𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 || 𝐌𝐡𝐚

17

When Reia was younger, she never told anybody what kind of money she came from. Even as a 7-year-old, she understood that the reason why her neighbors and so many of her neighbors' kids had a lot of friends was because they knew that they lived rich. Reia, in spite of her little mind, knew the difference between fake and real. So she didn't speak a word.

It could be said that because of this little distinction, it became difficult for the young girl to make true friends of her own. Her neighbors weren't really her own friends, and neither were the students she would occasionally talk to during class. Though she never minded her isolation, Reia would sometimes feel the loneliness creep up on her, and hit her like a train all at once.

The cycle would continue on for sometime, and Reia would revert from normalcy to everlasting loneliness until one fateful day. Though she was slightly older and a 7th grader in junior high, she still hadn't grown out of her little anime phase. Just as she was looking for a spot somewhere isolated where she could read in peace, crying from down a small opening between the school and its gate reached her ears.

Like many children, curiosity got the best of her.

Slowly maneuvering her way down the small opening, the soft cries started to grow louder, and when Reia turned the corner, her eyes slightly widened at the sight of a scrawny, black haired boy who was crying into the sleeves of his own hoodie. Reia would remain their watching him for a little bit, mind wandering as to why the unknown boy in front of her was crying.

With as much courage as she could gather as a self-conscious tween, Reia called out to the boy, causing him to jump at the sudden company. Furiously wiping away the tears from his eyes, he sniffled, turning away from the girl in embarrassment. Not wanting him to cry further, Reia sat down next to him, asking the boy why he was crying.

Here's the thing. When you're invisible, you attract no bad, or good. But when you try to attract something good, bad will always find you one way or another. That was the case with the boy in front of her.

With making new friends came people who hated him, and the poor boy was subjected to the negativity that children should never experience at an age where they are still developing. Reia listened intently as the boy began to rant about how horrible some people were, and how he never wanted to make friends again.

Now at that statement, Reia couldn't help her heart from hurting for him. Though most of her friendships haven't lasted long enough due to her mysterious background, she felt the same pain, or at least sympathized with his pain. Which was the reason her own mind acted on it's own.

"Do you want to be friends then?" Reia asked.

The boy blinked out of his rant, and he slowly looked to her with a questions gaze. "What?"

"Yeah! Let's be friends. I don't really have any, and you seem like a really cool person. So, you wanna be friends?"

His gaze stayed on her for a minute. After what seemed like forever, he slowly nodded his head, a small 'sure' coming out in agreement.

"Cool! What's your name? Mine is Reia."

He sniffled. "James."

–

From then on, Reia and James became a close pair. After a few days, they seemed to click. They became inseparable, and every where they went, one would never be without the other. James would mostly share stuff about his background, but when Reia wasn't comfortable with sharing her own, he took it in stride, and Reia appreciated his effort to not pry despite being friends for a year.