He blamed himself for failing to protect her.
What's more, the other kids saw how ugly he was and kept their distance. She was the only one who, despite calling him ugly, never avoided him.
Back then, her words had left him so speechless that he'd simply ignored her.
When she saw he wasn't speaking, she thought he was actually going to die and cried for a long, long time. Finally, exasperated, he couldn't help but tell her that he was just sick and would get better.
Then, frowning awkwardly, he had to say a lot more just to comfort her.
She forced him into a pinky swear, threatening to cry if he refused.
He felt like he was about to have a breakdown. In the end, he had no choice but to link pinkies with her.
She then drew a little circle in her notebook, wrote both their names inside, and declared that whoever broke the promise wouldn't get any Christmas presents. He'd wanted to laugh so badly then.
