The book | Teen Ink

The book

March 1, 2010
By Anonymous

Joey was a young boy. He was on his way to the first day of school. He was afraid that nobody would like him, and that he wouldn’t make any friends. Once he got to school he convinced his parents to walk in with him. He walked into the class and saw all the other children. He got nervous and went to go out the door, but when he turned around his parents weren’t there. All he saw was the teacher slam the door in front of him. He was locked in. Joey got a terrible sinking feeling then the teacher yelled at him to take a seat.
All the other kids were already in their seats. They were all giving him a look like he was stupid. He walked to the back of the room and slumped into a chair. He kept his head down for a long time. He decided school was worse than he had originally thought. After a long time of hearing the teacher ramble on he slowly looked up. He was glad when he looked up and no one was watching him. Then the bell rang.
Class was over for now and it was time for recess. He was happy to be out of the classroom, and able to get some fresh air. He saw a bunch of kids playing and ran up to them. Once he got there they all stopped, and walked away. He was sad so he decided to go to the farthest side of the playground.
This was a bad idea because that’s where the big kids hang out. The older kids told him to leave but he didn’t care, so he refused. The older kids got mad and formed a circle around him. They began pushing him back and forth between them. Then Joey couldn’t keep his balance anymore he fell and hit the ground hard. Joey was dizzy and couldn’t see well partially from the tears. All the older kids ran away laughing. When he finally got up the bell had already rang, and all the other kids had already went in. He walked back to the door to go inside. The teacher opened the door glaring at him the entire time.
She told him he would have to sit in the corner of the class facing the wall since he was late. All the kids snickered at him. Finally the time was almost up, and after this they got to go to the library. He loved books. Even though Joey was in preschool he had learned to read at a young age. He had heard about libraries but had never been in one.
Finally the teacher told everyone it was time to go to the library. The class formed a line and walked down the hall. Everyone had pushed Joey to the back of the line, but he didn’t care he was just glad he could get a book. When he walked into the library the librarian greeted everyone. She told them to take a seat while she explained the rules for the library.
Once she had finished they still had a few minutes left to look for books they liked. There were only a couple rows for the preschoolers but Joey didn’t care he just wanted a book. By the time he stood from his chair the rest of his classmates had already rushed the books, and wouldn’t let him near them. Once they were finished there was only one book left that Joey could take. It was a dictionary. He was really sad. He didn’t even take the book he just slumped his shoulders and slowly walked for the door.
The librarian saw him and asked what was wrong. He explained to her, what had happened, and how sad he was because he loved books. She took pity on him, and told him she had a special book. This book was one she had written and it was the only copy. But she told Joey he could have it if he was really careful, and returned it the next day. Joey agreed and was very happy. He put the book in his backpack in a spot where it would be safe.
He walked back to class and had to sit in the corner for the rest of the day since he didn’t leave the library when everyone else did. Once the bell rang he ran out of the school eager to get home.
Once he got to his house he threw the door open and went straight to his room. He took the book out and began to read. He really enjoyed the book, but it wasn’t long so he finished it quickly. He put the book into his backpack once again, so that he could return it.
He was walking back to school the next morning when he realized he had forgotten his backpack. He didn’t have anything he would actually need for school besides the book. He knew he had to return the book so he ran back to his house even though he would be late to school.
Joey ran into his room and found his dog chewing on the backpack. Joey snatched it away, and started to run back to the school. Joey began to notice that his backpack felt lighter than it had the night before. He stopped and looked inside. His dog had chewed a hole through the bottom of the backpack just large enough for the book to fall out.
Joey looked back and saw the book on the sidewalk. He was relieved when he saw it hadn’t been lost. He reached for the book, but then saw a shadowy arm reach out of the ground and grab the book. The hand slowly pulled the book back into the ground with it. Joey was scared, but not as sad as he was that he had lost the book.
When he went to the library that day he tried to explain what had happened, but the librarian didn’t believe him. She then told him he could not get another book until he brought the old one back. Joey knew this was not possible, so he simply walked back to class.
That night his parents got a call from the school saying that Joey should be put in the special ed. Class because he doesn’t pay attention, and is bad in class, and believes something underground stole the book from him. His parents yelled at him, and sent him to bed without dinner.
Joey went to school the next day, but couldn’t go to his normal class, because he had been moved to the other class. That is how Joey did the exact opposite of what he wanted to do at school. He didn’t make any friends, and he can’t even read books from the library anymore. That was the day Joey decided he hated school, and would never try enjoying it again.
The End


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