurants, go to different schools, and use different bathrooms." he suggested.

"Yes, Dash. In other words, they would treat nice people badly just because they were different."

Some people nodded their heads in agreement.

"And was that a nice thing to do?"

A chorus of "no"'s echoed through the classroom."

"And it's not just skin color, either," I continued. "Aside from race, there's religion, gender, een things that happen in high school! Say, the 'populars' and the so-called 'nerds' or 'geeks'. They's treated lesser by not being invited to parties, or not being included in clubs, anything you can think of. If someone's different in any way, any way at all, someone will find out what it is and take it the wrong way."

The class looked around the room at eachother (mostly those who had braces, glasses, stuff like that) and looked a little nervous.

"Tucker!" I looke dat the techno-geek next to Danny. "Name something different about someone in this class."

Tucker looked around. "Erm, Paulina's hispanic. The only hispanic girl in class, actually." He suggested.

"Paulina, your turn."

"Sam always dresses in black and is obsessed with creepy-crawly stuff, and really needs to grow out her hair."

Sam rolled her eyes at her. "It's called Goth. And I'm very proud of it, too."

"See?" I asked. "Everyone here is different in some way. And-" I stopped when I saw Tucker waving his hand in the air and clenching his jaw. He looked sort of constipated, now that I think about it...

"Yes, Tucker?" I sighed.

"I've got a really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really good one!!!" He shouted.

"Yes?"

He pointed to his right with his thumb. "Danny's got totally awesome super powers!" (Danny banged his head on the table about as many times that Tuck had said "really")

"Um... yes," I agreed. "You're right, and that makes him different. Now, back to what I was going to say- If anyone here is treated anyone badly, then I'd appreciate it if you'd consider what you're doing before you do it." I did my best not to look at Dash while I said that.

"Are we clear?"

The class nodded. And, it wasn't one of those "I'm gonna nod just to get this dang teacher off my back" nods. It was a sincere nod. Like they had actually understood what I said.

And it made me proud to know I had just done one more good deed for my students.

________________________

OK, so I wrote this in school. It's not my best work, but it was eating me from the inside out and wouldn't stop until I wrote it. Anyway, I always look forward to learning about segregation and slavery because I find it interesting how things were back awhile ago and cruel people were. Oh, and I think I typed 100 "really"s. =) Thanks for reading!