For the first time in my life, I could say that I had friends, real friends. Paul, Steve, Prat, Kevin, and others… I had many friends and good friends. Most stayed with me throughout my whole school life while some left the school a lot earlier. While I remember a lot of things from seventh grade, I don't remember everything. I just remember so many things from seventh grade only because a lot of memorable things happened during that year, at least compared to previous classes. I participated and won prizes in many competitions and made many memories with my friends. Even though few bad things did happen, it was still one of the best years of my school life.
Now, if someone has actually read this story up to this point, I would like to thank and congratulate you. I am sure that it was not easy to read what I have written because it was also not easy for me to write it.
Anyway… after a month-long holiday after the exams, classes for the next grade started. I was now in eighth grade. Like always, I went to school a week later. I was slightly nervous and excited at the same time. There was no reason behind that. When I did go to school for the first time, I found that our classroom had finally been changed after two years. I didn't particularly like it because I hate change. Moreover, I thought it was useless because my class was still on the second floor. So, in a way nothing had changed, and I was still going to have to climb stairs for a whole year.
After climbing the stairs, I stood at the door before going inside. There were many students present in the classroom and I saw some new faces as well. Fortunately, all of my friends were there to make fun of me. They saw me and waved their hands.
Prat, Peter, Steve, Paul and Kevin were sitting in the row next to the windows and I went and sat with them. I shook hands with all of them and I didn't want to admit it but seeing them after a month made me a little happy. There were other boys sitting in that row, but they weren't exactly my friends so, I ignored them. Without wasting a second, I started interrogating them. I found many things from them.
First news was that Peter was now a student of section A. Not only him, Austin, the class clown, and few students from other sections had come to our class. I couldn't believe it because those guys were not exactly studios. I didn't think they deserved to be in section A. I couldn't figure out why my school would do something like that. Maybe they were pressured by those students' parents. Then they told me that there were few students who had left the school as well. I didn't care about them because they were girls and I had barely talked to them.
Nothing important had happened during the days I was absent. Teachers weren't teaching anything important because many students were absent. Not only that, almost all the teachers were different from the seventh grade. When my friends told me that, I didn't like it. I didn't know any of our new teachers. While my friends tried to convince me that they weren't bad, I couldn't believe them before seeing it with my own eyes. Or rather I didn't want to believe it.
As the day progressed, I realized that my friends were telling the truth. All teachers were indeed new, and they were alright. I knew that it was going to take a while before I would get used to it. All teachers were normal except for the English's teacher. She reminded me of my social studies' teacher. The way she talked and acted felt a little weird. But I liked her. Not because she was nice or a good teacher. Her and Dik's surname were same, and my classmates used to make fun of him because of that. It was stupid but he was one of the few people I used to hate so, it was acceptable.
As days passed, I started talking with the new students. Two of them were Ted and Mike. Both were boys and very weird. Ted was a scrawny and weak kid. He was very bad at studies. Before coming to our school, he used to study in a school that had pretty bad reputation. But for some reason, I became friends with him easily.
As for Mike, my first impression of him wasn't very good. The first thing I noticed about him were his teeth which were extremely yellow. He told us that it was because of a medical condition. No doctor and dentist could find the cure to his condition. We did not believe him. But that's not exactly why I didn't like him. While he used to say it was because of a medical condition, he had told his friends that his teeth hadn't been like that since childhood, and he got them after an incident. Whatever the truth was, it didn't matter. Every time he opened his mouth, his teeth would flash before our eyes, and it didn't look pleasant. On top of all this, he became a member of Bob's group. So, I avoided talking with him.
While I was excited and enjoyed the first few days of the new grade, I got bored of it pretty quickly. Nothing extra ordinary or out of usual was happening. Few competitions were held but they weren't interesting. The only saving grace of going to school was that I could talk with my friends. Once again, all boys had started playing the modified version of rock, paper, and scissors.
All guys from Bob's group and Dirk's group were still in section A. And I started talking with them a little more in the beginning of eighth grade. I didn't realize it, but I had started changing. I was becoming more extroverted. It was because of my friends. All my friends just happened to be extroverts who used to talk with everyone and anyone. I was completely different from them. That's why you should choose your friends wisely. I was getting influenced by them and becoming more like them. It was not necessarily a bad thing for me but looking back it now, it seems almost unbelievable.
Also, I used to love listening to songs and singing. My friends found that, and they would ask me to sing. I didn't know if it was because they liked my voice or if my voice was so bad that they found it hilarious. I believed it was because they liked my singing. Almost every time, they would somehow find a way to convince me, and I would end up singing for them… happily. How was I supposed to know why they were laughing at me when they used to praise my singing abilities and go as far as to beg me to sing for them.
I still don't know the truth, but it was probably the latter. I don't have a great voice now and then as well, chances of me having a horrendous voice were far more than me sounding like an angel. My friends probably loved making fun of me behind my back. If I actually had a good voice, they would have never asked me to sing and let me know that. Instead, they would have insulted me so badly that I would have stopped singing. My friends were far from encouraging and motivating type.
At least, they never told me the truth to my face otherwise my confidence would have been shattered.