Going somewhere for the first time is never a good thing.

At least, that’s what I thought while sitting in the back seat of my mom’s car as we pulled into the parking lot of my new school.

The building was huge. Way bigger than my old school. It was made of dark red bricks and had windows that stretched across the front like a giant face staring at everyone.

Actually, the more I looked at it, the more it reminded me of a giant brick toaster.

Which made me wonder something.

If the school was a toaster, would the students be the bread?

bread? And if that were true… would teachers be the people pushing the lever down every morning?

My brain does stuff like that sometimes.

Anyway, kids were already walking inside in groups. Some were laughing. Some were running. Some were talking like they had known each other forever.

Meanwhile, I didn’t know anyone.

“Well,” Mom said as she parked the car, “this is it.”

I grabbed my backpack.

“You’ll make friends,” she added.

I nodded, even though my brain was still busy thinking about the toaster-school idea.

What if someone accidentally toasted their backpack?

Or worse.

What if someone accidentally toasted their homework?

Actually, that might not be so bad.

I stepped out of the car and walked toward the doors.

First day, I thought.

Here we go.

The hallway inside the school was loud.

Lockers slammed everywhere.

A kid ran past me so fast I thought he might leave smoke behind like a cartoon character.

Someone dropped a binder and papers exploded across the floor like a snowstorm made of homework.

I stood there for a moment, trying not to look like a lost tourist.

“Hey.”

I turned around.

A kid with dirty blonde hair was standing there. He was wearing a blue school uniform, even though we were in fourth grade.

He looked neat and organized, like the kind of person who probably lined up his pencils perfectly on his desk.

“You’re new, right?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“I thought so,” he said politely. “I’m Nick.”

We shook hands.

Nick seemed like the kind of student teachers really liked.

Later I would learn that he had won Principal’s Awards every year from kindergarten all the way to third grade.

Honestly, I was already thinking he would probably get Honor Roll again this year.

While we were talking, another kid walked up beside him.

He was taller and had a big grin that looked like trouble

wearing sneakers.

“I heard we got a new kid,” he said.

Nick nodded.

“This is him.”

The taller kid looked at me.

“I’m Rimmer.”

He stuck out his hand.

I shook it.

For a second, I felt relieved.

Maybe making friends here wouldn’t be so hard after all.

“Come on,” Nick said. “We’ll show you where the classroom is.”

The three of us started walking down the hallway.

Rimmer.

Nick pointed to different rooms as we passed them.

“That’s the library,” he said. “And the cafeteria is down that hall.”

He spoke like he had memorized the entire school map.

Rimmer walked beside us, kicking the floor with his shoe.

“So what class do you have first?” he asked.

“Math,” I said.

Nick nodded.

“Same here.”

Rimmer groaned loudly.

“Math on the first day should be illegal.”

Nick adjusted his backpack.

“It’s not that bad.”

Rimmer laughed.

“You’re probably the only person in the world who thinks that.”

When we got to the classroom, the teacher looked up from her desk.

“Class,” she said, “we have a new student today.”

Great.

Every kid in the room turned and stared at me.

“This is—”

She said my name.

“Why don’t you take the empty desk over there.”

I sat down where she pointed.

Nick sat a few desks away.

Rimmer sat behind me.

Class started.

For a while, everything seemed normal.

Until something happened.

About halfway through class, a kid named Oliver raised his hand.

“Mrs. Parker,” he said, “I think I dropped my pencil.”

“It’s probably under your desk,” she replied.

Oliver leaned down to look.

Behind me, I suddenly heard Rimmer whisper.

“Watch this.”

Before I could even turn around, Rimmer stretched his foot forward.

Oliver stood up—

—and tripped.

He crashed into his desk.

Several kids started laughing.

Oliver’s face turned bright red as he picked himself up.

Mrs. Parker looked over.

“What happened?”

“N-nothing,” Oliver said quietly.

Rimmer leaned back in his chair like nothing had happened.

But I saw it.

He had done it on purpose.

Nick frowned a little but didn’t say anything.

And that’s when I realized something.

Nick might be one of the nicest students in school.

But Rimmer?

Rimmer might be the exact opposite.

And somehow—

I had become friends with both of them on my first day. 

The rest of the morning after math class went by pretty slowly.

Nick answered about half the questions the teacher asked, which honestly didn’t surprise me. Like I said before, Nick was the kind of kid who probably did homework before the teacher even assigned it.

Rimmer, on the other hand, spent most of the time tapping his pencil, leaning back in his chair, and whispering jokes that got a few kids laughing.

Every once in a while, he’d poke the back of my chair.

At first I thought it was just normal annoying stuff.

But then it started getting… a little rougher.

During reading time, Rimmer pushed my chair forward with his foot.

“Oops,” he whispered.

A few minutes later, he bumped my shoulder when he walked past.

“Watch where you’re sitting,” he said, even though I hadn’t moved at all.

Nick noticed it too.

At one point he leaned over and quietly said, “Just ignore him.”

That sounded like good advice.

Unfortunately, ignoring Rimmer was about as easy as ignoring a fire alarm.

Finally the lunch bell rang.

The cafeteria was huge and noisy. It smelled like pizza, fries, and about fifty different kinds of lunchboxes.

Nick sat down across from me at a table near the windows.

Rimmer dropped into the seat next to me.

“What’d you bring?” he asked.

“Sandwich,” I said.

“Boring,” he replied.

He grabbed his juice box and poked the straw in way too hard, splashing juice onto the table.

Nick calmly wiped it up with a napkin.

“So,” Nick said to me, “how’s your first day going?”

I thought about that question for a second.

“Well,” I said, “I haven’t gotten lost yet.”

“That’s good,” Nick said.

Behind us, a group of kids suddenly laughed.

I turned around and saw Oliver sitting at another table.

The same Oliver who had tripped in math class earlier.

He looked annoyed, like he was still thinking about it.

Then he looked straight at me.

Not Rimmer.

Me.

Which was weird.

Because I hadn’t done anything.

After lunch came recess.

The playground was big. There were swings, a basketball

You. Yeah, you.

court, and a long dirt path that cut across the field.

Some kids were playing tag.

Some were riding bikes along the path.

And some were just standing around talking.

Nick went to the basketball court.

“I’ll see you guys later,” he said.

Rimmer stayed with me.

“Let’s walk around,” he said.

We started walking along the dirt path.

That’s when Rimmer suddenly shoved my shoulder.

“Move faster,” he said.

I stumbled a little but kept walking.

A minute later he pushed me again.

Harder.

“Rimmer,” I said, “can you stop?”

He laughed.

“Relax.”

Then he shoved me again.

This time I almost fell.

And that’s when Oliver showed up.

He walked straight toward us.

His face looked angry.

Before I could even say anything—

WHACK.

Oliver stuck his foot out and tripped me.

I fell forward.

Straight into a giant patch of mud beside the path.

My hands splashed into it.

My shirt got covered.

And my face landed inches from the ground.

At the same moment, I heard something else.

Bike tires.

Two kids were riding their bikes down the path.

Fast.

One of them slammed the brakes.

The tire skidded right past my head.

If I had landed just a little farther forward…

my head probably would’ve been right under the wheel.

“HEY!” someone shouted.

A teacher ran over.

“What is going on here?”

Oliver immediately pointed at me.

“He tripped me in class earlier!”

The teacher frowned.

“Bryan didn’t trip you.”

Wait.

Did she just say—

Oh yeah.

That’s probably a good time to mention something.

My name isn’t just “the new kid.”

My real name is Bryan.

Anyway, the teacher looked at Oliver.

“Rimmer tripped you earlier,” she said. “I saw it.”

Oliver’s face went pale.

“Oh.”

“Office. Now,” the teacher said.

Oliver slowly walked away.

Rimmer crossed his arms.

“Wow,” he said. “That was dramatic.”

I stood up, covered in mud.

My first day at school had officially turned into a disaster.

When I got home that afternoon, the first thing my mom said was:

“Bryan… why are you covered in mud?”

“Long story,” I said.

My older brother Tyler walked into the room.

Tyler is the kind of older brother who finds everything hilarious.

He looked at my muddy shirt.

“Did you wrestle a swamp monster?”

“No.”

“Did the swamp monster win?”

“Tyler,” Mom said.

Tyler shrugged.

“Just asking.”

Then my little sister Ellie ran into the room.

Ellie is six years old and talks about twelve thousand words

Ellie and Tyler.

per minute.

“Bryan’s home!” she shouted.

Then she noticed the mud.

“Bryan turned into a mud person!”

“Thanks, Ellie,” I said.

After dinner, Mom said something important.

“Bryan,” she said, “your birthday is coming up next week.”

That immediately got Ellie excited.

“CAKE!” she shouted.

Tyler nodded.

“Cake is the best part.”

Mom smiled.

“We should start thinking about who you want to invite.”

That’s when my brain started working again.

And when my brain works, it sometimes comes up with… interesting ideas.

I thought about school.

I thought about Nick.

And then I thought about Rimmer.

Rimmer had pushed me around.

He had tripped Oliver.

And he had laughed about it.

But I also remembered something.

When people realize they messed up, they sometimes try to fix it.

That’s when the idea popped into my head.

A plan.

If I invited Nick…

but didn’t invite Rimmer…

Rimmer would notice.

And maybe—

just maybe—

he would realize he had been acting like a jerk.

And maybe he would apologize.

I leaned back in my chair.

Yeah.

That might actually work.

And that’s when my birthday party turned into something else entirely.

It turned into…

a plan. 

After dinner, Mom put a sheet of paper on the table.

“Alright, Bryan,” she said. “Let’s start the invitation list.”

Ellie immediately grabbed a marker.

“I’m invited!” she announced.

Tyler leaned back in his chair.

“I’m invited too.”

Mom sighed.

“Yes, the people who live in this house are invited.”

Ellie drew a giant smiley face on the paper.

I took the marker and started writing names.

The first one was easy.

Nick.

Nick was definitely coming.

Then I started thinking about the rest of my class.

My brain started doing that thing again where it jumps everywhere.

What if someone eats the whole cake?
What if Ellie invites twenty of her stuffed animals?
What if someone knocks over the presents?

Then my brain stopped on one important thought.

Rimmer.

Mom noticed I stopped writing.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said.

But inside my head I was thinking about the plan again.

If Rimmer wasn’t invited…

he would notice.

And if he noticed…

maybe he would realize he had been acting like a bully.

I finished the list.

Nick.

Oliver.

A few other kids.

But not Rimmer.

Mom looked at the list.

“Looks good,” she said.

Tyler peeked over my shoulder.

“You forgot someone,” he said.

“No I didn’t.”

Tyler raised an eyebrow.

“Rimmer?”

“I didn’t forget,” I said.

Tyler shrugged.

“Your party.”

Exactly.

My party.

My plan.

The next morning at school felt strange.

Rimmer was still acting like Rimmer.

During math he flicked a paper ball at someone.