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The New Guy By Charles Mills
“Little by little, many of the students who, at first, liked to hang out with the new guy, started staying away from him.”
14 Pacific Union Recorder
J
ared stood and stared at the new guy. This smiling stranger had arrived just last week and was already on the best baseball team. The teacher had called on him twice to read a poem in English class, and he’d made Jared’s friend Tommy laugh so hard at lunch he’d squirted milk out of his nose. So what if he was from another country? So what if he spoke with a strange accent? So what if he could run faster than a whitetailed deer? The fact was, Jared didn’t like him because when the new guy was around, no one paid attention to him. Well, the boy thought with a frown, no one is coming into my school and taking over my spot as the most popular fifth-grader. Something has to be done! But Jared didn’t want to tell lies about the new guy. He was a Christian, and Christians don’t lie. So, instead, he had an idea. He’d tell the truth, but in a way that would make people think twice about being friends with the new guy. “Sure, he runs fast,” Jared said after the new guy had stolen second base during a game later that week, “but I’ve never seen him hit a homerun.” “I don’t like his accent,” Jared whispered during English class. “Yes, he can speak English, but there are many words he says that I don’t understand.” “Some people think he’s funny,” Jared sighed as he watched the new guy entertaining those seated at his lunch table in the cafeteria, “but I find his jokes childish. I like sophisticated jokes— you know, like on television.”
