Chapter 2 A new friend

Like any other day, the cafeteria was a mad house. Food was being thrown up everywhere, and kids were screaming and running all over the place. I had no friends, because people said I wasn’t “cool” enough. Suddenly, a flash of brown caught my eye. There, in the middle of the lunchroom, was a kid sitting by himself. I gracefully hopped over to him, and then took the seat next to him.

“Hey. My name’s Jason. What’s yours?” He only inched away, stirring his macaroni with his fork. “My name’s Jason, what is your name?” He did not look up. Is this kid even alive? I thought.

Suddenly, he opened his mouth, and then very shyly, whispered, “Samuel.” Samuel? I guess that’s a pretty good name.

“Well, I’ve always wanted the school’s power to go out, so there’d be no school,” I told him. Did I hear him giggle? I leaned forward.

“Well,” Samuel began, “I’m new here, so nobody wants to sit with me.”

“I would like to sit with you.” I immediately offered. I knew that this was probably the only chance to get a friend, so I was giving it my best shot.

“Thank you,” he replied softly. “I’ve never met anyone this nice.” I blushed. Was I being too nice?

Suddenly, the bell rang. Samuel gathered up his lunch. “Hey!” He called as he left. “Want to go to the pool with me this afternoon? It’ll be fun!” I nodded just as his shoe left the room. I gulped. Did he see my reply? I looked back at the exit. No one was in sight.

At recess, I played kickball with some other kids. Samuel was nowhere to be seen. Doing! The ball flew over my head, and into the field. I ran after it, but was too distracted. Before I knew it, Danny Applegate was already at first base.

“Jason!” my team moaned. “You ruined the game!” I could feel their anger burning onto my back. I glanced at them nervously, and then dashed off to find Samuel.

I found him playing on the teeter-totters. He was all by himself. I noticed all the other kids were at least doing something else. I tapped Samuel on the shoulder, and he looked up.

“Alright, what is it?” He muttered.

I stepped back, startled by his tone. I suddenly realized he was talking again.

“What did you say?” I leaned forward.

Samuel rolled his eyes. “I said that I never saw your reply. Do you want to come to the pool or not?” I backed away, offended. Couldn’t he understand that I would be nice to him?

“Of course!” I said quickly. I saw the uneasy look on his face disappear.

“Alright then, if you say so.” I could tell there was something he was hiding. Could he possibly be lying to me he was new? Although nobody would sit with him at the cafeteria, was that enough evidence?

Suddenly the bell rang. I looked at the teeter-totters. Samuel was gone. I muttered under my breath. Couldn’t he at least say good bye? I snorted and walked back to class.

“As all of you know, the day is almost over. But we have plenty to do. So feel free to stretch a little bit before we move on.

The kids began expanding their legs and doing arm circles. The other naughty boys pretended to be like an old granny, hardly able to move. I just sat in my seat, crossing my legs and staring straight at the chalkboard.

“OK, that’s enough.” The teacher said. She too yawned and flexed her arms, then immediately pulled back, embarrassed. Some of the kids giggled.

The rest of the day past on with a dread. I had my things packed up, and I was ready to go. Suddenly the loudspeakers boomed. I sat back with a jolt, and then clenched my teeth with frustration. It was Scotty Eugene, the school 6th grader president, who had a loud baby voice.

“As you know,” He began. “All of you have had warily nice day and I hope you have a wonderful evening.” Then suddenly the talking stopped, and the lights went out. Everybody screamed in horror, and quickly squished under their desks.

Suddenly, the lights turned back on. “Well, whoever did that is going to pay, won’t he?” Mrs. Meaner grumbled. We all muttered agreement.

The silence was broken when the bell rang. Everybody happily rushed out of the door, as if they had forgotten about the whole incident.

I lifted my chin, and ran home. The backpack thumped against my back, making my neck and shoulders ache. When I got to my room, I collapsed onto the soft mattress of my bed.

The door creaked open.

“Jason? Is that you?” my mom asked gently.

“Huh? Oh yeah, mom. Do you have anything to say?”

She looked anxious. Her face was wrinkled even more, and she had wide eyes. “Well,” she began. “I heard you have a new friend at school.” I gasped. How did news pass on so quickly?

“How did you know, mom?” I had to stop my voice from shaking.

“Oh, these nice boys told me they were happy for you that you got a new friend!” Mom said. Nice? NICE? Talk about being nice. I knew who those “nice” boys were. They were the gang of rad boys, including the school bully.

Mom went on. “And I heard from them you agreed to go with Samuel to the pool!” She clapped her hands, and then stood still, excitement still pulsing from her. “What do you say? You want to go now?”

I grumbled, mostly to myself. “Sure mom.”

“OK! I’ll prepare your swimming gear right away!” And with that, she sprinted away. “Catherine” is my mom’s name. Dad, (named Mark) said her name is supposed to mean “optimistic lady”, but I’m pretty sure that’s not true.

Suddenly, I heard a fumbling noise. Mom came back with all my supplies. She dumped them on the edge of the table, and she said she trusted me to ride on my bike to the pool by myself.

I walked out of the house, and took off with my bike, to the town pool.