"Haha, nice one tess!" Sophie, One of my good friends laughed as I cracked another joke. As my friends' voices fade away slowly, my mind drifted off to how we became friends in the first place, when this school was completely new to me. Memories rushed back into my head.
I looked at the strange school, with sights unfamiliar to me. For example, the school looked much richer and more flourishing than my previous one. As I had been selected for the Gifted Pupils Programme (GPP), I had to be transferred to this school. My friends from my previous school used to call me smart, but I never expected to be admitted into GPP, which accepted only 0.7% of the national cohort! However, this school was the richest in the entire country. I could not fit in here, no matter how hard I tried, since my family was not that well off.
I ignored the stares of the students as I walked past the beautiful walls and corridors of this building with my parents, right into the principal's office. The principal gave me my class number, the class with other GPP students and my parents said goodbye before they left.
I walked into my class, not knowing what horror awaited me. All my classmates were disgusted at me. I had messy curls, wore sloppy clothes and brought food packed from home. I felt very bad, not because they had high standard of living, but because I was being treated so badly. Days would pass when I almost felt like crying because of the hurtful and mean comments.
All these feelings finally Came to an end when I met Sophie. When I was being bullied and taunted by Amelis, One of the bullies who picked on me regularly during recess, a girl stepped in between us. She looked at Amelia, and she started seeing red.
"Stop it! I can't stand it anymore! Would you want to be treated like that? Don't Bully this poor, helpless girl!" she screamed in fury.
I stared at her in disbelief. I had never been defended by anyone in this school before. Amelia spun on her heels, flipped her hair and stomped away from the girl and me.
" I'm Sophie. What's your name?"the girl said to me kindly. I said that I was Tess, and introduced myself. From then on Sophie and I always hung out together. As it turned out, many people wanted to know me better, but they were scared of not fitting in with the rest. Eventually, I made more friends. Even Amelis talked to me from time to time and I no longer felt lonely any more.
"Hey, Tess, you still there?" Sophie called out to me, jostling me from my world of thoughts. I joined the conversation with my friends and we chatted happily.
I know that being bullied hurts, but if you have friends to stand up for you, you will feel much better. Looks like there can be a kind heart in a crowd of mean ones too!
