Newfound Friends

  The students charged for the door as the final bell rang. The air exploded with chatter, laughter, and coming of age adolescent humor. They lined up, pushing each other through the doorway, as if trying to escape some perilous disaster that occurred at 3:01 PM everyday. If they could only move this quick for fire drills, the teacher thought to himself. It was hard to keep their attention that late in the day, most had their various social clubs or sporting activities to attend, while others daydreamed of being out with their friends or getting lost in one of their video games. Education was becoming harder to captivate them with, there were so many distractions to contend against.

“Goodnight Mr. Stanford” said a boy lingering behind at the back of the line. He looked as if he was waiting for the rest to file out rather than saying goodbye.

“Goodnight Peter”  Mr. Stanford replied, “Is everything all right?”
“Aw, sure Mr. Stanford, Just wanted to say class was great today” he said as he surveyed the hall making sure the coast was clear. “Gotta run , see ya tomorrow sir, it’s Pete by the way”  The boy disappeared from the doorway  into a flood of students surging through the halls.

Mr. Stanford  he thought, not many students called him that. It was mostly Mr. S, or on rare occasions
“Mr. Stan drives a Ford“, which he had always wondered , to take it as insult or just an observance, seeing as he did indeed drive a Ford. But Pete was new and had just transferred from out of State. Pete wasn’t flashy or arrogant like most of the other boys that had spent their lives here. He seemed respectful and polite since he arrived almost  three weeks ago. Mr. Stanford walked to the window, looking out  from the second story , he watched as children were picked up, buses drove off, and students  unlocked their bikes from the racks. From the corner of his eye, a small commotion caught his attention. Three boys were circling another on their bikes and saying something. He couldn’t make out the words , but it was definitely a taunt of some kind.  Mr. S pounded on the glass

“Hey…, Hey, leave him alone” he shouted,  as he opened the window, pretending that eliminating a pane of glass would increase his authority over them. The three boys each circled one last time and rode off laughing. The boy being bullied looked up and Mr. Stanford recognized him immediately , it was Pete.
Mr. Stanford shouted for him to come up, but Pete just put his head down and walked away.

The next day at school, Pete was quieter than usual . He seemed withdrawn and tried to avoid Mr. Stanford at all costs.  When the final bell rang and the students were shuffling out , Mr. S stopped  Pete, who was at the end of the line again.

“What happened yesterday” he said “I yelled for you but you just kept walking, I didn’t recognize those boys but if they are harassing you and you know their names , I will write them up.”

“Just some kids Mr. Stanford” said Pete “That’d probably just make it worse, It’s no big deal.”

“You wanna talk about it?” Mr. Stanford questioned

“Eh, not much to say really, My Mom says it’s cause I’m the new kid.” Pete replied

“ What’s your Father say” asked Mr. Stanford

“My Father’s not around Sir” said Pete, “ Just me and my Mom”

“Oh, I’m sorry, ”  Mr. Stanford said apologetically

“It’s ok, it doesn’t bother me.” Pete replied

“So what did those boys say, or would you rather not talk about it?” Mr. Stanford asked

“ Just calling me names, making fun of me cause I don’t have a cell phone, new video games, cool clothes, or a bike.” said Pete “ It hurts sometimes, but when my Mom gets back on her feet, she will make it up to me she says. It took a bunch of money to move here, and she’s working two jobs just to get us ahead. She says we will have more opportunities here than from the small town where we came from.”

“I see, Have you made any friends yet?  The teacher questioned

“Not yet” Pete said “ My Mom says when I get more familiar, people will open up.”

“Well , I know someone who is willing to be your friend and will never judge you or betray you..” Mr. Stanford said coolly

Reaching into his desk, he pulled out a  faded book.
“My only copy” Mr. Stanford declared “ Read it, when you are done, bring it back to me, deal?”

Pete gently grabbed the book from his teacher, turned it over , and read the title
“The adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain

“Deal. Thank you, sir, I’ll return it when I’m done” Pete promised as he left the classroom.

Two days later Pete approached Mr. Stanford after class.
“So what’d ya think? Asked Mr. S
“What’d I think?, It was amazing” Pete exclaimed “I couldn’t put it down, I met a bunch of friends, I was a pirate, I hunted for buried treasure, I narrowly escaped Evil Injun Joe. It was the best, Thank you Mr. S”

“Now if your ever feeling lonely, you can pick up a book and let it transport you away, make new friends, have new adventures. Those aren’t just words in the books, when they are put together , they spring forth with life, create world’s, and can take you anywhere your heart desires.” Mr. Stanford said excitedly
“And if you put down your own word’s, then you are the creator and you give your own word’s life. The possibilities are endless and there is no limit to what you can do”

Pete stared off dreamily as he walked towards the door. His eyes filled with a newfound fire burning within him.