Thomas reached home, but he was worried about John. He opened the door of the house. Mom was inside.
"Hello, son" she said gently.
Thomas exhaled heavily and fell into the chair.
"Hi Mom. "
"How is school, is everything okay? "
"Yes, everything is fine. "
"I'm happy for you, sit down now, I'll pour you soup. "
Mom took a ladle and poured the soup into a plate. Thomas sat down at the table, and his mother looked at him somewhat darkly. Thomas sensed a little sadness in her.
"Did something happen, mom? "
"I was just worried about you, whether you were very upset because of this conversation. "
"Of course not, I am not too worried about it. "
"I just want you to leave school educated and have a good life... "
"I know it, mum, let's change the subject, I don't want to talk about it. "
"Today there is such a backlog at work, a lot of goods have arrived and they all need to be unloaded." Mom exhaled heavily, she was tired. "It's good that this store still exists, otherwise I would be out of a job altogether.
"Yes" confirmed Thomas "you're right, I'm sorry that everything is like this, I hope one day you will do what you want".
"Thank you, son."
Mother looked at her son with a smile. Thomas got up, thanked for the food and went upstairs. No word from John, he didn't write or call. "Is he really so overwhelmed by this that he won't even go to the ball. And I" Thomas thought" Shall I go, I think it wouldn't hurt to have a little fun", he thought, "but John, maybe he'll be mad at him for it". The next day John wasn't at school. Thomas attended 3 classes and decided that there was no point in being in school anymore, he went to John. He knocked on his door. John opened them and looked reluctantly at Thomas.
"Hello" he grumbled.
"I called you, you didn't pick up."
"I didn't see it" Thomas knew he was lying.
"Why weren't you at school today? "
"I had no desire to go there and see the ugly face of that bastard. " John sat down on the couch and put his feet up on the table next to him.
"But why are you so worried about it, John, forget about him".
"What a shame. " John grabbed his head "How could I lose to him like that, I wanted to prove that he is not the head here, but damn it I lost to him, I hate myself. "
John slammed his fist on the table.
"Who needs someone like me, and now Ethan's popularity will grow even more. " Thomas sat down next to him and put his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"I see but you are not to blame for what happened, maybe next time luck will be on your side". John's parted lip twitched nervously.
"There won't be a next time, I don't want to embarrass myself even more, but I know what to do" John said frankly.
"What are you talking about?" Thomas didn't understand, he felt some mystery in his friend.
"Julia" he said, and his eyes lit up, "We have to make sure that she leaves him, he won't survive it. "
"And how are you going to separate them?"
"I'm thinking about it. We need to get Ethan to do something that will offend Julia, maybe we should ask Molly, she's head over heels in love with Ethan".
Thomas remembered this girl, she was small and thin, she had always liked Ethan, but he paid no attention to her, she had white hair, dark face and always was shy.
"I don't think she'll agree, she blushes when she hears his name".
"Silly girl" John said.
"But you won't try to insult Julia or anything like that? ".
"What insults, Thomas, I want her to hate him, not me".
"But if she really loves him, it would be wrong to separate them, wouldn't it."
John thought about it.
"Well, you're right, but I don't think there's any love between them, he just wanted to be with her, and you know no one can resist someone like McRane, maybe he bought her. " John fiddled with his fingers nervously.
"Come on, is Julia like that"
"Who knows, with that idiot you can become a psycho yourself, you saw those two, Burke and Oliver, they just do what he tells them, how dumb they are"
"They just copy him, even wear the same clothes"
"And Julia, how could she follow him, he probably seduced her"
"He's popular among the girls, isn't he?"
"Yes, but I think they only go for him because of his money, you know his parents are not poor people, maybe he buys Julia something" John suggested.
"I don't know, do you think Julia would agree to be with him just for money, maybe she really loves him. " Thomas shrugged his shoulders and saw John's anger boil over.
"I still don't believe they're a couple, how is that possible, Julia is a smart girl, maybe she just doesn't see a good option in front of her.
Thomas looked at his friend suspiciously, but he turned away.
John stood up.
"So you're going to that ball?" he asked.
"I'm probably going too"
"But you said that... "
"I've changed my mind".
Thomas looked at his friend mysteriously, he looked pleased, obviously he had something in mind.
Thomas left John's house and went to his house. He was about to open the door of his own house, but then he heard a voice.
"Hello," said an unfamiliar voice.
Thomas looked around and saw a man sitting on the front steps of his house. Thomas stepped down from the porch and walked over to the man's house. He was sitting there smoking.
"Good afternoon" Thomas said "you are... "
"I'm the new resident of this house, how much longer will it be empty" The man smiled and coughed.
"Sit down next to me."
Thomas sat down and coughed up smoke.
"Obviously, you don't smoke," the man said calmly.
"Yes, I don't. "
"What's your name, son?"
"Thomas, Thomas Tachfull".
"Thomas is a nice name, my parents wanted me to be Thomas, but they named me Richard for who knows why, maybe in honor of that king."
They were silent for a while, and then the man spoke, turning to Thomas:
"I am Richard Ogain, but you can just call me Richard, I like simplicity."
Thomas nodded and looked at Richard's face, which was wrinkled, dark hair with a touch of gray and a dark beard.
"Mister, where did you live before?"
"Far away from here, I asked you to call me by my first name".
"That's right, sorry, Richard."
The man smiled.
"That's better, how old are you? "
"17".
"17" the man repeated "you have your whole life ahead of you".
"Yes." Thomas confirmed. The man blew out a cloud of smoke.
"I'm sorry" he said, seeing Thomas's eyes well up with tears.
"Do you have a family," Thomas asked, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.
"No, I had a wife, but she died a long time ago".
"And children?"
"No."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that"
"I'll bring you something in a minute. " The man suddenly got up and went into the house. Thomas looked after him in surprise, he felt some mysterious despair and pain in this man.
The man handed Thomas a soda and he nodded gratefully.
"Listen, mr... I mean, Richard, why did you decide to move here? "
The man had already finished smoking, but his breath reeked of smoke.
"I almost killed myself. "Thomas looked at the man stunned.
"It's true, after my wife died, I was left alone, it was very hard for me".
"And your wife... "
"The beautiful Lavender, she fell ill and did not last long." The man pulled out a cigarette again and smoked.
Thomas tipped the bottle over.
"I'm sorry, Mr... I mean, Richard."
"Thank you, but I'm fine now," the man said, looking up at Thomas, but Thomas wasn't sure he was telling the truth because he was still feeling anxious.
"Listen, would you mind if we became friends, you and I?
Thomas looked at the man in surprise.
"Why not, I wouldn't mind to have a friend who is many years older and more experienced than I am. " The man looked at Thomas with a smile.
"You can come whenever you want."
Thomas felt a joy in the man that he had not seen before. He was happy to be able to help the man. For the next two days, Thomas didnt want to go to school. Finally, the ball came and Thomas was getting ready for it when he heard a knock. John stood at the door. It was getting dark outside.
"Hey, buddy" John said, smiling as he tapped Thomas on the shoulder.He was beaming, and he was overflowing with joy.
"What are you so happy about?"
John sat down on the couch and put his foot up.
"Molly agreed"
Thomas looked at his friend in surprise.
"She agreed to go to the ball? So what if Ethan doesn't pay any attention to her?"
"You're wrong, her friend has put a spell on Molly, and now he'll only be with her and Julia will definitely dump him when she sees that. "
John smiled triumphantly. Thomas straightened his tie and looked at himself in the mirror. " Not bad" he thought. And his white shirt and trousers looked elegant.
"What does it mean to put a spell? "
"It means that Molly has a friend who can read cards, you know, Merlin from the parallel class. "
"So what's next? " Thomas remembered a short, plump girl with freckles.
"And the fact that Molly had already gone to her and I didn't even have to ask her, she did it all by herself, and now I'm starting to like this girl. "
"So Molly wants to make Ethan fall in love with her in this way, I didn't think she was like that. "
John stood up and straightened his jacket. Thomas took his jacket and finally he was ready. John looked at him.
"Wow, that's pretty good, Thomas, I'd say it's great. "John laughed.
"Don't mock me. " John put his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Are you ready, buddy? " Thomas looked at himself in the mirror.
"Yes," he smiled, pulling on his jacket.
Thomas and John left the house and headed toward the school. Opening the door, they saw everyone fussing, running and talking about something, everything was decorated with different paintings, there were many flowers, and the tables were piled high with food.
"There's free food too" John laughed "Wow, I didn't know how I could turn that down. " It was already dark outside. Thomas came into the classroom with John, who was chewing on some cookies. Ethan wasn't there, and there were only a few other people there. John noticed Molly.
"Wow, look at Molly, she's dressed up for that freak. " John smiled ironically and walked up to the girl.
Thomas noticed Michael and Olivia sitting in the back, whispering about something, they had been together since maybe 5th grade. Thomas scanned the classroom with his eyes, but Julia was not there. He exhaled heavily and put his hands in his pockets. Thomas walked over to Molly and looked at John, who seemed cheerful. Molly, on the other hand, doesn't look happy.
"He won't come, he is said to has been lying in bed all day and hasn't said a word to anyone" Molly said and her blue eyes welling up with tears.
"Don't cry, Molly. " John touched the girl's shoulder, then straightened up and walked out into the hallway with Thomas.
"So your plan failed?" Thomas asked.
"Why failed, Ethan's not coming, which means Julia is free now. "
John sang a song to himself triumphantly.
"So I still don't get it, did you do this to give Ethan a hard time or to get Julia?" Thomas asked, smiling slyly.
John looked at his friend reluctantly.
"I think you know the answer, Thomas, I'm going to make sure that she not only forgets him, but that she'll be able to love someone better than that idiot. " John winked.
"Interesting, but how will you force Julia to do anything if she doesn't want, what are you going to do?"
"I'll do my best to make sure she notices my efforts. "
Thomas looked at his friend, "I hope this doesn't end badly", he thought. The guys went into the hall together, where everything was decorated even better than it was at the entrance.
Thomas took himself a sweet drink and sat with his foot up. John also sat next to him, but often got up to go somewhere and then came back again.
"Where is she?" he suddenly asked.
"Who? "
"Julia, I don't understand why she's taking so long. "
"Maybe she's not coming. "
"Come on, I think this is a chance for her to show off her beauty." Thomas looked at his friend, who was fidgeting nervously with his fingers. Thomas was also looking for someone in the crowd. Suddenly, a girl in a shiny red dress and high-heeled shoes approached the table and took something from it. Her cheeks were rosy, her face slightly drawn and she was smiling as she talked to someone. Thomas couldn't believe his eyes, it was Julia, but she didn't look like herself. She was incredibly beautiful. John was still looking around, not noticing her. But when he did notice her, she was already approaching them. John almost swallowed his tongue, he reached out to her, but she seemed to walk towards Thomas without noticing him. Thomas stood up, nervously straightening his jacket.
"Hello" she said, giving Thomas a nice smile.
"Hello" Thomas said awkwardly.
"It's really hot in here" she said, waving her hand in front of her eyes.
Thomas looked at her and didn't say a word.
"Is something wrong? "
"You look beautiful, Julia" Thomas said, and he didn't know how he had gotten that out.
"You look good too. "Julia blushed.
Thomas smiled.
Julia was pleased, and suddenly John started talking to her.
"Listen, maybe we could get together... "
"I'm sorry, I have to go, I'm expected. "
Julia left, and John watched her go, not taking his eyes off her.
"I wonder who is waiting for her" John said indignantly.
Thomas knew she was lying. Soon the music started and many people came out to the dance floor. Thomas and John sat there holding soda bottles. John drank them all down and then said:
"This soda sucks, I wish there was something else. "
Thomas knew what John meant by "something else," and he meant some beer or a bottle of red wine, although he didn't really like alcohol, he preferred it to plain soda. Thomas didn't care what he drank.
"Look, Rogers and Brookley, I didn't know they were together" John said vaguely, pointing to a couple dancing not far from them. They were from the opposite class.There were many strangers Thomas didn't know. John sat down and ate some cake, looking for Julia in the crowd, but she was not there. Later, the lights went out and it was hard to see anyone in the darkness, only the spotlights of different colors made it possible. Thomas didn't dance, he sat and drank his juice and ate the cookies that John handed him.
"What the hell am I going to do?" John said in despair. Suddenly Thomas felt someone take his hand and pull him to the dance floor. He didn't understand what was happening, he left the juice and cookies and saw himself moving away from John, who didn't understand anything as well. The hand was warm and it gently laid on Thomas' shoulder and Thomas saw who it was when the spotlight illuminated the room. It was Julia, smiling, with one hand on his shoulder and the other holding Thomas's hand. He put his arm around her waist and looked at the girl in surprise. Suddenly it became dark and Thomas felt her face close to his ear, she whispered to him:
"I'm sorry for the suddenness. " Thomas was still in disbelief. They started dancing together. Thomas felt a little anxiety in her and a premonition of something unknown. She clasped her hand on Thomas's shoulder excitedly, and her other hand stiffened. Julia tensed up somehow.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes" she said, barely audible.
Suddenly, Thomas felt Julia's face close to his and felt a sudden touch on his lips.
He swayed, closing his eyes, and when he opened them, Julia wasn't there, only John, who grabbed his elbow and led him away. There was light in the room.
"What happened?" Thomas couldn't understand what had just happened.
"You're the one who has to tell me what happened and why you asked Julia to dance". John looked angry and his face was flushed, he was surprisingly red and Thomas could smell alcohol on his breath.