Chapter 4 of 6 – Blake was filled with fury. You could have cut the tension between his parents with a knife. They yelled at each other half the night, as Blake lay trembling and angry in his room. At school, he felt the need to vent that anger on some of the other students.
Click here to return to ‘Story chapters 1-6 links: Angry Blake’ to see the previous chapters in this story.
Chapter 4: Blake & Alicia
It was lunchtime. Alicia stood at her locker, putting her textbooks and other school supplies away. As she reached for her lunch money, Blake came rushing up.
Suddenly, he stopped short and smiled in grim satisfaction. Remembering how successful his previous words had been with Diane, he snapped, “Hey, you Ugly Moron! You’re such a Pimple Face! You’re all covered with zits! Why don’t you go put your head in a bag so we don’t have to see how gross you are?!"
In a matter of seconds, Alicia too has a bunch of voices going through her head.
Her FIGHT OR FLIGHT Instinct Voice said, “Warning! Warning! You just got called a bunch of horrible names. It’s time for action!”
Alicia wondered, “What kind of action?”
Her FIGHT OR FLIGHT Instinct Voice said, “You can try to FIGHT him in some way, or you can choose some form of the FLIGHT option.”
Alicia asked, “Which should I do, FIGHT OR FLIGHT?”
Alicia’s Inner Little Kid voice said, “Well! He called you a bunch of horrible names. You should do something. He’s mean!”
Alicia’s Inner Grown-Up or Inner Wisdom voice said, “Wait! Think for a moment. Are any of those names true about you?”
Alicia said, “No! They’re not! Besides, I only have two zits – one on my chin and one on my forehead.”
Alicia’s Inner Little Kid voice said, “You see! He’s not being fair!”
Alicia’s Inner Grown-Up or Inner Wisdom voice said, “Think for a moment! You know this is probably his way of just crying out for more love! Why don’t you calmly and kindly ask him if he’s having a bad day? You could even ask him if he would like to talk about whatever is making him so angry.”
Alicia’s Inner Little Kid voice said, “Don’t be nice to him! He doesn’t deserve it!”
Alicia’s Inner Grown-Up or Inner Wisdom voice said, “Both of you, listen! It’s the smarter way to FIGHT back. Have you ever heard the expression, ‘Kill him with kindness?’ Well, don’t kill him. But try a little kindness and see if it works."
Alicia took a deep, calming breath. Then she kindly and calmly asked, “Hey, Blake! It sounds like you must be having a bad day. Do you want to talk about it?”
Blake’s mouth fell open in confused surprise. This was not the hurt or angry reaction he was expecting at all. Instead, Alicia almost sounded like his words didn’t even touch her. What’s more, she actually sounded like she cared what happened to him.
Slowly, he closed his mouth and thought for awhile. Then he opened his mouth and finally said, “Well, actually, it’s been one of the worst days of my life. Everything has been going wrong!”
Alicia said, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Blake said, “Well, uh, …, maybe. Yeah, …, I guess. Um, .., well, um, …, my parents are getting a divorce. That really stinks!”
Alicia said, “Oh, I’m so sorry! That is hard! Are you going to have to choose who you want to live with?”
Blake said, “I’m not sure yet! They haven’t told me how that’s going to work.”
Alicia responded, “Wow! That does sound confusing and hard. Maybe you could go talk to a guidance counselor about it.”
Blake kind of frowned. Then he shrugged and said, “Maybe! Well, uh, …, I better get on to lunch.”
Alicia asked, “Do you mind if I walk with you, Blake? I’m heading in that direction too.”
Blake nodded. Neither of them talked much. But they did kind of smile a bit as they parted to go to different lunch lines. As Alicia headed off to the Hot Lunch Line, she called out to Blake, “I hope your day gets much better! Talk to you later!”
Blake kind of waved as he headed off to the Deli Line. He actually felt a bit lighter, all due to Alicia’s kindness. Lunch tasted good, and he had a pretty good time sitting and talking with some of his friends.
Click here to read Chapter 5 of 6 – Angry Blake
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