A Chance to be Loved

Chapter 20 - An Old Friend

"Are you ready to leave?" Sebastian asked me as soon as I got out of the room.

"I think I am. I'm quite sad that we can't stay longer here. You know how much I love the countryside," I said while looking around the farmhouse.

"Fair enough, but we'll surely come back here again, he answered then he put his hand on my forehead. "It looks like your temperature is back to normal. You must check your things now if you got everything; we have a long drive ahead."

"I'm fine now, don't worry. I think I have all my things here but I'd double check everything just to be sure," I said to him while checking my bags.

"Alright. Just a sec, I need to check out something with Andy," he smiled at me then he took out his mobile from his pocket. He turned around and started talking to Andy over the phone while I was checking my things. I was still in an earshot so I could clearly hear their conversation.

"Hello Andy! Could you please check the folders on my table? There's one there which needs the client's signature, the red one. Do you mind checking on it until I arrive?"

I was staring at him for quite some time and I just smiled at him when he caught me staring. He smiled back at me but I then felt a little uneasy when he started talking again.

"What's the matter? You can't find which one? What yellow folder? Man, I'm sorry. If you see the yellow one then next to it must be the red folder," he said while checking his watch and he gestured something to me, informing me that we would be leaving soon. He came near me after talking to Andy and I just couldn't control my mouth from asking questions about what I've heard.

"What's wrong with Andy?" I asked while we were getting out of the farmhouse.

"He got confused with the color of the folders on my table. He was actually born color blind. He's always confused when it comes to colors," he said with a sigh. "It doesn't bother me at all but sometimes I get anxious whenever he's out alone."

"That's horrible! It must be so hard for him. I'm glad you became best friends. But why are you anxious? I think Andy could handle himself. He looks tough to me."

"Yeah, I agree with you but he's not like that when we were still in middle school. He was bullied because of his condition and intelligence until we were in our university years. No one wants to hang out with him; I'm his only friend and when people found out about it, they started talking to Andy."

"How did that happen?"

"We went on the same university but not on the same school during middle school. They wanted to get close to Andy so they could hang out with me. Their behavior towards him changes whenever I'm not around and I knew it all along. One thing that I'm always proud about Andy is the fact that he changed a lot because of his bullies."

"I'm glad you're his best friend. You never let him down."

"Yeah, I'm glad that he's my best friend too. Those bullies became a motivation to Andy to succeed and to just keep on trying despite of failures; it helped him to be more confident. Just don't mention it when you see him in the next couple of days, he might feel uncomfortable. I don't want him to lose his confidence again."

"It must be hard for Andy to live that way during his teenage years. It's good to know that he didn't give up. I won't mention it, don't worry."

It was a bit gloomy when we were already outside and I was hoping that it won't rain somehow. Once the heavy rain falls down, wet and muddy roads would be difficult for Sebastian to drive. We rushed to put our things inside the car and when we were just about to leave; Xander suddenly appeared in front of us. He was catching his breath that we couldn't comprehend what he was saying so we decided to get out of the car to ask what was going on.