Amazing Mentor

Ring! Ring! Our teacher walks over and picks up the phone. "Hello, Mrs. Well's class how may I assist you?" A short pause takes place. Mrs. Well speaks into the phone, "Yes he's here." My friend Ryan nudges me and whispers, "Dude, they're talking about you." I reply,

"Just because my grades are slipping doesn't mean they're talking about me." "Liam the principal requested to meet with you." Mrs. Well tells me. I stand up and trudge to the door. "Good luck Liam!" a kid yells. The entire class bursts out in laughter. A tear falls from my eye as I walk out of the classroom. "Are you okay?" I hear someone say. My head shoots up. I look to see a custodian standing there. "I'm fine," I say while wiping my eyes. "Oh really. It doesn't quite seem that way. I'm Jeffery, but you can call me Jeff. Why are you crying?" Jeff asks me. I respond, "My grades are bad and everyone knows it. I try my best on every test, but it's never enough." "Okay well, once you get back from the office come talk to me. I'll help you out," he mentions. "The office! I forgot!" I shout and take off down the hall.

Once I reach the office, I take a few deep breaths before entering. "You got this Liam," I whisper to myself. I open the door and take a seat at our principal's office. "Liam! Welcome. It has come to my attention that your grades are quite low." "I know, I know." I looked down and clutched my fists, "I don't know why. I try my best, but it never works. Believe me Mrs. Bellward, I try." "I believe you Liam, But you need at least a C in every class to play in the soccer tournament. However, you have all F's." Mrs. Bellward said to me. I clutch my fists even harder. I stand up, walk towards the door and grab the door handle. "Liam! Liam! You can't just leave!" Mrs. Bellward shouts. I ignore her, pull the door open and walk out of the office. Why am I not enough? I thought to myself. I trudge down the hall until I get to Jeff. "Hey Liam! Do you want to meet after school? I can teach you some math tricks," Jeff says enthusiastically. I completely ignore him and walk past. Jeff says, "Liam?" No hard feelings Jeff, I think to myself. I turn the corner and walk into the bathroom. I sit in the stall and start balling. "I'm not smart, I'm not smart, I'm not smart..." I tell myself consistently. "You are super smart," I hear someone say from beyond the bathroom. I stand up and exit the bathroom to see Jeff standing there. "And I can help you think that," he said to me. A grin started to form on my face as I gave him a hug. I pulled away jogged to the classroom. Before I enter the classroom I look back and say, "see you after school." Then I smile and walk into class. "What took you so long," Mrs. Well said narrowing her eyes. "A long lecture and a bathroom trip," I respond. "Sit down," she said in a bossy tone. I trot over to my seat and sit down.

The rest of the day goes by and I walk into the hall to find Jeff. "Jeff? Jeff?" I call. He walks out of a storage closet and says, "Hey buddy, ready to study?" I nod my head and grin. We walk into the class together and sit down at my desk. He teaches me tricks in every subject. An hour passes and I thank him before leaving for home.

One month later we have our math final and I'm feeling more confident than ever. I walk into class, sit down and get settled. My friend Ryan nudges me and says, "I won't see you next year so, bye," he chuckles and teases me. I rely, "Actually, I think we might see each other so don't say that quite yet." "Whatever," he mumbles. "Alright class, time for the final. Move everything off of your desk expect for a pencil," Mrs. Well shouts. I give myself a silent pep talk as she passes out the paper.

As I take the test I get more and more confident. I speed through the test using my simple, yet useful strategies. Then in what felt like a minute, I was finished.

The next day as I walk into the classroom Mrs. Well bolts to the door. "I'm so proud of you, Liam," she yells as she holds up my test with an A+ written in the corner.. I grin and think to myself, I'm definitely playing in that tournament.

Just like the math test, I crush every test I have to take. After our last final, Ryan pulls me out into the hall. "Hey, Liam?" he asks me. "What?" I respond. "I can't play in the tournament." he looks down and starts to cry. "No way. You're like the best player! We need you!" I shout. All of a sudden, Mrs. Bellward comes jogging down the hall. "Boys! You won't believe this!" she shouts, "Not many people passed the test, so we decided to round up the grades. Therefore, Ryan can play in the tournament!" Ryan and I hug each other and celebrate.

The day of the tournament, our coach comes into the locker room where we get ready. "Alright everyone. Are you ready?" our coach asks us. "Yeah!" everyone yells back. "Okay then, let's crush the tournament," the coach replies. We all exit the locker room with our heads up high. Lots of cheering begins in the audience. We work together and Ryan makes a pass that gives us the win.

We all make it back to the locker room and celebrate as we thank each other and give hugs. "Nice job team," our coach congratulates us. "Thanks coach," I say as I smile and give him a hug.