I woke up that morning, thinking it would be an ordinary school day, but it was a morning that changed who I was. My mom was already shouting: “Max, get up! You’ll miss the bus!“. I yawned and forced myself out of bed, looking if I got any notifications on my phone. “Nothing,“ I sighed. I was the new kid at my school, no one approached me or even asked how my day was, all I longed for was a friend. I quickly pulled on my trousers, threw on a sweatshirt and ran downstairs. “Shoot! I forgot my lunch,“ I remembered as I was running out the door of my house. I barged through the kitchen trying to find something I could take. I found stale bread and just took a whole jar of jelly, knowing I was already running late. I sprinted through the front door and saw the bus leaving my stop. I knew I couldn't let myself be late again this week, it was only Wednesday after all! I ran after the bus as fast as I could. I could already see kids laughing in the bus. The bus driver didn't notice me even after my greatest attempt at stopping the bus. I was no athlete so I wasn't too surprised that I couldn't keep up.
I called my mom and told her she would need to drive me to school. I already felt guilty as I was pressing the call button, she worked night shifts and I was waking her up again instead of being responsible and getting up on time. She picked up and didn't say a word, she knew I was calling for the same reason I called almost every day. I felt relieved as I saw her car approaching me, I think she already knew that I did this on purpose most of the time. She noticed I didn’t mention any friends even though it was almost the end of the semester. She was right. I know it wasn’t considerate of me to miss the bus on purpose but it was stressful enough being alone while everyone had at least someone, and this time I didn’t miss it on purpose! It was if as the universe was working against me, I thought as I was sitting in the passenger seat, staring at my tired mom who still didn’t complain. I knew I had to stop bothering her so much, I had to stop being irresponsible. She parked in front of the school and told me to have a good day and that she hoped I made a friend that day. She was smiling, even though she was as pale as a ghost and I knew she hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. She was the kindest person I knew, but also the strongest one. She worked as a nurse in a busy hospital, she was the person that couldn’t say no and she always accepted additional shifts even if it meant she had to stay awake for two days. I smiled back and promised I’d try because I knew how much she wanted for me to feel normal and not be alone. I closed the car door and walked into the school. The crowded halls of this school and the noise of kids laughing overwhelmed me. I hurried to class and sat in the only seat available, the one closest to the professor’s desk. I gripped my eraser and clicked my pen nervously while I waited for this class to end. I somehow made it through all my classes so I packed everything back in my school bag and excitedly started walking out of the school. My mom always picked me up, which made me really happy every time I walked out my very large school’s front door. She texted she would be late since she’d just woken up. I was disappointed but I understood and knew she would be there soon.
I started walking to the back of the school because there was no one there most of the time. I heard kids laughing and got frightened and started walking back, but I was intrigued. I heard faint sounds of what sounded like a girl’s cries. I knew I had to help but I was too scared and I was pacing back and forth unsure of what to do. I decided to go help but the kids already ran off, leaving the poor girl alone. I approached her slowly and asked if she was okay, my voice trembling. She was covering her face and wiping her tears as she quietly said: “The girls that ran off made fun of me. They’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember. I don’t understand why.” My heart ached for her, I should have helped her as soon as I noticed the sound but my cowardness stopped me. We ended up talking for a while and I didn’t even notice I had 20 missed calls from my mom. The girl and I exchanged contacts and I rushed to the front of my school where my mom’s car was. The girl’s name was Mia. My mom scolded me for not answering my phone and making her wait for me, but as soon as she heard me say I met someone, her expression changed to the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. I told her what happened and how I felt horrible for not reacting sooner. The whole ride home she was telling me how happy she was that I finally made a friend. We made it home and as I was walking into my house I got a message from Mia. She thanked me for stopping by her and said she was hoping we could meet before school. My eyes got brighter the moment I saw that message. She also said she took the school bus. “Not the school bus,” I thought. That was the place I avoided as much as possible. I knew I would have to suck it up and be brave if I wanted to see her. I replied saying I took the school bus too and that I was looking forward to seeing her again. The next morning, I got up early, packed my bag and my lunch and excitedly ran out the front door. I was really early but it didn’t matter, I wanted to make sure I was ready and wouldn’t miss the bus. I waited and waited and finally saw the yellow bus approaching. I got up and walked up to the bus, I was anxious, remembering how much I hated being alone, but as soon as I saw Mia, I forgot all about how scared I was. I approached her with a smile and sat down next to her. I didn’t know what to say. Luckily, she broke the ice asking me what I was doing after school. I answered, awkwardly smiling, I was almost always free since I didn’t have any friends. “Great!” she happily replied, “That means we can hang out!”. “Really?” I thought, “Someone wanted to hang out with me?”. I was shocked but so glad I finally had someone to spend time with. We talked and talked and in the blink of an eye, our classes started. All I could think about in class was what we were going to do after school, how relieved my mom would be to hear I was going somewhere. I finished all my classes and received a message from her. She told me to meet her where we had met yesterday. I smiled and rushed to the back of the school. She was already there, waiting for me. I sat down next to her and we started talking. I’d never had a conversation with someone flow so smoothly.
Before I noticed, the semester was over. Mia and I hung out every day since we met. All we would do is talk for hours, ride our bikes to get some ice cream or simply go for a walk. I always had her back and she had mine. When times were hard, we would meet and just talk and talk. Talking, what I once thought was boring, now turned out to be my favorite thing ever. Mia and I studied together too, she was a lot smarter than me and always wanted to help. I even started reading more, which I couldn’t even force myself to do usually. She always had great movie or book recommendations, and it’s safe to say she has great taste. My mom was prouder than ever. The smile she had when she saw us together, or saw me reading, which she hadn’t seen in ages, was the brightest and most sincere smile ever. I never thought I could have a friend, I was simply too awkward, too shy, too scared. But when I saw that frightened girl, I just knew there was something special about her. Turns out all it took to make a great friend and change my whole life was just one small act of kindness.