At lunch, Becky, Cameron, and their cliques sat with Enrique while they waited for Alma to come.

"Enrique, you and Alma read The Hunchback of Notre Dame a few weeks ago," Rochelle pointed out. "You said there was a girl in the story that was nice to the title character when he was being tormented. It sounds like you and Alma."

"Yes, it does," Enrique smiled. "You know, it's amazing how a fiction book can teach you more than a reference book."

"Very true," Shannon agreed.

"Speaking of Alma, where is she?" one of Cameron's friends asked.

"She said the principal wanted to talk to her about this morning," Cameron said.

Suddenly, Alma's voice rang out, "Hola, sorry I'm late."

"What's going on, Alma?" Enrique asked.

Suddenly, Principal Blake spoke through a microphone, "Boys and girls, may I have your attention please? It is with deepest pride and gratitude that we thank Alma Perez for speaking up the way she did this morning. Alma, Perez, if you can please come up here..."

Alma came up to Principal Blake.

"It's true that bullying is not something we should put up with," Principal Blake said. "If you're being bullied, are you going to live with it?"

"NO!" the students chorused.

"Is it fair that you're being bullied in the first place?" Principal Blake asked.

"NO!" the students chorused.

"Let this be a lesson to you," Principal Blake announced. "It takes a lot of courage to speak up when someone is being mistreated for any reason. Remember, if you or someone you know is being bullied for any reason, speak up." He asked Alma, "Alma, do you have anything to say?"

"You may think you're alone when you're being bullied, and it's okay to stand up for yourself—but it's not something you have to go through alone," Alma spoke up. "Together, we can all stop bullying by standing up!"

The students cheered loudly, and Becky and Cameron went up and hugged their sister tightly. Enrique went up and joined in.

"That was awesome, Alma," Cameron smiled.

"Yes, it was," Becky smiled. "Have you ever done that when you lived in Guatemala?"

"I have stood up to bullies, but I've never had to give a speech like that," Alma said. "What really drove me to do that was someone thinking a victim of bullying has to live with it."

"Well, it's amazing how being nice to someone that nobody else wants to be around can have a very good effect on you," Enrique smiled. Then he got an idea, remembering something from a few weeks ago. "But I think you're still waiting for one bit of karma for your kindness and courage."

"¿Qué es eso?" Alma asked.

"Close your eyes," Enrique smiled.

Alma closed her eyes, and before she knew it, Enrique kissed her. Everyone in the cafeteria cheered loudly. They used to think it would be ridiculous if Alma and Enrique actually did kiss, but now that it's actually happened, they were all brought to tears of joy. Now Alma and Enrique were boyfriend and girlfriend.

Later, in art class, Alma, Enrique, Cameron, and Becky were talking.

"Maybe I should have a book club with my gals," Becky smiled. "They've been wanting to read The Hunchback of Notre Dame, too."

"Mine, too," Cameron smiled. Then he got an idea. "Hey, what if we formed one big book club with our friends together, including Enrique and Alma?"

"Wow, that's awesome," Enrique smiled.

"I love that," Alma grinned.

"I like it, but where would we have our meetings?" Becky asked. "I doubt the public library would let us use the program room every week, and we all can't fit in even the biggest study room."

"And the library at our house was turned into Alma's bedroom," Cameron said.

Alma knew that she had the only library in the house as her room, but she had an idea. "Is there another room in the house that everyone in the house can use as a library?" she asked.

"You know, there is," Becky smiled. "We'll ask Mother and Ricardo if we can turn that into a library."

"Great," Cameron smiled. "When would we have our meetings?"

"How about Saturdays?" Enrique suggested.

"Muy bien," Alma smiled.

"Okay," the twins chorused.

That evening, at home, Alma and her twin siblings told Ricardo and Esther what happened today, and they asked if they could turn the spare room into a home library that everyone in the house could use.

"Of course, we can do that," Esther smiled.

"Alma, I'm really proud of you for speaking up the way you did," Ricardo smiled. "Your mother did the same thing."

"Like mother, like daughter," Esther smiled.

"I wonder what Esmeralda would say about it," Alma smiled, holding her necklace. "I totally owe it to Mami's book."

After that, everything fell into place. Enrique's social life warmed up. He started talking to other students at Lemon Drop, and they could all see that he was a great person. Many of the students got over their insecurities, but they did choose to dress appropriately. The spare room in Perez-Hogg Manor was turned into a library for the entire family and their friends to use. Alma was happy to share her books even if her copies were in Spanish. Becky became open-minded, too—she met a nice boy who had round glasses and braces, and she fell in love with him because she could see that he was a great person. Cameron fell in love with a girl who had a scar around her neck from an operation because he could see that she was a great person. In fact, both Cameron and Becky now enjoyed reading books, and they couldn't wait to read more.

Alma had been a great influence on everyone at Lemon Drop, having spoken up when someone was being bullied. But she knew that she wouldn't have done so if she hadn't read The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It was this very book that changed her life forever. It just goes to show that it's important to stand up, it's not good to judge people by the way they look, and reading books can have an impact on your life.

The End.