"What happened?" the girl asked in a gentle tone.
In front of her stood her childhood friend: a small boy with beautiful green eyes filled with tears. The boy had a bruise on his cheek, another on his knee, and his clothes were completely dirty.
At the time, Lara was only 13 years old and still attended a regular school. In fact, that would be her last year in that place, though she didn't know it yet.
Still visibly shaken by what had happened, the boy hesitated to answer the question. Perhaps he didn't want to involve his friend in his problems.
Everyone knew that Lara had a strong sense of justice and always did everything she could to help those around her. Perhaps he feared that involving her would only get her hurt.
"Zey," she called the boy by the affectionate nickname she had given him, "you know you can trust me. Tell me what happened. Did someone hit you?"