Time slowly rolled by that afternoon. Try as he may, Brian still can't remove from his mind what he saw on the way to school that morning. In the middle of classes, he would find himself occasionally glancing out the open door to the corridor, hoping that Marc would pass by. Yet, he never did.
As afternoon and dismissal came, Brian realized that Marc was nowhere to be found that day. He didn't see him at the courts, nor at the cafeteria during lunch time. There was never that surprise tap that would come out of nowhere at the corridors - followed by a hearty laugh. It saddened and worried him. What was wrong? Where was Marc?
As he was riding his car home, Brian looked out once more to the nearby area of the school grounds - hoping that Marc would appear. Yet, he didn't, not even a shadow of him. Brian deeply sighed as he went into his car and closed the door. He didn't want to lose his friend. He didn't want to lose Marc.
As he came home, Brian immediately went to his room and looked out the window - towards Marc's. He was hoping to see him and feel a bit relieved. Yet, to his disappointment, the window itself was closed and the blinds inside it shut. Brian sighed deeply again, as he sat on his nearby computer chair, visibly confused and dissapointed.
"What's going on?" Brian thought, as he glanced to his side, out the window again "How's Marc?"
*****
An hour after - Village Clubhouse
Brian sat on one of the play swings in the clubhouse's playground, that cool, cloudy afternoon. Surrounded by trees, grass and a lot of flowers and greens, this was Brian's happy place when he was a bit younger.
As he grew older, he lost a bit of interest into coming to the playground. He had rather wanted to spend time at home. Yet, after him worrying about Marc, he decided to go back there. The cool breeze that afternoon relaxed his mind and heart a bit.
Brian softly swung himself back and forth. He knew that he was a bit heavier than before and did not want to destroy the swing he loved as a kid. He happilly swung himself back and forth for some time - then he felt himself suddenly stop. The chains of the swing stood still. Brian knew that someone was stopping it.
He got a bit irritated at the sudden stop and looked back. He was about to get mad and shout back - yet he stopped as he saw who it was.
It was Marc, who - while looking so exhausted from whatever happened to him this day - smiled faintly yet sincerely to his good friend.
Brian couldn't stop himself but stand up from the swing, turn around and hug Marc tightly.
Marc was surprised. He did miss Brian but he didnt expect this reaction from his friend. He smiled as he hugged Brian back, rubbing the back of his hair with his other hand.
"Whoa, Bri!" Marc greeted, as he rubbed Brian's hair, "What's up with this?"
Brian didn't answer at all. Instead, he just simply hugged Marc more, not noticing a couple of tears rolling down frim his eyes. He was just happy that Marc was there. Brian was just happy that he still had his friend.
