Billy's Bad Day

Billy was sweating by the time he finally walked through the door.

“Stressed is not even the word,” he said to Fudge, his black lab and greatest pal in the world. Fudge, in response, gave Billy a couple licks on his face which seemed to calm his somber mood. It was an abysmal day at Schroeder’s Elementary School.

First, Ms. Jeannie had lined the class up to head to gym class in the morning, and for the fourth week in a row Billy was not named line leader.

“I mean, what does a man have to do? I’ve gotten six gold stars in the past month. Six! Tyler only got two, plus he got a red warning, and HE got to be line leader before me.” Billy continued to complain to Fudge who, to his credit, was a great listener. At this point, Billy had tossed his backpack off to the side, slipped off his light-up sneakers, and put his feet up on the couch. Ah, he thought, finally some peace and quiet.

“Then, she told us that we were going to start doing three-digit subtraction today. Now, I know second grade is supposed to be tough, but we just got done learning two-digit subtraction. Give me a break!”

Fudge huffed in agreement, as if he, too, was angry at Ms. Jeannie.

“So, finally lunchtime comes. I thought, ‘Great. I need some time to recollect my thoughts.’ But lunchtime was even worse! Derek just can’t take a hint, and he sat with me and Tyler at the lunch table. He didn’t even bring his Pokemon cards, so we had to let him share with us, and the whole game got ruined. Then, as if I’d needed any other problems in my life, I opened up my lunchbox and Mom forgot to pack my yogurt. I need to have a talk with her about this. It happens all the time. Anyway, I had a ham and cheese sandwich, not my favorite but it got the job done.”

Billy reached for the television remote to put on Nickelodeon. Homework could wait. He was not in the mood for worksheets right now.

“Ok, so the rest of the day was fine. I got picked third in gym class, I think that’s pretty good considering Tyler wasn’t even the captain. But then I remembered it’s Thursday, and I had to walk home from school! Do you know how hot it is out today, Fudge? I’m not in shape for that much walking. Then, during the walk, some third graders rode by on their bikes and asked me and Tyler if we had ever kissed a girl. Now, I am no stranger to love, but kissing? No way. They teased us and said we were babies. I wanted to punch them, but Tyler told me they were just a couple of bullies. I let it slide - this time. And then, when we got to Mrs. Cady’s block, she yelled at us because we didn’t wait to cross the street before she put the ‘WALK’ sign up. I looked both ways and everything, there were no cars! I’m sick of people treating me like a baby.”

Just then, Billy’s mom walked through the door. He’d gotten so deep into his story that he’d lost track of time. He knew he was in for it, now. He hadn’t started his homework and he was caught red-handed with the television on. This was bad, bad news.

“Billy,” His mom said in a very firm tone. “Is your homework done?”

Billy jumped up, grabbed his backpack and sprinted to his room. He’d learned that when he wasn’t doing something he was supposed to, it was best to not talk back and just get to it.

Breathing heavily, he closed the door to his room behind him, but not before Fudge made his way in next to him. He looked down at his dog sitting there, and they both agreed that that was too close for comfort.

Billy sat down at his desk, pulled out his worksheets on three-digit subtraction and got to work. It was, through and through, a very overwhelming day.

When he finally finished, he got up from his desk to show his mom the worksheet. The magnitude of his work had done nothing to improve his mood.

“You know, Mom,” He said to her as he walked into the living room. “Some days, I just really think you don’t know what it’s like.” He dropped the paper on the coffee table, turned around, and went back to his room for a well deserved nap.

He finally woke up an hour later to the smell of dinner almost ready. He snuck out of his room, rubbing his eyes, and saw Dad setting the table. He walked over and took his seat, and his dad asked how his day had been.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” He said, with his elbows propped up on the table and his head in his hands.

Fudge crept up under his seat, knowing just where to go to get a handful of the meatloaf that he smelled. The family ate, and Billy remained quiet. He just wanted to get back to his room and read his book and be done with his terrible day. Tomorrow is Friday, he thought, at least I have that to look forward to.

As he cleaned his plate and went to get up to excuse himself, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Mom was walking over with a plate of something, and Billy thought it too good to be true.

“I made something for you!” Mom said with a smile. She placed down a tray, and on top sat a warm, dark, creamy chocolate cake. She cut into it with a knife and slapped a large piece onto Billy’s tray, along with a glass of milk. He stared at the dessert in wonder, looked up at his mother, and gave her his biggest smile.

In just a couple of minutes, the cake was sitting comfortably in his tummy, and he sat at the table a little while longer, no longer eager to be alone and now enjoying the company of his parents and their conversation. When it was finally bedtime, he got up to change into his pajamas, and was practically skipping to his room.

He climbed into bed, pulled the cover over himself, and looked to Fudge who was laying at the foot of the bed.

“You know, Fudge, I think sometimes all you need is a piece of chocolate cake at the end of a long, hard day. Night, boy.” Billy whispered.

He fell asleep with a full belly and a smile on his face, with the troubles of line leading and three-digit subtraction far from his mind.