The Pen That Changed My Life - Chapter 14 – A Promise Between Friends

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We continued walking in silence.

The afternoon breeze carried the smell of rain, even though the sky was still clear.

Narin kept kicking small stones along the side of the road.

It wasn't like him.

Normally, he filled every quiet moment with stories.

Today...

He seemed to be searching for the right words.

Finally, he stopped walking.

"Phawin."

"Hm?"

"You promised you wouldn't tell anyone."

"I remember."

He took a deep breath.

"My parents argue a lot."

I looked at him without saying anything.

"I joke around at school because I don't like thinking about home."

He laughed softly, but there wasn't any happiness in it.

"If I keep smiling... people don't ask questions."

For the first time since we'd met, I didn't see the loud, carefree boy everyone knew.

I saw someone who was tired.

Someone who carried things he never talked about.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

He shrugged.

"It is what it is."

"No."

He looked at me.

"You don't have to pretend everything is okay with me."

His eyes widened slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't have to smile all the time."

For a long moment, he didn't speak.

Then he smiled again.

But this smile was different.

Smaller.

More genuine.

"I think you're the first person who's ever said that to me."

The next morning, nothing seemed different.

Narin was back to laughing with his friends.

He joked with the teachers.

He teased classmates.

Anyone who saw him would have believed he was the happiest student in school.

Only I knew there was another side to him.

And I never mentioned it.

A promise was a promise.

During lunch, we sat near the window as usual.

He was telling me a ridiculous story about accidentally calling one of the teachers "Mom" when the entire class burst into laughter.

Even I laughed.

"You actually laughed!" he said, pointing at me.

"I do laugh."

"Not like that."

"Like what?"

"That was a real laugh."

I looked away, embarrassed.

"It wasn't."

"It was."

"You imagined it."

"I definitely didn't."

He grinned.

"I should make you laugh more often."

I shook my head.

"Good luck."

"Oh, that's a challenge."

"I didn't say it was."

"I'm accepting it anyway."

As the weeks passed, our classmates began noticing something.

Whenever Narin couldn't find me in the morning...

He looked around the classroom until he did.

Whenever I needed notes because I'd missed something on the board...

He quietly slid his notebook onto my desk without me asking.

Nobody said anything directly.

But sometimes I caught classmates smiling when they saw us talking.

I never understood why.

To me...

We were simply becoming good friends.

Nothing more.

At least...

That's what I believed.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyJgmQPin35

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