The Adventures of Max and Friends

Morning fog still covered the windows and the faded orange night light flickered in the corner of the room, but Max was already getting ready for school. The cold air gave him goosebumps as he was changing. Max had hardly slept, his stomach twisting and turning all night. It was the first day of sixth grade, and Max had been waiting anxiously all summer. He knew this was his year to win the National Spelling Bee.
The last two years’ winners had both been sixth graders. After watching last year’s winner get crowned, Max vividly remembered his dad patting him on the back and said, “That could be you next year if you work hard.” Since that moment, Max was determined to win.

After getting dressed, he quickly brushed the fur on his ears, wiped the toothpaste off his whiskers and scurried down to the kitchen for breakfast.
Pulling out flashcards from his backpack, Max glanced at the card on top, closed his eyes and
whispered, “Chrysanthemum, c-h-r-y-s-a-n-t-h-e-m-u-m.”
He went through a few more flashcards while scarfing down breakfast before heading out. Before
running out the door to catch the bus, Max stuffed the flashcards into his backpack and took a quick look at himself in the mirror and said, “This is going to be a f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c year! I am sure of it!”

As the bus came to a stop, the brakes hissed, and the bus door rattled open. After Max got on the bus, his heart immediately sank to his stomach and his smile faded. Terrance was sitting in the back of the bus with some friends, his foot in the aisle showing off a brand-new pair of bright red basketball shoes. Terrance had been terrorizing Max ever since he moved to the
neighborhood three years ago. Although Max tried to slip into his seat unnoticed, Terrance had already
spotted him.

“Hey, pipsqueak,” Terrance yelled. “Nice new clothes. Didn’t you wear the same thing last year too?”
Max’s shoulders shrank, and his cheeks turned bright red. He pretended not to hear Terrance, taking a seat near the front of the bus.
Max looked down at his clothes: His T-shirt looked like it was dried one too many times as the sleeves were too short, his blue jeans so faded that it was more white than blue, and the soles on his shoes were worn with the stitching coming apart. Looking around the bus, everyone else had brand-new clothes.

A few minutes later, something wet hit the top of his head. It was a spitball. He wiped it off with a shirt sleeve, but his hands were shaking with anger. He had to do something. Until now, Max never stood up to Terrance. But this time, Max had enough and jumped out of his seat and turned to the back of the bus, about to shout at Terrance. This just made Terrance and the other kids laugh and point at him.
“You kids need to quiet down right now!” the bus driver roared. “Or you will be banned from riding the bus!”
Not wanting to get banned from the bus, Max slumped back down in his seat. With his heart still pounding and his head still wet, he waited for the bus to get to school.

Once they arrived at school, Max sprinted out of the bus and found his way to his new homeroom. He sat down in the front of the class. Not long after, he was greeted by his friend Myra.
“Looks like we are in the same homeroom this year,” Myra said.
“Awesome!” Max beamed in excitement. “I am so glad to see you.”
Max and Myra had been friends since he moved to the new school, and they were always the smartest kids in class, earning the highest grades.
Seeing Myra in his homeroom, Max lit up and completely forgot about his run-in with Terrance. Max opened his backpack and pulled out his class schedule
to show Myra.
“Can I see your schedule?” Max asked with a big smile.

“Sure,” Myra replied as she handed him her
schedule.
Exchanging schedules, Max saw that he shared a lot of classes with Myra.
“It will be a f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c year,” Max said out loud.
But right before the bell rang, Terrance slipped into the back of the classroom. Max caught sight of Terrance and slouched in his chair letting out a loud sigh. Myra patted Max on his back and gave him an encouraging smile. Max closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He slowly exhaled trying to ignore the fact that Terrance will be in his homeroom for the entire year.
Just my luck! How did I end up in the same homeroom as Terrance? Now I have to deal with him every day, Max thought to himself.

Following homeroom was first period, which happened to be Max’s favorite subject, science. Myra and Max sat side by side in the front of the class both eagerly raising their hands every time the teacher, Ms. Rodriguez, asked a question. But Max could feel
Terrance’s eyes on him. He could tell that Terrance was watching him.
Max felt uneasy as he felt Terrance’s stare piercing through him like a sharp thorn. When he glanced back, Terrance was scowling, especially after Max answered another question correctly.

Soon, it was lunchtime, and all the students scrambled to get in line in the cafeteria to pick up their food. The cafeteria was buzzing with laughter and conversations. Everyone was trying to speak over one another. After picking up his lunch, Max found Myra sitting across the lunch hall. Myra waved for Max to come and sit with her. Myra found an empty table for them.

Hurrying across the cafeteria to avoid Terrance, Max suddenly felt his toes catch. Next, his legs were tangled. He lurched forward. He barely had a chance to look up and see his lunch fly into the air. Max sprawled across the linoleum floor. His lunch followed. It landed on his head with a wet flop.
Silence rang out. It seemed like the entire cafeteria had frozen. And everyone was staring at him. He sat on the floor with warm and sticky red sauce on his head and slippery noodles dangling from his large, round, and furry ears. Sitting on the floor, he saw
something on the floor in front of him. A bright red basketball shoe.
“Watch where you’re going!” Terrance snorted. He didn’t move his leg. Then he let out a mocking laugh. “You look like you just climbed out of the trash can.”
With that, the lunch hall erupted in laughter. Max sat still in embarrassment. He felt like time had momentarily stopped.