It was the third week of my junior year in high school when I first met Philip. I was walking to the cafeteria when I saw him. He was sitting on a bench in the part of school where everyone avoids because it was rumored to have snakes roaming around there. I noticed he was reading a book but I wasn't close enough to see the title. Curiosity got the best of me so I approached him.

   "Hey there! I'm Issac. Issac Garcia."

   He looked up at me, his eyes wide in surprise. "Oh, um, hi." He gave me a nervous smile and a small self conscious wave. "I'm, I'm Philip. Philip Evans."

   "Whatcha doing here by yourself, Philip?"

   "Well I don't really like being around a lot of people. It, it gives me anxiety." He avoided my eye by closing his book and carefully putting it back in his backpack.

   "Really? So you're always anxious during school?"

   He whipped his head back towards me. "Not always!" He said defensively. "Just, just most of the time…"

   I chuckled. "You're funny, Philip."

   He tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brows in confusion. "But I didn't say anything funny."

   "Well it's just, how can you be anxious around people most of the time? People are great!"

   He turned his head away from me and looked at the ground. "For you maybe," he muttered.

   "How 'bout I prove it to you?"

   He peered at me curiously from the corner of his eye. "Prove it?"

   "Yeah! Come on, I'll prove to you how great it is to be around people." I grabbed his arm and started pulling him in the direction of the cafeteria.

   "Wait, what? Hey! Let go of me!"

   "Don't worry it’ll be fun." I continued leading him, although it was more like dragging him, until we got to my usual table in the cafeteria.

   "There you are Issac! Where were you?" My best friend, Ezra, questioned.

   "Sorry, I was a little caught up with something."

   Ezra and my other friends shared puzzled looks but none of them said anything. I stepped aside to reveal Philip, who was hiding behind me. "Guys, this is Philip." I told them after I sat down. He looked at everybody sitting at the table with anxious wide eyes as they all greeted him and introduced themselves.

   He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and bit his lip nervously. He turned his anxious gaze at me and I gave him a reassuring smile. He took a deep breath then said, "it's, it's nice to meet you all."

   "Here, come sit," I said, patting the seat next to me. His gaze kept flicking to the people around us as he self consciously lowered himself into the chair.

   I leaned in and whispered in his ear. "See, that wasn't so bad."

   He laughed dryly. "It was horrible. Never do that again." I watched as he took in a breath and let it out slowly as if to steady himself. 'Maybe I went too far', I thought as guilt washed over me. 'I only just met him and I'm already pushing him be social when he's obviously uncomfortable with it. But I didn't want to leave him there by himself. I should apologize.'

   "Hey Philip?" I whispered.

   "Yeah?"

   "I'm really sorry for pushing you to come over here even though you told me you get anxiety in big crowds. I just couldn't stand the fact that you'd just be sitting there by yourself."

   "It's okay, Issac, I'm honestly kinda glad you did it." He looked around the table once more but this time he seemed a little more comfortable. "I've always wanted friends." He smiled softly.

   "What are you two whispering about?" Ezra asked, giving us a suspicious glance.

   We flashed look at each other and turned back at Ezra.

   "Nothing," we said in unison.

   "Um, okay...," Ezra replied, his voice still full of suspicion. "Weirdos."

   I turned back to Philip to see his amused smile matching mine. Then we broke into a fit of giggles.