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Kim was walking the passage to the classroom, a distraught highschooler who had just landed a sharp reprimand from the mathematics teacher. He hardly blinked at Samantha who was on her way to the cafeteria, before going into the class and settling at his desk. Fortunately he found some chic little novel to pass the time while his temper doused.
A tap on his shoulder and he shuddered from a doze, turning to face Sean who stood at his shoulders. Sean was one of the brightest students in the class, equally the best dressed. He was an expert at making great friends. His eyes had a lively but intelligent quality in them. He had a typical roman nose and his red full lips served to complete the handsome features of his face. The girls in the class often teased him about having an overdeveloped sense of humor. This was one time in the class Sean's jokes had made a teacher burst into laughter right in the middle of a serious lesson. No mention need be made of the response of the class. Shockingly he evaded punishment, and his classmates attributed it to his boyish charms, and likeableness.
Sean at the present moment heaved his boisterous self onto a seat facing Kim.
"𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧," he teased his classmate, "𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠?" "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝?”
But Kim was not looking at his friend, his gaze instead lay on the immaculate seams of July's well-ironed shirt, and then moved to his curly blonde hair. Kim concluded his friend was luckier than him. He had every admirable quality that made the best among any group of people. Himself Kim had only his intellect, which didn't count because of his unsociableness and timidity. Sure, he was far more intelligent than his friend, Sean but his unsociable nature was a dent on his otherwise laudable personality.
Sean was unsuccessful in opening his friend up for conversation. He moved away after Kim mumbled
"𝐖𝐞'𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫."
The two friends met two days later at the cafeteria.
The cafeteria itself, like the whole school, was a solid architectural wonder. It was a sprawling campus built at the edge of a rainforest. The buildings were well shaped and sparkled. The lawns were well tended and looked beautiful. Tesla STEM highschool was known for it's beautiful environment as well as its high academic standards.
Sean was at a table in the cafeteria having a nice cup of coffee when his friend, Kim, shambled in and sat wearily facing him. Soon, the conversation got flowing over the drinks.
" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰." Sean was saying. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬."
Sean's lips was stretching into a smile and his friend sighed.
Kim was gripping the handle of his coffee cup a little more tightly than usual. He was looking at his friend.
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦."
"𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲.”
The tension in Kim's mind was easing slowly away.
"𝐀 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐌𝐮𝐦 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐝. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰.”
He paused to sip his coffee. The warmth of the cup was some sort of comfort.
"𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞. 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭. 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬. 𝐀 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.”
Sean was thoughtful for some minutes
“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐊𝐢𝐦, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐲. 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.”
The next weeks Sean helped his friend in his journey to becoming better. He gave him useful social tips and also grooming tips. The secret was to make Kim accountable to his friend Sean for almost everything he did. How he dressed, his association with others. Being accountable to someone gave Kim the needed drive to keep making effort to get it right always in those aspects he lacked.
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It didn't happen in the blink of an eye but people started to take notice. Kim was changing, he now groomed better than before, was more open and free in associating with others. He exuded confidence and self-esteem. It was a surprise to everyone that previously shy and timid Kim could ascend the opodium and confidenly deliver a classy speech.
Sean and Kim's friendship would continue beyond their high schools days. It was a highly treasured association for Kim for it had help lift him from the deep gully of
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A beautiful Sunday afternoon, both men are having a conversation under the cool shade of ornamental plants in a garden in Kim's house. A beautiful lady comes down the stairs of the mansion hurriedly and into the garden. His wife Rapheala. A call for Kim. It is the official confirmation of his appointment as the CEO of the major business conglomerate in the nation. The voice on the phone tells him he was easily the choicest candidate out of the 25. He finishes the call and focuses his teary grey eyes on his friend who had been busy flipping the pages of the afternoon paper during the call.
"𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝.”
And Sean rejoices with him and congratulates him.
"𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.”
"𝐘𝐞𝐬." Sean says. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞…”
"𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐉𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐲.” Kim interjected.
"𝐘𝐞𝐬. 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐰.”
Kim laughed. "𝐘𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐧𝐮𝐭, 𝐈 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲, 𝐀𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚, 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞.”
" 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐒, 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚.”
"𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭. You know, nobody wants to be proved wrong that way."
"𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞."
Kim laughed. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. 𝐈𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬…”
Kim didn't complete the sentence as both men went up in hearty laughter, and then moved to discuss some important issues concerning the UN's invitation to both for a seminar in Abu Dhabi.
Thanks for reading.
