Magic Beans

“What are you doing?” Jessica approached me from the side. She nearly scared me to death but I played if off well. The last thing I needed was to give her any ammunition to use against me because Jessica and the other mean girls would have something else to tease me about. I decided not to ignore her this time for fear of being pushed in the lake again. I had to walk all the way home dripping wet with mud while John the cutest boy in town watched. I was humiliated. So she had my undivided attention.

"Hi Jessica" I signed heavily, barely looking up and said, “Nothing just sitting here”.

Jessica looked back at her friends with a smirk and said, “You look like you are playing with beans. Are you going to eat those beans skinny Penny?” Everyone around her snickered at the little elementary rhyme she made up last year. She was so immature for twelve. I imagined pushing her in the lake in front of all her friends but I quickly erased the thought from my mind because I heard her mom was a mind reader.

Every summer I visited my Nana in Lakeland, Florida. And every year I had to deal with Jessica the town terror. Jessica preyed on anyone smaller than her.  The kids in our age group were all twelve, but Jessica is the size of a 15 year old, in height and weight. She labeled me a social outcast on my first visit 3 years ago. Her faithful followers told me one day when she was away, she was jealous of me because I was little and cute and that John the town hunk noticed me right away. Which I thought was a lie because John is cute and well I am just me Penny Brownstone. The kids in this town never fail to disappoint and always manage to succeed at being mean.  I think its a town rule that in order to live here you have to mean to others otherwise you don't fit in. Well, I did not fit in. Jessica used me for target practice religiously to get  a rise from anyone that was around. Even the adults were scared of Jessica.  I heard from one of the neighborhood kids that Jessica's mom was a mind reader and controlled everyone in the town with her mind control super powers.  Unfortunately, I could not get my Nana to confirm it, she just smiled and said "If you put your mind to it Penny anything is possible." My ears heard 'Yes, Penny there is a such a thing as a mind reader so be careful."  Normally I did not believe in mumbo jumbo stuff like that but who was I to take a chance and go against the town mind readers daughter?

Today was the one time I had something they would appreciate or so I thought. I jumped to feet and leaned in towards Jessica with courage and said, “For your information Jessica, these are no ordinary beans. These are Magic beans and when I plant them they….”

Jessica and her faithful followers laughed before I could finish telling them about my magic beans. “Magic beans?” Chris laughed until tears began leak from her hideous eye sockets. “Are you serious? She hiccuped and spat because she was laughing uncontrollably. "Who, who are you Jack and the Beanstalk?" Jessica almost choked laughing so hard.
Tears immediately began to roll down my face and I walked towards my Nana’s house to get away from them all. I hated it here and wanted to go home. They followed me a good ways, laughing hysterically. Along the way, John appeared and he seemed very sympathetic but I am sure it was another trick. John smiled at me and my heart skipped a beat. He reached into his pocket, opened his fist and I was shocked to see his hand full of beans. They were the same as my beans, magic. We both smiled. He said, “Let’s go plant our beans!”

Jessica stopped laughing and  I looked back at the scowl on all their faces. She just stared with her mouth wide open. John and I walked towards the field to plant our beans.  Needless to say, when I returned the following summer, Jessica was gone to visit relatives and it turned out to be the best summer ever. Oh, and I heard from a reliable source that her mom did not have super powers arterial and none of the kids were afraid of her anymore. See my beans were magic after all!!!