During their final year at school they dated.
They got on really well. During the week they often spent time drinking chocolate milkshakes in the café between school and their bus stop. It was sad for both of them when her family moved to another town. She began as a trainee hairdresser while he considered studying chemistry, but decided it would be too much effort. He left home, got a couple of part time jobs that didn’t work out and ended up homeless, sleeping rough. Despite this he managed to keep in touch for a while, but this gradually dropped off.
Five years later, she was back in her old town, where she’d been visiting an old school friend. She was on her way back to the carpark when she saw him across the street. He was sitting in the doorway of a closed-down shop with a cap in front of him, waiting for loose change. She was really shaken by the sight of him sitting there, begging. She had a thought. She had time…
He was almost dozing when he heard something drop in front of him. His cap had something in it. He leant forward and picked it up. It was a paper bag containing one hundred dollars in tens, with a note. It read: Hi, I spotted you today. I knew you when you looked better. I hope things look up for you. Use the money wisely. Buy yourself a chocolate milkshake, maybe? Pay me back when you can. I hope you still have my email address.
It was signed: Your girlfriend from our last year at school.
His face lit up when he read it. He looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. He was shaken by the thought that he had sunk so low in just five years. He thought about the idea of turning his life around, that would be wonderful, he thought.