The next day when Jonathan reached the freshmen party, he saw the venue buzzing with people wearing designer clothes. It was an unfamiliar experience for Jonathan, whose life in the countryside was rather dull. Jonathan thought to himself that he will make new friends here, and life here will be completely different from when he was in the countryside. Although it all seemed effortless in his mind, in reality Jonathan didn’t know how to strike up the conversation with a stranger, in the countryside he was always surrounded by similar faces, so he never got the chance to meet new people.

In the crowd of people, Jonathan tried to find someone who will be his friend but to no avail. Every time he tried to strike a conversation, and it was cut short because of lack of topics to talk about or simply because the other party seemed not interested at all. In the end, Jonathan decided to spend the rest of the party eating and drinking. Soon after, the party ended and all the new enrolled students decided to leave. Most of them were in the party mood and it looked like they were heading towards the district central to have some more fun. As Jonathan had not so great a party, so he decided to go home instead of going to district central, even if Jonathan went to district central, with whom would he have spent his time there?

On the way home, a voice called out to him. When he turned his face towards that face, Marshall was standing there in what looked like a uniform of a bookstore.

“How was your freshmen party?” asked Marshall

“It was okay. I had fun, and I can’t wait to have more fun when the classes begin.”

“Are you sure? Your face is telling me otherwise.”

“You must have some misunderstanding.”

“Anyway, why not come with me for some coffee?”

“Right now, I am going home. How about some other day?”

“It looks like you have forgotten about your treat for me.”

Those words from Marshall rang a bell for Jonathan, and he remembered about his promise to Marshall. Not wanting his promise to be false, he agreed to have coffee with Jonathan.

“No, I have not forgotten my promise. If you insist so much, then let me treat you some coffee.”

“Sure.”

Both of them diverted towards the district central to have coffee. Although Jonathan decided he will go home but in the end he was going to district central even if it was to treat someone. Both Jonathan and Marshall didn’t speak a single word on their way to district central. After 15 minutes of walking, they reached the district central.

District central was like no other place that Jonathan had seen in his life. There were colorful buildings with different animated characters on them everywhere you can see. People were walking wearing dresses straight from animations. Different businesses were using different gimmicks to grab the attention of the customers. It was a different world in the eyes of Jonathan that he has only seen in magazines and comics.

Jonathan and Marshall checked in on a relatively small coffee shop by the district central standards. Soon after, a waiter arrived with an iPad in his and asked for their orders.

“I would like to have one black coffee please.” ordered Marshall.

“I would like a cup of Darjeeling Tea.” ordered Marshall.

“Sorry, sir, but we don’t serve tea coffee here.” replied the waiter.

“Is that so, then I will have a cup of black coffee as well.” replied Jonathan.

“Okay, then two cups of coffee. Just wait for a few minutes.”

Saying the waiter went to the counter to give the orders to be fulfilled. Here on the table both Jonathan and Marshall were quietly sitting waiting for the order to come. After 15 minutes, the waiter came with a tray with two cups of coffee in it. He put the cups on the table in front of Jonathan and Marshall and went away. Both Jonathan and Marshall put their cup of coffee and started sipping from it. After a while it was Marshall who initiated the conversation.

“Jonathan, I know you didn’t have fun at all in the freshmen party.”

Hearing those words, Jonathan decided to trust Marshall and tell him about his experience at the freshmen party.

“The truth is the freshmen party didn’t go as I expected. I thought I would make friends, but I was unable to strike up any meaningful conversation.”

“I see, but that’s not a reason to worry at all.”

“Why?”

“See, this was your first day and you have 4 years left minimum here and in that time you will have a lot of opportunities to meet new people and make friends.”

Hearing that Jonathan realized Marshall is right, he still has plenty of time to make new friends. He was being stressed for no reason at all.

“You’re right. I didn’t think about it earlier. Thank you for opening my eyes.”

“No problem, after all we are friends.”

“Friends! Precisely, we are friends.”

All the hesitation in Jonathan’s mind was gone, and the conversation between Jonathan and Marshall went smooth afterwards. After talking for a while, both of them exchanged their telephone numbers and parted their way.

When Jonathan reached his apartment complex, he saw four Buddhist monks coming out of the sixth floor of the apartment building. This was the same floor where Jonathan had leased the apartment. He was bewildered about what the Buddhist monks were performing in his apartment complex, so he went towards them to ask.

“Excuse me honorable monks, may I know what work do you have here?”

Hearing that question, one of the monks looked and Jonathan carefully and answered.

“Be careful child, you are in trouble.”

Saying that the monks walked away. Jonathan couldn’t decipher the meaning of the words from monks, and it made him even more confused. He decided to go no heed to the words and went towards his apartment.

Jonathan was expecting Jasmine to arrive at any moment with food, but she didn’t come at all that day. He thought to himself, maybe, she is tired, and he went to sleep soon afterward.