Karchy was not an immigrant. He had been born in the United States, lived there his entire life. But his father had been the one to teach him to speak, so from a young age, he had a very thick Hungarian accent. It had softened by high school to be far more American. But by that time, as many different kids were, he was bullied relentlessly — to the point of staying quiet. His name, too, being such a traditional Hungarian name, ended up making people avoid saying it. And thus, avoid speaking to him at all.

So when the other boy came up to him in school, all punk-style and goofy grins, he was hesitant to accept the random offer of friendship. But when they persisted, gently, never leaving — he couldn’t help but settle into it. Came to expect eating lunch with them, walking to classes. It even started to extend to outside of school — visiting homes, parks, sharing little joints of weak stuff at night. It… was nice. Having a friend for once.