The schoolbell rang, calling all the kids to line up at the door, at 8:50am. It was the first day of school, and also the first day of Young Junior High School. The popular crowd came from their area by the big palm tree, and lined up at the end of the line.
Its the same thing everywhere, every school has its popular people, and those who are not as popular. Of course, theres always the few that get picked on also.
At Orange Grove, kids crowded the hallways, going to their lockers, and getting to class. The last people roaming the halls were the new kids, the grade sixes, who all graduated grade 5 from Miles Elementary. All the kids that graduated from Miles elementary went to Orange Grove, and the only others that came, were those who had just moved to town.
"Come in children", a voice rang out. The young kids looked up and saw a young lady standing in the hallway, directing them to the classroom.
Ryan, Josh, Rick, Pam, Jessica, and Melanie all sat at the back of the class, with the rest of their popular friends. In their grade, they were the popular crowd.
Tara and her friend Melissa took a seat near the middle of the classroom, Melissa in the third desk from the front, and Tara in the second. They were not part of the popular crowd, and proud of it too. The other kids filled the surrounding seats.
A few minutes later, one last kid arrived to class. He was a young boy, 11, like the rest. He had a head of blonde hair, blue eyes, and was kind of short and small.
"take a seat please, Nick" Mrs James, the grade 6 teacher said politely. Nick looked around, finding only one empty seat left, sitting in the very front of the class. Nick sat down quietly and took out his binder, putting it in his desk.
At around 10:20, the bell rang for recess. The kids grabbed their snacks and ran outside. Rick, Ryan, Josh, and the fellow popular guys surrounded their special spot by the big palm tree, later greeted by the group of popular girls. The guys were busy starting a game of football, while the girls watched and stared.
Tara and Melissa sat on the swings, looking over at the popular crowd.
"Dont you ever wish you were part of the crowd?" Melissa asked Tara, stopping her swing.
"Yeah, kinda. But I wouldnt want to be such a snob" Tara said shyly.
Tara and Melissa looked over, and saw the new boy walking around the playground by himself.
"Maybe we should go over there and talk to him?" Tara said, looking at the blonde haired boy.
"Why? Hes new, he'll make friends on his own!" Melissa said.
Over the next few months, the kids were busy with their schoolwork, and didnt really pay any attention to the new boy, Nick. Nick was always let out of class early, because he had something special he had to do, or somewhere special he had to go. The class started to become jealous of Nick, except for a minor few. The IN crowd didnt pay any attention to Nick at first, but then they started to treat him bad, turning him into the victim of their jokes.
"Today we are going to start auditions for our Thanksgiving play" Mrs James announced. "You will all have a part talking, and some of you will have parts where you sing! Boys who would like to have a solo singing act, please stand up".
None of the boys stood up in the class, because they thought they were too cool to sing. Nick stood up and looked at the teacher.
"Nick, would you like to try out?" Mrs James asked.
"Yes Mrs James" the young boy said. Mrs James handed Nick a piece of music, chosen from the kids music books, and then asked him to sing it alone, infront of the class. As the music started, Nick started to sing. The class sat there silent, watching the small blonde boy, who seemed to have a very good voice for his age, and had an effect on everybody. In the back of the class, Ryan and his friends let out little smirks, and laughed to themselves while Nick was singing. The boys didnt like Nick, who seemed to be getting all the attention right then.
Nick recieved the main role of the play, in which he had a few solo songs that he had to sing. Everyone else was given roles and their lines that they had to memorize.
After the bell rang at 3:00, school was over and the kids exited the building.
"Did you hear that girly boy sing? That was worse than those stupid New Kids On The Block girls!" Ryan said loudly, as Nick walked past them. Nick didnt look at the boys and kept walking.
"Why do they do that for? I thought he sang pretty good" Tara said to Melissa, walking out of the school. Tara and Melissa climbed up onto the bus, and took a seat behind Nick.
"Hi, Nick" Tara said, raising her head over the seat so she could talk to the young boy.
"Hello" Nick said, surprised that someone was talking to him.
"My name's Tara, and this is my friend Melissa" Tara said.
"oh, hi" Nick said shyly.
Tara thought of something to say.
"You know, I think you have a good voice. Im glad that you got the part in the play" Tara said.
"Thanks" Nick said shyly, as he looked down at his shoes.
Rick, Josh and Ryan climbed up onto the bus and walked to the back, grabbing Nicks bookbag along the way.
"Hey give that back!" Nick shouted as he stood up.
"what are you going to do, girl?" Ryan asked, laughing as he threw the backpack to his friend. Nick ran over to the group and tried to reach for the bag, but was unsuccessful since the other guys were larger than him. Josh took the bag and then threw it out of the window. Nick ran outside and grabbed his bag, while the busdriver waited for him, before they left the school. Nick climbed back into the bus, and retook his seat, not talking to anyone.
"They're soo rude!" Tara said, and then the bus took off to go home.