Mrs and Mr Anderson were thankful to God for their exemplary child, Adam Anderson, who was the perfect example of a child any parent would want. Adam had all qualities of a good boy in him. He had been the topper of his class for the past three years.
A grade nine student, Adam was one of the prefects of his school, with the badge shining on his chest and his head raised high always. He was never heard to say a filthy word or do any thing which will turn the heads of his parents down. He was the apple of every teacher’s eye and had a healthy reputation.
Soon he was targeted as the “good boy” of the class and was made fun of.
“Look who comes, the good boy of the class” said a group of boys when Adam passed their benches. Then they threw chalks at him and cracked jokes at him making him feel ridiculous. Adam was helpless because he knew that if he gets into fight with those boys then his hard owned reputation will be blemished.
Day by day the teasing increased and spread throughout the school. Now wherever Adam went, he was mocked and ragged. As a result, Adam was fed up of being a good boy.
This continued until one day Mr Anderson came up with a news, when the whole family were having dinner.
“I have got some news for y’all” said Mr Anderson with a mysterious joy on his face. “What is it honey that you are up to” asked Mrs Anderson “Is it something about the Simpsons or about the Smiths?.”
“No darling, a good news. I have got a new job, that’s good news number one and good news number two is that it is in New York! So pack your bags as we gotta leave this Friday!” exclaimed Mr Anderson with happiness overloading from his face. “Dad are you joking? What about my schooling? How are we supposed to find a good school for me under a week?” busted out Adam with thousand things going on in his head at that time.
“Don’t worry sweetie we will be able to find a school for you. And which school will say no to my gem. Hah!” said Mr Anderson. Adam had mixed emotions in him as he was both happy and sad to leave the school. Happy as he will now finally get rid of all those mocking and teasing and sad because he had so many good memories with that school.
Ultimately the Andersons got shifted to New York from their home town in California and Adam also got admission in Jane Austen School. On the first day of his school in New York, Adam had decided that he was no longer going to be known as the good boy and will get mingled in the bad boys to not get labelled as a good egg.
When Adam entered the classroom he saw that there was no teacher in the class and the class was clearly divided into good students and bad students, as the good students were sitting on one side of class with combed hair and thick glasses, whereas the bad students were sitting on the benches and smoking cigarettes. Adam knew which group he had to join.
Soon the bell rang and the teacher came in. And then after a boring science lecture the bell was again heard. Adam tucked out his shirt and straightened his collar to make himself look like a bad guy. Then he went on to the filthy group and introduced himself.
“Hey there. I am Adam or call me Aad. Seen you guyz smokin’ dis mornin’. Can I get a cigarette?” Asked Adam just to impress them and gain their attention. “Yeah sure. Here, take it.” And so one of the boys gave Adam a cigarette but Adam was clueless what to do. He just lit the cigarette and kept it in the mouth. Fortunately his first attempt was a success and so he got successfully mingled in the bad group.
Gradually Adam started to mimic their bad habits like bunking classes, smoking, teasing the good students and more. His parents had no clue about his great accomplishments at school. For them he was the same old Adam who was a role model to others.
One day when Adam was hanging out with his friends, smoking, in the corridor, he and his group were caught by the principal and shortly their parents were called. Mrs and Mr Anderson were shocked when they received a call from school as this was the first time they were being called with regard to Adam. At first they thought that it was a misunderstanding. But on reaching the school they had to believe it as they saw Adam with his shirt tucked out and messy hair.
Soon Adam was given a Transfer Certificate and that also consisted of a term stating that he couldn’t get admission in any school for one whole year.
This made Adam realize the irony in his life as initially he was a bright student and had many schools ready to give him admission but now he turned into a bad boy and has to sit in his home for one year. He had spoiled a whole year of his life just by getting involved with bad company. A boy who had always kept the heads of his parents high had now shamed them in front of the whole school. Adam's one mistake had spoiled his whole reputation and now his parents will never expect anything good from him.
No one would ever see Adam as an achiever again. He had lost one precious year of his life just because of a small mistake and on that day he realized that “Better remain alone than in a bad company.”