CHAPTER ONE		Toga, Toga

“Saratoga! You come here right now!”  
That’s not good thought Sara. Mom doesn’t call me that unless she’s mad at me. Saratoga Concord Parmenter was her full name, but everyone called her Sara. Her parents wanted to instill in her the importance of the founding principles of America, so they named her after two of the most important battles in the American Revolution. They were very well versed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and made sure that Sara was as well. 
As she walked through the back yard toward her house, Sara tried to figure out why her mother was mad. Uh oh, thought Sara, maybe Mom found out I was in a fight after school today. Sara was very proud of her name, but sometimes she got teased about it. 
“Toga, Toga,” someone had mockingly called her after school, and Sara did not put up with it this time. She was not afraid to fight, and the boy who had bullied her ran away after Sara hit him a few times. She had tried ignoring him, but that did not seem to be working, so Sara had decided to put an end to his bullying once and for all. Maybe he told his mother about the fight and she told Sara’s mother.  
Sara had been sitting in the tree stand she had built for bird watching when her mother called her. The stand was a very short walk from Sara’s back yard, and overlooked a meadow surrounded by woods. A perfect place for bird watching, but Sara also liked to go there to ponder life’s mysteries and other things as well. 
She liked to think about many things, and enjoyed debating as well. Debating involves quick thinking, and Sara took pride in her ability to do that. She also liked the challenge of looking at things from a different angle on short notice that a debate provided.
When Sara got back to the house, her mother had come in from the back yard and called Sara upstairs. “You were supposed to do laundry yesterday,” said her mother as she pointed to an overflowing laundry basket in Sara’s bedroom.
 	Whew, thought Sara, glad that her mother had not heard about the fight. 
“Remember, we have an agreement,” said Sara’s mother. “I’ll buy the clothes you like, but you have to take proper care of them, and that includes doing all of your laundry.” 
Still thinking about the fight with the bully, Sara paused for a moment, then said, “Sorry that I didn’t do laundry yesterday, but I will do it right now.”
Sara was in her mid teens, often a rebellious time for children, but she and her parents maintained good lines of communication that only rarely broke down. Sara knew that she would have to tell her parents about the fight with the bully eventually, but decided to put it off until she could think of a good way to present her side of the story. She knew they would be proud of her for standing up for herself, but disappointed that she had fought with someone. 
I should tell Mom today, thought Sara, before Dad calls tonight. Sara’s father was staying at his parents’ house in Florida for a few days helping his father repair some damage from a recent storm. He called every evening just to chat, and Sara decided to make sure she told her mother about the fight before her father called that evening. She did not want to inadvertently mention it to her father without having told her mother.
After she loaded and started the washing machine, Sara went back to her bedroom. She decided to clean it up a little bit before her mother complained about how messy it was. She started by cleaning off her desk. She took everything off except for her computer. 
Wow, she thought as she looked at the pile on her bed, there’s a lot of stuff here. While sorting through everything, Sara noticed a magazine opened to an article about hiking. She made a mental note to call her friend Bob Kendall to ask when he wanted to hike Mt Monadnock. She had met him at a river cleanup recently, and had mentioned that she was interested in hiking. Bob suggested that they hike Mt Monadnock sometime, and Sara was looking forward to doing so.    
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling. Sara heard her mother ring the supper bell from the bottom of the stairs and said, “I’ll be right there.” Her mother had a set of bells, one from each state in New England, and liked to use one occasionally, instead of just having them sit on a shelf. When Sara finished putting a few things back on her desk, she went downstairs to the dining room. “Ooohhh,” said Sara, as she sniffed the aroma of sweet potato pie wafting from the kitchen. 
“Supper first, young lady,” admonished her mother, “and don’t vacuum the pie before I have a chance to have some.” She knew Sara loved her sweet potato pie, and had made it because Sara had been doing well in school lately.  
“I have to stay in shape for hiking, so I’ll just have one piece tonight,” replied Sara. She was looking forward to hiking Mt Monadnock, and wanted to be in shape for that.  
After Sara and her mother said grace, Sara decided to get it over with and tell her mother about the fight. “I have something important to discuss with you,” said Sara as she put a piece of chicken on her plate. “I tried hard not to do this,” said Sara, “but Erik’s poking fun at me has become more than just teasing; he is bullying me and I had to put a stop to it.” 
“What do you mean, bullying you?” asked Sara’s mother. 
 “Today, he kept saying ‘Toga, Toga; why aren’t you wearin’ your Toga, Toga?” said Sara as she poured a glass of milk. “The third time he said it, I punched him a few times, and he ran away.” 
Sara’s mother said, “I am not happy about this, and your father won’t be happy about it either, but I am glad that you told me.” Sara’s parents had always stressed the importance of her sharing news of events, good or bad, in her life with them. They had earned Sara’s trust by listening to her and discussing what had happened before deciding on what, if any, punishment was merited when she had misbehaved. As Sara got older, they even asked her what she thought her punishment should be on those rare occasions that Sara misbehaved. 
Sara was not an angel, though; she loved to pull pranks on people. Occasionally, she went overboard, like the time she threw water balloons over the garage during a picnic at her house, and one of them had landed in her mother’s potato salad on the picnic table in the back yard. No sweet potato pie for her on that day. 
“You need to tell your father about this tonight,” said Sara’s mother. “What you did is understandable, but not acceptable. It does not follow the golden rule in any way shape or form. Obviously, Erik wasn’t doing so either, but we need to find a non-violent way to resolve this issue.” 
Sara’s parents had taught her the importance of following the golden rule, encouraging her to ask herself ‘how would I feel if someone did that to me’ at appropriate times. 
Sara finished her supper, and looked at the clock in the kitchen. She thought she might have a few minutes to help clean up after supper before her father called, and she wanted to think about how to tell him about the fight with Erik. Suddenly, the phone rang. Sara looked at the screen as she picked up the phone, and recognized her father’s cell phone number. 
Well, she thought, I might as well get it over with. “Hi Dad,” she said. 
“What’s wrong?” asked her father, sensing the apprehension in her voice. She told him about how Erik had been teasing her for months about her name, and she had finally decided to stop trying to ignore him. 
“I only hit him two or three times, and then he ran away,” she told her father. “I did not chase after him, I was just glad that he ran away.” 
“Well, I am glad that you are standing up for yourself, but we have to figure out a better way to resolve problems such as this,” said her father. “Let’s think about it for a while, and we can discuss it again some time, preferably sooner rather than later.” 
Then Sara and her father talked about her school work and a few other things. When they finished speaking, Sara handed the phone to her mother. She knew that her parents liked to have some private time for phone conversations, so she went up to her bedroom to start working on her homework. She worked on her geometry assignment first, because that was the hardest. She liked to get the hardest homework out of the way first, because everything else seemed easier after that. 
When she finished the assignment, she double checked it because she knew it was important to do well in geometry as well as future math classes if she wanted to realize her dream of becoming an environmental engineer. The assignment had taken her a little bit longer than she thought it would, but she was confident that she had done it well.  
Her English class assignment was to write a one page paper on one of five subjects that Mrs. Allard had listed on the chalkboard in her classroom. Sara decided to write about one of her family’s annual camping trips. 
She and her father had gone fishing, and her father had shown her how to prepare the fish they caught for cooking. She was a little bit squeamish about cleaning the fish at first, but then got used to doing it. Before cleaning the fish, they had put potatoes and corn on the cob on the coals at the side of the campfire. Her father had been doing this for years, and was an expert at timing things so everything finished cooking at about the same time. This became one of Sara’s favorite meals. She would even cook this at home, in the fire pit they had in the back yard. The tricky part was keeping the flames at the correct level. Too high, the food would burn, too low, it would not cook properly.   
 	When Sara looked at her watch, she was surprised to see that it was after ten o’clock. She had not completed her History class homework assignment, but decided to finish that in study hall the next morning. She wanted to think about how to resolve her problems with Erik before she went to bed. She thought about it for a while and decided to talk to Erik’s friend Collin about it. 
She got along well with Collin, although she did not see him very often other than at school. She sat beside him in a couple of her classes and she sometimes spoke with him before or after class. She wasn’t sure what she would say to him, but decided to worry about that later. She was tired, and just wanted to go to sleep.
Jeesh. Time to get up already sighed Sara to herself as she reached over to shut off her alarm clock. It seems like I just went to bed. Sara got up and got dressed, then went downstairs to help her mother get breakfast ready. It was a little bit chilly outside, so Sara decided to have a bowl of oatmeal with some maple syrup and raisins mixed in. Her mother had cooked some sausage, so Sara grabbed an apple and sliced it up. She always had an apple with her sausage. She did not know why, but it just seemed like those two foods went well together. 
“Don’t forget your milk,” said Sara’s mother. 
“Oh yeah; I thought something was missing,” said Sara as she grabbed a glass from the cabinet.
After breakfast, Sara checked her backpack to make sure she had everything she needed for school that day. Then she put on her windbreaker, hugged her mother, and went out to wait for the school bus. While riding the bus to school, she thought about what to say to Collin about her problem with Erik. 
“Are you going to sit on the bus all day?” asked her friend Brenda as she walked by on her way to get off the bus. 
“Oh, I’m lost in thought, as usual,” said Sara. She was known as a thoughtful person, not one to rush into things. One of her favorite sayings was ‘well, if you think about it’.  
Sara did think about things quite a bit. Her favorite place to do that was at the tree stand she had built in the woods behind her house. Deer hunting with her father had given her the idea to build it. Her father had helped her with it, but Sara did most of the work. She wanted something a little bit more than just a tree stand, but not too fancy. She even built a small roof over it, just big enough to keep her dry in wet weather.  
It was like a home away from home for her, a place to contemplate the meaning of life and other things. She also loved to read books, and her tree stand gave her the opportunity to do so undisturbed. That was the first place her parents looked if they needed to find her, since she always told them if she was going out away from home. 
“Apres vous, mon ami,” said her friend Cheri, who had stopped in the bus aisle so that Sara could get out of her seat and get off the bus. 
“Merci, etait tres gentil de votre part,” said Sara. They were in the same French class in school, and liked to practice together whenever they got the chance. Cheri’s family had relatives in Quebec, and Sara wanted to be like her father, who was fluent in several languages. He had taught her a little bit of Spanish, and Sara hoped that Cheri would take that class with her next year. 
Sara knew that environmental problems and issues can occur throughout the world, and felt that being fluent in other languages would help enable her to work on environmental projects anywhere in the world. She planned on learning other languages in college because French and Spanish were the only foreign language classes offered at Lafayette High School. 
Sara got off the bus and felt a brisk breeze blowing along the walkway into the school. She quickened her pace, glad that she had worn jeans today instead of a skirt. A sudden burst of wind swirled a bunch of leaves in a corner near the door into a whirlpool, reminding Sara that she had to finish her report on tornadoes before the end of the week. 
Tornadoes had fascinated her for a long time, ever since she saw one in the movie “The Wizard of Oz”. She was glad that they were a very rare occurrence in her home town of Lafayette NH. Her grandfather had told her about one that briefly touched down in Lafayette long before Sara was born, but it had done very little damage and dissipated quickly. Blizzards were more common in New England, which pleased Sara. She liked the good workout that shoveling snow provided, and enjoyed snow shoeing in the fresh snow after a storm. 
Later that day, Sara put her books down on her desk in English class, then sat down. She was glad she had a seat near the window. She liked to look out the window at the flower garden planted and maintained by students in the environmental sciences classes. They had planted a wide variety of flowers and a few trees to provide food and shelter for wildlife. Pumpkin plants were also grown, and the pumpkins were raffled off just before Halloween to raise money for the Student Activities Fund.
Every year, on the first Monday in December, the Senior Class decorated a Christmas tree that the local Lions club donated. The tree was put up at the edge of the school garden, and was left there after the decorations were taken off in January to provide additional shelter for wildlife. 
Sara’s class had planted a new variety of blueberries her freshman year, and Sara was thinking about the blueberry pie her mother was making that day. Her daydreaming was suddenly interrupted when Mrs. Allard asked, “Sara, are you with us today?” 
“Oh, yes, I’m here,” said Sara sheepishly while she turned to look at the teacher. She liked Mrs. Allard, and was disappointed that she had not been paying attention in class. That was the disadvantage of sitting near the window, and Sara made a mental note to try to not let that happen again. She knew the importance of having good grades in school when it came time to apply to colleges. Mrs. Allard was not a strict disciplinarian, but Sara knew that she needed to improve her writing skills, and daydreaming about a blueberry pie would not help. 
“Well, I’m glad that you are with us, Sara, and now, it’s time for the hat,” said Mrs. Allard. 
“Oh no,” groaned just about everyone in the room. 
Sometimes, on the day after an essay assignment, Mrs. Allard would put everyone’s name in a hat, and pull out a name. That student had to stand up in front of the class and read their essay. Generally, the students in her classes did not like to get up in front of class to read their essay, but some students, including Sara, did not mind. Because she was in the debating club, Sara was used to speaking in front of people. 
After everyone had written their name on a slip of paper, Mrs. Allard collected the slips, and put them in the hat. Then she pulled one out of the hat and looked at it to see who would go first.
“This one is blank,” laughed Mrs. Allard, “but I know who it is.” She walked over to Henri’s desk and said “Nice try, wise guy.” Henri had a reputation for pulling pranks, and Mrs. Allard had figured that it must have been Henri that put the blank slip of paper in the hat. 
“It wasn’t me. Check the hat, my name is in there,” Henri protested to no avail. 
“Well, either way, you’re out of luck today, Henri,” said Mrs. Allard as she walked to the back of the room. She always sat in the back of the room to listen to the presentations so she could make sure the student reading their paper spoke loud enough. Henri picked up his paper, and walked to the front of the room.
“The subject that I wrote about is planting a tree,” said Henri. He proceeded to give a clear and concise report on how to properly plant a tree. Mrs. Allard was pleasantly surprised. She knew Henri had a reputation as the class clown, but he had done a really good job writing his paper and presenting it. 
“Well done,” said Mrs. Allard, making a mental note to try to think of a way to encourage Henri to do better at school. She thought he was smarter than he showed, and hated to see someone not doing as well as she thought they could.
“Ok, who’s next?” said Mrs. Allard as she reached into the hat to pick out another name. “Enrique Gonzales, you’re next,” she announced. Enrique was an exchange student from Mexico. He was staying with the Gerhardt family, about two miles down the road from Sara’s house. The Gerhardts had emigrated from Germany to America ten years ago, and wanted to give a foreign student the opportunity to experience the America that they had grown to love. 
Enrique struggled a bit with his English at times, but Mrs. Allard walked a fine line between giving him special treatment because of his circumstances and treating him like any other student. Enrique got up and walked to the front of the room. This was his first time speaking in front of the class, and he was a little bit nervous. Mrs. Allard sensed this and said, “Relax, Enrique, you’ll be fine.” 
Enrique smiled, and said, “My report is on Pico de Orizaba, the highest mountain in Mexico.” He went on to note that the mountain was important in pre-Hispanic cultures, such as the Aztecs and the Totonacs. During the 1600’s, the Spanish had built several important roads circumventing the volcano, one of which became the main road between Mexico City and Vera Cruz, which is on the Gulf Coast. Also, there were many battles fought near the volcano throughout Mexico’s struggle for independence. Enrique concluded his report by noting that the Mexican government had made the volcano and surrounding area a National Park in 1937. 
When he finished reading, Enrique tentatively looked at Mrs. Allard, and she said, “That’s fine Enrique, you may sit down now.” He gave a short sigh of relief and went back to his seat.
Mrs. Allard pulled another name out of the hat and said, “Rebecca, you’re up,” knowing that Rebecca, or Rebby, as she was called by her friends, was a star player on the Lafayette High School softball team. She was one of the best pitchers in the state, and was getting interest from a few Division One colleges. Several college coaches had come to see her pitch, and they were very rarely disappointed with her performance. Rebby got up, walked to the front of the room, and said, “My report is on how to make lasagna.” 
In the back of the room, Erik leaned over toward his friend Marcus and said in a stage whisper “Figures; a fattie talkin’ about food.” 
Major mistake. Erik had forgotten that Mrs. Allard was within hearing distance of his comment. He caught the glare of her eyes as she quickly and sternly but quietly told him to “See me after class.” 
Mrs. Allard did not want to make a scene, so she immediately looked at Rebby, and said, “Ooh. Lasagna, one of my favorites. Let’s hear it.” Rebby knew that something had happened in the back of the room, but her training as a softball pitcher did not allow the distraction to bother her. She had pitched quite a few important games in front of large crowds, and was used to people trying to distract her. She read her essay, and returned to her seat.
Several other students got up and read their essays, then Mrs. Allard said, “All right, that’s all we have time for today,” as she got up and walked to the front of the class room. Then she added, “Please pass your essays to the front of each row.” Mrs. Allard collected the essays and put them in a pile on her desk. 
Rrrrrriiiinnnnggg!!! The bell signaled the end of class, and Erik thought about trying to hide in the crowd of students flowing out the door into the hallway, but Mrs. Allard had already spotted him. Her raised eyebrows were all he needed to see to convince him that any attempt at escape was futile. He walked over to her desk, and she said, “Come and see me after school today.” 
“I will,” said Erik, then he walked out to the hallway to go to his next class. 
After school that day, Erik returned to Mrs. Allard’s room, and found her standing near the door waiting for him. He came in and she had him sit down while she shut the door. Then she sat down at her desk and said, “You know that what you said about Rebecca today was not very nice. There is no place for that in my class room. I can’t control what you do and say outside of this room, but I want you to think about what you said. Remember this when someone says something mean to you.” 
Erik shifted nervously in his seat and said, “I was just teasing her.” 
“No, that is not teasing. That is bullying, and you know it,” said Mrs. Allard. Then she looked at Erik without saying anything for a few moments, trying to make him think about what he had done. When Erik remained silent, Mrs. Allard said, “I am not going to give you a detention for what you said today, but only on the condition that you write a one page essay on the difference between teasing and bullying. I will give you until the end of next week to complete this assignment. If the essay is well written, you will not receive a detention. Understood?”
 “Yes Mrs. Allard,” said Erik. 
“All right. You may leave,” said Mrs. Allard.
Mrs. Allard was surprised when Erik came up to her after class two days earlier than when his essay was due. “I just wanted to get this done and out of the way,” he said as he handed her his essay. 
“I will read this later on, decide what to do, and let you know tomorrow,” said Mrs. Allard as she set the paper on her desk. 
“Ok” said Erik as he walked away. 
Mrs. Allard was going to put the essay away and read it later, then thought I might as well read it now and get it out of the way. She was still upset with Erik about the incident, but vowed to read his essay with an open mind. She hoped that he had understood that what he had done was wrong, and would not do something like that again. 
Mrs. Allard had been fortunate enough to not have been bullied when she was a child, but one of her junior high school classmates had been bullied. She thought about this occasionally, and regretted that she had not done more to help her classmate at the time. 
She read the essay and was pleasantly surprised. She did not know Erik very well, but in her opinion, he did not put as much effort as he could in to his schoolwork. He got passing grades, but she felt that he, like a few of her other students, could do better with a little bit more effort. 
Therefore, she was surprised by the fact that he had thoroughly researched the subject of bullying for his essay. She had some grammatical issues with the paper, but at least he had thought it out. Mrs. Allard decided to not give him a detention, but keep an eye on his actions in the future, hoping that he really did learn from this.
The following day, as he walked into his English class, Erik looked at Mrs. Allard. She quickly and quietly told him “See me after class.” 
Erik nodded and went to his seat. After the class was over, he pretended to be fumbling with his backpack and waited until all of the students had left the room. Then he walked up to Mrs. Allard and somewhat timidly said, “Yes or no?” 
“I’m presuming you’re asking about a detention, and the answer is no detention,” said Mrs. Allard. 
“Thank you,” said Erik. “And I have no excuses for what I said that day, but writing the essay for you made me realize why I have bullied people in the past. I never really thought about it, it was just the way I was. Ironically, it made me feel better about myself and unfortunately, it gave me more social recognition than being Mr. Nice Guy. I think those are the two biggest reasons why I used to do what I did, but as my essay mentioned, there are many aspects of bullying that are only beginning to be understood.” 
“Sad but true in that regard,” said Mrs. Allard, “but hopefully, society is coming to realize just how much of a problem bullying really is.” Then Mrs. Allard added, “And speaking of problems, to prevent you from having one in your next class, I’ll write you a note.” 
After school that day, Sara was unlocking her bicycle when Erik walked up behind her. “Hi Sara” said Erik. “Do you have a few minutes? I’d like to speak with you about something.” Sara did not recognize Erik’s voice and was surprised when she turned around and saw who was speaking to her. 
“Sure,” said Sara as she put her bike lock in her backpack. 
“This is difficult for me, but I’ll just have to do it,” said Erik. “I’m sorry that I bullied you in the past and hope that you can forgive me for having done so. I don’t want to go into the reasons but…” 
Then Sara cut him off by saying, “Apology accepted Erik, and you don’t need to explain anything to me. I just hope that you really have learned from this and won’t bully others in the future.” 
“Yes, I have learned,” said Erik. “Mrs. Allard recently caught me saying something mean about Rebby in English class, and I had to write an essay about bullying. Writing that essay made me realize how much of a jerk I had been to you and others. I feel really bad about it, and would like to make it up to you somehow.” 
“Well, as far as I’m concerned,” said Sara, “if you have truly learned your lesson, then we’re fine.” 
“Ok,” said Erik, “but how about ridin’ our bikes to Pete’s Pizza Parlor for a couple slices of their ‘loaded with everything’? My treat, of course.” 
“Sounds good,” said Sara. “I have to mow the lawn at my house today, so I’ll work off a couple of slices in no time. Let’s go.”
They got on their bikes and rode to Pete’s Pizza Parlor. “No need to lock our bikes here,” said Sara. “We can just keep an eye on them from inside.” 
“Fine with me,” said Erik as they walked in to order their pizza. “Two slices for you?” asked Erik as he looked at Sara. 
“Yes, please,” said Sara. “And an apple juice, if that won’t break the bank.” 
Erik laughed and said, “It just might….no, only kidding. That’ll be fine.” Then he turned to clerk and said, “Four slices loaded to the gills, and an apple juice and a root beer.” 
A few minutes later, their order was ready. They took their food and sat down at a table where they could keep an eye on their bikes. After they sat down, Sara said, “Can you excuse me for a moment? I would like to say grace.” 
“Oh, sure,” said Erik. “But I’d like to add something when you’re done.” 
“Ok,” said Sara. After she said grace, she paused before saying ‘amen’. 
During her pause, Erik added, “And please forgive me for bullying people in the past.” Then they both said, “Amen.”
“I am so glad to get that off my shoulders,” said Erik. “I wasn’t real happy doing what I used to do, but I guess you could say that I didn’t know any better. In a way, that incident in Mrs. Allard’s class was the best thing that ever happened to me.” 
“Strange how things like that happen,” said Sara, “but in the meantime, my pizza’s gettin’ cold. Time to chow down.” 
“Yes ma’am,” said Erik as he picked up a slice of pizza.  A few minutes later, Erik said, “Hey! Somebody’s tryin’ to steal your bike.” When Sara turned around to look out the window, Erik took her plate and started sliding it over to his side of the table. 
Then Sara turned back around and said, “Wise guy. I ought to smack you around again.” 
Erik just laughed and said, “Please, once is enough,” while he slid Sara’s plate back to her.
When they finished eating their pizza, Sara said, “Well, thank you for the pizza, but I’ve got to get going. I promised my parents that I would mow the lawn today, and the grass ain’t gettin’ any shorter.” 
“No it’s not,” laughed Erik as they walked out the door. “But you’re welcome for the pizza, and maybe we could do this again some time.” 
“Sure,” said Sara as she got on her bike and started riding home.