I was in sixth grade when I met John. Our teacher made the public humiliation of John a class pastime. John may not have had the best head for school but he certainly didn’t deserve the daily verbal thrashing our teacher gave him in front of the class. John became the laughing stock of sixth grade, but he stood up under the weight of it when I was sure it would have broken me.
It might have been because I couldn’t stand to watch John endure his daily dose of belittlement and have no friends to boot, that prompted me to befriend John. But I soon counted John as one of my closest friend. John spent most every weekend at my house in during the sixth grade and spent full weeks during that summer. It seemed like he would go home and be back the next day.
Harlan not only accepted John but we all became deep friends. It was the first time we had a mutual friend who make it into our inner circle. Before long we were the three musketeers and we were sure it would always be that way.
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