A Tale of Two Kellys
Written by Kelly Hashway
Illustration by Maureen Brodsky

Kelly hurried to the only empty seat left in room 102. It was right up front. She tried to look for her best friend Jodi, but the teacher started calling attendance.

“Kelly,” Mrs. Tobey said without looking up from her desk.

Kelly raised her hand, but before she could say, “Here” someone else did. Kelly looked to the seat on her left. A shaggy-haired boy had his hand raised, too. Kelly’s mouth hung open. The rest of the class started to giggle.

“I see we have two Kellys in this class. How nice,” Mrs. Tobey said, finally looking up from her desk.

The boy turned bright red and hid his face behind his notebook.

Kelly slouched in her seat. She had never had a class with another Kelly. She didn’t like having to share her name. Especially with a boy!

“Kelly is a girl’s name,” she mumbled, crossing her arms in front of her. The boy lowered his head and a few kids nearby started to giggle again. Kelly felt bad. She didn’t mean to embarrass him.

Mrs. Tobey finished calling attendance and moved on with a lesson on the planets. “I need a volunteer to help me demonstrate how the planets revolve around the sun,” Mrs. Tobey said. “How about you, Kelly?”

Kelly stood up. So did the boy next to her. Again the class erupted in laughter. Kelly wanted to cry. Her first day of third grade was off to a bad start.

“This is a little confusing, isn’t it?” Mrs. Tobey said. “No problem. You both can help me.”

Kelly went through the demonstration without paying attention. Mrs. Tobey had to keep repositioning her. Finally, Mrs. Tobey gave up and told Kelly she could sit down. Mrs. Tobey handed out worksheets about the planets and told the students to pair up with the person next to them to complete the assignment.

Kelly looked at the boy with her name and sighed.

“My parents picked my name before I was born. They didn’t know if I was a boy or girl at the time,” the boy said. “It’s the same every year. The teacher always calls my name and looks for a girl to answer. I hate my name.”

Kelly stared at the boy and felt sorry for him. How terrible to have to go through this embarrassment at the start of each school year.

“I can tell Mrs. Tobey to call me by my middle name if you want,” he said.

Kelly shook her head. “No. It’s okay. I don’t mind sharing my name with you.”

“Really?” the boy asked.

Kelly nodded. “But maybe we should ask Mrs. Tobey to change our seats so we don’t get confused every time she calls our name.”

“Good idea,” the boy said.

“So, did you understand what she said about the planets? I wasn’t paying attention,” Kelly said.

“Yeah, I’ll explain it to you,” the boy said.

“I guess two Kellys are better than one,” Kelly said with a smile.