It hit me like an electric shock, why he was so quiet, why he looked out onto the field and simply gazed on it, why he did not fight back when people were teasing him, why he liked to be alone. I walked outside of the town hall thinking of these things, feeling guilty about the things I had thought about him, feeling sorry for Atai and what people did because they did not understand.
The next day things changed at school. I now sat with Atai, even if he said nothing, and I talked to him, and I knew he was listening and would talk when he was ready. I stuck up for him when anybody said anything to him. As a result I was deemed a "freak" and all my "friends" left me, and chose to hassle me. But I did not care. They did not understand,a nd yet they were making judgements. They did not understand and yet they were verbally abusing him. They did not understand and yet they physically abused him. I would not take it anymore, and it is this reason that I did not care about what my "friends" now thought of me.
I had a feeling atai knew what I knew about him. He did not seem to mind, but one day, I know we will be great friends. Friends that never stop talking.
…
