The Acceptance of Change

Chapter 2: The Mange (7 years later).

"Hello? Earth to Jonas," said The Mange. The kid standing in front of my desk wore a blue jacket with an orange t-shirt and neon orange and blue basketball shorts that looked 5 years old and probably from middle school. They were a bit too short for him, although he wasn't necessarily tall. He wore torn tennis shoes that had a denim covering and had fluffy dyed red hair that stopped just above his eyes. He was a bit plump, but the kind of plump that feels like he could squeeze your head till your eyes pop out if you made him mad. I call him The Mange because he was always so unkept. He was never physically dirty, or smelled bad, but he always looked like he was just in a hurricane and had to throw on randomly chosen new clothes because the wind had blown all of his clothes off. We met on the first day of summer school. I just wanted to stay to myself and finish the course as fast as possible, but he seemed insistent on prying my shell off. As I opened my eyes in a startled way, I saw him standing before me. He was leaning in to give me a kiss, and before he did he stopped. I was unmoved and I knew what he was doing. He might be a little flamboyant, but he wasn't gay, I think. I caught him on his bluff and he sat there looking almost disappointed in himself that he wasn't able to startle me.

"What," I said in a slightly frustrated, yet lighthearted tone. He looked at me and gave me a smirk.

"Well," he spoke in a sly manner, "you know how you're super lonely and sit by yourself and never talk to anyone and don't talk to anyone in a friendly way and probably have a secret dark past and probably is batma-."

"Yes, what about it?" I said begrudgingly.

"Well, we're gonna go somewhere today with a friend. I thought since I was your only friend we could make you another. She's been my friend for the longest time. I'm honestly surprised I've never introduced the two of you," he said extrovertedly. I could tell he was excited about this and I didn't want to let him down. I wasn't going to be doing anything anyway.

"Who are we going to meet? And where?" I asked.

"Like I said, a friend of mine, and we're probably gonna go to the park. It's where we normally go."