This story is based on the life of a Mexican boy who shifts to the United States. At first he is unable to make friends, but once he makes friends and becomes popular, he forgets the meaning of friendship. He is very rude to his mates and mistreats them. But in the end he realizes his mistake and it is a happy ending with everyone becoming good friends again.

 

His eyes were filled with tears. He had been so unkind, so insensitive and so wrong. Now he realized his mistake… When perhaps, it is too late…

Seventeen year old Jason Earl was a famous personality at school. Everyone loved his voice. The band in which he sang as the lead singer and guitarist was quite popular too. They used to give out their performances at the music bar in Baker beach, California every Sunday.

When Jason had been a kid four or five years old, his superstitious mother had once taken him to a gypsy palmist at a local fair. That was when they lived in Mexico. Then, that time the palmist had prophesized that that something would go seriously wrong in his life when he would grow up. Well, Jason’s mother had been worried at these words, but his dad’s annoyance at this supposed nonsense had kept her quiet. And she did fall silent forever, very soon after that day, owing to some serious illness that she had been suffering from since Jason was born.

After his wife’s death, Jason’s father had shifted to the United States in the hope of being able to start a new phase of his dull life. Jason’s father had always been a practical man. Although his wife’s superstitious beliefs had bothered him very much, but her death had been too grieving an incident for him.

After moving his home to the States, Jason’s life had changed. He had been living here for four years now and this place had given him fame, love and money. His band was doing awfully well.

But all had not been like this from the beginning. When he had arrived here, Jason had been a shy kid. For some reason he did not understand, he had developed a fear – a fear of the crowd, of the stage. This was probably due to his mother’s death, which had made him fall into a sort of depression and dislike company, but which was something that his young mind was too confused to figure out. He only knew that such a thing had never happened in Mexico, where he had been a well known singer in his school. This bothered him too much, and all the more because he was a stranger in the place, a foreigner whom nobody knew. This resulted in the fact that he ultimately became an introvert and always spent his time alone in or near his beach house.

But, music had been his heart and soul ever since he was a child. He had always loved the music lessons his mother used to give him. He loved her voice and he also loved it when she sang in front of a crowd, for she had been a professional singer. Since then he had wanted to follow her footsteps and be loved by a multitude of people. He had learnt music, learnt the guitar, had developed a lovely voice and had been a successful singer in his school. And he gave all his credits to his mother. Perhaps, this was the reason why he was now afraid of what others might think; after his mother’s death, there was nobody to inculcate confidence in him. His father was always so busy…

This stage fear thing had gradually taken root inside him. Whenever he went in front of people, maybe for a speech, maybe for a school presentation or whatever it was, things would start happening to him.

His knees would go weak, he would feel nauseous and ultimately start to fumble and stammer. With this, all his dreams of becoming a professional singer had become hazy.

One day, however he had been playing his guitar alone on the beach when suddenly he became aware that a girl – Aisha was her name, whom he recognized as one of his schoolmates, had been listening to him, standing unobtrusively some way behind him. She lived nearby, although he had no idea where. He had never talked to her before. Aisha was a popular musician at school. He gulped twice and stopped immediately on seeing her. She came near, sat down by him and urged him to continue. He just wouldn’t. She had then introduced herself, told him how good he was and how much pleasant it was to listen to him and all the sweet things that made him comfortable. He relaxed a bit; she was friendly and affectionate. That evening they had spent together on the beach, talking – mostly about music.

Aisha had been his first friend in the States. It was mostly due to her efforts that he could finally give up his stage fright after several weeks. He now played as the lead singer in Aisha’s band. His dream was taking form again, out of the haziness at last.

But gradually, the more popularity he gained, the more Jason had started flaunting himself, overdoing his bit. He had started considering himself superior to his band members, had started giving out solo performances without notice to the others, and he had become quite rude and cranky to them. Jason himself hadn’t been aware of all this, of course. He had just gone on doing what he felt like, much to the dislike of others. They had tried to make him see reason several times, but he had never heeded. They had once even threatened him to leave the band, but he had threatened them back with the words that if he left, they surely would lose their popularity, something which was not untrue. And they also hadn’t argued further. The ties of friendship were on the verge of coming apart.

But soon after this day of their argument, Jason developed a sore throat and was unable to sing for two days. On the third day, the doctor told him that he would have to undergo a surgery and after that, though he will be able to speak, would not be able to sing for almost a year. The news had shattered him.

His eyes filled with tears. Not singing for a year meant all his hard acquired fame would get lost, as easily as a drop of rain in a river.

A week had gone by. The surgery was done. Next day he would have to face school again. Sitting sadly in his favorite spot on the beach, it all came back to him – his behavior, his attitude and lack of respect towards his band members. And in that moment he realized his mistake. He had been so wrong, so bad a friend. He had mistreated the people who had helped him become who he was now and of what he always boasted off. But now it was too late, simply too late. His eyes filled with tears. An apology now was of no use. They would have been glad to get rid of him. All of a sudden, the words of the palmist also came to his mind. He had never bothered about that – until now. By mere chance or reality, those words had come true. His life had all gone the wrong way. He sobbed fervently into his arms.

He had sat there in this manner, for how long he did not know. A call from Aisha brought him back from his thoughts. When he picked up, he was surprised. She informed him that he was being late for the band rehearsals for the song that they were to play in the school next day. After he had hung up, he cried even more. Aisha and the others had decided to keep him in the band and support him. They told him he could still play the guitar for them. They had forgiven him, considering his actions as immature and unintentional. They had had made him understand what true friendships really meant.

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