ISOLATED

Chapter 3

The bell rings for second period, Social Studies. And there I sat, all alone, in the back as always. I see students talking with their friends. Some were in pairs, some were in trios or even more than that. I saw those two girls again, who were talking behind my back in Art class, carrying their glittering handbags as they entered the classroom. It was surprising to see that a lot of boys were looking at them as their eyes hungered for love, and how the girls were complimenting their pink and sparkly outfits.

Speaking of popularity, dating was also very common in my school. As I have observed, most of the girls would sit beside the boys, hugging each other, and more stuff that I did not want to know. I would hear the girls calling the boys weird nicknames, like "Babe!" and "Sweetie pie!"

Oy vey.

I wasn't really into dating. No one is ever going to love me anyway. The bell finally rings and everyone hurries for their seats as they heard the clicking of the shoes getting louder as it got closer to the classroom. To my surprise, our teacher was a guy this time. He looked nice and kind, but you never know right?

"Good morning, class. I hope that you all had a good summer. For those who are new here, my name is Mr. Parker Brownley. I am so excited to get to know all of you lovely children."

He looks at us with the nicest smile on his face. How sweet.

"Excuse me, sir." the blonde popular girl asked. " How old are you?"

"I am thirty- five years old." Mr. Parker replied.

The blonde popular girl takes a look at Mr. Parker. "I see."

Isn't that a little too personal to ask?

"Are there any other questions that you would like to ask me before we begin?" Mr. Parker asks as he raises an eyebrow.

There was a moment of silence.

"Alright then. Let's all introduce the new students. I heard that this girl from Canada is a new student." Mr. Parker said as he took a look at me.

The whole class turned their gazes from Mr. Parker towards me.

"Oh! Yes, my name is Reuven Rothstein. I am from Canada and moved a few years ago after my parents were... divorced."

Why did I say that?! Well, looks like it is true that your mouth moves faster than your brain.

Mr. Parker looks at me in despair. "I am very sorry to hear that Ms. Rothstein."

"No, it's fine. There is nothing you have to feel sorry for. My life is pretty complicated anyway." I replied as I looked away from his gaze.

Mr. Parker looks at me, then at the students. "Class, I would like to leave you all with something to think about when you go home at the very end of the day. I know that it is very hard to accept someone that is different from a different country, but you all must know that we are all the same. No matter who you are, and what you do. Understood?"

The students nodded their heads, and some of them nodded in uncertainty.

"Since that, it is just the first day of school, I will give you the whole hour to get to know all of your new classmates. There are more new classmates than Ms. Rothstein over here, and I want to leave you all with an important lesson. I want to teach you all that no matter who you meet, whether it is someone from a different background, race, and other things that you can think of, always remember that everyone is the same no matter what. You may now begin." Mr. Parker said as he looks at all of us.

The students all got up from their seats and starts to have a conversation with each other. Some students were looking at me in disgust, and I could tell that they didn't want to talk to me. I speak English too! It's just that I have a different accent.