Perfect Pictures & Ruined Reports

“I’m so glad Mrs. Bentley let us choose castles for our project.” Justin scooped a handful of potato chips from a bowl and smashed them into his mouth. “Castles are so cool! I bet we’ll have the best project in the class.”

“Well, not if we don’t get to work,” said Justin’s best friend, Jessie.

“So how should we do it?” Justin asked through another mouthful of chips.

Jessie stood up and paced back and forth. “Let me think . . .”

“I know!” said Justin. “We can build a big model of a beautiful castle and wear costumes—like a suit of armor.”

“Uh, that would be nice, but I don’t think we have enough time for all that.”

“Yeah. Guess you’re right.” Justin began flipping through pages of the castle books they had checked out of the library.

“That does give me an idea, though.” Jessie sat back down and nibbled on a chip. “We can show a big castle picture and read a report. You’re a good artist, Justin. How about you draw the picture?”

“I don’t know, Jessie.” Justin frowned. “I’m not that good.”

“I guess we could both work on the picture, but I think you draw much better than I do.”

“Well, okay. If you say so. But you should do most of the talking.”

“It’s settled then. Let’s get to work,” said Jessie, snatching one more potato chip.

Every evening that week, the kids worked on their project together. Justin studied lots of castle pictures to make his drawing just right while Jessie read all about castles. Whenever she found something interesting, she read it aloud to Justin as she wrote it down.

Finally, the report was ready. Justin added the finishing touches to his drawbridge then held up the drawing for Jessie to see.

“Perfect!” Jessie exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Justin replied proudly. “I guess I am a good artist.”

Jessie smiled. “As I read the report, you can point out different parts of the castle on your picture.”

The next day, Jessie and Justin stood in front of the class.

“Our report is about castles,” Jessie began. “There were many castles a long time ago.”

But that was as far as she got before Justin interrupted. “Yeah! People lived in castles with big walls so they could stay safe.”

Jessie shot an annoyed look at Justin. He wasn’t supposed to say anything yet. She hadn’t even gotten to that part.

But Justin continued, “Take a look at this great picture I drew.” Justin handed his picture to Jessie. “Hold this a minute,” he said then turned back toward the class. “This part is called the keep, and this is the drawbridge.” Justin pointed to his picture as he told all the things Jessie had read aloud to him during the week. “And this is the best part—” he said, moving closer to Jessie and scooting the picture up right in front of her face. The class giggled.

“Uh, Justin,” said Mrs. Bentley. “Didn’t Jessie work with you on this?”

“Well, yes, ma’am. She did.”

“I’d like to hear from her, too, please . . . and see her face.” The class chuckled again.

“Oh.” Justin took his picture from Jessie and stepped aside.

Jessie started over with her report, but she was so frustrated that her voice quivered. She finally gave up. “That’s all,” she said with a sigh and slumped back in her seat, feeling hurt and betrayed.

The class clapped politely, but Jessie knew Justin had ruined their report.

At lunchtime, Justin sat beside Jessie. “Hey, Jessie,” he said happily. “We did great on our report.”

Tears filled Jessie’s eyes. “Justin! How could you?”

Justin stared at his friend in surprise.

“You stood right in front of me bragging on your perfect picture,” Jessie explained. “And all that stuff you said was from my report. I did all that reading and writing, but you didn’t even give me a chance to share it!”

“Jessie, I’m sorry. I was just so excited about my picture. I didn’t mean to take over. Give me another chance; I’ll make it up to you.” Justin quickly swallowed his last bite of sandwich then got up and left.

Jessie sat, sniffling, and feeling upset. “How could my best friend do something like that?” she said to herself. “I just don’t know if we can be friends anymore!”

Justin rushed back to his classroom to find his teacher. “Mrs. Bentley?”

“Yes?” Mrs. Bentley sat at her desk.

“I messed up. Jessie’s the one who wrote the report,” Justin explained, “and . . . well, it wasn’t supposed to go that way. Could you give us another chance tomorrow?”

Mrs. Bentley smiled. “Alright,” she said. “But, how does Jessie feel about it? Is she going to give you another chance?”

Justin turned to find Jessie standing right behind him.

She wiped her eyes and crossed her arms.

“Please let me try again?” Justin begged. “I won’t say a word. I’ll just point at the picture while you read the report.”

Jessie remembered how hard Justin had worked on his picture, and she really wanted to share the interesting things in her report.

“Okay,” she said. “One more chance.”

“Thanks,” said Justin with a sigh of relief.

“But this time, we’ll work together,” Jessie said, holding out her hand toward her friend.

Justin smiled and shook Jessie’s hand. “It’s a deal!”

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