"Yea?" Avery responded watching his friend closely. He wondered what he was thinking.
"Do you think I look like him?" Jayden couldn't see any resemblance; impossible. If there had been any resemblance then surely Mr. Ellis would have noticed. Surely that man was more than capable of recognizing his own son. How could this man be his father? How could a father not know his own child? They didn't look alike and he sounded nothing like him. As a matter of fact he just wasn't what he had imagined that his father would look like or be like.
"Hmm… It's hard to say from this distance…" Avery finally answered after a period of time of comparing the two. He could feel his own heart pounding and his breathing growing laborious. This whole situation was stressful and it made him feel uneasy. He had never regretted something more than right now at this very moment. This is bad, he thought to himself as he tried to figure out a way to savage this mess.
"Yea… I think you're right. I'm just too far away." Jayden spoke in a quiet and disappointing whisper. His voice sounded void of emotions and Avery felt his own heart breaking for his best friend. This was indeed a blow to his heart; to find out that his father is capable of loving- he just didn't love him.
"For what it's worth man… I'm glad you were born… Happy birthday Jayden." Avery cringed at his words. Was that the best he could say? Is that how he consoled a friend?
Pause.
"There's an old Chinese proverb… Do you know it?" Jayden abruptly asked changing the subject. It took Avery by surprise. He wasn't surprised that Jayden could quote Chinese proverbs; after all they both lived to watch Chinese martial arts drama streaming live over the Internet. Both of them knew a lot of Asian proverbs considering the massive amount of foreign films that they watched with subtitles. Avery hesitated.
"What?"
"As long as you're going to do wrong; the least you can do is live well while doing it." Jayden said wisely beyond his fourteen years. Avery couldn't respond to that. Hearing his friend say those harsh words, he knew how he was feeling. Jayden felt lower than a maggot to see his father living well, enjoying life, healthy but most of all being good to someone else's children while ignoring him. He knew that Jayden felt as if he were dead in his father's heart and eyes. He knew it was as if he didn't exist. Jayden was searching for answers; he wanted to know why not him? However Avery couldn't answer that question. He couldn't understand it either himself.