THE ROAD TO YOUR HEART (Completed) ✔

28: A Newfound Friend

Chris came up to the door and noticed a large blue sticker at the top that read, "Keep Out" and a smaller red one at the bottom which had the words "STOP" written on it. It immediately took him back to his childhood days where he had tons of stickers like these. For a second he thought that Nolan and him may actually have a more than a few things in common.

He knocked on the door twice and waited for a response but there was none. He knocked once more, this time louder, and just stood there waiting.

"Who's that?" Nolan asked without opening the door.

"Nolan, it's Chris! I would like to talk to you, please." He waited for a few seconds but didn't get any response. He was about to go back to the living room when he heard the door open.

"Come in!" Nolan waited by the door until he had entered before closing it. "I'm sorry for being rude and not saying hello when I saw you earlier. I was just not in the right frame of mind to hold any type of conversation. I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. I've been there so I understand how you feel. Nice room by the way." Chris looked around and noticed that the predominant colours in the room were navy blue and grey.

"Thanks. I decorated it myself." Nolan's face expressed his pride in his work.

"You have such great taste. Another thing we have in common." Chris smiled.

"What's the first?"

"The stickers on your door." I had loads of those back in the day. The good ol' days." Chris smiled as he reminisced.

"That's cool! Please make yourself comfortable. You can sit anywhere you like." Nolan said as he went to the corner and sat on a chair positioned in front of a desk with a laptop and some books on it. "I was trying to work on a paper for school before you came in."

"Oh, that's quite admirable. The last thing I'd look at were my books if I was upset about something. I guess we have our first difference." They both chuckled.

"I guess!" Nolan smiled.

"I should leave you now to concentrate. Maybe we can talk some other time." He stood up from the chair which he had just sat on.

"No, you can stay! I'm actually done with it. I was just doing some proofreading to make sure everything is perfect." Nolan replied.

"Hm... Okay, how about this? I'll stay if you promise to tell me what happened today that made you mad." Chris arched his eyebrow.

"Hm..." Nolan thought for a while. "Okay, I'll tell you, but you have to promise that it'll be between you and I!"

"I promise you that whatever you say right now will remain between us."

"Okay! So it all started this morning. I went to my buddy's house to play video games. A few other friends were there and we all agreed to put some money down, and that the winner was gonna take it all."

"Okay..." Chris nodded.

"Well, I won! Everyone else seemed happy for me except for my buddy, Zach."

"What did he say was his problem?" Chris asked.

"He didn't say. I figured he was mad that I beat him after bragging about being the best. Anyway, I just ignored him and thought he'd cool off with time. Man, was I wrong!" Nolan shook his head.

"What happened?"

"I was about to reach for the money when Zach said, 'You know, I'm actually very happy that you won. Now, you can save up the money and maybe one day, you'll be able to afford your own video game.' "

"He said that?"

"He did. I was so shocked. I asked him what he meant by that and he said that since I'm so good that I beat him with his own game, imagine what I'd do if I could buy mine. Everyone started laughing at me and I felt so embarrassed. I was gonna throw the money in his face but then I figured that he was saying all those things because he wanted the money. So I put it in my pocket and was about to leave when he said 'Oh and by the way, I heard Loni wants to learn how to play video games. Since you can't afford one, I guess I'll just have to invite her over and teach her myself.' That was the limit for me. I didn't know when I jumped over the table and punched him in the face."

"Honestly, I don't condone violence but he sure deserved that one. Who's Loni though?"

"Uhm..."

"Well?" Chris raised his eyebrow.

"Loni is someone I really like from school. Just that I haven't been able to approach her because I'm worried that I don't fit into the category of guys I usually see hanging around her." Nolan's eyes dropped to the floor.

"I see! Before we move on to the topic of Loni, I want you to promise me that you'll forget everything about Zach no matter how hard it might be. I know he was your best friend and all, but you have to realize that people as wicked as that boy, don't deserve your precious time and energy. There's no need giving yourself a tough time over this issue. Just be glad that you saw his true colours before it was too late. Because you never know what people like that are capable of doing."

"You're absolutely right. Thank you!" Nolan smiled.

"You're welcome. Now about Loni." Chris grinned.

"Oh, man!" Nolan covered his face with his palm.

"Out with it! I want to know everything about this girl."

"I don't know where to start." Nolan blushed.

"Start from the beginning." Chris smiled.

"Well, Loni is my classmate. A year ago, I developed a huge crush on her. I've never spoken to her before and I'm not sure I ever will."

"Why not?"

"Because she's like super popular and I only see her in the company of the cool kids. You know, the people who can afford anything she wants. Next to them, I'll be looking like a little boy who don't know where his mates are." Nolan sighed.

"I got a couple of things to say first, and then, I'll tell you how to approach her."

"I'm all ears!" Nolan smiled.

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