The Decision Maker

1. Welcome.

Hi. I'm Tony Starr, a smart yet undeniably idiotic boy who lives in Florida, and I've just moved here.

Personally, I really don't think that this school is going to be better than ever. Thankfully, it'll just be a fresh start. I don't have to worry about my past anymore, hehe.

Oh right.

My past.

Well, that's not important. First impressions, right?

Anyway, 20 minutes later, I arrived.

Damn. This school is tiny. I walk in. Plain white walls with a tiled white floor, with occasional red and blue tiles. To the right of me is a trophy case. Oh, wait, multiple. This school has won a lot of awards. I then turn left and enter the cafeteria. Funny enough, the cafeteria looks even bigger than the building itself. Everybody is talking with each other, and it seems that everyone knows everyone except me. Doesn't bother me, really. I've moved multiple times throughout my life, so I'm pretty used to that feeling. I recheck my schedule. I then sit quietly. Impatiently, really. The bell rings. Speedwalking through the hallway (as I am known for not being very fast during the switching classes time), I quickly toss things into my locker, get my math class stuff, and sprint toward the classroom. I sit at a random seat, waiting for class to start. "Hi," somebody exclaims. It startles me, but I look to the right of me, and there's a boy. Not very tall, but about the same height as me. "Who are you," he asks. I'm not the best at talking to new people, but I can get used to them pretty quickly. "H-hi, I'm Tony." T-Tony Starr," I reply. "Hi Tony! I'm Omar," he says.

Seems like he's everyone's friend. To be fair, he is pretty enthusiastic to meet me. He then pulls out his phone and scrolls through YouTube shorts. "O-Omar, right? What are you doing?"I ask. "What do you mean?" He replies. "I mean, why are you using the phone?" "The teacher's not here yet, right?" "Right." "So why would he care?" I look around. Almost everyone had a phone out. And, if not, they were talking with their friends who did have phones.

The teacher arrives and everybody immediately digs their phones into their pockets. "Welcome back class, today we are going to review last week's Tangents and Cosines lesson," Mr. Murphy said. Everyone groaned. "Don't worry. Before I start teaching, I have to introduce you all to a new student. Mr. Starr?" I stand up and walk to the Smart Board. "Would you please introduce yourself, Mr. Starr?" Mr. Murphy asks. Look, I know I said I only get a little nervous when meeting a new person, but I do have a bit of stage fright. Even in small groups. "Uh, y-yeah. Hi everyone. M-my name is T-Tony Starr, and I-" "GET ON WITH IT!!" yells somebody who cut me off. People laugh. "Knock it off!" Omar yells. "S-sorry, sorry... I've moved here from New Jersey and it would be very nice to get to know you all!" I finish (although rather much faster than I would like to admit I had). I sit down and take out my Geometry Textbook. "Thank you, Tony. Alright, class. Today we will be going back Unit 7 Lesson 3, 'Finding Side Lengths Using Trigonometry'," says Mr. Murphy.

After class the bell rings and I take my stuff and go. "Tony, wait up!" Omar yells behind me, calling my attention. "Huh? Oh, S-sorry, I'm not very fast at getting my stuff, so I just speed walked. Whaddya want?" I ask. "Nothin'. How's school so far?" He asks. "I guess it was ok..." I reply. "You still feel bad about the introduction, right?" He asks. "I guess. What's their problem with me anyway?" "They like to tease new students. Sometimes it goes to the extent of bullying, though." He replies. "O-oh..." "Don't worry. As long as you don't get all A's or aren't pretty stupid then you're fine." Dammit. "That may or may not basically be the definition of me," I say.

"Yeah. You're doomed." Omar says jokingly.

(697 words)