Sometimes I ask myself: why are we friends? We have nothing in common, except perhaps for a time together. Yes, Mark and I had been friends since elementary school. We've been studying together ever since. Now I'm in my second year of high school and I still don't know why we've been together all this time. But I always knew that I was bothersome for him. He had that face, you know, as if he wanted to sleep every time I start a conversation.
I remember the first time we met. I used to watch him from a distance. I don't know why, I think his quiet behavior intrigued me. But once, I found him being threatened by some bullies. Still, he didn't seem to care. Even though it kept happening, he accepted their threats without complaining, and ended up obeying them. At first, I thought he was scared, but that wasn't the case. He just wanted to avoid a bigger problem. Yes, he was being lazy. When I found out, it filled me with anger.
So I decided to do what he didn't want to do. I faced the bullies. And guess what: I got beaten up by them. What cowards they were, hitting a helpless girl. Well, I think that when you're a kid, it makes no difference. In the end, Mark was beaten too. His bruised face covering the sun was the first thing I saw after waking up.
"Hey, are you okay?"
I got up with his help. I was dirty. My whole body ached. But I had no regrets.
"Yes. How about you?"
He turned his back to me.
"I'm fine."
I cleaned the dirt off my clothes. He looks back at me.
"Why did you do that? Are you stupid?"
Despite being right, his question makes me angry.
"I'm the one who should be asking you!"
"What do you mean?"
"How can you let these morons take over your life? Why don't you fight back?"
"You saw what happened, didn't you?"
"Even so...!"
I close my fists, trying to bear the frustration.
"Besides, why do you care? You don't even know me."
"It's not true! I..."
"Huh?"
"I... I..."
"I've been watching you all this time" is what I wanted to say, but for some reason I couldn't. After seeing me almost crying, Marks lets out a sigh.
"Listen, I don't want you to get involved in my problems. Don't ever do this again."
With that, Mark left, but I refused to let him go.
"No! I don't want to see you getting hurt again!"
"Why?"
"Because... it pisses me off!"
"What?"
"It pisses me off, so if you get into another fight, i will meddle again!"
With a confused face, Mark has no choice but to accept.
"All right, all right. I got it."
The next day, Mark got rid of the bullies with a homemade pepper spray made of chilli powder and vinegar. It's not as strong as normal pepper spray, but for children it works wonders. It was so easy it was stupid, and also very funny. Still, it took him a whole day to make the spray, and of course he blamed me for it. But I had no regrets.
When I asked him what made him act so suddenly, he said "it's your fault". I knew what he meant by that. I just caused him more trouble. But I realized that although he didn't care about himself, he did care about others. At that moment, I felt sorry. I felt guilty. I couldn't leave him alone.
I spent the next years with him. Yes, he complained and ignored me, but when he didn't, he was interesting. He knew about many things and saw the world in a different way from me, but he used to hide his thoughts in the silence. I wonder why. Maybe he was afraid. Afraid to hurt others by being himself. And to be fair, when he was, he did hurt me.
And here I am again, crying on the bench of a park, in a city that I barely know. I know that I'm being dramatic. I know that he only said those things because he cares about me. I was being selfish and he was just trying to protect me from myself. But there's a limit to how much I can take. He probably won't even bother coming after me.
As I wipe the tears from my eyes, I hear footsteps approaching. He sits on my side, not saying a word. Looks like I was wrong. He came to me after all.
We spent a few seconds silent, without looking at each other.
"I will not apologize."
"I know."
Again, the silence strikes in. It seems that none of us are feeling comfortable right now.
"Why do you care so much about that goddess? You were never religious."
"It's not that. I don't know... I just want to help."
"Are you sure about that?"
"...what do you mean?"
Mark leans his back on the bench and looks at the sky.
"I was with you at the clothing store, you know. You were having fun. You're just in it because it's interesting, aren't you?"
Yeah, he's right. I was never one to help people. But the moment a super famous goddess fell into my hands, I couldn't help myself. By realizing this, I turn my face, ashamed.
"There's nothing wrong with that, you know. The thing is, she's not just anybody. She was being chased by public security just now. You saw the uproar she made at the clothing store by just being there. If you get involved, you can get into trouble."
"...I know."
I look at the few people who were in the park. Some were concerned about the things that happened today, some of them were trying to have fun despite it. Who am I of these people now?
"Hey Mark, why are we here, in this city?"
"To earn a grade?"
"Uhh... for you, maybe. But I don't care about that. I mean, grades are important and stuff but..."
"Your grades are not very good, you know."
"Please, don't mention it. What I want to say is that for most students, this city is like a playground and the goddess is the roller coaster. I think what makes her fun is the fact that she is scary."
"What is scary is your way of thinking."
"What can I do? I'm an idiot, just like you..."
Recovered from my emotions, I get up from the bench.
"I'm not idiot."
"Oh, you can bet you are. Can't you be a little more sensitive?"
Mark lets out a sigh. He gets up as well.
"What are you gonna do?"
"I wonder... By the way, where's the goddess?"
"I left her behind."
"What?! You lost the goddess?!"
"She isn't a toy, you know."
"Damn it... I know, she must be on the news!"
I take out my cell phone and look for news about Caelia. I find it fast, just like Mark did before.
"...we received the information that the goddess was seen walking through the shopping district and the sudden crowd here can only confirm that it's true. Some people say that they saw her walking out of a clothing store before and now it looks like she entered this shoe store. Maybe she's trying to change the look? We're not sure yet, but people are excited... oh, there she is! As we thought, with a pair of sandals! She looks absolutely gorgeous!"
Mark and I watched the news, astonished.
"What is she doing?"
***
At the Lionheart Castle, Reyna was watching the same news on her cell phone. Claude enters the room and introduces himself.
"Excuse me, your majesty. It looks like she made her first move."
"Yes, I just saw."
Reyna grins. Although she still doesn't trust her, her expectations of the goddess have grown, at least a little.
"Not bad."