Touch Of Kindness

Sometimes you don't know what to say when someone is suffering. But sometimes, it's the little things, those you might consider insignificant, that make the biggest difference to someone...

    "Heeeeeey... Wake up!"
    Guy groaned, burying his head in his desk in an attempt to shut out the voice disturbing his thoughts.
    "Hey! Sleepyhead! Get up already!"
    It didn't work. The owner of this voice, a female classmate of his, had resorted to grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him fiercely. She was rather petite in stature, but posessed an uncanny strength.       "Ugh... fine, I'm up..." mumbled Guy, slowly rousing himself, getting up from his desk with a blank look on his face. She scowled at him in response. Class had been over for quite some time now; Guy and Amy were the only ones left in the desolate classroom. Guy yawned, stealing a glance at his friend. She was scowling at him with her hands on her hips, not unlike a mother scolding her son. The sun was setting outside, casting a warm glow over her tawny brown hair.
    "Honestly, Guy... who falls asleep AFTER school?" she berated him, a motherly scowl on her face. "Geez, if I didn't come get you, would you even have went home?"
    "Sure... I guess..." he sighed, collecting his bag. It had been a long day, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to going home. Normally he had no problem living alone, but today, just today... He didn't want to think about it. Thinking about it just made him depressed. Why today? The same day rolled around this time every year; sometimes he let himself get his hopes up, but every year it was the same.
    "HEY! Earth to Guy!" The sudden shout jarred him back to reality. "Honestly... are you alright? You've been acting kind of strange all day..."
    "Yeah... I'm fine..." he mumbled. He felt genuine concern in her words. This warmed his heart a little, but did little to lift the dark cloud from his heart.
    "Liar." Guy had forgotten just how good Amy was at reading him. "What's really on your mind?" The earlier disdain in her expression had changed to concern. He found himself unable to meet her worried gaze, so he looked away as he responded.
    "It's... nothing, really..." he said quietly.
    "Hmmm... If you say so." He felt her eyes scrutinizing him, trying to find a satisfactory answer. "C'mon, Guy, let's go..."
    Guy could only nod in response. Amy sighed, as both students collected their bags and headed for the classroom door. It's not that he didn't want to tell her, he just... couldn't put it into words. It wasn't something he liked to talk about very much, even with Amy, one of his closest friends. Heck, it wasn't something he thought about much anymore... but today was the exception. There was something about today which made the already empty walls of his apartment feel even more lonely. He couldn't help thinking about this as he absentmindedly followed Amy through the halls. She was talking about this and that, trying to break the silence that hung over the school's deserted halls. Normally he rather enjoyed listening to her, but today his mind was elsewhere.
    "Oh, Guy?" Amy suddenly stopped, turning to face him. Guy felt an odd anticipation bubble up within him.
    "Y-Yeah?"
    "How'd you do on that math test?"
    "Oh." He muttered, feeling the sudden rush of emotion within him sizzle and disappear. "I... did alright." Amy was silent for a second as if judging his reaction.
    "I'm worried, Guy..." she said, "You're quiet, but never this quiet. What's wrong? And don't you dare say nothing..."
    "Really... you don't need to worry about me..."
    "Well, someone has to!" she declared. Amy glared at him with a stubborn scowl on her face. He knew she wouldn't let this go so easily, but he honestly didn't feel like talking about it. Not today. He tried to maintain his silence, but she kept that same scowl locked on him, intending to get an answer before the day was out. Gathering his thoughts, he tried to produce an answer to satisfy her concern.
    "I... just have a headache."
    "Hmmm... if you say so..." Amy blushed slightly and looked away. "I... didn't mean to pry. I'm sorry..."
    "It's fine... It's fine..." Guy reassured her. He looked out through the school's front doors at the waning sun. "We should get going before it gets dark."
    "Y-yeah, you're right." she replied, instinctively following him outside. Guy headed towards the school's main gate, ignoring the pleasantly cool fall weather and tuning out a crisp autumn breeze that whistled through the trees. He just wanted to get home and put this day behind him.
    "Guy?"
    Once again reality had snuck up behind him while he was distracted. Amy was completely silent until now, walking a short distance behind him. He turned to face her, looking surprised.
    "Say... Guy?"
    "Yeah?"
    "Happy birthday."
    Guy felt a heavy cloud lift from his shoulders. For the first time that day, he smiled.

Author's Note

Hmmm... not much to say here...
Thanks for taking the time to read this! I hope you'll take a bit more time to review!

Reviews

[elizabeth ledet]

part of being a good writer is knowing what to leave out. your emphasis on Amy being "like a mother" in the beginning gets across the first time you state it, there's no need to do it twice.

i personally love vague writing that leaves the reader guessing, but i feel you can expand more on Guy's aversion to his birthday without being obvious. is it just because no one told him happy birthday or is there more?

also your style is a little underdeveloped. you use a lot of ellipses and all caps which makes you seem a little inexperienced. your editor would probably tell you to reign it in a bit just because it makes your work look much more professional.

other than that i really like this story and i think you successfully and effectively got your point across. i'd love to read more when you further develop your style. keep it up!