I was excited as I was moving towards my new school. I wondered what questions the other students would ask me and practiced all the answers on18 the way. However, no one took any notice of me while I was entering the school. I stood in the center of the playground, expecting someone to say "hello", but no one spoke to me.
There were forty other boys in Ms. Miller's class, so I didn't stand out there, either, until the first lesson of that afternoon. Ms. Miller asked several boys if they knew who Isaac Newton is, but no one guessed right. A boy called Giant, the biggest in the class, said: "He is a cook in our school." and Ms. Miller went red in the face. Then she turned to me. I said: "A great scientist in the world" and everyone stared at me because Ms. Miller said I was right. This didn't make me very popular, of course. I heard Giant say "She thinks he is clever."
After that, we went out to the playground to play soccer. I was in Giant's side, and he obviously had Newton in mind because he told me to go in goal. I was upset because no one wanted to be the goalkeeper. But I went and kept my place.
"He's big enough and useless enough." Giant said when someone asked him why he had chosen me.
As the boy kicked the ball hard along the ground to my right, I threw myself down quickly and saved it. Loud cheers rang out and I was crowded round by my teammates. My knees were hurt and bleeding. Giant pulled me out of the ground and offered a towel to me.
"Are you willing to join my team?" he asked.
At that moment, I knew I was no longer a stranger.
