OLoghlin - The New Kid: Very Popular Me

About The New Kid: Very Popular Me

Sams finally got what he always wanted hes popular!

Hes owns the schools most wanted marble, kids sit with him at lunch and even Johnny Wilson has stopped calling him derr-brain.

Things are looking up at home too. When his new baby sister arrives, hell no longer be a lonely, only child.

But when Sam becomes the teachers pet his popularity drops faster than a tomato in a lift. Soon even his best friend Gary wont talk to him, and the new kid at home is a crying disaster.

Who knew that getting exactly what you wanted could be so painful?

To my family They know who they are.

Mum was shaking my shoulder. Monday morning, Samuel. Up you get.

As I get older it gets harder to get out of bed, especially on school days.

In year 1, I was fine.

MUM: Samuel. Time to get up.

SAM: Okay.

By year 3, it got more difficult.

MUM: Samuel. Time to get up.

SAM: Grumpff.

MUM: Come on, Samuel.

SAM: (SLEEPILY) Five more minutes?

In the first part of year 6, when wed just moved to Canberra and I didnt have any friends, it was really hard.

MUM: Samuel. Time to get up.

SAM: (SILENCE)

MUM: Samuel?

SAM: (SILENCE)

MUM: (SHAKES SAMS SHOULDERS) Come on.

SAM: NO! NOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

If it kept getting worse, what would I be like by year 12?

But then, halfway through year 6, after the school play where Id managed to turn disaster on stage (splitting my pants and breaking my horse in half) into triumph (with a brilliant fart joke),* getting out of bed became a lot easier, because Id finally got what I wanted I was popular!

Or at least, more popular than I had been. It wasnt like I was getting mobbed whenever I walked through the school gate.

But I was hanging out with other kids at recess and lunch (the chocolate biscuits Mum gave me helped), getting invited to birthday parties, and Johnny Wilson had even stopped throwing my bag into the girls toilet. He and I had a much better relationship now.

BEFORE THE SCHOOL PLAY

( IN THE CORRIDOR. JOHNNY WILSON WALKS PAST SAM .)

SAM: Hi, Johnny.

JOHNNY WILSON: Dont talk to me, idiot-features, or Ill smash ya.

AFTER THE SCHOOL PLAY

( IN THE CORRIDOR. JOHNNY WILSON WALKS PAST SAM .)

SAM: Hi, Johnny.

JOHNNY WILSON: ( KEEPS WALKING, IGNORES SAM )

Okay, we didnt exactly have a deep friendship, but being ignored was definitely a step up from being threatened with violence and called idiot-features.

Things were better in class too.

BEFORE THE SCHOOL PLAY

MR BOREMAN: Everyone get into groups of two. ( TWENTY SECONDS LATER )

MR BOREMAN: Sam, who are you with? No one? Again? Who wants to be Sams partner? ( LONG PAUSE ) No one? Again? Oh-kay. Sam, Ill be your partner. Again.

AFTER THE SCHOOL PLAY

MR BOREMAN: Everyone get into groups of two. ( TWENTY SECONDS LATER )

MR BOREMAN: Oscar and Gary, you cant both be Sams partner. You two team up and Ill go with Sam.

Things were also going well for my best (and, until recently, only) friend Gary. He used to be even less popular than me, but now he had a secret weapon. His parents had just put in a pool. (Actually it wasnt a secret weapon. If hed kept it a secret, it wouldnt have worked at all.)

It was nearly summer and once word got around that he had a pool, everyone suddenly wanted to be Garys friend. On hot days, kids would cluster around him, hoping for an invite. You could say its bad to be friends with someone just because theyve got a pool, but its not that simple. When someone has something you want, it just makes you like them more.

For example:

KID WITHOUT A POOL: Mr Clarkes new haircut looks like a rat died on his head.

SAM: Thats a bit harsh.

But...

KID WITH A POOL: Mr Clarkes new haircut looks like a rat died on his head.

SAM: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Classic. Ha, ha, ha, ha. ( PAUSE ) So, what are you doing after school?

Gary always invited me over for a swim too, so his pool was helping us both make friends.

So when Mum shook my shoulder and told me it was time to get up, even though I was tired, I didnt groan, complain or open my eyes. I just grunted, heaved myself out of bed and felt my way to the shower.

Everything was going well, and then two things happened that pushed my popularity higher than Duncan Underwoods pants (he pulled them up so high you could only see the top three buttons of his shirt).

At school, there was a marble craze. Everyone played in this dirt patch in pairs during recess and lunchtime (apart from Mitzy Galafrinkus, professional teachers pet. She either sat on her own doing work or was inside helping her teacher). You took turns to shoot, and whoever hit the other persons marble first got to keep both marbles. After a few days, Johnny Wilson suggested we change the rules.

JOHNNY WILSON: How about instead of having to hit the other persons marble, you just have to hit them? In the face. And whoever falls over first, loses.

Luckily, no one else wanted to do that.

One Saturday, just after the marble craze started, Mum said we had to clear out the garage to make room for the small person growing inside her who was soon going to become my sister.

Why? Is the baby going to sleep in the garage? I asked.

Of course not, Samuel! said Mum. What a terrible thought. Oh, Im sad just thinking about that.

Well, then why do we need to clean...?

Because we do! Theres a baby coming! We need to clean things! Now!

That made no sense, but I didnt say anything because Dad had told me to be extra nice to Mum because she was nesting. He said thats when pregnant people get worried about not having things ready and want to clean everything five times.

The whole new baby sister thing was pretty weird. I was slowly getting used to the idea, but I still had some questions.

QUESTIONS I HAD ABOUT THE WHOLE NEW BABY SISTER BUSINESS

• Would she take up so much of Mum and Dads time that they wouldnt have time to make me do boring stuff like go on bushwalks or to the art gallery? Yay!
• Would she take up so much of Mum and Dads time that they wouldnt have time to feed me and Id slowly starve to death? Not yay!
• How long would it be until she could help me put out the bins?

• How long would it be until she could play backyard cricket and footy with me?

The garage was packed with junk because whenever Mum and Dad disagreed about whether to get rid of something (which was always) theyd just decide to put it in the garage to avoid having an argument. So now it was full of chairs, tables, lamps, books, a bed, a rocking horse, saucepans, tiles, cars (toy ones our real car wouldnt fit) and hundreds of other things.