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“Mom, this year for my birthday can we bring vanilla cupcakes to school?”
Donna frowns. “But you always bring corn muffins, honey!”
“I know,” says Kristen, whose ninth birthday is next Tuesday. “But I just thought – you know – that it’d be really fun to switch to cupcakes!” she says as non-chalantly as she can manage, but she makes her voice a little too high-pitched out of nervousness and her mom picks up on it.
“Oh, really?” Donna keeps her tone playful. “And why would you want to do that?”
“Because, um, because…” Thinking fast, Kristen makes up a reason on the fly. “Because everyone is bringing in a different flavor for their birthdays! D’leela brought in strawberry cupcakes for her birthday and Kellian brought in chocolate for his! I thought that it’d be cool to bring in vanilla.”
“But you love the corn muffins, baby!”
“Y-yeah… but I thought that the other kids might like vanilla a bit more. You know, I’m putting the others before me, just like Helio wants me to. …Yeah!”
The truth was that Kristen couldn’t stand hearing the kids in her class already complaining about having corn muffins for Kristen’s birthday again. They were starting to call her weird for how much she talked about Helio, and she was afraid of losing the few friends she had to those rumors. She had to get on the other kids’ good sides next week or she was definitely going to become an outcast. And yeah, sure, Helio was kind to and friends with the outcasts of society, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to become one! So she had chosen vanilla cupcakes because it was the least “outlandish” flavor and the one her mom would most likely agree to.
“Why Kristen, you’re giving up your beloved corn muffins just so the other kids can get what they want? That’s so sweet of you!”
“Helio teaches us to put the needs of others before our own, doesn’t he?” Kristen asks, trying to influence Donna.
“Hm. Yes, yes he does,” she says, tight-lipped. She hates it when her daughter cites scripture at her, because she always seems to quote the rules about helping poor people and being friendly towards heathens and pagans and such. She then plasters a smile on her face. “Very well, Kristen, I’ll make sure to get you what you want for your birthday!”
Her daughter’s face lights up. “Really, Mom?” She runs over to her and throws her arms around her mom’s neck in a tight hug. “Oh, thank you thank you thank you!”
Donna smiles. “Anything for my little pumpkin!”
This gets a giggle out of Kristen. “I’m not a pumpkin! I’m a person!”
“Whatever you say, pumpkin!”
~~~
It’s Tuesday and Kristen is full of nerves as lunchtime approaches; she’d promised everyone in class that morning that her mom was going to bring vanilla cupcakes. As the minutes tick down, the other kids start eyeing her with doubt, and she can hear whispers about “corn again,” but Kristen sits tall in her seat, watching the teacher write on the whiteboard while still keeping an eye on the door, anticipating her mom’s knock.
And there it is! Kristen flies out of her seat, and, smugly looking around the room, hurries to the door before the teacher realizes what is happening.
“Mom! You made it!”
“I certainly did! I was going to miss your birthday treat! I brought you exactly what you wanted!”
“Miss Applebees, please take your seat!” intones her teacher, and Kristen scampers back to her seat as the kids chuckle at her for getting called out. Her teacher takes the plastic container full of cupcakes from Donna and thanks her for dropping them off.
Donna smiles cherubically and waves at Kristen from the doorway. “Happy birthday, pumpkin! Have fun!” she calls before heading back to the car so she can return to work.
Once Donna is gone, Kristen’s teacher sighs good-naturedly. “Alright, Kristen. Since everyone’s worked up, why don’t you come and help me hand out the cupcakes?”
“Yeah!” She zips up to the teacher’s desk and pops the top off of the cupcake container. She freezes. It’s full of corn muffins; not a single cupcake in sight.
“Um…”
“Do you want me to pass out the cupcakes while you pass out the napkins?” offers her teacher.
“Um… I…” Kristen bolts from the room to the shouts of her teacher and races outside just in time to catch her mom ducking back into the family car.
“MOM!”
Donna pauses. “Oh, Kristen, pumpkin, what’s up?”
“Mom… why did you bring corn muffins?”
“Well, if everyone’s bringing a different flavor for their birthday, I figured that ‘corn’ is a unique flavor that no one else will bring! Besides, it’s your favorite, and I figured that it’s your birthday, so you should get your favorite, not what other kids want!”
Hot tears well up in Kristen’s eyes as her face reddens and crinkles up. She sniffles.
“Oh, pumpkin, it’s okay! Don’t worry about what the others want! It’s your birthday!”
“You ruined everything!” Kristen shouts, tears streaming down her face. She turns on her heel and dashes away back into the school building and runs to the bathroom, locking herself in a stall and sobs.
A few minutes later, the school loudspeaker crackles to life. “Kristen Applebees, please report to the principal’s office immediately.”
She wipes her eyes and blows her nose with some toilet paper and then trudges to the office. There, she finds her mom and teacher waiting for her, her teacher stern and mother confused.
“Kristen, I will not have you running out of my classroom like that!” scolds her teacher.
“Sorry…” she mumbles, looking down at her feet.
Donna drops to her knees and hugs Kristen. “Pumpkin, what do you mean I ruined everything?”
“I wa-wanted va-vanilla cupcaaaakes!” she wails. “Now I’ll get called ‘corn girl’ because I never bring in anything normal!”
“Pumpkin, corn muffins are normal!”
“Only at church! No one here does it! Why couldn’t you just listen!?”
Donna’s mouth sets in a line, not liking the tone of her daughter. “I did what I thought you wanted! You should be grateful!”
“I wanted cupcakes!”
Donna huffs impatiently. “I don’t have time for this meltdown, Kristen. I need to return to work. We’re going to talk about this with your father later.” She turns to the teacher. “I’m sorry, but I must go. Thank you, and good-bye.”
She stands up and leaves Kristen sobbing again in the office.
Kristen’s teacher sighs. “Sorry, Kristen, but we need to get back to the classroom and pass out those… muffins. I’m sure they’re good!”
“They’re re-really delicious… but they’re not c-cupcakes!”
“I know, kiddo… I know.” The teacher guides Kristen back to the room with a gentle hand on her back. “Do you want to sit at your desk and I’ll hand them out?”
She nods, sniffling some more and wiping her nose with the back of her arm.
“Okay.”
Kristen returns to her seat and buries her head in her arms, hiccuping as she has cried herself out.
“Alright, class, Kristen’s not feeling well so I’m going to pass these out. Let’s be nice to her, alright?”
Her teacher begins passing out napkins and the muffins, and after they drop off the fifth muffin, the whispers start.
“It’s muffins again.”
“Ick, it’s corn.”
“Corn girl strikes again!”
“I don’t want one!”
And then, as the whispers carry across the room… “Booooo! Down with corn!”
“Boo!”
“Booo!” others chorus, and Kristen curls in on herself more.
“Hey! No ‘booing’ the corn muffins!” calls out the teacher.
The room snickers.
“Teacher, I don’t want mine!” calls out a girl next to Kristen.
“Me neither!” says another student.
Soon the whole room is clamoring “No corn! No corn!” and the teacher is at a loss for words.
“...Okay… I’ll just leave the box up here at my desk, and anyone who wants one can come get it. It’s time for lunch, anyway.”
With those words, the bell for lunch sounds and the kids swarm out of the class. Kristen feels something pelt her in the back of the head, and watches out of the corner of her eye as a corn muffin drops on the floor by her feet. A giggle floats by as the kids rush past her. She then feels something small drop by her hands on her desk. She notices crumbs all over her desk now, and when she sits up, more crumbs cascade down her hair and into her shirt. More giggles and whispers. “Corn for the corn girl.”
The kids leave, heading towards the cafeteria and leaving Kristen all alone. She sighs and places her head back on the desktop. What a miserable birthday, and she has an upset mom to look forward to when she gets home. No place is safe for her today.
“Um…” comes a small voice from behind her.
“What do you want?” she moans, voice muffled from the desk.
“Can I have another muffin?”
“Why, so you can throw it at me?”
“No… they’re good. And, um… Mom forgot my lunch.”
Kristen sits up and turns around to see a little goblin boy looking eagerly at her.
She sighs. “Help yourself.”
“Awesome!” She watches as the goblin hurries over to the teacher’s desk and shoves a whole muffin in his mouth, snarfing it down with loud, joyous bites.
“...You really want to eat them?” she asks, incredulous.
“Yeah! Like I said, Mom forgot my lunch and I’m starving!”
She looks over the small child; he’s so small and skinny he looks like he hasn’t eaten in a week and should be in a class two grades below her. “Thanks for liking them. They’re really good, huh?”
“Yeff!” he agrees, mouth full.
“...What was your name again? Sorry.”
He swallows. “It’s alright. Most kids ignore me, anyway. My name’s Riz!”
“Hi, Riz, I’m Kristen. Thanks for liking my muffins.”
“Nice to meet you, Kristen, and happy birthday!”
She smiles. “Thanks.”