John didn’t come to school that day, I imagined he was sick or something; I never imagined he’d be behind a fast food place with a lighter. The next day all he could talk about was how “blown” he’d gotten with his buddy. I wouldn’t call that buddy a friend because what kind of friend would accompany you, while you threw your life away, and not say anything? He knew I didn’t want to hear it so he turned to Jenny, the cool card friend, and started rambling on and on. He seemed to find joy in the fact that he couldn’t remember part of that day, he found joy knowing he’d ditched school to pursuit happiness. A happiness that only lasted a couple of hours, I never understood that. To me, happiness was about finding the one that you loved, succeeding in school, and getting a well-paying job, then later having kids and being able to gift them anything they desired. Happiness meant never having to worry about money, never having to worry about anything. I felt that John had a false perception of happiness, but maybe I did. John made me question a lot of things without asking me anything; he made me start looking at my life through his eyes. John’s eyes were dark brown, but my hazel eyes blended in without a problem.

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