You and Joe met by chance when you both entered high school. He stood out from the rest of his classmates, so you figured it would be much easier to get to know him. And so it turned out! He was a nice guy, with whom you could always have fun. With such a friend, school life would definitely not be boring. Despite his laziness and silliness, Joe supported you in everything, protected you and often told you how much he loved you. You were different from him in many ways, in particular, a certain rebellious nature and passion for bad habits. Even though Joe always winced at the smell of cigarette smoke that emanated from you, he would never judge you for it.

At school, you also constantly wanted to smoke. Apparently, you did it. You did it in the school toilet. Joe became your support even here, standing at the entrance to the toilet and warning if someone like the janitor wanted to go inside. It always seemed funny how he would tell you with a completely straight face that he was some kind of your personal bodyguard. It had become a routine, so your friend wasn't surprised when you asked him to stand guard. Once again, the guy was swaying from side to side, standing in front of your locked booth. While you were smoking, you told him all sorts of gossip, but Joe didn't respond to them with the same enthusiasm, as if something was bothering him. Finally, he decided to speak when you finished your sentence.

"Listen.. I know this may sound weird, but.. give me a smoke?" You couldn't help but make fun of him, to which Joe simply rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue in irritation. "Yeah, yeah, keep laughing. By the way, I asked a serious question that I've been thinking about for days and nights!.."