Edward
Very short story from a series "What's in a Name".
“Edward”, what a name”, he thought. It sounded to him like something from some other century, some historical character or king. It had nothing to do with what he thought of himself…he just wanted to fit in. He had heard they named him after some uncle or great-grandfather, but that didn’t really help much.
Sure, they sometimes called him “Ed” or “Eddie” which he thought made him sound dull or nerdy. But here he was, stuck with it.
Mostly he just tried not to be too noticeable, hoping not to be called on in class. He stayed in the background and was often one of the last to be chosen for teams at recess.
He didn’t really have a best friend, much less a group of friends to hang out with. He was always polite and friendly, and people were mostly friendly back.
He went to school and then went home to read and work on his models. On the weekend his family often did something together like camping or going out for pizza.
As he got older, he began to be picked earlier for teams since he was good at sports and knew how to work with a team. In fact, he was soon clearly one of the best on the playground…and other kids began to seek him out and want to be friends.
He had a lot of things now to do after school and began to volunteer in class, often getting the answers right. He had read a lot and knew things others did not and soon his marks went up and the teachers liked him.
And then he found this girl in class that he liked…and who seemed to like to be with him.
His name, it turned out, was only a name after all.