Charlie walked over to the boy who was seated by himself. Charlie carried his lunch tray as he walked. The boy reminded Charlie of who he used to be before he met Sam, Patrick and everyone else. Considering that the boy was in the same place he was, the hospital where Charlie was recovering from the trauma of what his Aunt Helen did to him, he figured all the boy needed was a friend.

When Charlie reached his table, the boy looked up at him.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" asked Charlie.

"No, not at all," the boy replied.

Charlie smiled and sat down next to the boy.

"I'm Charlie Kelmeckis."

"Billy Martin," said the boy, shaking Charlie's hand. "I think I've seen you at school before."

"Oh, are you a freshman?" Charlie asked.

"Yes. I don't have very many friends, but I'm involved in the creative writing club."

"Cool! I'm a writer myself. My best friend, Sam, gave me a vintage typewriter for Christmas last year, and I just love using it."

"You'll have to let me try it someday! I'd love to use it to write a newspaper story, assuming I get out of here in time for next school year."

"Would you mind if I asked why you're in here?" asked Charlie.

Billy hesitated before he sighed. "I was sexually assaulted six months ago. I was asleep at a party when someone came up to me and tried to force himself on me. I woke up right before he did it and started freaking out. The guy kept trying to force me, but I managed to get away. He tried going after me and nearly killed me, before I managed to stop him. He's on trial right now to be put in jail for what he did to me. I'm a little worried though, because he wasn't thinking clearly when he attacked me since he was drunk. I was doing okay for the first few months. But when the trial started, I got pretty bad for a little bit. So I was sent here to try and recover."

Charlie was taken aback by what Billy had told him.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "I'm not sure what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, Charlie," Billy replied. "I'm doing better now that I'm in here. I'm not sure how I'm gonna be when I get outta here since I don't have very many friends, like I said."

"Well if you ever need a friend," Charlie said as he put a hand on Billy's arm. "You can always come to me."

"Thanks, Charlie," replied Billy, patting Charlie's hand that was on his arm. "That's just what I need to help me heal."

"Of course. You can also talk to my friends Sam and Patrick. They just graduated, but they'll both be here this summer. They're great. Both of them have been a great support system for me. Maybe we can all be for you."

Billy smiled, and seemed like he was gonna cry. "Thank you so much, Charlie. You seem like a good friend." He wiped a pair of tears of his cheek. "What about you, though? Do you mind telling me why you're in here?"

"Since you were open with me, I'll return the favor. When I was little, my Aunt Helen molested me. She died on my birthday when I was seven, and after that, I just sorta blocked it out because I loved her so much. Until recently, I was mostly okay. I had some moments when I was bad, but for the most part, I was fine. I'm doing a lot better now that the story has been told, and I've been healing while in here."

Billy nodded in understanding.

"This is a great place for that. I hope it all goes well for you. So, are we friends?"

Charlie laughed. "Of course we are! I'll introduce you to Sam and Patrick tomorrow. They're coming here to visit me since I haven't seen them since Sam left for college orientation."

"I look forward to meeting them," Billy said. "They sound great!"

"You'll like them. They are awesome."

With that, Billy and Charlie started eating lunch together. As they ate and chatted, they discovered that had a lot in common: they were both writers, outsiders, quiet, the kind of person without a lot of friends. Soon after, though, Billy had to leave to meet with his doctor so he shook Charlie's hand again, and they agreed to meet later during dinner to talk some more. When Billy left, Charlie thought about his new friend, and how Patrick and Sam would be able to help Billy the way they had helped him.