Eight years ago a 15 year old boy named, Daniel Carter was a bit of a loner. He didn't have many friends and had dreams of being liked and noticed… Not necessarily by everyone but, by many anyway. On the first day of middle school he was pushed around, mocked, teased and had everyone else watching as his science teacher 'accidentally' smashed a beaker onto his head and then, laughed at him when the boiling liquid fell onto him and the fact that he was howling, groaning and rolling all over the floor. The teacher wasn't much better, he said that he suffered from 'glass disease' and then, giggled like a maniac.
The following days were a bit better for Daniel, well, in most ways at least. He had made some friends, people who for some reason felt bad for him and didn't mock him as much anymore but, he still felt alone. For months it was like that and a hole inside him grew bigger and bigger, the hole inside which was his desperate desire for someone to like him. One night, he was walking home from school, deciding on whether to bother with homework when it started to rain, he went home instead and he cried. He cried because he was alone and he cried due to the fact that no matter how much he wanted someone to love him, it didn't seem like it was ever going to happen.
He woke up the next day and decided that he wouldn't let his loneliness get the best of him, he promised himself that he would be stronger, he promised his parents that he would be stronger, he died inside a little bit, because he knew that he would never be happy without someone special to love him and because of that he promised himself that, if there was ever anyone special out there, he would go out of his way to find that someone. He thought about not going to school for a few days but he convinced himself that it wouldn't work, he would walk in rain, into the cold and snow and sun, he would walk because he needed to find someone special. So, he went to school that day.
Daniel began to think that maybe doing three tutoring sessions a week might be correct, he thought it might be okay to visit the library and study at least three times a week. Hugh was the only other student in his classes and he assumed that he wouldn't be much of a help at all but, he needed to make something of himself if he was ever going to be happy and it seemed like the library would be a better place to meet people than just random people walking around on the streets. So, three months later he had made quite a few friends and he was planning on meeting up with some of them later on in the week to discuss how he was doing.
He was on his way home and decided that it might be the perfect time to ask them if they would be interested in helping him with his homework one night. He wanted to decide what he was going to do first, whether he would be brave enough to ask them first or, just go along with what they asked. He was driving and putting things in his head for a few moments when he realised that not many people were willing to talk to him so, he kept his fingers crossed and hoped that he wouldn't look like a fool.
After being a mess for a few seconds, he decided that he was going to be straight with what he wanted, he decided that he would ask them about their subjects, tell them that he needed help and that he would like to meet up with them twice a week to do so. He had thought of a couple of excuses in case they felt uncomfortable with the idea of helping him. He thought that maybe what he was asking was a bit creepy or, maybe they would want to know why he was never in school earlier on or maybe they would ask him to leave them alone.
His mind was racing at that point, thinking of all the possible answers in front of him but, he didn't have to worry.