"What do you mean he didn''t "mean" it? His face is purple Savard!"


    "The kid was throwing rocks at the chickens and he insulted his dead mother. If you did that in any major city you''d be killed by the guards themselves, and anyone who killed you before them wouldn''t be punished in the slightest."


    "So what we should operate like Bousseldorf with all those damn Penilagians?"


    "Keep your voice down, he''s right outside."


    "I hope he hears me! That half-mixed runt can cry himself to sleep knowing that this entire town hates him."


    "And who''s fault is that? If you didn''t humiliate him on the first day in front of everyone maybe we wouldn''t be here right now. Every single teacher knows about the things that you tell Reynold to do."


    "I''m just making sure he grows up to be a fine man like myself, but I guess you''re the perfect example for Celio."


    "So, are you going to air out your family disputes to all of Neupont because you''re fuming at an adolescent?"


    "He nearly killed a noble! Do you know how much pleading I had to do just so the Mobles family wouldn''t order a fucking inquisition?"


    "Have you forgotten how to act? You need to watch what you say around people who''ll repeat it mindlessly."


    "You have a lot of nerve to tell me how to act when you''re the one who got abandoned by the best party anyone will ever hear about until the end of time because you wouldn''t shut up about your moral code and your principles."


    "Do you want to get executed? You know that they come after anyone who knows anything that''s supposed to be kept internal."


    "Well, I''ll die with the widest grin if I know they got to that kid first."


    "You lay a single finger on him and I''ll tell your wife about Missus Marron."


    "Find a cliff to go jump off of!"


    Mister Savard slammed the door behind him.


    "Sorry that you had to hear that. He''ll be quiet for a bit until he finds something else to use against me. In the meantime you should go back to Elle, I''m sure she''s worried about whether you''re expelled or not."


    Did she stay behind again? I told her to stop after the fifth or sixth time that I found her asleep by the main door to the school. I walked out the door and found her, but two things were strange. It wasn''t night this time. I thought that I was either getting screamed at or listening to them scream at each other for hours, but the sun was only just setting under the houses. The red glare hurt my eyes, but I could see all of them, besides Reynold, of course, standing right outside the school with Elle. Were they waiting to get revenge? Was Elle trying to convince them not to? The one in the middle who I couldn''t see immediately bowed to me and reached out their hand towards me.


    "I''m really sorry!"


    "What?"


    "I''m sorry for not doing anything while Reynold made fun of you, or hit you."


    Did they get hit in the head too? Was this some sort of dare? Who was watching us from far away making sure that they did whatever this was?


    "Elle, did a teacher come and punish them for something?"


    "What happened was that apparently, Reynold''s parents were forcing all five of them to be his friends. Something about how they would call the king down to Neupont if they didn''t agree to make their kids play along."


    "Why did they go along with it?"


    "Weren''t you listening? They were forced to."


    "I''ve been forced to do things too, I don''t always agree when someone threatens me."


    "Well that''s not fair, you''re different."


    "How?"


    "Celio they were being forced by their parents. Their lives could have been ruined if they didn''t go along with it."


    "What, so they trade away having to move towns once instead of letting me catch a break?"


    "You''re not being fair. You all should leave."


    They ran back into the town. I couldn''t wrap my head around it. So what if they had to leave this town, I''ve moved over fifty times and they couldn''t handle it once? They had to help him in making fun of me? They had to sit there and laugh with him? So what are they trying to say, they forced themselves to laugh every single time? They were just acting? Kids. Kids were "just acting" when they made the choice to insult me, laugh at his jokes, make faces at me, or get me in trouble. Was I just supposed to believe that because they apologized?This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    "I''m not being fair? I knew you were nice but I didn''t know you were stupid."


    "Don''t insult me because you''re mad at them. You think that they would just lie about something like this?"


    "It doesn''t matter. Even if they were forced to do it, you can''t tell me that every little thing that they did, every single laugh and grin, every time they made my day horrible they were just acting."


    "Why not? Why can''t it be true that not everyone who makes fun of you, who does something bad to you is a villain?"


    "I''m just supposed to forgive them? If Mister Savard hadn''t forced the principal to let me leave without getting punished I would be packing up my things right now!"


    "But that''s Reynold''s fault, not theirs."


    "Not theirs? They helped him WILLINGLY!"


    "You were being unfair, and now you''re acting crazy."


    "Where did this come from? These people who you always screamed at when they would make fun of me, you never talked about whether they could be faking it, you never thought of it. Why would you? Why are you defending them now?"


    "I''m not going to listen to you right now. I''ll see you tomorrow."


    She walked away before I had the chance to respond. My head was still spinning, I don''t even know what I said. Every single thought that I had was racing around in my head, I just said whatever stayed long enough for me to remember. What was I saying? I''m sure that I was right, but I couldn''t think straight long enough to tell her why. I went home, well, to the home I was staying in at the time. Ms. Larche also ran the Neupont orphanage. A few years ago, the council of Articulago forced every small village to have one. The cities couldn''t fit any more buildings, so they didn''t have to do the same thing, but instead, they forced local inns to keep lost kids.


    I went straight to Miss Larche''s room. I wonder what she''d have to say this time. Maybe something different than her insulting me for getting in trouble again.


    "Good, Celio, come in."


    She pulled up the same chair that she always had me sit in. Well, it wasn''t even a chair. It was a worn-down stool that would break more every time I sat on it while listening to her talk about how I would have nowhere else to go if I didn''t stop misbehaving. She had the same cup of tea that she never drank but only stirred slowly in front of me. Sometimes, the spoon would hit the side of the teacup, other times it would scrape the bottom. I couldn''t ignore it either way.


    "So, I heard that you hit Reynold today."


    "Have you ever been lied to?"


    She paused for a second, I expected her to be surprised. Usually, I didn''t talk at all when she invited me to her room after school, I would just stop focusing on her and look outside the window behind her as she yelled at me.


    "I have, why do you ask?"


    "Reynold''s friends came up to me after school today, and they tried to apologize for, I don''t know, being his friend or something."


    "Is that so? Why were they apologizing?"


    "Apparently Reynold''s parents were forcing them to be friends. Something about threats to get the king involved if they didn''t agree."


    "Well, that''s certainly interesting. I knew that Reynold was a renowned noble but I didn''t think he would have to force people to be friends with him."


    "You believe them?"


    "Do you not?"


    "Why would I believe them? They''re always laughing at me, helping him, supporting him, doing whatever they can to make sure he''s able to make fun of me and get away with it."


    "So that''s why you asked me if I''d ever been lied to?"


    "Yes."


    She paused for another second and actually took a sip from her tea.


    "Let me ask you something, the same question actually. Have you ever been lied to? Before today, that is."


    "Yeah."


    "When?"


    "When I was young people wouldn''t ever say that my mom was dead, they''d always avoid it. Sometimes they would say that she''s at the cleric''s, other times they would say she''s dealing with a family thing."


    "You''re angry at them now, aren''t you?"


    "Who?"


    "Reynolds ''friends.''"


    "Yeah."


    "Were you mad at those people when they lied to you about your mother?"


    "No."


    "Why not?"


    "Because they were doing it to help me. I know that sometimes people lie for a good reason, but they were only lying so I wouldn''t be mad at them."


    "So sometimes lying is acceptable, right?"


    "Sure? But it''s not acceptable for them-"


    "Celio, if I screamed at chickens right now, would you think that would be odd?"


    "Yeah?"


    "If a random young child screamed at chickens right now, would that be odd?"


    "Maybe, but that''s a young child, you''re an adult."


    "So children can get away with things that adults cannot."


    "Nobody can get away with being an assho-"


    "Don''t use that kind of language while I''m trying to help you, Celio. Listen, you''re all young. I know why you think they''re lying, and I think that you''re most likely right. Sure, they were initially forced to go along with whatever Reynold told them to do, but eventually they started to do it without him saying anything. Eventually, they enjoyed making fun of you. That is what you are thinking, correct?"


    "Yes."


    "What I think is that if you make a child do anything that they don''t hate in its entirety, they''ll eventually grow to accept it. Picky children may eventually be okay with eating certain foods, maybe a class that they always thought was boring becomes interesting to them. Even you have shown that you can change in this way."


    "But they changed in a way that was bad."


    "That doesn''t matter, though. That''s what I''m trying to get across to you. Children can make massive changes in their life, changes that they may not even recognize. Sometimes these changes are for the better, sometimes they are for the worse. The question is, if they look like they''re willing to be your friend, to no longer torment you and ruin every day for you, would you really rather stay mad at them and risk the chance that they''ll go back to the way they were? Even if they are lying to you, even if they aren''t truly sorry for what they have done, does it not mean more to you that it seems as though they don''t want to hurt you again?"


    "If I''m just like them, just another kid who is changing as he grows up, then why did Elle say that I was different?"


    "Because you are different, Celio. Your life thus far has made sure that you will change before everyone else does, that you will become the person that will be present throughout your entire life sooner than any of your peers."


    "But that''s not fair, why am I responsible for the things I do now when they aren''t?"


    "You focus on the poor parts of being an early bloomer, but you have something that all of them would possibly kill to get access to."


    "And what is that?"


    "Your affinity."