5. My only Friend

Cedric Boltic's funeral was held three days after his death, everyone cried except his father who sat stoically with an expression of stone. After the ceremony everyone mingled and reflected on fond memories with Cedric. I was sitting alone in a corner when I noticed Cedric's father Kyro Boltic approaching me.

"You must be Kaiser." He stated more than asked.

"Yes sir. I'm sorry for your loss sir." I said. My voice was shaking.

"I can take comfort in knowing my beloved son died a hero." Kyro had a sad smile on his face as he said this.

"He talked about you a lot. That's how I knew who you were. He always said if I ever came to a school event that you would be the one sitting alone trying not to be noticed. You were the only friend he talked about." His words shocked me. How could he think we were friends.

"What kind of things would he say?" I couldn't think of anything else to ask. The question seemed to make Kyro happy as he remembered his son rambling on about me.

"He would talk about how he could sense how special you were. How your magic vibrated off of you in waves, but he couldn't understand why it seemed like you couldn't use that magic. It made him really frustrated, he would get so worked up. That's when I told him maybe you just didn't have the drive, that you needed a dedicated friend to give you a push. After that he would tell me about how he would push you to rage by tormenting you hoping it would make you want to be stronger, he hated being that person but he would always say he was your only dedicated friend."

I couldn't believe what this man was telling me. There was no way he was going to convince me that Cedric only beat me to try and help me in some misguided way.

we talked for a few more minutes trading stories about Cedric. The memories Kyro told me were unbelievable, the Cedric he talked about was kind and hard working. Nothing like the Cedric I knew.

After a while I politely excused myself. My head was spinning as memories flashed through my mind.

Cedric wandering through and telling other students to leave me be just when they were about to hurt me, now that I think about it no one but Cedric ever hurt me.

Thinking back I could see the pain in Cedric's eyes as he threw insults and punches.

Why couldn't I see it before?

I left the ceremony hall and made my way down the main street in a daze. The truth was agonizing and I didn't want to accept it but as the memories kept coming I had no choice.

I cried as I thought about how Cedric Boltic was the only person who really believed I could be great and pushed me to achieve greatness.

I cried as I realized too late that Cedric Boltic, my abuser since I was ten years old, was really. My only friend.