Having New Friends

• Antoinette Luu, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2009

Chloe was going to a new school at St Veil State School. She was a bit nervous and shy. The day before she changed schools, she had locked herself in her bedroom. She began to cry because she had to change schools and missed her friends so much at St Shore Private School.

At her new school, the teachers told her that her house colour group was Uranus, which was blue. She was also told the house names: yellow was Mercury, green was Neptune, red was Venus and black was Pluto.
When she came into the classroom at 5A, she was told they would have races outside. Chloe was worried because she was the worst at doing everything and she thought she would not find new friends that would encourage her. In the races, Chloe would always come last. Brian kept on teasing her because she was slower than everyone else. Suddenly, Millie, James and Nicole walked over and said: “Stop teasing her! You should be best friends with her.” But Brian wouldn’t listen and walked off with his head high in the air. Millie, James and Nicole felt sorry for Chloe, so they asked Chloe if they could be best friends with her. Chloe happily accepted! She was excited because she finally had some friends.

Chloe was glad she had new friends, but was worried because she was also bad at school work. Every time there was a test, Chloe would get a C-. Chloe was very disappointed in herself because she wanted to get an A+, but her new friends encouraged Chloe to not give up. This helped her so much that she got an A+ on her report card!

Chloe’s friends also taught her how to flip on the bars, which were in the playground. At first, when Chloe tried to do a flip she kept on dropping down on the lumpy gravel. Her friends kept clapping and cheering as she practiced and practiced. She finally did the flip!

On Monday there was a big Cross Country Carnival and an Athletics Carnival. Chloe was cheering for Uranus. She decided to enter the 800 metre race, even though she thought she was slow. When the race started, Chloe was coming last. Then she remembered the word “encourage” that she had learnt from her friends. Suddenly, Chloe tried her best to run faster and she overtook the people who were in front of her! Chloe came first in the girls’ group Cross Country Carnival. When the Athletics Carnival started, Chloe participated in high jump, long jump, javelin, shot-put and discus. The awards were given out to the winners at the end of the day. Chloe got the biggest and the shiniest trophy because she came first in the Athletics Carnival events and the Cross Country Carnival 800 metre race. It was her first time she had ever had a trophy. From that day on Chloe knew she could always do her best!