Colton grew up in the same small town as Mary, but the two lives could not have been more
different. Colton was raised in quite a different environment, and it was a very toxic upbringing.
He did not have much family. His father has never been a part of his life, he left when Colton
was very young. He grew up in a home with his mother, however, she was not involved in his
life as a mother should be. Colton felt like she hated being his mother, and she was not very kind.
She was very closed off and hateful. Colton was an only child, so he did not have any way to
express what he felt or anyone else around him to understand his situation. So, seeing and
hearing the things he heard growing up has affected him in a horrible way. He is very angry and
can be mean at times. Colton likes to stay to himself and not get too close to others, he is very
anti-social, and most people around the town look at him as if he is a bad person, and a very
unfriendly person. Colton grew up getting teased a lot as a young boy in school. That bullying
continued as he went through high school years as well. He held in a lot of anger towards most
people because he felt that no one liked or understood him. So, he does not really have anyone he
considers a true friend. Colton works as a pizza delivery guy, and he really does not like his job,
in fact, he hates it. He did not have many opportunities to do much as Mary did, Colton must
figure things all out on his own, he was not happy about the things that were happening in his life
now, so when he met Mary, he did not expect much of a different reaction than he always
received from others in town.

Mary had big plans for her grand opening at the bookstore. She has decorations being setup,
book displays, and a children’s book section just for the younger kids that will visit her store.
“Everything looks beautiful!” Mary replied to the decorator she hired. She also has a caterer set
to bring the most delicious food to be served to her guest at the opening. “This will be the best
event we’ve had around here in a long time.” Mary says. The event was set for the following
night, and there was still so much to do! The morning of the event was a very busy one, everyone
was running around last-minute trying to finalize the finishing touches on everything, and so far,
things were going as planned. Then, out of the blue, Mary received a call that would change the
whole mood of the grand opening. “What do you mean you can’t make the food!” Mary said
sounding very upset. The caterer had just canceled on her at the very last minute of her event!

Mary was so upset, and she did not know what she was going to do. The event must have food as
she has let everyone know already. So as time was quickly drawing near to the guest arriving,
Mary had to make a quick decision...she would just order several pizzas and garlic bread to go
along with the rest of the snacks she has. Mary was not happy about the decision, however, most
of the people in their town knew and supported her, so they would not mind. Plus, there will be
plenty of children, and I am sure they would love pizza. So, Mary placed a huge order of several
different flavors of pizza, garlic bread, and drinks for everyone. Hopefully, nothing else will go
wrong before the event starts. Fingers crossed!
At the pizza shop, the workers receive a large order for 20 pizzas and much more. “Geez, this
order is huge, it’s gonna take me forever to deliver this!” says Colton. “Ugh!” Colton was not
happy about this delivery at all, so he started out with the wrong attitude anyway. He was over
his job, and only did the minimal to keep it. So this large order just seemed like too much work
to him. Colton starts loading up everything once its cooked, he had to be at the party by 6:30pm.
It was already 6pm. So he did not have much time. Colton headed to the party, driving as careful
as he could, and he still arrived 10 minutes late. So, when he finally arrived, the host, Mary, was
extremely upset because all her guests had arrived and there was no food. “I’m sorry I am late; it
was just so much to pack and get here. I am only a few minutes behind. “says Colton. However,
that did not go over well with Mary, she did not care that he was “only a few minutes late.” She
was still upset, and so their first time meeting each other became a disaster. After finally getting
all the pizza and drinks in and set up, Mary refused to tip him, and Colton stormed out very
angrily. “All of this work for nothing!” Colton hated his job even more at this point.
So, after the grand opening event, which surprisingly ended better than it began, Mary’s life was
getting back to normal, running her store, and spending time with family and friends. While out
running errands one day, Mary ran into Colton again for the first time since the party. She
immediately felt horrible due to the way she treated him at the event in front of everyone, she
was only stressed over the party being a hit, so she admits that she was being quite rude. Mary
and Colton make eye contact, so she tries to speak and apologize to him, she wanted him to
know what was happening. Colton did not want to have anything to do with Mary or her
apology. So, he walked away. The next day, they bump into each other again, and this time,
Colton has realized that he could have at least heard what Mary wanted to say. He also
apologized for his attitude and for being late for her event as well. That was the ice breaker for
the two of them, they decided to sit and have coffee, and it went surprisingly well! “I am so glad
we are able to talk and move on past the party, you seem like a really nice guy,” says Mary.
“Thank you, I feel the same way,” says Colton. They sat and talked and talked, and before they
realized it, three hours had passed by. They both realized how much they enjoyed the
conversation and just being able to sit and talk to each other. They realized that they both got off
on the wrong foot and decided that they would like to move forward and be friends. Colton had
never felt so comfortable with anyone else this way, he could tell her his toughest problems, and
he trusted her with it all. She made him feel important, which is something he has not felt in a
long time. Colton and Mary became the best of friends! She even gave him a new job at her store
after he explained how much he hated his job. He was so excited to have a real friend to talk to and work with. Things were the happiest it has ever been for Colton, and Mary was so happy that
he realized how important he really is as a person.
So, in the end, a beautiful friendship developed between the two people that most would think
would never even care for each other. The moral of the story is that we all come from different
backgrounds, different lifestyles, but you never know what someone is going through, or what is
making someone have a horrible attitude. Sometimes you just have spread love, even to those
that may seem hard to love at first. Be open and accepting of people, that is what began this
beautiful life-long friendship.