Outcasted

1

Hey, everyone!  Thanks for checking out this book.  I just want to say that I am against bullying and I wanted to write this to show the real impact it can have on people.  As always, no copying, and please don't forget to comment what you think and vote.  Thanks!

Ice covered the ground. I kind of wanted to pretend it was snow, but it never snowed where I lived. It usually only frosted in the morning hours, but if it got really cold, it would ice over the lawn. There wouldn't be any school. With the roads covered in ice, there was no way that anyone would be on the roads, not even school buses.

My parents said that this was the first real winter we'd had in a while. It was the first real winter that I could remember apart from once when I was six. It had really snowed that year. I had gone into the yard and spent the day building tiny snowmen because there wasn't enough snow to build a real one.

I looked out to the pasture across the road behind my neighbor's big house. Up and down the road were the rest of my neighbors. Glimmering ice had covered everything as far as the eye could see. When I exhaled, I could see my breath in the air.

I don't know why I always liked winter. Maybe because it was cold, maybe because the days were shorter. Really, I think it was because where I lived; winter was something of an outcast- like me. It was sunny and hot at least ten months out of the year, but when winter came, it was a hard one. No one liked it because in a farming community, winter doesn't exactly help crops grow. In fact, most of the people I knew would have been happy if summer lasted all year long, forever.

But that would take away the specialty of winter. When every day is the same, it gets old. Just like when every person is the same, you get tired of talking to them.

"Pierce," my mom called.

"Comin', mom!" I called back. I stood up from the porch swing and opened the screen door, then the real wood one. I closed the doors behind me and petted our dog, Max, on top of his head.

I made my way into the kitchen where my mother was waiting for me. She was mixing up cookie dough at the counter.

"Ah," she said and turned off the hand mixer. "This came for you yesterday." She lifted up a package in her hands. I hadn't noticed that it was on the table before. "It's your Christmas present from your Aunt Marge."

She held it out to me. "Alright. Thanks. I'll make sure to tell her that I appreciate it." I said and took the box. I peeled away the brown paper on the outside and opened the box. Inside, was a brand new, hardcover copy of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I had read it once before and fell in love with the story. "Wow." I muttered and picked up the book. I knew right away that she'd spent a lot on it.

"It's nice." My mother said, turning the mixer back on. I nodded, tossed the packaging in the trash can, and retreated in my bedroom. As I did with all of my books, I took a marker and wrote my name, Pierce Hallow, on the inside cover.

I crammed the book onto my overcrowded bookshelf and collapsed onto my bed. I took my tennis ball from my bedside table and started bouncing it against the ceiling. Man, I sure was glad to have a day off school. I was hoping we'd get more time off because of the weather.

It wasn't that I didn't like school- I did. English was my favorite. The class had introduced me to some of the best books and authors ever. But like I said before, I was an outcast, like winter. I didn't have too many friends- just Kevin and Jordan and Casey. There were other kids who I was friendly to and plenty that I didn't bother trying with. My parents probably would have liked it better had I tried to make more friends, but I just didn't want to act like someone I wasn't for the sole purpose of making friends with people I didn't like.

I was good with the way things were going as they were. I was perfectly content with my life. Things were certain to stay that way... at least I thought they were.