Chapter One
It was Monday morning, and 10-year-old Monty Rodriguez opened his eyes to the warmth of the morning sun upon his face. With a smile, he hopped out of bed, raced out of the room, and down the hallway to the bathroom, eager to wash his face and brush his teeth. Today was the big day. Today was the day he got to wear his brand-new pair of Jordans to school. He dreamed about this day for weeks. His mother promised that if he continued to get good grades in school, he would be rewarded with his favorite brand of sneakers. He hummed his favorite song as he quickly brushed his teeth as thoroughly as he could, leaving water all over the sink and the cap from the tube of toothpaste lying next to the faucet; he rushed back down the hallway and into his bedroom. As he closed the door, he stared at his closet door where his sneakers were resting, just waiting for the moment to put them on his feet. He was startled out of his gaze when he heard his mother call to him from the kitchen,
“Monty, it’s time for your breakfast. Don’t let it get cold,” his mother’s voice echoed through the house. Monty replies,
‘Okay, Ma! I’ll be right down!’ He quickly grabs his blue uniform shirt and navy uniform pants and slips them on without tucking in his shirt. He walks up to his mirror, grabs his pick, and picks out his hair. He sits on the edge of his messy bed and looks at his new sneakers in the box.
“I cannot wait to show these off at school! I’ll finally be in the cool kid club!” he utters aloud with excitement. They were nice black suede sneakers with a red stripe along the edge and white bottoms. After getting them on and tying his shoelaces, he takes a moment to look at them with his outfit in the mirror.
“Monty!” his mother shouted. He grabbed his body spray sprayed twice and ran out of the room and down the stairs, clunking loudly.
“Good morning, Mother,” Monty greeted, his energy infectious. “How did you sleep?” he asked, settling at the table. His mother, Rosita, had prepared a delicious breakfast for him-a fluffy pancake with blueberries, eggs, and a refreshing glass of orange juice. A daily vitamin sat neatly on a napkin by his fork. She turned from the sink, a smile lighting up her face as she reached over to hug and kiss him on the forehead. She noticed his untucked shirt and lovingly fixed it as she replied,
“Very Well, but never long enough, sweetie. How about you? Are you excited to show off your new sneakers today?” Monty smiled when he felt the warmth of his mother’s embrace and blurted out,
Mom, I could barely sleep a wink! I was watching the time pass on the clock last night, and then the next thing I knew…” he paused and took a long sip of his orange juice, then popped his vitamin in his mouth.
“It’s morning!” he shouted, causing his mother to chuckle a bit.
“That quickly hum?” she laughs and points to his backpack.
“Come on now, eat your food. The bus will be here soon to pick you up for school.” Monty smiles wide with a mouth full of eggs and pancakes. He was drinking the last of his orange juice when the bus horn honked. He kissed his mother, grabbed his backpack, and said,
“I love you, Mom. I hope you have a good day.’ He ran out the door, trying to watch his feet and his new kicks hit the pavement as he ran towards the bus.
During his bus ride, Monty couldn’t help but be distracted by this boy behind his seat. He was swinging his legs back and forth, occasionally hitting the back of Monty’s seat. Monty thinks to himself and whispers aloud,
“What is going on back there?” He waits for the bus driver to bring the bus to a stop at the next kid’s house before he flips around and looks over the seat at this boy wearing a blue backward-fitted cap with the New York City emblem. His uniform shirt was hanging out of his basketball-shaped backpack, and he was wearing only his undershirt and uniform pants. He had his legs tucked under the seat and looked at Monty with a mischievous grin. Monty raised his eyebrow and asked,
“Hey, why are you kicking my…” Before he could finish the sentence, the boy kicked out his feet, revealing the same Jordans that Monty had on. He had his on the wrong feet. Monty, puzzled yet shocked, asked,
We have the same shoes! But why are you wearing your shoes that way?” The boy laughed, sat up in his seat, held out his hand, and said,
“The names Fred, Fred Dingle-Bee. The question is not why am I, but why are you not wearing your shoes this way? He clicked his feet together a few times, looking proudly at them and sitting proudly with cool vibes.
“I wear them this way because it will make me cool.” He smiles and removes his hat to fix his fizzed-up brown wavy hair. He points to Monty with his hat and says,
“Hey, you can look cool too. If you wear your shoes the same way I do.” Monty thought about this moment; he always saw Fread wearing the coolest hoody or the most up-to-date backpack. His books were always cool, not those basic compositions his mom would get from the general dollar store, but the cool kind with patterns and superheroes. So, he thought showing off my new shoes with a twist might be cooler. He asked,
“Are you sure I will be as cool as you, Fred?”
“Of course. Look at me. Don’t I look cool?” He clicked his heels again and sat back in the seat as the bus began to move. Monty sat back down and switched his shoes onto the wrong feet. At first, it felt funny, but he didn’t mind it. Monty shrugged.
“Ya see what I mean… uh, what is your name?”
“Monty Rodriduez”
“Monty! You see what I mean, Monty, now you are just as cool as me!” They sat down next to each other, clicking their heels and swinging their legs until they arrived at the school’s front yard.
Monty wobbled a bit when he stood up from the seat to keep his balance. Fred usually walked quickly because he was used to wearing his shoes on the wrong feet. Monty stepped down off the last step of the bus and stumbled to the ground. He caught his fall with a tuck and roll and popped back up like an acrobat. The kids all laughed and cheered after asking if he was ok. He stood there brushing off his pants and said under his breath,
“Wow, being cool isn’t easy.”
Homeroom – Chapter two
During Homeroom, Monty was walking funny because of his shoes. He wobbled past his homeroom teacher, Mrs. Fink-Mon, as she wrote the prompts on the board. Monty’s seat was in the center of the classroom; he hadn’t far to walk. He hoped his teacher would call him to solve a problem on the board today so that he could show off his shoes.
“Good morning, class. Today, we will learn how to add double-digit numbers. Are there any volunteers to come up to the board and try to solve the first problem?” This was Monty’s chance to show the class what he had earned. Monty quickly raised his hand. He was one of the frequent kids who always wanted to demonstrate or go first to write on the board. The teacher smiled when she saw his hand go up.
“Ok, Monty, let’s have you try it.” He stood up from his desk and wobbled over to the board. His classmates began to giggle and laugh softly at his walking. One kid shouted,
“Monty has the new Jordans on his feet!” another kid said from the back of the classroom,
“And they are on the wrong feet!” Max smiled proudly, and the kids laughed. Mrs. Fink Mon hushed the class and looked down at his feet. After Monty completed the math problem on the board, he smiled at her.
“I got it!” he shouted.
“Young man, why on Earth are you wearing your shoes on the wrong feet? Monty replies, “Because I want to look and be cool.”
“It is cooler and safer to wear your very nice sneakers on the right feet, so you won’t trip and fall all day today. Please switch them when you sit back at your desk.”
“Oh, I will be careful. I’m too cool to fall, Mrs. Fink-Mon,” Monty said confidently. Monty put his head down, pouting at the command to fix his shoes. He wobbled away, sat back down at his desk, and fixed them, but he had planned that he would only swap them back around after her class.
The bell buzzes, and it is time for Art class. Monty had to carry a tray of paint supplies to his desk. He had swapped his shoes back to the wrong feet and confidently walked over to the supplies. He picked up the tray full of colors of different paint and wobbled his way over to his seat; he tripped over his feet and stumbled and crashed to the floor; all the paint landed on his uniform, but he somehow missed his sneakers. The sounds of him falling to the floor with the tray got everyone’s attention.
“Oh no! My uniform!” he shouted; the paint was everywhere. His art teacher, Ms. Miller, came running over to him.
“Monty, are you ok? She helped him clean up the paint and noticed his shoes were on the wrong feet. Monty replies,
“Yes, Ms. Miller, I am ok; I just tripped over my feet.” She helped him to his feet and said,
I noticed something was off as she looked down at his shoes. Don’t you think wearing such nice sneakers on the right feet would be safer, Monty?” Monty smiles and says proudly,
“Maybe, but I am cooler with them this way.”
“It is better to be safe now than sorry later, young man.” Ms. Miller motioned for him to return to his seat and fix his shoes. Monty pouted as he wobbled away, covered in paint. He thought to himself, “That’s alright. I’ll swap them back again for Lunch.” Monty then painted a beautiful painting of himself holding his favorite sneakers with a cheesy smile.
The bell buzzes, and it’s Lunchtime.
The Tumble ~ Chapter Three
After art class Monty went into the boy’s bathroom to once again put his shoes on the wrong feet. Although he has tripped and fallen twice already that day, this did not discourage him. Monty still felt cooler with his new kicks on the wrong feet. Looked at himself in the mirror gave a big cheesy smile and wobbled out of the bathroom and towards the lunchroom. The lunchroom was buzzing with the motion of children standing in line with their lunch trays, chatter at the tables, distant songs being sung towards the back of the cafeteria. Monty quickly grabbed his lunch try and stood in line. From the back of the line, he saw Fred.
“Hey Fred!” He shouted down the line getting Fred’s attention. Fred looked over his shoulder and gave a smile and waved at Monty.
“Hey Monty! How’s it going?” He shouted back down the line. Monty pointed at his uniform covered in paint and laughed. Fred waited for Monty at the end of the lunch line. After Monty gathered his food, he and Fred began to walk towards their table. Fred pointed to Monty’s shirt and asked,
“What happened?”
“I tripped in art class.” Monty laughed as they sat down. He took a huge bite out of his pizza and said with a mouth full of food.
“But I’m okay.” Fred laughed and took an even bigger bite of his sandwich.
“It’s okay kid, sometimes these things happen. There’s a rhythm to how you walk in shoes the way that I do. Let me show you.” He grabs his apple and stands up. He hunches his back a bit to the side, takes one step forwards and leans in with a bop. Letting the heel of his shoe barley touch the floor, he takes another step, and bops again with his shoulders swaying to each side as he steps. Monty thought he looked so cool, bopping along as if he were listening to Hip Hop in his head. Fred did a quick spin around and turned to Monty,
“Now you try it.” he tossed him the apple. Monty caught the apple and smiled, quickly hopping up to mimic what Fred had done. He first took a step, and his ankle buckled a bit. Then he took another step and found his own rhythm.
“Yea, that’s it! like that! Keep going” Fred shouted and cheered.
Monty kept on bopping along feeling like he got the hang of the motion, until his ankle buckled again, and he spun and fell right into Marie Merryweather, one of the most popular girls in school, causing her to spill her milk all over herself and the table. Everyone’s head turned their way when she screamed in disbelief. The cafeteria then got so quiet you can hear a pin drop to the floor. Fred froze up, blinked a few times before he slowly sat back down at the table. Marie got up from the table slowly, her face turning red.
“Look what you did Monty!” she shouted and pointed to the table and at him.
“Why on Earth are you wearing your sneakers on the wrong feet Monty?” she asked him puzzled. Monty got up from the floor and apologized to Marie.
“I am so sorry Marie, I was practicing my walk in these shoes, to look and walk cool like Fred.” He grabbed some napkins that were on the table next to them and passed them to Marie.
“Thank you, Monty, I’ll be okay. I always keep a spare uniform in my locker. And might I add, what Fred is doing is not cool. It is silly and dangerous. You could have gotten us really hurt Monty. Being cool isn’t following others that are doing the wrong or silly things. Being cool is being yourself and doing the right thing. You are cool Monty, just the way you are.” She smiled and brushed some of the dirt off his shoulders. Monty looked down at his feet and said with a soft whisper,
“I guess it’s not very cool, huh?”
“Not even a little bit.” she said with a smirk and turned to sit back at her table and eat her lunch. Monty sat beside her and switched his shoes on the right foot. He got up and went to get Marie a new milk.
“Thanks Marie, for being honest with me. Sorry about the mess again.” He placed the milk on the table and walked off.
Lessons Learned ~ Chapter Four
A few hours later, the bell rang for dismissal. All the children scattered out towards their assigned buses and waited to be dropped off at home. Monty was chatting it up with Fred about his day, and how he decided it was best not to wear his shoes on the wrong feet. He told him about how Mrs. Fin-Mon, Ms. Miller was right all along. How Marie Merryweather keeps it real.
“Fred, maybe you should rethink how you wear your sneakers too.” From the bus window he can see his mother waiting for him to return. He ran down the steps of the bus, and ran down the pathway into his mother’s arms yelling,
‘Mom! Mom! You wouldn’t believe my day today at school!” She gave him a warm embrace and said,
Let’s talk about it over a snack in the kitchen, I have your favorite dish baking in the oven for dinner.” Monty smiled and shouted,
“Mac and cheese!” Then he ran inside the house, kicking off his shoes to the side. Rosita had some tuna fish prepared in a bowl and some toast ready to be toasted in the toaster. She pushed down the handle and sat down next to her son.
“Tell me all about it your day sweetie.” After Monty told his mother everything in detail, she laughed and hugged him, and she said to him.
“You don’t have to copy others to be cool my love, you are cool just the way you are. Always remember to be a leader, not a follower.” The timer went off for the oven. They looked at each other and smiled.
“I always remember mom, I love you.”
“I love you too sweetheart. Now let’s eat!”
THE END
