Chapter 3:
(A Week Later)
"Bye boys, have a great first day!" My mom told me and Brian after she gave us our lunches and a kiss on the cheek (I'm glad she did it in the house!). My dad had talked to us before going to work, telling us to be ourselves and that Thompsons can do anything they put their minds to. I'm not gonna lie, I'm nervous as heck! It is a whole new school with new teachers so I am not sure if I am gonna be on top of the class like I was at my old school.
Fortunately, we would be walking to school with our next door neighbors and new friends.
"Bye Mom!" we called out. I looked over at Brian and as usual he looked like he didn't have a care in the world. But I just know deep down inside, he had to be just as nervous as I was. I mean, he didn't know if these kids in East Orange can play basketball better than in Chicago and I know that he wanted to stay on top.
Just as we approached their house, Michael and Whitney called out goodbye to their parents and met us at the sidewalk. Michael and Brian led the way and Whitney and I followed closely behind. "So ya nervous?" Whitney asked, liked she could read my mind. "Yeah." I admitted. "Don't be nervous Calvin. You are a nice kid, so they will like you." "Thanks," I said feeling a little better. "They will like you better than me, that's for sure….."
What did she mean by that? I would think that a nice kid with a popular family would be liked by everybody. "What do you mean?" I finally asked. "Kids like you right?" Whitney hung her head. "Not really. The girls say I think I'm better than them because I got light skin, long hair and dress up like a doll." I gave her a confused look. In the past week of being around her, I didn't think she acted like she was better than people. "Why do they say that for?" She humped her shoulders. "I don't know. My brothers sometimes have to tell them to leave me alone or they will beat them up. But they still say stuff or do stuff sometimes though. Mommy tells me that I need to learn how to stick up for myself, because not everyone wants to be my friend and that they need to at least respect me." "Wow!" I said. I never saw girls get bullied much, especially for no reason. "That's not fair." She told me about some of the stuff the girls did to her last school year, like take her glasses and a ring that Dionne Warwick gave her. I couldn't believe that girls could be mean. I thought they were supposed to be made of sugar and spice and everything nice?
When we made it to school, we had to push through the crowds of kids to check the paper so we could see who our teacher would be. Thank God, Brian got the same teacher as Michael and I got the same teacher as Whitney. I would have someone I already know in my new class. By the look on her face, it looked like Whitney was happy too.