“My Friend”

A micro memoir by Sora Mizutani (9).

He bid me farewell and turned away. I was left alone. I stood still in shock, staring at my friend wandering off. I just wanted to be friends, and I thought he felt the same. 

Just a week earlier, I heard that a kid from Japan transferred to my school. Though I was willing to make a new friend, I was in fourth grade and he was in fifth, so I did not have many opportunities to hang out with him. When we finally got to introduce ourselves, we were having a great time from the second we met. However, suddenly, his face started to darken, and his voice trailed off. Telling me that he had to go do something, he left me, almost like he was avoiding me. I was stunned. I knew from the bottom of my heart that he was having fun. I could not understand it.

After a few days, he was still avoiding me, so I decided to follow him around the school during lunchtime, to find out what was happening. It did not take much time to find him, because he was alone like he was on a deserted island. He was greeting people nearby, but the conversations were not lasting too long. 

“Hi…”

“Hello there, nice to meet you.”

“Yeah…” 

That was pretty much it. He had just come from Japan one or two weeks ago; he could not speak English fluently. What was he trying to do? What was so fun about that?

The next day, he continued to do the same thing, though he was able to talk a little more. 

“Hi! My name is Alex, nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too! How are you?”

“Good!”

It was a simple communication with a stranger, but I saw a smile on his face. At that moment, I was devastated, for one thing became clear. He wanted friends other than me. From that day on, I stopped following him. However, now that I think about it, I did not see true happiness in his smile. It seemed more like he was relieved that he had accomplished something. 

Several months later, he came back to me, apologized for how he was avoiding me. Why would I even talk to him, when he was the one who abandoned me without telling me anything? Annoyed by his insensitivity, I furiously walked away. 

He kept following me so I said, “Stop! Just stop! It’s too late! I was trying to be friends with you, but you kept avoiding me, and were trying to be friends with everyone but me!”

“I am sorry…” Alex said, “I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I was having the best time with you from the first day I met you. I wanted to hang out with you more, but I also needed to work on my English skills, so–” 

At that moment, all that I cared about was that the reason he was avoiding me was not because of me. However, now that I look back on it, I am amazed by my friend’s discipline at the young age of eleven. To realize how joy is not the only component in life.