章 10: A new friend?
The future is a mystery. But we can be as certain as we can be of anything else that time is relentless and that tomorrow will be no different.
***
"Let's be friends," Leo stated with a confident look. He looked so confident that it was as if they were already friends.
"Huh? How come?" Haste asked, dumbfounded by Leo's request. "I don't even know who you are, so why would I want to be your friend?"
Leo didn't expect this kind of answer. It was the first time that someone rejected him like this. And he didn't even understand the reason. They could know each other after they had begun being friends, after all, so it was really a strange answer for him.
"What do you mean? Does not knowing each other a reason for not being friends?" Leo asked as he put food on his plate.
"Did you grow up in a good environment with an influential family?" Haste asked as he began searching for a table.
"How do you know? Do you actually know me?"
"No, it's just that I now understand why you think we can be friends even if we don't know anything about each other."
"What do you mean by that?" Leo asked.
"Let me give you an example," Haste said as Leo nodded. "A friend is someone you can rely on. It's someone you can give your back to because you know that they won't betray you. But then, can you rely on someone you don't know? Can you trust your back to someone you just met for less than a few hours?"
"In your situation, I guess no, I can't."
"Then how come you want me to be your friend when I don't even know your purposes behind wanting to be friends with me, or what you really want from me? What does tell me that you didn't come to me just because I didn't let Crol bully me anymore? What does tell me that you want to befriend me because you know that there's a possibility that I can achieve great things in the future?"
Hearing all of these questions, Leo finally understood how his request was foolish.
For him, a friend was just a status. A friend was someone that could bring benefits to him, while he too will bring some things to the other person. So he never thought that a friend was much more than that. Sure being friends still brings benefits, but being friends with someone is before anything else, having someone to rely on during difficult moments and sharing good memories with them.
So when he heard Haste saying all these things, he fell deep in thought, not saying a single word.
'Do I really want to have that kind of relationship?' Leo thought. 'If I understood what he told me, then it must mean that we won't really benefit each other. But what's the point then? What's the point if he can't benefit me in any way?
'I was supposed to win the interschool competition this year thanks to him. I saw his strength, so if he can be that strong overnight, I'm sure that he will be ready when this time will come.
'But if I'm not his friend, then we won't interact with each other, and that's actually quite sad. So what should I choose? My benefit, or someone that can stay with me later, even after the competition?'
Even though this choice was easy for the Leo from this morning, it wasn't for the actual Leo. Haste had changed his perspective of what was a friend, so it wasn't an easy choice anymore.
And since Haste had finished eating, he stood up and said. "Well, if you don't have anything to say, then I will go."
As he was walking away, Leo suddenly stood up too and ran behind him. Once on Haste's side, Leo said. "To be honest, I don't know if the definition of a friend you gave me earlier is true or not, or if I even understood it well. Nonetheless, I want to try to be a friend to you. So allow me to pass some time with you so that I could learn more about you. And even if you can't rely on me for now, I hope you will in the future since I'm gonna do my best to be a good friend."
"Are you sure?" Haste asked. "It's not something you decided lightly, you know? And even though you can stop being friends with someone anytime, it won't really be something good, be it for you or the other person," He explained. As he said, breaking a friendship wasn't the best of things. So Haste hoped for a long friendship that can last long, and not something that will break anytime soon.
"Hmm, yes, don't worry. As I said, I don't know if I understood what a friend is well. But still, even if I can break our friendship, it's not something that I will do. Breaking something that was hard to build is something that I despise, so I won't do anything of that sort. However, if our friendship doesn't grow, I guess there's no helping it."
"Well, that's good to hear," Haste smiled as they walked toward the school gymnasium. Their next class would happen there, so being there early won't harm anyone. "Then, as a friend, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, go ahead," Leo smiled.
"Why did you begin talking to me out of nowhere?" Haste asked. "I mean, we're in the same class for half a year already, but we never talked with each other. We didn't even pay any attention to each other, whereas I'm sure you're someone strong that could have bullied me whenever you wanted. So what was your reason for approaching me now of all times?"
Haste now knew that he wasn't someone without any capacities. Without any talents. And because of that, he was now wary of people around him because he didn't want them to do anything to him that could endanger his life, or even put his 'talent' at risk.
So to be sure, he asked this question to Leo, so that he could know what was his purpose. Not that he was awaiting any real answer. Leo could lie to him, and it wasn't as if he would be able to differentiate truth from lie.
But still, he hoped that Leo will tell him the truth.
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