This is a true story about this one kid from my old school. On the off chance he is reading this i'm sorry i had to put you out there like this. Then again i'm not.

This story begins in my 8th grade year in middle school in math class. We get a new kid in school and for confidentiality sake i'll call him Cory. Now Cory was this pale ginger haired white kid with freckles that couldn't have been taller than 4’9. On his first day my teacher introduces him but the rest of the class treats this kid like a leper. Ive gone through that lonely feeling before so i decide to do the kid a favor and introduce myself. I say “hey wassup im adam” and he seems cool. He tells me about moving here from Minnesota. So me and him become casual friends or “associates”.

An hour later i'm in lunch  eating and one of my friends walk up to me and tell me “hey man, you gotta get your boy”. I ask him what does he mean by that and he calls him a couple of white slurs. I ask what did Cory do and I hear  he's calling a lot of my friends the “N-word” and they plan to beat him up. In response to this I try to deescalate the situation and vouch for his good nature. I just thought it was the usual rumors being spread because he was the only white kid in school. So he says “if you're cool with him i'm cool with him” and he walks off.

Keep in mind Cory hadn't even been in the school for as long as two weeks. Another week passes so it's week 3 of his eighth grade career and guess who approaches me? Surprise surprise its the same guy from last time with a couple more of my friends. They yell “HEY ADAM!!! we heard it with our own ears. He's still calling us racist words. Were not cool with it and were about to jump your boy”.I'm so confused so I ask if it's the right Corey. They angrily respond “why would we come to you if we weren't sure? You're the only one who's cool with this kid”. So i say “don't fight him, i got this. I'm gonna go talk to him”.

During class I meet up with him and I talk to him about what i've been hearing. He surprises me by admitting to the rumors in a rather vulgar way. It surprised me so much I almost couldn’t believe it. After he admitted it, he proceeded to call me slave and other such words and I sat there dumbfounded. I didn't get mad or anything. I simply said okay and left. When the period ends I saw the guys who didn't like Cory and I told them I talked to Cory and he confirmed what i've been hearing. I told them “i'm not here to give you permission to beat him up but if you want to feel free”. The next day the guys saw him in the hallway and put him in a locker for the entire first period. I personally think he got off light because what Cory failed to realize was that his life was literally in my hands. He made such a good first impression he didn't realize it kept him safe. Overall first impressions are everything.