Chapter 1 one big lucky day
Howard and Tim are two fourth graders who have never met, but have something in common. They are both nervous for their first day at a new school called Live Oak. It is August 22 and while most students are happy to get back to school, Tim and Howard are worried because they don’t know anybody and each have different challenges at school.
All of the fourth graders are gathered in the hallway talking to their old friends before class and ignoring Tim and Howard. Tim notices a boy who looks sad and lonely.
Tim says “hi” to Howard and Howard says “hi” to Tim. They don’t look a lot alike and they act differently.
Tim is weak, skinny, small, short, has straight hair, has a very long fuse,is 9 years old, is kind and likes engineers and wants to become one.
Howard is very strong, big,tall,has long curly hair, is 10 years old,has ADHD and has a short fuse.
“What is your favorite thing to do?” Howard asked.
“My favorite thing to do is write. What is your favorite thing to do?” Tim said.
“I do not like writing. In fact it is my least favorite thing to do! My favorite thing to do is play soccer.” Howard said.
“Soccer is not my favorite thing to do but I’m glad you like it,” Tim said even though he does not like soccer at all. “What is your dream job?” asked Tim.
“I want to become a professional soccer player,” Howard said. “What is yours?”
“I want to become an engineer,” said Tim.
Howard and Tim just found out that they are basically opposites. Tim is a bit sad about Howard saying writing is his least favorite thing. Tim and Howard do not think they will get along at first because they are both new at school and still see each other as strangers. They do not have anything in common that they know of yet.
The teacher calls out to the hallway that it’s time for morning meeting and almost everyone goes into the class. But Howard was not paying attention and kept talking so much about soccer that Tim and Howard missed the start of the meeting. Howard has ADHD, which means he gets distracted easily and loses track of time.
When Tim sees that he is late, he gets frustrated and tells Howard to follow him. They sprint into the classroom and they are five minutes late. Now they don’t know anyone’s name in their class including their teacher’s and no one in their class knows their names including their teacher. They do not think they can get along ok at all with anyone and each other.
Then they both say ”at least things can’t get any worse.”
Chapter 2 things get worse
During the start of recess at 9:30.a.m there is a soccer game. Howard plays goalie and blocks all the shots. Tim just stands still because he does not know the rules of soccer. Howard gets mad at him for not being able to play soccer at all.
“Don’t just stand there! Move to an open space!” Howard yells.
When Howard yells at him to move, Tim Just randomly runs around. When another player passes him the ball he accidentally kicks it into his own goal. Howard yells at him at the top of his lungs “You’re the worst soccer player ever!!!”
Tim feels very sad about being yelled at. In a frustrated voice Tim “I’m sorry about that. My bad.” Tim knows he is weak and feels bad about how bad he is at sports and PE. He’s afraid that he’ll never get picked for a team again. He does not like being alone and wants to be with everyone. He doesn’t care about winning, he just wants to participate so he has something to do at recess. He wishes he was just good enough at soccer so that he would not be made fun of.
After recess Howard is still frustrated because Tim was so bad and they wasted part of recess arguing.
Chapter 3 the assignment
In the classroom they get assigned to write a story together. Tim writes a few paragraphs neatly. Howard doesn’t write even a single letter. Tim gets mad but stays in control. Then Tim helps Howard with his writing even though he is very frustrated that Howard isn’t writing at all.
“Can you please write some more?” Tim asks.
Howard doesn’t write anything.
“Can you write some more? You can do it,” Tim said.
Then Howard still doesn’t write anything.
Tim asks “Can you just write anything?”
When Howard still doesn’t write, Tim says “Don’t worry, I will help you if you need it.”
And then Tim helps Howard by encouraging him and giving him some examples and tips like “Try to think in sentences not words,” and “Try to stay focused for a bit.”
Howard feels a little bit better about writing and writes a short paragraph. Then Tim feels good for Howard. Howard feels even better when Tim compliments Howard by saying “That’s a good start.” Howard is happy and then says “thank you” to Tim. Then Tim says “I’ll help you if you need it”to Howard.
“Why is writing so hard for you Howard?” Tim asks.
Howard feels like Tim is being very nice about his challenges.
“Because it’s hard for me to focus because I have ADHD,” Howard whispers. “ADHD makes it so if you don’t hyperfocus on something it’s like not focusing at all. You’re the first kid I’ve ever told about this.”
“Are there any advantages about ADHD?” Tim asks.
“One advantage is when I hyperfocus on something I can get really good at whatever it is if it’s interesting,” Howard said. “It also means you have a lot more energy than the average person. That means I can play more soccer and not sleep as much.”
“Those are some good advantages,” Tim said. “That’s part of the reason you’re so good at soccer. How do you get ADHD?”
“It’s not a sickness. It’s something you can only get when you’re born. My doctor calls it Race Car brain,” Howard said.
“I wish I had ADHD so I could be good at sports and have more energy like you,” Tim said.
“I wish I could write like you,” Howard said.
“Maybe we can work together so we can be good friends and get better at what we are not good at,” Tim said.
“I think that would be a good idea. We should try that,” Howard said.
Chapter 4 some hope
On the second of school they are very happy to try and work together on their challenges. They know that they won’t be alone. Even though they thought they were complete opposites, they know they can learn from each other and they will have at least one friend at school.
At recess Howard was team captain for the soccer game. He used his first pick to pick Tim even though he played badly yesterday.
“Thank you for picking me Howard!” Tim said. “I’ve never been picked first by anyone. In fact the only way I ever get picked is when I’m the last person left. And sometimes people say mean things like NO NOT HIM!”
“I picked you because I hope it gives you some confidence. You have to be able to believe that you can play good and win,” Howard said.
“But I am not good, what if I mess up like yesterday?” Tim said.
“Just stand by the other team’s goal and I’ll pass to you,” Howard said. “When I pass the ball don’t even move and just tap it in the goal with the side of your foot.”
Howard makes sure to block every shot the whole game. He keeps passing the ball up to Tim. Tim keeps missing the ball and the score is 0-0 with just 30 seconds left of recess. Howard gets the ball again and he passes all the way to Tim and he kicks the ball into the goal just one second of recess remaining. Tim and Howard’s team wins 1 to 0.
“Great goal Tim. What a shot!” Howard yells.
‘Awesome goal Tim! Great shot!” another classmate said.
“What a great improvement from yesterday,” said the teacher.
“I told you some confidence would help you,” Howard says.
They both decide they want to be best friends and won’t give up. The other kids have been at school for 5 years and already have their best friends. The other kids are not treating them nice because they are new to school. They are determined to become best friends because they want to make the best of the very bad situation.
Chapter 5 the very ,very ,very ,very hard effort and the dream
Howard and Tim realize that helping each other with their challenges makes them feel a lot less like opposites. They both get to know each other better because they still won’t give up trying to be best friends. They still get frustrated with each other, especially when Howard yells or has a big reaction. But Tim now knows that Howard cares about him and just has trouble controlling himself sometimes.
Howard starts helping Tim with soccer an hour each day at 5:30.p.m so that he feels comfortable at recess playing soccer.Tim starts helping Howard with reading and writing after school for an hour each day at 4:30.p.m. After just one week they both improve massively. Howard is even able to control himself better.
After a year of this they both become very strong and very smart. They finally become best friends because they both worked very hard and never gave up on their dream of being best friends. They would go on to be best friends for many many years.
They both made other good friends at school besides each other over the years. But they feel great and very happy when they remember the day they met each other on the first day of fourth grade when they were both kids a long time ago.
They feel happy and 18 years later they still remember that day they met at school at Live Oak. They are still best friends and then they are roommates. Tim is 28 years old now and Howard is 29 years old. They both have their dream jobs. Howerd is now a soccer player and Tim is now an engineer.And now live together and each year on August 22 they remember that one lucky day at school in fourth grade.
About the author
Kai is 9 years old and it took 6 months to make this story.Kai lives in San Francisco.Fun fact Kai is good at soccer and plays goalie for SF Elite Academy.Kai wrote this story in 2020.This is Kai’s 3rd book.