Always Be Kind

Previously

…Alex looked at Sam, walking beside them, their shoulders relaxed, their pace unhurried. They were no longer just a new classmate, or a promise to be kept. They were a friend, a valued friend, and the quiet understanding that had bloomed between them felt more precious than any award or accolade. Alex knew, with a certainty that settled deep in their bones, that this was a lesson they would carry with them, a lesson learned not from a textbook or a lecture, but from the gentle, persistent unfolding of real life, and the quiet power of always being kind.