“Let’s go and beat him!” he chuckled, nudging me with his elbow. “Let’s go, huh?” I knew he wasn’t saying it to tease me, and I was no longer angry with him. But I was angry with the rest of the world and its unspeakable injustice. If only I knew then what real injustice was. I admit that I didn’t approach Anna at the party, in fact, not until the following May. But we’ll come back to that later.

That year, Sunny’s parents sent him to a summer camp somewhere near Berlin, and I stayed at home. I spent three weeks loitering around with no idea what to do. I was bored. Computers and TV shows didn’t interest me, and I didn’t read books. It was then that I hit upon the idea to draw comic characters. I don’t remember why or how, but I started to depict beautiful Amazons, who lived in a magical world and fought with an army of demons with their magical powers. I bought a dozen different comics and at first tried to imitate them, but then started to draw myself. That’s how all of a sudden I discovered I was a talented artist.

Of course, I drew comics about her. My great and good warrior of light fighting for justice. What an irony! I dreamed of her and only of her, although I was sure I would never be good enough for her. So much of my time was wasted on doubt and uncertainty. I was afraid of failure. What if she won’t talk to me? What if she laughs at me? I thought I wouldn’t be able to bear it. Well, now I know I am capable of surviving something much worse.

That was the summer it all went wrong. Sunny came back from the camp and was constantly talking about his new friends. He told me how they ran away from the camp each night and had fun in Berlin, and how they met some university guys who helped them to get into one of the coolest clubs in the city. I was jealous and envious, I couldn’t even begin to imagine such adventures.

Gradually we began to drift apart. Sunny was always hanging out with his new friends who I didn’t like, and I was busy with my comic book. If only I knew then how little time we had, I would have done anything to spend more time with him. But I didn’t know, and at the time I felt betrayed by him, when in actual fact it was probably me who betrayed him. I was so occupied with my personal drama over Anna that I didn’t notice his sudden and strange metamorphoses. Sunny became unsociable, and his mood seemed to change twenty times an hour. One minute he was happy and smiling, the next he was depressed or even aggressive. Everyone thought he was just growing up and going through a normal teenage phase – but by the time it came to raise the alarm, it was too late.

That day, Sunny and I decided to skip classes. It was the end of November, and it was snowing for the first time that year. Big, fluffy snowflakes fell as we walked through the park. There was a large old orchard next to the school back then, with tree-lined paths, wooden benches, a pond with ducks and a humpback bridge. It was a crowded place in the summer. Picnickers, sweethearts, artists, and those who liked to read outdoors could be seen under every apple tree. But that day there was nobody at all. The snow had been falling all morning, and the trees bowed under the white caps. Sunny was as happy as a child. He was running on the fresh snow, picking it up and tossing it into the air. I looked at him and laughed, then all of a sudden, he fell to his knees. His shoulders were shaking. I couldn’t see his face at first, so I thought he was laughing too. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably less than a minute, I rushed to him. He was scooping snow with his hands and looking in front of him. Tears were rolling down his face. It was the first time I’d noticed how blue his eyes were, like the sky in January. His teardrops were huge.