Friendship
By: Christian Ratnayake
Tags: Masks, Fiction, Friendship

Alex walked through the hallway of his school. He carried himself with an indescribable air of confidence. Self-assurance etched into his frame. His charismatic smile drew everyone in, his humor made everyone stay. They all loved him, and he knew it. The blank faces he walked past smiled at him, and he acknowledged them like the closest of friends. All except one. Tom sat cross-legged out the front of Alex’s classroom, eyes vacant, his body heaved with exaggerated force, almost as though breathing in itself was an effort he had not fully committed to. He did not acknowledge Tom. Tom scared him, but he would never tell anyone why.

As Alex walked into his classroom, the crowd embraced him. They all felt close to him, but he was worlds away. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t notice; they never did. The class blurred on, like any other… He made a few jokes, all met with smarmy laughter. As the teacher handed out their marked essays, he paused by Alex, giving him a resigned look before handing back his essay. The red writing stuck out from the page like a rusty nail in the floorboard; F. Alex didn’t care, if only they knew. The bell rang, and with it, Alex’s self-pity was washed away with the near prospect of peer-validation. As he walked toward home, he was joined by his usual entourage. The several ‘blank faces’ that made up his ‘closest friends’. He scoffed at the irony, yet welcomed the company; why wouldn’t he?

Every joke he made was met with laughter, every lie he told became the truth. That was just how Alex liked it. They didn’t ask questions, and that made everything just too easy. These strangers he called ‘friends’ loved him, only because they didn’t know him; and he hoped they never would.

In front of them walked Tom. Head down, shoulders slouched, his headphones isolated him from the world. One of Alex’s posse called out to him, to which there was no response.

‘Oh no… Here we go’ Alex cringed.

The rock whistled through the air before it struct Tom in the back of the head. Doubling over, Tom’s hands rushed to his head.

His cries stung Alex’s ears.

As Tom whirled around to face them, his red-rimmed gaze found Alex’s. In those eyes, as they welled with tears, Alex couldn’t help but see a piece of himself in them. In those eyes, it was too easy to see the cracks in the structure of Tom’s mental stability, cracks that spread like spider-webs over his entire being. It was a feeling Alex knew too well. He felt pity for Tom, but at the same time, he was in awe of his bravery. Unlike Alex and those he surrounded himself with, Tom wore no mask. His life, his pain was etched into his face for all to see. Yes, of course that scared Alex, but it did something else too… It gave Alex hope, it inspired him.

Maybe he didn’t need to pretend. His dad would always say; those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter.

Alex took a calm breath in, steadied himself, and started to walk toward Tom.

As he traversed the short eternity of space between them, thoughts flashed through his head:

‘Was this the right choice?’

‘What if your friends don’t accept you?’

But one thought struck out louder than them all.

In this brief encounter with Tom, he had done more for Alex than any of his ‘friends’ ever had. Tom had let Alex be who he truly was; and ultimately, isn’t that what friends are for?