Auggie and Jaxon had been best friends since they were 6. The pair did everything together and spent the night at each other’s houses countless of times. Every year they grew older, they grew closer and closer.

Until they got into middle school.

Auggie was autistic, and Jaxon didn’t really think about what that meant. He loved Auggie, and that was all that mattered.

But middle school made Jaxon realize that autistic kids weren’t well liked. They were at the bottom of the social pyramid because people said they weren’t really human.

When Jaxon and Auggie got into high school, things changed even more. Jaxon tried to distance himself as much as he could from Auggie. Being friends with an autistic kid was bad news. Whenever his friends saw him with Auggie, he’d make up an excuse.

Fast forward to junior year, Jaxon was the most liked guy in school. He was tall, played hockey, got okay grades, and regularly went to parties.

Auggie was still his old self. He was a boy with a sweet personality and an even sweeter face. Auggie was innocent to the fact that everyone hated him and that Jaxon no longer wanted anything to do with him.

The only person on Auggie’s side was Mr. Matthews who, coincidentally, was Jaxon’s hockey coach.

The first day of their junior year, Jaxon was walking to school. His car was getting fixed, and he didn’t live that far away from school. The only downside: Auggie walked to school.

Auggie caught up to Jaxon and started talking his goddamn ear off, saying that he missed walking to school with him. The autistic boy never stopped talking once he started, and as the pair got closer to the school, Jaxon knew he couldn’t be seen with him.

Jaxon put his hand on Auggie’s shoulder.

“You’re going to walk away now.” Jaxon murmured, keeping his voice down as his jaw clenched.