Jacob was a leader of every event in school and, of course, a favourite of all the girls and teachers. He was a handsome mulatto, well-built and sociable. He had good manners and a sense of humour.
Jacob knew everyone and everyone knew him. It seemed that the guy was the embodiment of success. Cole felt lonely sometimes, though he knew he had Jacob there for him all the time.
You may wonder how it could be possible that they were best friends. Well, life is unpredictable.
Vocabulary
human being n человек
age-mate n ровесник
show off v хвастаться
stuff n вещи
goal n цель
meaningful adj значимый
lack n недостаток
eventually adv в итоге
familiar adj знакомый
upload v загрузить
like-minded adj одинаково мыслящий
embodiment n олицетворение
unpredictable adj непредсказуемый
The next day Cole was late for literature class. His first intention was to skip the whole lesson, but literature was one of his favourite subjects. He was keen on reading. That lesson’s topic was “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” by Ken Kesey.
“Why are you late?” asked Mr. Johnson.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Johnson, I overslept.”
“Take your seat and get ready to answer.” Mr. Johnson didn’t like being interrupted.
Cole got to his seat and Mr. Johnson continued his speech about decreased interest in reading among young people.
Ivy, the girl who always irritated Cole for some reason, agreed with the teacher. “Reading lets you understand life better”, she said.
“That girl always speaks up and often criticises others,” Cole thought. “ Why is she that arrogant?” However, Cole agreed with her idea.
But Nate, the noisiest and the rudest guy in the group, confronted Ivy. He wanted to hurt her. Ivy was an attractive young girl. She had long chestnut hair and hazel eyes. In addition, she was smart.
“Hey, Ivy, have you listened to ‘We don’t need no education?” Nate tried to make a joke. The group of his mates laughed. Ivy looked at Cole.
The boy couldn’t stay out of it: “Hey, Nate, you’d better read some books!”
“Nobody asked you, loser!” Nate replied and his squad laughed again.
“What a loser,” somebody whispered.
Cole looked at Ivy. She sighed and turned away. Cole felt so bad and humiliated. The situation was that offensive because he himself thought that he was a loser. Cole should have said something, but he didn’t. It wasn’t easy.