Chapter 5  Trouble

The moment I walked into the room, I knew I should’ve run away. Because guess what? There was only one available seat, and that was the chair next to Samuel.

I sat down, and scooted away from him as possible. He leaned forward, and whispered into my ear: “Bad luck, for a short guy like you.” I glared at him, and noticed his bruise had gone down a little bit.

About an hour past before the nurse had treated my legs. This is a waste of time, I thought. An hour has past and I wasn’t even bleeding from the start.

I got up, and I realized I had headache. I walked slowly home. Danny Applegate had brought my backpack, and he said I was going to miss the rest of the school day.

As soon as I got home, I made myself a cup of milk and a biscuit. I had had a hard school day, and I just wanted to relax.

A moment later, I heard a knock on the door. I groaned. I hated getting up when I had just made myself comfortable. I gradually got up and stomped to the door.

When I opened it, there was a package on the welcome mat. I carried it inside the house, and closed the door shut. I suddenly heard giggling. I peeked out the window, and rolled my eyes. It was the neighbor’s kids, always wanting to play a trick on me. When I open the package, there will be a smiley face popping out at me. So not funny, right?

I began carefully loosening the ribbon. When the cardboard lid popped open. I jumped away, and the smiley face attatched to the spring banged against the wall.

I smiled as I heard the laughter fade. I looked at the window, and saw the two kids looking at me, disappointed. I shot them a well, what do you know? look and went back to the sofa. I sat undisturbed that evening.

When I woke up in the morning, the bright sunlight shined into my eyes. Must be the first signs of spring, I thought.

I leaped out of bed, threw on my clothes, gobbled down my breakfast, and hopped to the school bus. Collin’s words were still strong in my mind. Meet me at lunch recess today, he had said. As I scrambled into a torn brown seat, I heard a bump and I whirled my head around. Samuel was playing with the girls in the back. I scowled, partly jealous.

As the school bus came to a stop, I hopped off, swiftly and gently. I had to be prepared for my meeting with Collin. I made a pit stop in the bathroom. I splashed water on my hair, mostly to get the girls’ attention from Samuel towards me.

I could hardly wait in the morning. I had a hard time concentrating on math. When the problem was 24+56, I answered 86 instead of 80. The teacher noticed my lack of concentration and pulled mye aside.

“Is there anything bothering you, Samuel?” Mrs. Meaner asked me gently. I wanted to get out of this situation. Fast.

“No, nothing at all.” I answered. She gave me a suspicious look, then nodded. I breathed a sigh of relief and walked away, dazed.

At lunch, I ate my macoroni peacefully. Just then, Samuel and his gang of girls walked over to my table and plopped themselves onto the bench. I was about to take another bite when Samuel did a swinging motion, and chopped my plastic fork in half. “Never complete without showing your strength.” He explained. Some of the girls giggled.

I sat there, speechless. My tongue had obviously waited for the creamy macoroni, but instead got nothing. I let out a growl of frustration and moved to another table.

When recess finally came, I dashed off to our meeting place. Collin was already waiting there, looking thoughtful.

“Hey Collin!” I shouted. He looked up, then nodded. I sat on the rock, then waited for what Collin had to say.

He turned toward me.”I was thinking how we could resume our friendship with Samuel..” He said firmly. I gulped. Had Collin been tossed out too?

“Oh, you got your friendship crushed?” I asked.

Collin looked at me, his eyes full of sadness. “Of course. We had a big fight.” As he spoke, he would not meet my gaze.

“Now,” he continued. “Did you think of anything that could resume our relationship?” Before I could answer, I heard the brush of plants.

Suddenly, the ferns rustled, and Samuel’s head poked out. “I heard that!” He said angrily. He leaped out. “Why would I want to resume our friendship, when you both had betrayed me?”

I could feel my ears starting to burn. Why was he here anyway? “Has your mom told you to eavesdrop on everyone you see?” I taunted him.

“Boys!” A voice called. I spun around, and there was the queen of recess. I can’t risk getting caught, I thought. I leaped past her, and as I did, I heard Samuel’s voice:“I’ll get you sometime..”

Fear made me run even more faster, and I felt like a cheetah could’t even outrun me.

Isn’t Samuel chasing me? I didn’t dare look back. I ran inside the bathroom, and locked myself inside a stall.

Moments had passed before I let myself out of the stall. I still felt fear flashing through me. I walked home, carrying my heavy backpack.

This is a moment I will never forget, I thought. I had wanted something like this to happen when I was little,but now I could see it was not funny. I threw myself onto the couch, and stayed there for the rest of the day.