Jojo's Problem

  Everything was well in Whoville, not a thing out of place.
  But somewhere in Whoville, there was a sad face.
  Who could be so sad, so blue?
  Why, it was Jojo, the very sensitive Who.

  Jojo sat on his bed in his room. He was on the brink of crying, until one of his 96 sisters came into the room.
  “Jojo! Dad wants you!” It was Holly; she had pink hair, pink clothes with a white fur collar and white fur at the end of her sleeves, and pink everything. She was the total opposite of Jojo right now.
  “What?” Jojo looked at her and got up from the bed. She was a little taller than him. Then again, everyone is taller than Jojo.
  “Dad wants to see you, and have you been crying?” Holly saw Jojo’s sad face.
  “Not yet.” Jojo whispered to himself as he glumly walked out of his room. Holly skipped behind him.

  Do you think Jojo’s in trouble? I certainly hope not.
  Because he was just sad, and he’s sad a lot.
  Was it because he failed a test, or did his teacher suspend him?
  Or was it because his dad is odd, and his life was just dim?

  “Yeah, dad?” Jojo peeked in the kitchen with a curious Holly behind him. The kitchen was empty, but his parents, Sally and Ned O’Malley, were at the table.
  “Come sit down Jojo, pull up a chair!” His dad, also known as the Mayor of Whoville, told him with a big smile.
  Jojo just sat in a chair in front of his parents.
  “Holly, this doesn’t concern you.” Sally looked at Holly.
  “But I want to hear what Jojo did!” Holly was excited.
  Her parents just looked at her with a warning face. Holly sighed and walked out of the room.
  “So, Jojo… I’ve noticed you’re a little… blue,” The Mayor nodded. He cleared his throat and kept talking, “do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” he looked hopeful.
  Jojo sadly shook is head and sniffed.
  “It’s okay to cry, Jojo,” Sally encouraged with a soft voice, “everyone does it.” She reached over the table to brush some of Jojo’s hair out of his face. Jojo was looking straight down until his mom touched him. He looked up at her with a Mona Lisa smile.
  “Whatever it is, we can help.” The Mayor said.
  Jojo half-smile turned back into a frown. It’s a little embarrassing when the parents’ get involved.
  “Well, if you must know,” Jojo mumbled, looking back down.
  “You don’t have to tell us, we just want to help.” Sally smiled warmly. “But if you do want to tell us, that’s fine.”
  “There’s this girl at school…” Jojo blushed.
  Sally gasped. “You have a crush on a girl at school?! Oh, Jojo, that’s wonderful!” She hopped up and leaned across the table to give Jojo a big hug.
  “I never said that.” Jojo struggled to say because he was being squeezed so tightly.
  “Well, you inquired it!” Sally hugged tighter. The Mayor looked proud of himself.
  “Well, what’s her name? Surely, an O’Malley must have great taste in girls. I mean, look at your mother and I!” He smiled, “And look what happened to us, we’ve got 97 beautiful children and a big house!”
  “Let’s not get too deep in the story.” Jojo said when his mom let go of him and sat back down.
  “So, why are you upset?” Sally asked, confused but overwhelmed.
  “She… doesn’t know I exist.” Jojo muttered, looking back down.
  “You can try to say hi.” The Mayor suggested.
  “Well, I’m too embarrassed,” Jojo simply replied, “and I’m not the most popular kid in school.” He added with a sad sigh.
  “How can we help?” Sally brightened up.
  “I don’t know how I can even help myself.” Jojo shook his head.
  “Just do what your heart tells you to do.” The Mayor informed him.
  Jojo wasn’t listening until he suddenly looked up, like he just thought if a plan. He jumped out of his seat and scrambled out of the kitchen and into his room.
  “Jojo!” Sally called out to him and walked after him.
  “Jojo, what’s going on?” The Mayor called.

  Jojo has a plan, it’s no lie.
  He’s determined, he has to try.
  What’s the plan, and why, oh, why?
  Must he be one very small guy?

  Jojo stayed in his room all day, scribbling down plans in a notebook. He really liked this girl. She was really pretty, and kind of sweet. “What was her name again? Beth? Evie? Think, Jojo, think!” Jojo hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. He can’t even think of her name. She’s not new to his school, so there’s no reason not to know her name.
  “Jojo, it’s time for dinner!” Holly’s voice came through the door. Jojo stopped what he was doing and opened his door only a crack. He saw Holly standing at the door, smiling down at him, with his other sisters running towards the kitchen behind her.
  “Come on, Jojo, tell me about the girl.” Holly opened the door wider and pulled him out.
  “I’d rather not.” Jojo pulled his arm away. “Eavesdropper.” He muttered and walked towards the kitchen with his hands in his pocket.
  “Jojo, I know everything about girls!” Holly caught up with him and started to walk backwards so she could see Jojo.
  “Well, that’s true.” Jojo sighed in defeat.
  “So…?” Holly urged him, “What’s her name?”
  “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure.” Jojo blushed as he whispered.
  “What?!” Holly burst out.
  “But she’s very cute.” Jojo reassured her.
  “That’s good- oof!” Holly bumped into the wall. She walked into the kitchen with Jojo and sat down next to him.
  “What’s she like?” Holly asked him as they waited for their dinner.
  “She’s very pretty; I told you that, she’s not that shy with her friends…” Jojo thought about it some more. He’s not much of a stalker.
  “Well, you should say she’s pretty and her eyes are as blue as the ocean, and stuff.” Holly suggested.
  “I forgot what color her eyes were.” Jojo admitted sheepishly.
  “What?! Well, just say she has pretty eyes.” Holly smiled.
  “I’m not sure if I can get the nerve to talk to her, let alone flirt with her.” Jojo said.
  The Mayor came with about 10 plates of turkey legs and set them down in front of the first 10 girls and patted them all on the head and went to get the rest of the plates.
  “This may take a while.” Holly sighed.
  Jojo sighed with her, but not because of the long wait for their food.

  After dinner, Jojo barely noticed that every girl was out of the kitchen and he was the only one at the table… except his parents, who looked concerned at him. Jojo barely touched his food, and stared at it blankly, thinking of the plan he was working on.
  “Jojo, aren’t you hungry?” Sally asked him with a soft tone.
  He looked up. “Sorry, mom. I love your chicken, but I’m not hungry right now.”
  “It’s turkey.” The Mayor corrected him, walking over to sit in the chair across from him. “It’s tasty turkey, too.” He was trying to get Jojo to eat something. Jojo really did need to eat, with his tiny body and all.
  “This is still about the girl, isn’t it?” Sally whispered to The Mayor, but Jojo heard. He head loud and clear.
  “I have to go.” Jojo mumbled as he jumped out of his seat and walked glumly out of the kitchen.
  “Just tell us if you need anything!” Sally called out to him.
  Jojo just kept on walking.
  “You don’t have to plan this, you know! Just do what your heart tells you!” The Mayor called to him.
  But he just kept walking.

  Jojo was determined to say the right thing to the girl. She was funny, and liked pirates for some reason. She was random, but totally worth it.
  He was in his room, still planning what to do and say. Jojo chuckled, surprised that this one girl gave him all this trouble.
  A soft knock on his door took Jojo out of his thoughts. Jojo looked up and opened the door with a heavy sigh.
  It was Hedy. The baby Who of the family. She was so cute; she had an oversized bow and was basically orange all over. In Whoville, there are Whos that were different colors, and Hedy was lucky enough to be an orange one. She has one tooth and ‘tooth’ was probably her first word.
  Jojo couldn’t resist smiling down at her. It is nice to see an adorable face when you’re hard at work.
  “Jojo!” Hedy cooed.
  “Aww,” Jojo swooned, “you’re so cute!” He picked her up with no problem.
  He heard the doorbell ring, and he walked over to see who it was.
  The Mayor got the door and Jojo was a few yards away from him. The Mayor opened the door… and Jojo didn’t expect who would be standing outside.
  “May I help you?” The Mayor asked the girl, a little taller than Jojo. She smiled at The Mayor and didn’t seem to see Jojo staring blankly at her.
  “Hello, sir, would you like to buy some Who-cookies? We’re raising money to help the blind.” She was very beautiful, and Jojo was so worried about his father embarrassing him in front of her.
  “Of course!” The Mayor exclaimed, “Jojo, can you get my wallet, please?” He glanced at him.
  Jojo stood there, not thinking. He just looked at the girl. She looked back now, waiting for him to go get the wallet.
  “Um, Jojo?” The Mayor broke Jojo’s daze.
  “Oh, yeah.” He put Hady down and ran to the coffee table in the living room, blushing.
  “You have a cute baby, sir.” The girl said to The Mayor.
  “Thank you very much. I have 96 daughters and 1 son,” The Mayor was smug, “You just saw the boy, that’s Jojo.” The Mayor nodded.
  “I think I’ve seen him in school.” She narrowed her eyes.
  “Hey, where’s your uniform?” The Mayor saw no Girl Scout uniform on her.
  “Oh, my friends and I were playing truth or dare while they were selling Who-cookies, I was just walking with them, doing nothing,” she rolled her eyes, “and they dared me to sell cookies for them.” She shrugged.
  “Hey, dad, I have your wallet.” Jojo appeared from around the corner. Hady was following Jojo, and she was now back in the foyer, waiting for Jojo to pick her up again.
  “Thank you, Jojo, say… do you know this girl? She’s in the same school you’re in.” The Mayor opened his wallet, searching for some money.
  “Uh, I think.” Jojo blushed again. She was looking at him with that irresistible smile.
  “Here you go.” The Mayor handed her the money.
  “Thank you, woah!” She dropped the box of cookies she was holding. The cookies didn’t come flying out of the box, but she was so embarrassed.
  “I’m sorry!” The girl bent down to get the cookies, but Jojo also helped her. Their hands touched as they picked up the box.
  “Here you go.” Jojo said as he gave the box to his dad, but he didn’t look away from the girl.
  “So, what’s your name?” The Mayor asked the girl. He was trying to help the memorized Jojo.
  “Hey!” A voice behind the girl yelled. She looked behind her to see her friends in their Girl Scout uniforms.
  “I have to go now. Thank you for buying our, well, their,” she gestured to the other girls, “cookies.” She now looked back at Jojo. “Maybe we can hang out sometime.” She blushed once more, and then walked away.
  The Mayor closed the door and looked at Jojo.
  “What?” Jojo smiled, but confused.
  “I told you to follow your heart,” The Mayor put a hand on his son’s tiny shoulder, “and you did.”
  Jojo looked proud of himself.
  “I told you to follow your heart, but you always run off into your room!” The Mayor laughed.
  But Jojo wasn’t listening anymore. He knew he was confident enough to talk to this girl. She wants to be his friend, possibly his girlfriend, and that’s all that matters. Who knows, maybe their friendship would blossom into a stronger relationship.
  Time will tell…