4: A friend

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There was a crowd in front of our classroom.

"Is he that handsome?"
"Get out of the way!"
"Can't see!"

'What on earth?'

I struggled my way in.

Zack and Daniel were fighting each other. More precisely, Zack was punching and Daniel was dodging.

I knew I was missing some context

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I knew I was missing some context.

Daniel didn't feel like the kind of person who would just get into fights like that.

Maybe I should ask someone.
Should I?
They'd describe it in favor of any one of them. Why do I bother?
It doesn't matter who started it, someone needs to stop them.
But everyone seemed to be enjoying the fight...

He kept on dodging until suddenly, I saw Daniel throwing in what seemed like a body blow, and that made Zack fall onto the ground. He coughed and coughed.
That was a pretty powerful move.

And everyone started cheering for Daniel.

'Now this is gonna go around for a while', I sighed.

I later found out that Zack used to be a boxer back in middle school and he suddenly quit, for God knows what reason.

Also, I noticed that Daniel was a bit odd. I could read from his expression that he had been very tense, and his posture wasn't exactly very 'fighter-like'. But he still pulled off a win. There is something mysterious about him. There really is.

______________________________

"That'd be 7 dollars."
"Thank you, come again"

I saw Daniel coming in right after a customer went out. Wait, is that a bruise on his face?!

"Daniel, did something happen to you? Is everything okay? Your face is bruised?" I asked him.

"Ohh, it's fine really. I.....fell."

The pause he made was enough for me to figure out that wasn't what really happened.
But if he doesn't want to say it, I shouldn't pry.

"If you're uncomfortable answering, you don't have to. I was just worried....", I confirmed.

...

".....I didn't want to say it because I was ashamed of what happened. But I get the feeling it would be okay for you to know.

Well, yesterday after you left, some customers came and tried to buy cigarettes and alcohol. They looked like minors so I asked to see their ID, but they showed someone else's, and I refused to sell them that stuff. And then one of those guys, he...beat me. But I still didn't sell them..." he mumbled with a frown.

"Ohhh, I'm so sorry to hear that.

But hey, you have nothing to be ashamed of. It was his fault to have beaten you over something like that.
And, you did the right thing, you didn't sell them alcohol. That's great!", I told him.

"Thank you for saying that🥺. It feels good to have gotten that off my chest."

"I'm glad I could help. If you need someone to talk to or just listen, I'm always here😊." I assured him.

I liked listening. I liked the feeling I get when someone feels confident enough to vent to me.

And I felt this kind of connection towards him, a kind of an intuition, that told me Daniel would make a safe friend.

"I hope today goes well for you. It's time for me to leave. Bye!"

.
.
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Daniel
Nice
Moral




Sorry for the relatively shorter chapter. It's just that I often just write on an impulse, then I write a lot. And at times I don't feel that urge and won't be able to write as much. So the chapter length gets inconsistent...

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