One extremely hot and humid day in Jacksonville, Chris a third grader from Jacksonville K-8, got a call from his dad. His dad told him that he got off work early and that for Chris’ birthday he was going to bring him his favorite meal, a 20 piece chicken nuggets with a medium fries, and a strawberry milkshake. Chris was so excited that his last class before lunch he could barely sit still, imagining his refreshing ice cold milkshake on its way to free him from the 92 degree weather. As class was ending Chris brought himself into a mouth watering hysteria obsessing over the meal that his dad would soon present to him.
“RINNNNNNG!”
The bell sounded the end of the class and Chris took of like a speeding bullet out of the class. Chris sped into the main office and screamed in excitement at the lady at the front desk.
“My dads coming for my Birthday lunch and he's bringing me nuggets and fries and a STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKE!!!” His voice, like nails on a chalkboard, made the secretary winch and spill her coffee onto her keyboard.
“Hey you know the rules!” snapped the secretary not trying to mask her anger too well. “You need a hall monitor to escort you in here and your dad must ask me to call you down before you can come in.”
“But it’s my birthday and he said he was dropping off my food...” Said Chris with a crestfallen tone. He slowly walked towards the door, head hanging towards the floor.
“Hey wait, I’m sorry! I think I can make an exception this one time!” The secretary called after him feeling guilty about snapping at him. Chris turned around, smiled, and then took a seat in the waiting area looking out the windows to spot his dad's rusty, old pickup truck
After what seemed like forever for Chris, he saw the faded blue, rust covered truck swing into the lot. “He’s here! He’s here! He’s here!” Chris’s voice rose with each word. His dad walked up to the office and Chris met him at the door. The smell of the deep fried goodness entered his nose and Chris started to fantasize about the food. His dad told him happy birthday and that he needed to pick up some stuff at the store for a celebration that was happening at night. Chris thanked and hugged his dad goodbye and skipped down the halls toward the cafeteria. All heads turned to Chris as he burst through the door to the cafeteria with his bag of McDonalds. Chris’s friends weren't at school today so he grabbed a spot at a table that was empty. He opened up his 20 piece chicken nuggets and he dug in. Knowing that he was going to save the best for last Chris pushed his shake a little ways away so he wouldn’t be tempted to drink it before he was done with his food.
Two eyes fixated on the strawberry shake so conveniently pushed away from the boy and slowly began to move in on its prey. With every step closer to Chris, Tommy could taste the shake and already felt refreshed from the scorching heat. Chris saw the biggest meanest kid in his school  lumbering over towards his table. As Tommy approached Chris smiled and said hello but Tommy just grabbed his shake and walked past. Confused Chris just sat there processing what happened, thinking that Tommy was going to wish him a happy birthday.
After realizing that Tommy took his shake “Hey that's mine! My dad brought me that for my birthday!”
Tommy turned around and smirked. “That's all he could afford to get you? A McDonald's lunch, how sad but I’ll give you a gift too seeing that it’s your birthday. Its called me not beating you up and you just walk away. ” Tommy spoke with a playful but serious voice which Chris knew not to provoke Tommy, he’d be lucky if Tommy didn’t hurt him at all. Chris looked down fighting back tears and horsley told Tommy that he could have the shake. Tommy laughed and told him that it was a smart decision and started to walk away.
Lucas having seen the whole story unfold in front of him, was aggravated. He wasn’t sure if he should say anything but then he remembered what his mom and dad told him whenever they brought up bullying, to never be a bystander and allow the bully to get away with what they do without saying at least a simple stop. Especially since an eighth grader was bullying a second grader. So Lucas pushed up from the table and called out to Tommy.
“Hey Tommy, give the kid back his shake, it isn’t yours!”
“What did you say Lucas?!? Are you going to tell me that I can’t have this shake?” Tommy’s voice filled with rage and bitterness. He walked up to Lucas and pushed him with his free hand. Lucas stumbled back into a table and banged his head. Tommy walked over to him and told him that if he wanted him to give back the shake to Chris, that Lucas had to beat him in a fight. Trying to fight back his anger Lucas call Tommy out for being a big jerk and every head in the cafeteria turned and silence took over the crowd.
Tommy furiated by what was said snapped and charged at Lucas after placing the shake on the table. Lucas, agile as heck leaped out of the way of the oncoming beast and immediately turned to face it again. Tommy swung with a lumbering one two that both missed their mark but followed by a knee which connected with the chest of Lucas. The air left him as Tommy’s fists relentlessly beat upon his face like hail on a car. Bloodied and battered Lucas lay on the floor.All of a sudden his eyes lit up and he slowly rose with pain. Tommy was bragging about how he was the greatest not paying any attention to what was happening behind him.
Lucas stood up tall and  barked out Tommy’s name. Tommy turned around surprised to see a fist flying at his face. “Crrraaack!” The sound echoed through the cafeteria. Blood poured from Tommy’s now, thanks to Lucas, crooked nose and Lucas told Tommy to leave the room. Tommy still surprised and close to tears ran out of the cafeteria to the nurse leaving behind the milkshake. Lucas picked up the shake and returned it to Chris. Chris was so happy he said thank you at least forty times.
At dinner Chris told his dad about what happened and that a very nice person stood up for him. His family the next day called Lucas’s parents and thanked both them and their son for helping out Chris. From that day on Chris had a protector and a friend, Lucas. Sometimes Lucas would invite him to hang out or shoot some hoops at the park with him. Even when Lucas went to high school, he never forgot about Chris occasionally inviting him to hang out. One day Chris asked why Lucas stood up for him and he said that if you see an injustice occurring that you need to stand up and not be a bystander.