William, betrayal

There were almost no telephones back then—only old rotary dial phones with a quiet crackling sound. We lived in a small village that was rarely called by name, often simply called the Village of Tranquility. It always smelled of lotuses and wisteria. In spring, they hung from the roofs and fences, and it seemed as if everything around was breathing their aroma. My name is Lucian. I'm fourteen. The same goes for my friends William, Lucas and Marcel. We'd known each other almost our entire lives—we met in kindergarten when we were two years old. Everything seemed simple back then: the world was limited to toys, screams, and sunshine. But little had changed since then—we still stuck together, only the conversations became longer and the silence heavier. We often gathered at my house. The house was big: a basement, a first floor, and a second floor. The basement was our place. There was an old sofa, a low table, a few posters, a couple of records, and the smell of dust that had soaked into the walls. We could sit there for hours, discussing everything: music, school, the neighbors, the future. No one wanted to talk about the future, but everyone was thinking about it. William and I come from wealthy families, but that didn't matter at school. There, wealth didn't help—it actually hindered us. We weren't liked, but we didn't care. We clung to each other, and that was enough. Until Lisa showed up. The very one that everyone was talking about later. Beautiful, confident, with a smile that made half the boys at school forget how to breathe. William fell in love immediately. And I saw that he was gone. At first I laughed and joked, but then I noticed he began to distance himself. He was increasingly silent, and when he spoke, he wasn't the same person I knew. And then something happened that will be remembered forever. Lucas, Marcel and I were walking to my house. It was evening—warm, quiet, the sky was already darkening. And suddenly we saw William. He was walking quickly toward us, his gaze angry, his lips pressed together. I only had time to open my mouth to say hello, but he came up to me and sharply hit me in the face. "You're not my friend, Lucian!" he shouted. "Lisa said you're spreading nasty things about me!"