Unique in suffering

It was 7:00 pm on Friday, Christian had just returned from soccer practice. He felt really down which was very unusual for him. He never really took anything that happened in training to heart. Winning or losing ended on the training ground. But tonight he felt like a complete loser.

He stuffed his boots in his bag, put on his flip flops and was on his way home. Today's training was really disappointing because he couldn't face off against his rival and classmate, Michael. He had prepared for the match for weeks and on the day he hoped to finally outclass him terrible news came.

Their coach was dead. Chris was sad beyond words, "how could this happen to Miss Sharron?", "Why do people have to die?", "Is there really a divine reason behind all this or is that just a coping mechanism?", These questions wandered through his mind as he walked down the street. He was still muttering to himself while he crossed the road when suddenly he heard a loud scream come from behind him. He was jolted from his thoughts and realised that he was about to get hit by a truck. There was no way he could make it out alive and he was certain of it.

"So this is how it feels like to state death in the face, I expected it to be more terrifying" he thought to himself as he let down a big smile and yelled "I'm about to get isekaied".

In his last few seconds he tried to think about anything that actually made his life worthwhile but nothing came to mind... Not a single thought.

Yank!

He felt himself being pulled away from the road really quickly as the truck sped past him with horns blaring. He wasn't dead, he was shocked for few seconds before he realised that he had been saved. As he turned around to check who his saviour was he saw none other than his rival and classmate, Michael.

"You really can't imagine how embarrassing you looked while waiting to be isekaied" Mike said.

"M...mi.. Mike what are you doing in this part of town?" Christian said with a surprised look on his face.

Christian and Michael lived in two different parts of town. Michael stayed in the Upper Zone where the wealthy resided while Chris stayed in the stale zone where the non-wealthy stayed.

"My dad decided that I should pay you a visit on his behalf. You weren't back from soccer practice so I decided to walk around the neighbourhood and came across a certain young man waiting to be isekaied" Mike explained

"So you wouldn't come to visit if it wasn't your father's request" Chris said jokingly "Or did you come to reschedule our match?"

"Actually, I have information on something related to that." Mike said, with an even more serious look on his face. "It turns out Mrs Sharron was murdered"

"How do you know that?" Chris said with a grim expression. He was really fond of Mrs Sharron even though he never liked to show it.

She often teased him saying he was no good at sports and that he would be better off as a writer or some other nerdy profession but deep down she wished him nothing but the best. At least that was what he felt.

"word around the upper state is that the cops found a murder weapon, plus Olumide the chief-of-police's son confirmed it to me" Mike said, " I decided you deserved to know"

"Thanks, Mike" Chris said as he walked in the direction of his house without even turning back to say goodbye to Mike. Mike understood Chris and understood that he needed space to sort out his thoughts and feelings.

...****************...

One week later

Christian received a phone call. It was from Mike

"Hi"

"what's up"

"I didn't see you in school today"

"Was busy"

"come meet me somewhere, I'll text you the address"

"I don't really feel...."

" See you there"

Mike hung up. He had been concerned about Chris for a while so he decided to invite him to a party to cheer him up. Hopefully he'd be motivated to continue living and enjoy life.

Chris laid on his bed for a few minutes before deciding to go. It was 8:42 pm. He hadn't attended lectures that week. Unlike Mike who was a natural born genius he had to struggle a bit academically. He wasn't way behind Mike but it didn't help that Mike was always a step ahead looking at him from above.

As he put on his black hoodie and combed his long black hair he began to remember his first meeting with Mike

It was 3 years ago

Christian was still new to Nerd elementary, a school in the upper area of town. His mum had struggled to raise the application fee so he studied hard and got 97% in the entrance test which was 37% above the average. He finished among the top 5 in the entrance exam and was awarded a scholarship.

He got into grade 10 on special recommendations which was especially rare considering the fact that he was just 14 at that time. He had a slightly muscular appearance and generally looked good even though he wasn't too tall. He was dark skinned and wore a bored expression. Bullies just seemed to stay away from him. In fact, sometimes it was like he never existed. He was just that kind of guy. Since his father went missing he learnt to stop depending on people excessively because his father was the person he cared about most and he was just gone. He was 8 when it happened. He still remembers the date - 12th of December 2015. Just two weeks to his birthday.

He woke up to his mother's tears and a group of cops outside his house. It all seemed blurry to him as he wondered what was going on. After a few minutes a policeman called him and began asking questions about his father and his behaviour recently. Chris hadn't noticed any changes and wondered why the police were inquiring about his father, that was when it struck him that something bad must have happened. He later found out that his father's left arm was found in the store close to the ramen restaurant. He was assumed missing.

5 years later, he was in grade 10. He had lost all hope of his father's return and had realised the truth about life.

Nothing ever goes as planned in this world, but even with that you are not special in your suffering. Everybody suffers and noone is special for suffering. Deep down noone cares.

The day he met Mike he was sitting on his seat as usual enjoying his solitude when he heard a sharp yell of pain behind him. It was lunch time so most of the kids had gone out. He looked behind him and saw a 5 boys beating up a kid behind him. He had never seen that boy before. It was almost as if the boy didn't exist. He knew all 56 people in his class except that kid. The kid was a ghost, just like him.

Immediately he stood up and grabbed the fist of the guy who was about to punch Mike and gave the kid a punch straight on the nose.

For about 5 seconds Chris felt invincible, until the other four boys ganged up on him and mike and beat them up. both boys took themselves to the nurse’s office and got themselves treated.

"You're a really dumb guy y'know" Mike said "you don't just stand up for someone you know nothing about, that's not how the world works"

"I just didn't want blood staining my seat, at least not your blood" Chris said.

"You've got a bit of a mouth on you, don't you?" Mike said as he laughed. "You should meet my dad"

Since that day Mike and Chris became friends. Mike's dad was happy that his son made a friend willing to fight for him.

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