The Bad Choice
As Tim walked through the silent hallway he saw eyes glare at him. Some started to giggle, some snarled and some whispered to their mates.
Tim wasn’t very popular. He and the rest of the ‘Geeks” had no real friends. They were bullied teased and spat on. They didn’t have much fashion sense either. Tim had buck teeth with braces, big tinted glasses that covered just about his whole face and he wore checkered trousers with a white blouse tucked in with a brace.
Although he was 12 years old, he felt about 2 years old against the bullies of Pukekohe Intermediate. He tried to act cool sometimes, but it didn’t work. When the bully asked him for a fight he agreed and said “I can beat you.
He ended up with crutches and bruises all over his body.
As he walked home one humid day, he noticed something shimmering in the bright green grass. He looked down to find an electronic device called a cell phone.
He was amazed. He had neve seen one before because his parents didn’t believe in kids having a cell phone. He picked it up, turned it on and skipped down the road to his house.
He opened the door, surprised to find that no-one was home. He rushed into his room and started fiddling on the cell phone.
Tim had never realised how much his life was in need of a cell phone!
When Tim’s mother arrived home, Tim decided to not tell her about the phone. He knew she would make him take it into the Police Station for Lost & Found.
The following day at school was just like any other day. He was teased again, bullied and his glasses were knocked off his face. This didn’t faze him though because he knew he had a phone and for some insane reason he felt special inside.
On his journey home, Tim found a little slip of paper stuck to the drain. He picked it up and read it. It said” Jimbo’s Number- 027 3595 561” Jimbo was also one of the Geeks at school. He rushed through the doors at his house, slipped his backpack off his back and picked up his new phone, making sure no one was around.
He typed in Jimbo’s number and started texting him. At first it was just a few mean words here and there. Then Tim started to get really aggressive. He told Jimbo he was a nerdy geek who didn’t know fashion if it was an easy math equation. Even though Tim knew it was wrong to say these hurtful words, he felt strong and one of the bullies.
As morning approached, Charlie (the school bully) started picking on him during morning interval. Because he wanted to be one of the “Gang” Tim made sure no teachers were around and then pulled out his phone and showed Charlie the messages he had sent to Jimbo.
Charlie was very impressed and asked him to hang out with them. Tim, absolutely stunned said “Yes” straight away, without a minutes thought.
“On one condition!” Charlie exclaimed. Tim gulped. “You get rid of those horrible clothes and enormous glasses” Tim did as he was told. He didn’t want anything to get in the way of being popular!
On Friday, when Tim arrived at school, everyone stared at him. But not like they had done a week before. They stared in astonishment. Tim wasn’t the same guy they had once known. He had his newly dyed blonde hair spiked into a Mohawk, black jeans and a black leather jacket. Some girls battered their eyelashes; others waved hello, bright red in the face. He was one of the cool kids now.
The text bullying continued and Jimbo got sadder and lonelier by the second. But till, Jimbo chose not to tell anyone about the texts he was receiving. He would sit in a dark corner and cry about these messages; alone.
A couple of weeks passed. Nothing had changed. Except for one thing. There was a new girl at school who had moved from New Orleans, America. She was really pretty and had a wonderful smile.
Secretly Tim had a huge rush on the new girl, Arna, and found it hard not to show it. Everyday when they passed each other in the hallways, he would wave and blush radiantly.
One day Tim plucked up the courage to talk to Arna. She wasn’t really paying attention, so Tim decided to show Aran the horrible text messages he had sent to Jimbo.
Arna was less than impressed and told Tim that she didn’t like what he had done or Tim himself.
She ignored him for days, look away from him in the hallways and deleting all his text messages.
But the more Arna ignored Tim, the more Tim wanted Arna to like him. He tried talking to her again but she just walked away and didn’t say a word.
Then out of the blue, Tim received a text from Arna! He was so excited; he nearly forgot to open the message. When he did, he opened it and read it.
It read: “I LIKE YOU BUT I HATE WHAT YOUR DOING TO JIMBO”
The message made Tim think about what he had done. He didn’t like being bullied so why should he bully someone else? How could he be so cruel? Tim then decided to confront Jimbo and apologize.
The following day Tim looked everywhere for Jimbo but Jimbo was no where to be found. He did the same thing for the next week .
Jimbo had been absent for a whole week now and Tim was starting to lose his desire to apologize to him.
But then Jimbo turned up during morning interval on Friday. Tim ignored him for awhile then went up to him. Tim admitted to his mistake and apologized. Jimbo thanked him but said “ You’ll never be forgiven for this”
Tim was bouncing of the walls. He ran straight to Arna and told her the whole story. She hugged him and smiled. “Thanks Tim”
