Old Friends, New Friends

Neither ignore old friends

nor take delight in only new ones.

Jack and Ryan had been best friends for as long as they could remember. They were always together. In fact, their parents joked that they might as well move in to one or the other’s house since they spend so much time together.

One day at school, a new boy named Owen was brought to class and given the desk next to Jack. After class, Jack introduced him to Ryan. When Ryan went to the library, Owen told Jack that he had seen him on the playground and that Jack was great at sports. Owen praised Jack so much that when Owen asked Jack to be his partner in the games that weekend, Jack agreed without thinking.

Jack’s head was swimming with Owen’s praise until he saw Ryan coming down the hallway from the library. Then he remembered that he and Ryan always played in the games together. Not knowing what to do, Jack said the first thing that came to his mind. He told Ryan that their teacher had asked him to help Owen feel welcome and to partner him in the games.

Ryan was hurt but didn’t want to make Jack feel bad, so he said okay. He then turned to walk home, alone. Jack was about to go after him when Owen came up and started saying how great Jack would be at the games. With all the praise from his new friend, Jack forgot all about Ryan.

That Saturday, Owen and Jack were in the rope-climbing contest. Jack had never been very good at this, but Ryan never minded. During the contest, one team of climbers competed with another team. Owen was much better than Jack, but even so they lost to the other team.

Owen said no problem, that he was going for some water. When he didn’t come back, Jack went to look for him. He saw Owen talking to another boy and was coming up behind them to apologize to Owen when he heard him say, “I figured if I asked that klutz Jack to be my partner, I could always blame him if I lost. Pretty smart, huh?” And both boys burst out laughing.

Jack froze. This was who he had dropped his best friend for! Ryan had never called him a klutz. Ryan would never call anyone a klutz! Miserable, Jack turned to leave when he saw Ryan coming toward him. At first, Jack didn’t know what to say. Then he knew he had to tell the truth. After admitting that the teacher had not asked him to play with Owen, Jack stopped talking. He was terrified that Ryan would never forgive him and he’d have lost his best friend.

Ryan looked at him and was silent. Then he smiled and said, “Forget Owen. Let’s go play ball!”

Do not ignore old friends in favor of new ones.