Introduction

An invisible hand grabbed me and pulled me off the ladder.I landed on my back on the gym floor with an “Oooof!” My head made a loud

"THUD" as it banged the floorboards.

I raised myself slowly, blinking hard, trying to shake off the shock. Then I pulled

myself up on my elbows and saw Benjamin laughing. Aaliyah dropped her lipstick into her bag and came running over to me. “James are you okay?” she demanded. “Yeah. Fine,” I muttered. “I was just testing the floor. You know. Seeing how hard it is..(laughingly) “It isn’t as hard as your head!” Benjamin joked. “You’re going to have to pay for breaking the auditorium floor!” He laughed again. “Ha-ha.” Aaliyah rolled her eyes, then made a disgusted face at him. She turned to me.“Don’t encourage him, James. He’s about as funny as a dead pigeon.” “I think dead pigeons are funny!” Benjamin insisted.Aaliyah rolled her eyes again. Then she grabbed my hand and tugged me to my feet.I felt so embarrassed. I wanted to go hide under the bleachers.Why am I always such a total looser? No invisible hand pulled me off the ladder. I just fell. That’s what I usually do if I find myself on a ladder. I fall off. Some people are climbers. I’m a faller. But I really didn’t want to look like a geek in front of Aaliyah and Benjamin. the real truth is that I am scared of height, After all, I just met them. And I really wanted to impress them. That’s why I signed up for the Dance Decorations Committee. I wanted to meet kids. It’s hard to make new friends when you start a new school in sixth class. Maybe I’d better start at the beginning. My name is James Anderson and I’m twelve years old. Just before school started this fall, my dad got married again. And right after the wedding, we moved to Ooty valley. We had to move so fast, I barely had a chance to say good-bye to my friends. And before I could catch my breath, here I was—the new kid at ooty Valley Middle School.I didn’t know anyone here. I hardly even knew my new mom!

Can you imagine what it’s like to suddenly have a new school, a new house, and a new mom?

The first couple of days at ooty Valley Middle School were hard. Kids weren’t unfriendly. But they already knew who their friends were.I’m not shy. But it was really impossible to just go up to someone and say, “Hi. Want to be my friend?”

I was pretty lonely at the first week or so. Then last Monday morning, Mrs. Bindu pillai, the principal, came into our room. She asked if anyone wanted to volunteer for the Dance Decorations Committee. She needed kids to decorate the auditorium.

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