Tom wasn’t exactly ecstatic about his return to school. He hoped the new math teacher would be a bit more understanding about his behavior. He simply didn’t like math. Was that so hard to understand? As these thoughts raced through Tom’s head, he opened a window in his room and climbed onto the roof. His pale, blond hair shone in the half-moon’s light.
He reached inside his darkly-lit room for a book, “Tales of Great Achievements.” It was part of his summer reading list. As his dark, green eyes adjusted to the low lighting of the moon, he hoped this year would bring things such as more friends and less bad grades.
“Thomas! Get off the roof right now!!!!” said a razor sharp voice from below the roof.
“Sorry Mom!” cried Tom as he jumped back into his room.
He crawled into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
About 2,000 miles away, another boy, Cox, who happened to be just Tom’s age, was also getting into bed. Cox had jet black hair and deep, chestnut brown eyes. Cox lived in Canada and was moving to Texas, where Tom lived, for schooling purposes. The next day, Cox was filling the registration form for what subjects he would be taking in school. He chuckled slightly and said in his fast, laughing voice:
“Haha… I’m supposed to learn Spanish. I think I’ll be acing THAT class.”
He said this because he happened that he was fluent in both Spanish and English.
“No… It so happens that you did not see that you could take Spanish OR french. YOU are taking french.” said Cox’s father sourly.
“Ugh…” groaned Cox, but as he said this he had a sudden idea and, grinning, he circled Spanish.
Cox woke up the next morning and was greeted by his mother.
“So, honey… Do you remember what your supposed to do at the airport?” she said worriedly,
“Yes Mom… I need to get my tickets and then go to Gate A3. Next, I’ll board the plane. Then, when the plane lands, I’ll go to the apartment next to Howard’s Dream Team’s Sports Store. I go to room 10b.” Cox smiled reassuringly.
“And don’t forget, the school is by George’s Greenhouse.” said his mother.
Tom never thought that anything would be different that year. Until his mother brought something up at the dinner table that night.
“So,” his mother began, “I heard that a new boy is coming to your school.”
“Hm, really.” said Tom uninterestedly.
“You know, he plays the guitar.”
“Hm…”
“Are you listening?”
“Mm…”
Tom’s mother put her hands on her hips and said:
“Now listen young man, I know you don’t like talking at the table, but I just don’t want you being mean to this new boy.
“Mom, I’m not going to be mean.” reassured Tom, “I’m not even going to talk to him.”
Cox, even though hid his excitement, was ecstatic about going to the United States. Sure, he had been there many times when his dad had business trips, but he had never stayed for more than a week. He was sort of sad to leave his home. While he packed, he thought about what his life would be like without his friends and family.
“Tomorrow’s the day.” thought Cox as he climbed into bed.
Cox’s flight was at 8:00 in the morning. His alarm rang at 5:00. Cox stretched and yawned as he took his suitcase and baggage and headed into the car. As his mom drove up to the airport, she yelled:
“Bye sweetie!”
Cox covered his face in humiliation as people began to stare.
The next day, Tom ran to his first class, math. As he ran, he bumped headfirst into a boy.
“Hey!! Watch out!” cried Tom angrily.
“S-sorry, I was just trying to get to class. See, I’m new here and-” the boy began.
“Wait a second. You’re that new kid my mom was talking about. What’s your name?” inquired Tom.
“M-my name? Cox.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, you were headed in the wrong direction anyway. The math classroom is this way.” Tom pointed to a door marked ‘Room 1’.
“Oh yikes! We’re late!” yelled Cox,
“Really? Well that’s actually pretty awesome! I hate math.” said Tom scowling, “I’m no good at it anyway.”
Cox smiled at everyone as he walked into the math classroom. “Ah, I love math.” thought Cox. Next, Cox had science. He walked beside Tom on the way to the science lab and said:
“Science is the worst, right?”
Tom tilted his head up superiorly and replied: “I happen to like it.”
Cox’s final subject was Spanish.
“Oh yeah, I can’t wait to see the teachers face.” whispered Cox to himself, grinning as he walked out into class.
“Alright, first we will begin with greetings.” said the professor smiling sweetly.
She pulled out her answer book and said:
“Ahem, does anyone know how to say, ‘Good morning’ in spanish?”
“Buenos Dias.” said Cox speedily.
The professor raised her eyebrows and said:
“Good, urm, how about good night?”
“Buenas noches. And I also know how to say ‘Hello, my name is Cox. What is your name?’.
“Let’s hear it.” said the professor,
“Ahem, Hola, mi nombre es Cox. Cua es tu nombre?
The class gasped and looked at Cox in awe, all except Tom.
“What WAS that in class? I need to ask Cox…” thought Tom. Tom was walking to the bus when he saw Cox.
“Hey Cox,” said Tom in a fake friendly voice, “So, um, good job in class today.”
“Oh! Thanks!” replied Cox,
“Yeah… How did you know all that stuff?”
“Um…” Cox looked left and right, “look, the bus is leaving.” he ran onto the bus.
When Tom finished with his homework he decided to ask his mother where Cox lived, since she was part of the school board she knew. He ran over to Cox’s apartment and knocked in the door. The landlady opened the door and said:
“Wadda ya want?”
“I would like to see Cox Thomas.” Tom replied,
“Alrighty.”
Tom walked quietly into Cox’s room. He heard Cox talking on the phone:
“Yes! Exactly! I cannot believe the look on everybody’s faces when I said the simplest spanish! Well, it’s not cheating, I just happen to come from a spanish family. Is that so wrong? Right. Okay, bye.”
Tom came into the room and said:
“W-what?! You KNOW spanish?? Than why did your mom and dad sign you up for it??!”
“What the h-heck are you doing here?!”
“ANSWER ME!”
“My mom and dad did NOT sign me up. I signed myself up.
“Wow.. Just… Wow.”
For the next few days, Tom completely ignored Cox. Mr. Kagaku, the science teacher, was a tall, japanese man with a thick accent. Mr. Kagaku had paired Cox with Tom for the science experiment. Tom immediately switched partners with a boy named Christian. Cox was equally unhappy. One day, Cox walked up to Tom and said furiously:
“Why did you squeal to the Spanish teacher? Why couldn’t you just shut up for once?! Oh my gosh.. You… You… Jerk.”
Tom looked up calmly from his book.
“Well, you were just a lying creep, so I told the teacher.” he replied smoothly.
“Well, I’m probably going to be expelled from school because of you.” said Cox, his voice trembling from anger, “Thanks a bunch.” he added sarcastically.
“You’re welcome,” smiled Tom happily.
After school that day, Tom felt pretty bad about what had happened. On the bus, his mother’s words rang in his ears:
“I just don’t want you being mean to this new boy.”
“Oh boy. Well, I guess I better apologize.” scowled Tom.
He raced up to Cox’s apartment and told the landlady:
“Hi, I’m here to see Cox Thomas again. Remember me?”
“Are you Tom Matthews?” she inquired.
“Well…” Tom began, he thought it wasn’t such a great idea to tell the landlady at that moment who he was since Cox had probably told her to not let him in, “Urm, no. Who’s Tom Matthews? Is he some famous guy?”
“Okay, go on up.” she said in her creaky, low voice.
Tom didn’t bother knocking on the door. He walked into the room and stated:
“Listen, I’m sorry about the way I treated you.”
“The landlady let you in? Dang. Oh well. You’re leaving right?” replied Cox.
“Hey, I’m trying to apologize.” said Tom lifting his hands up.
“Apology… Rejected. Now leave please.”
The very next day in science, the teacher had an announcement to make.
“It has come to my attention that..” he paused to check a paper, “Cox Thomas has been getting below-average grades. Tom, you have been better than ever before so, you will help Cox. Show him your laboratory!”
Cox and Tom groaned. It was their worst nightmare come true.
After school, Tom led Cox to his house. They walked down to the basement. Cox didn’t know what to look at first, the hissing potions, the bubbling concoctions, or the small, tabby cat that was rubbing itself on his legs.
“Here Weasel!” called Tom.
Cox snapped out of his amazed trance and asked:
“Who?”
“Weasel. He’s my cat.” answered Tom, “Anyways, let’s get down to it. Let’s look at my newest thing.”
He led Cox down a narrow hallway into a rather small room with nothing but a small vial atop a pedestal in the center of the room.
“Here we are! So- uh..” he began, but stopped when he looked at Cox.
Cox’s eyes were wide and he asked:
“Where did this come from?”
“It was here when my family moved.” answered Tom.
“And.. Your mom let you have this?”
“Yes…”
“Wow, I’m really surprised your mom let you, who is so immature, have THIS.”
Tom was infuriated, he now absolutely hated Cox. Trying to keep his temper, Tom said, pushing the vial onto Cox:
“You thirsty? Here, drink this. It shouldn’t do anything. I tested it.”
“Thanks.” Cox snatched the vial and gulped it down.
Suddenly, a great transformation came over Cox. He had turned into a dog-like creature. He had a square snout and a long, brown body like a dog. He growled at Tom in a deep tone. Tom burst out laughing and fell to the ground in mirth.
“Oh my gosh, you look so stupid!! I’m gonna call you the Cox-dog!!” chuckled Tom.
The Cox-dog made a very odd noise. Tom could tell that it was angry, but at the same time it sounded like a worried whine that a dog might give. He did this several times. Tom just laughed more and more. Finally, the Cox-dog couldn’t take it anymore and attacked Tom. Tom yelled, thrashed, and threw off the Cox-dog hurriedly.
“Okay, okay, I’ll change you back.”
Tom gave a different vial to the Cox-dog. He drank it and immediately changed back to his normal self. Cox, without saying a word, stormed out.
Tom and Cox were now further from each other than they would ever be. They loathed each other. It was becoming a school problem. Soon enough, four teachers had sent them both to the principal’s office.
“Listen now, you better get ahold of yourselves before this starts to really effect your grades.” Said Mr. Scroople, the principal.
“Yes, Mr. Scroople.” the boys said simultaneously.
“Now then, what’s the problem?” asked Mr. Scroople.
Both boys began to explain. Their talking overlapped.
“Well see, it began when-” Cox began,
“Cox started being a complete menace-” Tom interrupted,
“TOM began being a complete JERK!” Cox yelled over Tom.
“BOYS!!” shouted Mr. Scroople over their squabbling, “You must be silent! What is SO wrong?! What could have possibly happened??”
“Nothing. We’ll behave.” Tom said.
Cox decided to walk around his neighborhood and explore. He saw an immense forest and felt a strong urge to check it out. He walked, walked, and walked until finally he reached a rather large swamp that, according to Cox’s later calculations, was in the exact center of the forest. Something caught Cox’s eye. It was a stone, but a stranger one could not be seen. It glittered and shimmered beautifully. Tom was intrigued by it; he stared, transfixed by the wondrous stone.
“Only you could be amazed by a rock!” yelled out a fast, laughing voice.
Tom recognized the person immediately.
“Cox.” he stated, turning around slowly.
“Yep!” said Cox smile that made Tom say:
“What’s with the clown grin?”
“Nothing.” said Cox, still grinning.
“Okay, I kinda wish you’d stop smiling.” Tom said.
Cox stopped smiling.
“You wanna talk about wishes,” he said, “you’ve come to the wrong place my friend.”
“How come?” inquired Tom,
“Well, this stone is one of few wishing stones.”
“Aaand wishing stones are?” inquired Tom skeptically.
“A wishing stone is a powerful pebble that, if you want it enough, grants you any wish your mind could possibly think of!”
“Yeah right! Okay, I wish a million dollars would fall out of the sky right now!” said Tom looking up. Nothing happened. Tom looked back at Cox and smirked. Cox merely said:
“Nothing happened because you didn’t want a million dollars.”
Tom looked confused and simply said: “What now?”
“You didn’t actually WANT a million dollars. You said it for no reason. It wasn’t a real true want.” Cox stated.
Tom understood now. He could only say what he truly wanted. He said plainly:
“I wish… for an adventure.”
“Interesting wish.” said Cox, “Let’s see if it comes true.”
Cox began walking with Tom out of the forest. Tom closed his eyes ready to hear the rolling of tires on the worn road and the warm air on his face. He didn’t hear it. Instead a great gust of frigid wind blew his hair out of place. Snow was everywhere. Cox’s jaw dropped.
“W-Wha?!” he said,
“WOW!!” yelled Tom with awe in his voice.
The wind gashed Cox’s face and became fiercer and fiercer. Suddenly, something caught Tom’s eye.
“L-look! A c-cave. We could stay in there until we f-find a way out of here!” exclaimed Tom.
They fled to the cavern. Exhausted, they sat down. They were talking when suddenly Cox felt a sharp stabbing pain in his shoulder like five razor sharp needles. He shrieked in pain and fell down. Looking up, he saw a fierce gray wolf with its teeth bared. He screamed again, louder. Tom, out of instinct more than anything, grabbed a stick and whacked the wolf. The wolf whimpered and stepped back. Tom laughed triumphantly but stopped instantly as a pack of wolves came out of the dark depths of the cavern.
The boys were cringing in the corner of the cave while the wolves were drawing closer and closer. Tom saw a small crevice in the ceiling small enough for one person about his size to crawl through.
“Look!” cried Tom, “G-go through that hole.”
“What??” said Cox, stunned, “I thought you hated me!”
Tom looked at him madly and said: “JUST GO!!!!”
Cox was still amazed, but suddenly both boys were pulled up the hole by the scruff of their necks. They heard a man’s strong voice say:
“Are you hurt?”
“Y-yes. I was bitten by a wolf.” answered Cox.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you.” said the man seriously.
“Thanks.” said Tom.
The man pointed toward an opening in the trees.
“Follow that path and you should come back to the normal forest. Oh and uh, here’s a salve for you’re wound.” the man gave a little jar with a yellow salve in it. Cox shakily took the salve and put it on his shoulder.
“Wow! This stuff really works! I’m cured!” Cox looked at his shoulder and rubbed it. It was completely healed. Both boys went along the path the man had pointed out. They found their way back home, but right before they turned into their houses Cox said:
“Wow. Thanks.. for everything. You were really nice to me even though I was such a jerk.”
“Sure.” smiled Tom,
“Do you want to meet tomorrow for study hall?”
“Sure.” repeated Tom, still smiling kindly.
THE END
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