Back to: CBSE 10th English Chapters Summary
The monitor of the class brought Miss Mason a note. Miss Mason became a little serious while reading the message. Upon an in-depth perusal, she clapped her hands and said, “Attention, class.”
The note was from Wanda’s dad. It stated that Wanda would not be coming to that school as other students bullied her for having a funny name. The whole class went silent. There was a vague tension among students. Miss Mason asked that she was sure the class would not deliberately bully someone to have an unfamiliar or long name.
It was a regrettable moment, and Miss Mason wanted the class to think about it.
During the study period, Maddie tried to concentrate on her studies but all in vain. There was a sense of regret deep down inside her heart. She felt guilty for teasing Wanda. She considered herself a coward because she could not speak in favor of Wanda in front of Peggy.
Maddie looked at Peggy, and she seemed to be studying hard. Maddie wanted Peggy to go with her and tell Wanda Petronski that she had won the contest. After the class ended, Maddie asked Peggy to come with her and see if Wanda had left the town, in a very casual way. Peggy approved the idea, they both went. Peggy thought Wanda was too dumb to acknowledge the fact that they had been making fun of her all the time.
Maddie wanted to apologize to Wanda for her actions. She never wanted her to leave school. Both reached Wanda’s house in Boggins Heights. It looked shabby and clean, just like Wanda’s dress. They found that the Petronskis had left. Peggy tried to clean herself of her actions. She told Maddie that Wanda got all the ideas for her dresses from her. Without Peggy, Wanda might not have won at all.
Maddie could not sleep that night. She thought about Wanda all night long. After a lot of thinking, she concluded that she would speak very firmly against bullies from that moment onward in her life, even if it leads to a fight between her and Peggy.
Maddie and Peggy spent the next day writing a letter to Wanda Petronski about how good her drawings were, also about the contest she had won. They mailed it to Boggins Heights. Days passed, and there was no answer. They thought that even if Wanda had received the letter, she was so angry that she would not reply.
Weeks passed, and no reply came. Peggy started to forget the whole thing while Maddie still thought of Wanda. She would spend her night making speeches about defending Wanda from Bullies.
It was Christmas; lights were everywhere. One day, the teacher showed everyone a letter she had just received from Wanda. She was in a new school now. She had a hundred new dresses in her new closet. She also gave Peggy her green dress with red trimmings and Maddie the blue dress. Wanda also wished everybody a merry Christmas.
Maddie and Peggy held their drawings very carefully. Peggy told Maddie that Wanda liked them a lot and it was her way of saying thank you for the letter. Maddie was sad because she knew that she would never see Wanda again. Maddie placed the drawing in her room. It beautified the space.
Maddie gazed at the drawing for a long time and came to know that it was her. She was astonished to see that Wanda had drawn her. She at once ran to Peggy’s house and asked her to check her drawing as well. As Maddie expected, it was Peggy in her picture too. Tears came from Maddie’s eyes every time she thought of Wanda.
Now Maddie was sure that Wanda loved them both. She thought of Wanda standing in that sunny spot looking at girls who made fun of her after she said, “Sure, a hundred of them, all lined up.”
