All day, Abby kept thinking about what she could have said that would make a big boy like Jack cry. It seemed almost absurd. What about after her speech—was Jack jealous of all the attention she got afterwards? No, that couldn’t be it. No matter what Abby thought the cause was, it didn’t seem to be right.

Abby was quiet all day. Mr. and Mrs. Perce noticed something was wrong with their daughter but didn’t say anything. They were waiting for her to blurt it out. After all, Abby couldn’t hold something in herself for long.

Mr. and Mrs. Perce waited and waited but Abby didn’t say anything she just kept stirring her soup, picking up the spoon every few seconds, then putting it down and stirring again.

Finally, Mrs. Perce got tired of the silence

“I didn’t put any peas in the soup, if that’s what you’re looking for,” Mrs. Perce said.

Abby stopped stirring and made a face. She hated peas and would usually pick them out of her food, but she wasn’t looking for peas—she was looking for answers. Abby sighed and went back to stirring.

“I said something to a boy that I think made him cry.” Abby’s parents looked at each other then at their daughter. Then back at each other they seemed to be having some secret conversation that grown ups have when kids are around.

“Well, did you want to upset him?” Mrs. Perce said when Abby had finally finished her soup.

“No, I just wanted to give him some good advice, but it looks like I hurt his feelings, which I honestly never wanted to do.”

“Well, sometimes we can hurt someone’s feelings without knowing it,” Mrs. Perce said, giving Abby some dessert. “Make up with your friend, I’m sure you’ll be laughing together soon.”

Abby was about to mention that the “friend” was the school’s top bully that probably wanted to turn her into mincemeat but she decided to keep that minor detail to herself.

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The next day at recess, Abby kept thinking about what her parents said about apologizing to Jack. The very thought about apologizing to him made her feel sick but then again she wanted to get this feeling off her shoulders — this feeling of making someone feel bad.

Abby was quiet all recess. Sophie noticed how thoughtful Abby looked, and being a best friend, she asked what was wrong.

“I think I made Jack cry yesterday,” Abby said in response to her question.

Sophie was about to laugh at this news. After all, she had known Jack for a long time and had never seen him cry. But when she saw how worried Abby looked, she changed her mind.

“Are you sure you saw him cry?” Sophie questioned.

“Yes,” Abby responded. “I’m positive I saw him cry. But then again, I might have been wrong,” she said as she started to pace. “I’ve never made someone cry before.”

Abby stopped pacing to pick up some yellow chalk by her foot. Sophie put her foot down on the ground to stop the swing she was on.

“I’ve known Jack for three years, and I have never seen him cry. No wonder you’re acting so strange”

“Strange?” Abby repeated. “What makes you think I’m acting strange?”

Sophie smiled. “Well, for one thing,” Sophie said, “You’re about to eat that piece of chalk.”

Abby looked down. Indeed the yellow piece of chalk that had once been by her foot was now in her hand raised to her mouth. With a loud “Eek!” Abby dropped the chalk and started laughing.

She laughed even harder when Sophie picked another piece of chalk and started to talk in a very bad French accent.

Oh, the chalk—it is so tender, like in Paris.”

Abby laughed and laughed then Sophie joined her. Together they laughed for a while, then the bell rang.

With all that laughing, Abby almost forgot about her problem with Jack, almost.