R8+Group+3

"I know it’s not the same as what you’re used to, but you will have to get used to it honey” said Charlene. The old bell in the tower pealed twice, and the sound reverberated around the old buildings of The Gables School for Young Men . Mboya sat unmoving in the back seat of the family's Lexus. “Go on sweetie”. Still Mboya didn’t move.   “You have to go, you don’t want to be late for class on your first day” Insisted Charlene     Silently Mboya opened the door and slipped out into the early morning sunshine. He slowly approached the large iron gate in front of his new private school. He melded into the mass of students walking through the door and was suddenly sent sprawling.  <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left">“What are you doing here four eyes”? <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"> <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left">Mboya looked up to see a hulk looming over him. A huge, curly haired, red-headed boy was staring down at Mboya. He was nearly six feet tall, and he looked to be nearly 200 pounds. He was missing his two front teeth, and his shirt was exposing his midriff. Mboya stared at the boy with wide eyes. Then, he stood up and walked quickly down the hall, away from his tormentor. Mboya checked his newly printed schedule that was e-mailed to him earlier. He had science class first. Mboya entered the classroom and sat down next to a short, country hick-like boy. "Well hey there! I'm Tommy. What's your name?" the boy asked. Mboya stared and blinked once. "Alright class, it’s time to begin. We have a new student today. This is Mboya. He came all the way from India. I expect you all to make him feel welcome. Mboya, my name is Mr. Hill, and I am the science instructor here at The Gables School." "Africa" Mboya whispered. "What?" Mr. Hill questioned. "Africa. Not India. Africa." Mboya repeated, this time a little louder. After Science class, Mboya made his way to his English class. He entered the classroom, and his heart skipped when he spotted the large boy that pushed him down earlier. Mboya sat down as far away from his as possible. The teacher walked in with a large stack of books in her hands, just as the red haired boy said "I hate new kids, they ruin everything!" "NATHAN BLEVIN! That is no way to treat a new student!" Miss Harris yelled, "Students, Mboya is new to this school from Kenya. I am very ashamed to see one treating another with such disrespect." The bell rang, and Mboya walked into the hall with his classmates. He slowly began to wander down the hall; he aberrated outside for the break, and sat under a tall oak tree. Nathan and a group of scruffy looking cronies wandered over. "You, four eyes, that’s my tree now get lost". Mboya ignored the comment and continued to stare into space. "Oi, I’m talkin' to you punk" Mboya didn’t move. Nathan started towards Mboya, and picked him up by his shirt collar. He marched Mboya inside, threw him into a janitor’s closet and locked the door. Mboya had no idea where he was, it was pitch black. He worked his hand around a wall until he found a light switch and flipped it on. He slowly walked over to the door and tried the handle. Sadly, it was locked. Mboya felt a tear roll down his cheek. He sat on an upturned mop bucket and sobbed. Nearly an hour went by and tears were still pouring out of Mboya's eyes when he heard a key in the lock, and whistling. The door opened and Mboya was confronted by a friendly Sixty year old black caretaker. "Oh, hello" said the man Mboya sniffed ".what are you doing here, shouldn’t you be in class?" Mboya sniffed again "Hello, you must be that new kid Mboya, my name is Joseph Owens I’m the janitor" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left">The janitor pulled up a bucket and sat down. "I saw what that Blevin kid did to you this morning when you walked in the door." said Joseph <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">"You need to stand up for yourself son" Joseph insisted "Get up there and just don’t take it. That way he won’t get the reaction he wants. I was bullied once, and I used to get knocked around. I just got up and kept going. When I was young, my father was in the army, and we were relocated multiple times. I had to move to a different school almost every year of my childhood. Kids didn't treat me with respect. They usually bullied me around, and by the time I mad any friends I had to leave to go to another school and start all over again. It's not easy you know. But you know what I learned? I learned that you just have to be outgoing. You can't let them push you around, and they will eventually realize that they are not getting anywhere, and they will stop bullying you around. Just give yourself a chance Mboya. You don't have to do what they tell you to do. They don't control you. So stand up for yourself and be courageous." " Th-thank you sir" Stuttered Mboya Mboya wiped his nose on his sleeve and walked out the door, just as the day came to an end. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'">    <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left">The Next day, Mboya was ready as he walked in to school. Nathan was in his regular spot just behind the door. "I said get lost four eyes" Mboya crossed his arms The bully pulled back his foot for a kick. He released his foot, but Mboya jumped and the bully's foot slammed into the wall with an audible crunch. Nathan let out a loud wail and fell to the ground. Mboya grinned and walked away, leaving Nathan on the floor crying. Meanwhile, the principle, Mr. Martinez, was walking down the hallway. He noticed Nathan sobbing on the ground. out of the corner of his eye, Mboya caught the sight of Joseph nodding his head in approval. "What's wrong?" Mr. Martinez asked. "I think my toe is broken." Nathan cried. Mr. Martinez helped Nathan up, and dragged him down to the nurse’s office. The nurse checked out his foot, and corroborated that his biggest toe was in fact broken. Mboya peered through the window of the office to see Nathan's mother comforting Nathan. She was a large, tall woman, with hair much like Nathans. She helped Nathan up, and carried him out the building. Mboya felt a small bit of guilt, to put Nathan in so much pain; however Mboya also felt a sense of accomplishment.

The next day, Nathan walked into school with a crutch under each arm. Mboya noticed him, and held his head up high. Mboya was retrieving his texts books out of his locker when he felt a tap on his back. He turned around, and his heart jumped when he saw Nathan's big beady eyes staring at Mboya's innocent looking face. Then Mboya remembered everything that had happened the day before, and he lost that scared look on his face. "Listen," Nathan said, "I don't want you to tell anyone about this conversation, but I just wanted to let you know that the way I treated you yesterday was wrong. I have learned my lesson that you shouldn’t judge people by the way they look or how they act, and it will not happen again. I actually think that it is really cool that you come from Africa; I guess I was just too afraid and embarrassed to admit it. I hope you forgive me, Friends?" "Ya, friends." Mboya said with a smile. Later that day Mboya saw Nathan walking with a group of his friends in the hallway. "Hey punk!" Nathan screamed. Mboya looked up at Nathan to see a friendly smile on his face. Nathan winked at Mboya, and Mboya returned his gesture with a smile. Later that day, Mboya was standing in the lunch line in the cafeteria when Nathan came up and stood next to Mboya. "Hey, do you wanna sit next to me at lunch today?" Nathan asked "Ya" Mboya replied. At the end of the lunch line, Mboya realized that he did not have enough lunch money with him. "Oh no, I guess I won't be able to eat today." Mboya sighed "Oh don't worry, its all on me." Nathan exclaimed Nathan kindly paid for Mboya's lunch and they sat down together at the lunch table.

Later that night, Mboya was in his room working on his homework, when Charlene came into his room. "Mboya, you got a letter in the mail today." Charlene told him. Mboya took the letter from Charlene's hand and tore open the seal. It was an invitation. To a birthday party for Nathan Blevin. Mboya excitedly handed the invitation to his mother. "Can I go?" Mboya asked "Well of course you can!" Charlene replied, "I'm so glad you're making friends at your new school." "Yah, me too." Mboya said with a smile.