New Companion

William got up early the next morning to go to school. He went to the kitchen to eat breakfast after bathing and dressing. His father and mother had both left early for work, but his mother had left a letter and some money pressed to the door of the refrigerator using a magnet. The letter was written to encourage William to take care of himself and do his best at school. He finished the meal quickly and washed the cutlery he had used. Then, William walked out of their house, wearing his maroon v-neck shirt, black jeans, and white shoes.

Because of what happened yesterday, William did not bring his soundproof headphones. As he walked, he had no idea he'd run into Lawrence, the mysterious young man from yesterday's accident, at the spot where the latter had turned, causing them to part ways. William tries to avoid seeing the young man as much as possible, but fate is playing tricks on him, or Lawrence purposefully set them up to meet. William said nothing, and the two continued walking together until Lawrence broke the silence and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Does my condition have anything to do with you?” William responded, his gaze fixed on the road.

“Yes, because I'm your friend,” Lawrence confidently replied. He was smiling, which made his golden-brown eyes sparkle. His skin is white, and he has the same medium-built body as William. He attends the same school as William, so they may be the same age, but Lawrence appears to be young for his age of eighteen.

“How did we become friends when we didn't even know each other?” William asked directly.

“I had already introduced myself to you the day before. Do you want me to say it again? ” Lawrence's response. Then he cleared his throat and spoke again, “Hey dude, my name is Lawrence Hayes, I'm seventeen years old and I enjoy—”

Lawrence couldn't continue with what he was going to say because William shut him off, saying, “Crazy!” The latter then speeds up its pace.

Lawrence said, “Wait a minute!” as he was chasing after William. “I just want to be friends with you,” Lawrence added, but William ignored him again until they reached the school and parted paths.

Inside the classroom, William listened intently to his professor. It's better to just forget and think he's just lucky, so he doesn't overthink his unexplainable experience yesterday. William became more focused on listening to the next topic in their class. His professor asked them, “Does anyone know what lycanthropy means?”

One of his classmates replied, “A psycho who sees himself as a beast,” and their other classmates laughed.

“Lycanthropy is a mental disorder in which the patient believes he is a wolf or some other nonhuman animal,” said by their professor, smiled, “stimulated by the once widespread superstition that lycanthropy is a supernatural condition in which men assume the physical form of werewolves or other animals.”

For some unexplainable reason, William raised his right hand and was immediately acknowledged by his professor, who said, “Yes, Mr. Styles?”

William rose from his seat and inquired solemnly, “What does a werewolf look like?” His classmates and professor both chuckled in response to his inquiry.

His professor still answered the question even though it had strayed from the topic of their class, “Werewolves are not true because only people with mental disorders have imagined that they are one; however, werewolves have been depicted in different ways throughout history. In ancient legends, human beings transform fully into, and associate with, wolves. In other traditions, particularly in horror films, werewolves are humanoid, often featuring a canine head, claws, and a fur-covered human body.”

“Do you still have more questions, Mr. Styles?” asked the professor after noticing that William is still standing.

“None, Sir. Thank you,” he replied, looking at the professor.

William is not a gregarious person, so he has few friends at school. He went to the school cafeteria by himself for lunch. He carried the tray with his food and looked for a seat after lining up and ordering. He doesn't see any vacancies today because the cafeteria is so crowded. Someone drew William's attention when a man's voice called out to him, “William! Hey!”

He looked around for the source of the voice, and not far from where he was standing, he noticed the smiling Lawrence pointing to the vacant seat in front of him. William no longer hesitated and moved in the direction of Lawrence. “Thank you,” William said, after taking a seat.

Lawrence responded with a thick-faced, “Well, it's not free, but you can come here early tomorrow and reserve a seat for me.”

When he heard Lawrence's response, William raised his head. But, because he didn't want to ride on its lunacy, he didn't complain and simply said, “Fine.”

Lawrence teasingly said, “Better you do it, my good brother,” before continuing to eat the meat he had ordered. Lawrence finished his meal first because he arrived at the cafeteria earlier.

“See you around,” he said as he walked away from William.

As Lawrence walked away, William thought to himself that Lawrence was both kind and mischievous. And since he had two hours before the next class, he decided to visit the mini-forest at the back of the school campus once more. The breeze is pleasant, and the atmosphere is serene. The bouncing of the ball and the noise of the players could be heard as William passed by their school's open basketball court. As he was about to pass it, the surroundings became quiet, and he felt something flying in his direction. When he turned around before the ball hit his face, he quickly moved his hand and punched it back. The ball slammed into the man who had thrown it at him. George, a well-known bully at their school, was hit in the chest and fell to the floor at that point. His comrades were shocked at first, but their shock was quickly replaced by anger when they heard George, who was standing there, groaning in pain.

When William approached them, one of them said to him, “Pretty strong, huh? Let's see how far you can go.”

The man who spoke delivered a powerful punch, but William simply blocked it with his right hand, gripped it, and turned the man's hand. The bullies heard their colleague's bone-cracking and pain-scream. On William's face, there is no sign of emotion. He had no idea where he got such a strong will because this was his first fight. What he is certain of is that he did not do anything wrong and that it was started by these people.

While still holding the man who tried to punch him, William was surrounded by bullies. Every time William twisted his hand tightly with just a slight movement from him, the man howled in agony. Meanwhile, the adversaries stared as if their eyes were speaking. Because William knew they were going to attack him completely, he barely pushed the man in his grip to George, the bullies' leader, and when the two fell off the ground, he took advantage of the opportunity to get out of the trap.

As William was retreating and the group was approaching him, someone said loudly, not far behind the opponent, “Hey! Aren't you all ashamed? He's alone, but there are so many of you.”

When William heard the voice, he immediately recognized it as Lawrence's. Some of the men turned around, and one of them said, “Don't get involved in this; perhaps you want us to involve you as well?”

Lawrence laughed and cracked his hands and neck. Then, he ran toward the group of arrogant men and punched and kicked anyone who approached him. Lawrence's fighting abilities astounded William. He was alone, and the group had more than ten members working against him. He was outnumbered, but he was not the one who was at a disadvantage. William soon ran towards them and joined the fray.

Shortly, a sigh was released by the two—William and Lawrence—after the fight. More than ten men lay on the paved road — some on their knees — feeling pain in various parts of their bodies. Only William and Lawrence were standing, and not a single bruise could be seen on any part of their bodies. William was also hit by the blows but did not feel any pain at all. One blow from William to the enemy rocks them instantly. The two smiled as they looked at each other. “Thanks.” William thanked his new friend.

“Add it to the list you owe me,” Lawrence replied jokingly.

And William jokingly replied, “Don't be too greedy,” and they laughed together.

Lawrence teased the group of men before they left, saying, “All of you deserved it.”

As the two were walking, William asked, “That day, how did you know my name?”

Lawrence simply stared at him, as if he didn't understand what he was saying, so he inquired once more, “How did you find out what my name was?”

“That's easy to answer,” Lawrence said, chuckling before continuing, “We're from the same department, and as one of the top students, you always receive awards on stage. You even gave a speech once. Almost everyone in our department probably knows your name, and whoever you meet on that day will know your name. ”

William's eyebrows furrowed, and the only thing that came out of his mouth was, “Huh?”

“Your name was embroidered on the strap of your backpack,” Lawrence said, chuckling.

As a result, William was enlightened. Due to an accident that day, he forgot that his name had been embroidered on the bag that his mother had given him. William just scratched his neck and felt a little embarrassed.