Believe in Yourself
BY VIOLA GINGERICH
A
t school I went to all my classes, avoiding people
and staring at the floor. At the end of the day, when
I was heading outside to wait for my mom to pick
me up, I bumped into someone and all my folders
and papers fell to the floor and scattered. The guy I bumped
into stopped to help me pick everything up.
Suddenly he said, “Hey, what’s this?”
I looked up at him for the first time. He looked really
buff, had sandy blond hair and blue eyes. Freckles dotted his
face and he looked friendly. His eyes were reading the paper he
held in his hand. I snatched it away before he could read any
more.
“N-n-nothing,” I said, hurriedly picking up the rest of
my things.
“If it’s a story,” he said, “then you should enter it in the
writing contest coming up, it’s really good.”
I picked up the last of my papers and hurried out the
door before he said anymore. However, as I got in my Mom’s
car, his words were echoing in my mind. He had said my story
was really good and that I should enter it in the writing contest
that was coming up. I shook my head and decided he must have
just been saying that to be nice. At home I sorted through all
my papers and put them back in order, did my homework and
chores, played computer games for a while then got a brilliant
idea for my story and worked on that till bed time.
The next day at school I saw the guy that I bumped
into the day before a few times in the halls and a few of my
classes. He tried to talk to me a few times, but I hurried off each
time.
At lunch he and a few of his friends came over and sat
at my table. “Hey,” he said, “I’m Brian, and these are my
friends, Philip and Donavan. What’s your name?”
“T-T-Toby,” I replied.
“Nice to meet you T-T-Toby,” one of his friends said,
then snickered, another joined him.
“Not funny Phil,” Brian said.
Instantly the snickering stopped.
“Awe, come on, Brian, you have to admit that’s just a
little funny,” one said. I recognized Philip’s voice.
“Yeah, come on, Brian,” said a different voice. I
guessed this one was Donavan.
“If you guys want to make fun, go do it to people that
will laugh with you,” Brian said, the anger in his voice obvious.
I glanced up from my food. I recognized Brian, from
yesterday.
“So you can see,” Donavan said, “I was starting to
wonder if you were blind.” And that set him and the one who I
guessed was Philip, snickering again.
Donavan had red hair and brown eyes and his face was
dotted with freckles like Brian. Philip had black hair and blue
eyes and unlike Donavan and Brian his face was free of freckles.
Brian turned to face them. “Get out of here,” he said.
Philip and Donavan looked at him in surprise. “What
did you say?”
“You heard me,” Brian said. “Get lost.”
“Alright, alright, don’t need to get angry, we’re going,”
Philip muttered. And both he and Donavan hurried off.
Brian turned back to me, “Sorry about that. They were
trying to get back at me for wanting to sit here instead of where
we usually do.”
I said nothing, and turned my gaze back to my food.
“How’s your story coming?”
I hesitated, “Good, I guess. I’m nearly finished.”
“Great, did you think about what I said, about entering
the contest?”
I shook my head.
“What’s that I heard,” came a voice from the table
behind Brian.
I looked up to see Brian cringe.
“Nothing, Jake,” Brian said through clenched teeth.
“Funny I was pretty sure I heard something about a
story and entering a contest,” Jake said, standing up and walking over. He glanced at me and saw me looking at him and said,
“What are you looking at nerd.” I looked back down at my food.
“Oh what’s this?” He picked up the cupcake on my tray.
Brian stood and faced him, “Give him his cupcake back,
Jake.”
“You want it back?”
“What are you, deaf, yes I want it back.” I looked up
again.
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