Chapter 4 Chap

"You look like you saw a ghost haha"

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to actually come."

"Why wouldn't I come? I'm the one who called you."

"I don't know, young people can be cruel. I thought from your stalking a few days ago you would know that."

"Yes, I know. I didn't really think you would come either."

"Internet dating has a habit of being awkward most of the time hahaha."

Soon after the whole awkward scene is put behind us with pleasant conversation the waitress shows up to take our orders. I order a simple hamburger with fries and a milk shake, while Danny orders just a huge bowl of ice cream, I realized that he loves sweets, but he told me that ice cream is specifically his favorite candy, and that he would eat ice cream every day, for the rest of his life quietly. I found his childish tastes cute, the way he dealt with all the teasing at school since they found out his sexual orientation.

He told me that most of them found out because his "best friend" had a hissy fit when she proposed to him, and when he refused, he wanted to make it clear so as not to hurt her feelings that the reason he didn't think of her that way was not because he thought she was ugly or anything, but because he simply wasn't attracted to women. The day after he left for school, his "best friend" had already spread the word to as many people as possible that he was gay.

I cannot imagine the pain he felt at that moment, the feeling of being betrayed by the person he trusted the most, being thrown to the lions for such a trivial reason. He seemed so good and kind and always smiling, but while he was telling me this story he also smiled, but it was a sad smile, as if the pain of those words cut his throat, as if every word he said made him bleed, I felt bad for not interfering, I also felt bad for the jokes he made about being chased by two boys who had no reason to attack him, just the fact that the person he would fall in love with in the future or did fall in love with someday was a man.

A mix of feelings coursed through me, anger, sadness, empathy, and most of all the feeling that he had never done anything to deserve this. The person in front of me was such a sweet and cheerful creature, with only one encounter I realized that anyone who stayed close to him would never feel any sadness or anguish, that his journey on earth revolved around the way he manages to make other people happy. But he seemed so lonely and sad at times.

After we finished eating and talked some more, we walked a little until we reached a park. We sat on a bench and talked again.

"So Tonny, what is your family like?"

"It's relatively normal, I live with my mom since she and my dad got divorced when I was about 7. Since then, my mom has been living at work, but soon her vacation is coming and she'll be able to get some rest."

"Your mother seems like a good person, who works hard to keep you well."

"Yes, she is, but she thinks she should afford to live a little. It seems like all she does is work and struggle, I can imagine how tired she must be."

"And why does she try so hard?"

"She says it's for me, that she tries so hard so that I won't miss my father so much, so that I can grow up with a good education and become a good adult and be happy, then she'll be able to rest knowing that I'm happy. I am very grateful for that, but I also miss her."

"You are a good son Tonny."

"What about your family?"

"It's kind of like yours only unlike you I live with my dad. My parents divorced when I was 9, and since my mother wasn't exactly an emotionally stable person, the courts ruled that I should stay with him."

"I'm sorry"

"It's okay, these things happen and there's nothing we can do about it. It would be a lot worse for both of us if they used us to keep their marriage afloat."

"I agree, it would be a shitload of pressure thrown on our backs."

"Exactly."

We spent some more time talking in the park, I didn't even see the time go by, and the next thing I knew it was past five o'clock and I had to go home. At the farewell Danny gave me a light hug, he wore a woody perfume that entered my nostrils quickly, after the hug I turned around and started walking towards my house thinking about when I should see him again.

On my way back to my house I see my friend Sarah. She was walking slowly looking at the ground with a sad face, I approach her and when she sees that I am the one in front of her she hugs me and starts to cry, she cries for about 20 minutes until she stops and looks at me as if begging for help. I ask her what happened and she starts crying again.

I ask Sarah to come to my house, and she just nods her head in agreement, as we walked to my house neither of us said a word. We just walk in total silence, when we arrive at my house, I ask her to sit on the couch in the living room while I go to the kitchen to prepare something to cheer her up, I decide to make some hot chocolate, since she always says that a good hot chocolate can cheer anyone up. "The cure for depression in a mug" she always said.

I sat down next to her and handed her the mug with the chocolate; she held the mug with both hands while staring at nothing. I asked again what had happened to her, and why she was wandering the street crying.