“You really love Legos, don’t you?” Grayson said to his best friend, watching him complete yet another Lego project, this one of a theme park complete with a roller coaster that actually moved on a track.
“I do,” Aidan said, sounding a little distracted as he snapped the last piece into place. He took a step back to admire his latest Lego creation. He returned to reality, “I love them so much I’m gonna make a business out of it!”
“What do you mean?” Grayson asked.
“Well, I put in an application to start a LegoLand busines s.”
“Seriously!? I’d rather work there than the post office. And I love the post office!”
“Well, it’s not a real business yet. And even if it is, I’m gonna have interviews to hire everyone. But if you’re good at that…” he smiled.
“OK, OK… got it,” Grayson said. “Tell me what happens.”
The next day, Aidan got the news he was looking for. His application for LegoLand had been accepted – he was now a business owner and soon would be seeking to hire at the Job Fair! So it was time to get down… to business!
Over the next few weeks, he built the various aspects of his business, just like he built the complicated Lego figures and sets he loved so much. He created a list of the jobs he would need to fill, and carefully wrote out lists of what each person who worked at LegoLand would do, and how they could all work together to make it successful.
“You’re really into this,” Grayson said at lunch one day as he w
atched Aidan hard at work on his business.
“LegoLand is gonna be awesome,” he replied. “But it’s a lot of work, so I have be the best business owner ever.”
Grayson nodded in understanding. If anyone could make
LegoLand work, it was Aidan!
Just then, there was a tap on Aidan’s shoulder. Both boys looked up to see the assistant principal of Man Elementary.
“Can you please come with me, Aidan?”
“Whatever it is, he didn’t do it!” Grayson said in his best friend’s def
ense. “He’s just working hard on LegoLand.”
“It’s fine,” Aidan said to his friend. “I’ll be right back.”
Aidan confidently followed Mr. Vasquez down the hall. Maybe they wanted to give him an award for submitting the best business plan they’d ever seen.
“So there’s been some trouble on the bus,” Mr. Vasquez explained when they got to his office. Aidan’s stomach suddenly started doing flips.
“There’s been some name calling and bullying,” he continued. “Near your seat.”
Grayson was right – he didn’t do it! But how could he convince Mr. Vasquez?
“I would never do that!” he said, probably a little too loudly. “I’m a business owner and I don’t want to ever do anything that would jeopardize losing LegoLand!”
“OK, let’s be calm,” Mr. Vasquez said. “Do you remember seeing anyone being picked on during your morning ride to school?”
Aidan shook his head. He’d been so consumed by LegoLand, he hadn’t really noticed anything around him lately, and definitely not someone getting bullied. He suddenly felt bad for being so distracted.
“OK, thank you Aidan. We have to investigate this fully, so I appreciate you talking to me today.”
Aidan was still shaking a bit when he got back to the cafeteria. “Is everything OK?” Grayson asked.
“I hope so,” he replied.
He could barely sleep that night. What if everyone around him on the bus said it was him who called someone names? He’d never do that. And especially not now, with LegoLand on his shoulders. What if they took the business away from him?
The next morning, Grayson ran up to his friend. “Did you hear?” Aidan shook his head no.
“JP got in trouble, I guess he was calling someone names on the bus. On your bus actually. Did you see it?”
Aidan breathed a huge sigh of relief. “No… I guess I missed it.”
“JP applied for a job at LegoLand, didn’t he?” Grayson asked.
“Oh yeah… he did.”
“So is he gonna get it?”
“Definitely not,” Aidan said. “We only hire the best. And calling people names is not the best.”
“The best,” Grayson said with a smile. “Like me!”
“Your interview is tomorrow,” Aidan reminded him. “We’ll have to see!”