When Ray was about seven, he had a very close friend．Ray and Mike went to an all-boys school and were in the same class．To Ray, Mike was 1 people would call the“best friend”．They lived near each other, went to and from school together, played together, were together in school, and 2 time in each others' homes．
Once, in school, Ray encountered an academic 3 and was very down．He just 4 round and round the school playground． Mike 5 Ray, and their distance is far enough not to stifle(使压抑) him, but 6 enough never to let Ray out of his 7 ．Ray was very angry at that time．He just wanted to be 8 ．At one point, he got so worked up that he even blurted out, “ 9 leave me alone!” But Mike just 10 walked on behind Ray, still never uttering a 11 ．
It was only after many years, almost two decades later, that Ray truly began to 12 the profound lesson on 13 which had been shown to him that day．Ray and Mike had already separated by then, 14 seeing each other every year, and 15 then only in big groups of friends．Mike had taught him that true friendship does not only 16 when one wants or needs it．A true friend will be 17 when he thinks you need him, 18 whether you want it or not or whether you would 19 it or not．
Till this day, Ray is still 20 ．And he will always be．
