CHAPTER 1

If you had told Anna that today would change her perspective of the world, she would have thought you were crazy. I mean, how could she have known? The day started as it always did; she woke up, made herself breakfast, and hurried over to the bus station. The bus, as always, arrived late."Typical,” Anna whispered to herself. Anna got on the bus and sat down. Today seemed to be her lucky day. The bus, which normally was overcrowded, had an empty seat. The door was just about to close when a pregnant woman boarded the bus.

Anna guessed she was about 8 months along. She had a tired expression on her face. The woman looked around the full bus, then, with a hopeful expression, she looked at the people seated; everybody avoided her gaze. Anna had thought somebody would offer their seat. I guess society was more doomed than she thought. When she finally arrived at school, she said hello to her friends and started to head to class.

That was when she saw a fellow classmate of hers pick up a 20-dollar bill off the floor. Anna saw him wave it around to his friends; she also heard him saying how he was going to buy a bunch of candy at the cafeteria with it. "Somebody should tell him that’s not right,” she thought, then walked away. When the bell rang, everybody ran to the cafeteria. Today was pizza day, and nobody wanted to miss out on the pizza; it was the only good food on the menu. When she got her pizza, she went and sat with her friends. That's when she noticed a couple of kids hysterically laughing. Anna and her friends looked over to see what was so funny. She saw a kid praying with his eyes closed. The boys were laughing at him for praying before he ate his meal. The kid, clearly embarrassed, stopped mid-prayer and quietly ate his food. “That’s just wrong,” Anna told her friends, "Somebody should do something” . That evening Anna stayed late for volleyball practice; as a result, she missed the bus, which was frustrating, but it was only a 10-minute walk, so she would live.

While she was walking, she passed a little bakery; she had only been there a few times. The two things she remembered were that the pastries were okay, the donuts were too sweet, and that the owner was crude. Mr. Russo was an old, ex-military guy. Anna thought it was funny; the guy couldn’t be more different than his sweet and sugary pastries. Anna heard yelling in the bakery, and even though she shouldn't have, she began to eavesdrop on all the chaos that was happening inside. Through the window, she could see a couple; they both had dark skin and an offended look on their faces. "I don’t serve your kind here,” yelled Mr. Russo. "My kind! "What do you mean by my kind?" the woman yelled. "You know exactly what I mean,” said Mr. Russo. "You can't discriminate against us; it’s the law,” said the man. "And what are you going to do about that?” mocked Mr. Russo. "The couple, clearly in disbelief, walked out of the bakery. "Well, definitely not buying there again,” said Anna, continuing her walk.

That night Anna couldn’t sleep, which was a normal occurrence, but she felt guilty. She didn’t even know what she felt guilty about; she didn't insult anybody today, not even to their back. Anna thought about her day—about the pregnant lady, the kid who grabbed the money off the floor, the kid who was praying, and the couple who couldn’t buy overly sweet donuts from Mr. Russo. She kept thinking about how nobody helped them; nobody had the guts to stand up for them. “You could have stood up for them,” said a voice in her head. "I just thought somebody else would help,” she argued back. "That's what everybody else thinks, while you are all just watching”. Anna had the realization that she could have done something, but instead of helping, she stood there like a coward, just watching. She decided to do something about that.

CHAPTER 2

Anna woke up with a new sense of purpose. The day started as it always did; she made herself breakfast and made her way to the bus station. Like the day before, when there was only one seat left, Anna took it. A couple minutes later, the pregnant lady showed up. She looked around the bus for an open seat. Anna stood up and offered her seat. The woman was so thankful that she gave Anna a five-dollar bill. When she arrived at school, she said hello to her friends and went to find the boy who had grabbed the money off the ground. She found him sitting under a tree. "Hey, I saw that you grabbed 20 dollars off the floor yesterday,” said Anna. "Yeah, I did,” said the boy. "Well, I think you should return it,” said Anna. “And why should I do that?” replied the boy. "Because what if somebody lost that money and now can’t buy lunch, or they had to pay for something and now can't?” said Anna. The boy, who now looked ashamed, said, "Well, I never thought of it like that; okay, I will go take it to the office".

When lunch time came she saw the boy who was praying yesterday, just as he was going to take a bite out of his food Anna told him “ Hey why don’t you sit with my friends and me?” “ Really?” replied the boy “Really” said Anna. The boy sat with Anna and her friends. “ If you want you should pray, we won’t make fun of you” said Anna “ Thank you very much” said the boy, then started to pray.