在我还是一名新生的时候

和一个人成为朋友是你能给予他们的最好礼物：友情可以融化彼此心中的隔阂，友情甚至可以挽救一个人的生命。

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class who was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all of their books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.” I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.[1] His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to[2] him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, “Those guys are jerks.”

He looked at me and said, “Hey thanks!” There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school until now. I would have never hung out[3] with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. And my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, “boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!” He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke.[4] I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian[5] of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak.

Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself[6] during high school. He filled out[7] and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than me and all the girls loved him!

Boy, sometimes I was jealous. Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you’ll be great!” He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. “Thanks,” he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. “Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach... but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story.”

I looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his mom wouldn’t have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard[8] at me and gave me a little smile. “Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable[9].”

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.

当我还是高中一年级新生的时候，有一天，我看到自己班上的一个孩子正从学校往家走。他叫凯尔。看上去他似乎带着所有的书。我暗自心想：“大周五的怎么还会有人把所有的书都带回家?他指定是个书呆子。”我的周末计划可是丰富多彩(各种聚会，明天下午还有一场和朋友一起踢的足球赛)，于是我耸了耸肩继续向前走去。

走着走着，我看见一群孩子朝着凯尔跑去，他们向他冲去，打掉了他怀里所有的书，把他绊倒在泥地上。他的眼镜飞了出去，眼看着落在了离他十英尺的草地里。他抬起头，我看到他的眼睛里满是可怕的悲伤。我心底泛起一阵同情。于是，我小跑过去，他在地上爬着四处找眼镜，我看到了他眼中的泪水。我把眼镜递给他，说道：“那些家伙都是混球。”

他看着我说，“嗨，谢谢了!”他的脸上绽放出灿烂的笑容，是那种发自内心的感激的笑容。

我帮他把那些书捡起来，问他在哪儿住。结果发现他住得离我很近，于是我又问为什么以前从没见过他。他说他以前一直在私立学校读书。我之前从没和私立学校的孩子一起玩儿过。那天我们回家聊了一路，我帮他抱着书。他其实是个很酷的男生。我问他愿不愿意星期六跟我和我的朋友们一起去踢球，他同意了。整个周末我们都混在一起，我对凯尔了解得越多，就越喜欢他。我的朋友们也是。到了周一早上，我又遇到了抱着厚厚一摞书的凯尔。我拦住他，说：“小子，你每天搬这么一大堆书，肌肉一定会练得很结实啊!”他只是笑了笑，便把半摞书递给了我。

在接下来的四年里，我和凯尔成了最好的朋友。四年级时，我们开始考虑大学的问题。凯尔决定报考乔治城大学，而我则决定去杜克大学。我知道我俩一直都会是好朋友，距离永远都不成问题。他将来会成为一名医生，而我则获得了足球奖学金，准备学习商科。凯尔是我们班的毕业致辞代表。我总是调侃他是个书呆子。他得准备在毕业典礼上发言。我很庆幸那个要站起来走到台上发言的人不是我。毕业那天，我看见了凯尔。他看上去很棒。他是那种在高中时期真正发掘并发挥出自己特长的人。他长胖了一些，戴着眼镜，看起来很帅。他的约会比我要多，所有的女孩子都喜欢他!

天哪，有时候我可真嫉妒他。今天就是那样的时候。我能看出来凯尔对这次发言很紧张。于是我拍拍他的后背，说：“嗨，棒家伙，你会做得很好的!”他还是用那种(充满感激的)眼神看着我，微笑着说：“谢谢”。

要开始致辞前，他清了清喉咙，讲到：“毕业典礼是一个要感谢那些在难熬的岁月里曾帮助你度过难关的人。你的父母、老师、兄弟姐妹，或许还有教练……但最要感谢的是你的朋友们。在这里我想对你们所有人说的是：跟一个人成为朋友是你能给予他们的最好礼物。我要给你们讲一个故事。”

在凯尔讲述我和他第一天相遇的故事时，我惊疑地看着我的好友。他那个周末本要打算自杀的，还讲到他是如何清理了自己(在学校)的衣物柜，好让他的妈妈不用再来整理，然后准备把自己的东西带回家。他深深地望着我，对我微微笑了笑，“谢天谢地，我被救了。我的朋友挽救了我，让我没做成那件蠢事。”

当这位英俊又受人欢迎的男孩向我们讲述他最脆弱的一刻时，我听见人群中传来一阵唏嘘。我看到他的爸妈正看着我，脸上同样带着那个感激的笑容。直到那一刻，我才意识到那笑容的深意。