New worker: is this person brown nosing? How do I protect myself against office politics?

I am a newbie to the work environment, I have only had three jobs in the past, all for short stints, now I am working in an office. I am not very socially literate and can be blunt, I have to watch myself.

I feel I have to protect myself with sketchy people and socially literate but cunning people who could try to manipulate me into saying or doing something that could get me fired.

I have identified one worker whose intentions are ambiguous. I can’t tell if this individual is trying to brown nose their way up the ladder or is genuinely compassionate and wants to help. Let me explain, this worker was initially friendly towards me in the first few days now does not speak to me, except a hello.

I barely even spoke to this person, only if they spoke to me so I don’t know why they have taken this response.

Anyway, what I notice is that they act like a manager but are in the same grade as me. This person is also a temporary workers:

• They go round and show all the new workers (except me) how to do certain tasks.
• I noticed when I did talk to them, sometimes they would go to the manager after we spoke. It appeared that they were telling the manager what I said.
• They sit at the top of the office beside the manager.
• If there is anything going on in the office, they’re involved in it and trying to “help”.
• They invited others in the temp group out for lunch but not me.

I am now suspicious of this person and not sure what their motive is. I can’t tell if they are genuinely trying to be helpful or if they are trying to be nosy/brown nose. For example, at the start of the week, they collected my time sheet and took it to the manager, I took this as niceness but then thought later, that maybe they were trying to see my contracted hours and fully name.

So I’m a little anxious and suspicious around this person and not sure how to act.

How do you cope with people like this and do you think that this person is brown nosing?

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