Closer Heartbeat

The next morning, the two boys go out for a walk. The narrator asks the other boy why he went out alone with the other guy. The other boy says that he changed his clothes because his hair was "in a mess" after he woke up, and that he wanted to "try another style" . The two boys are out to buy painting materials, and the narrator says that this is the first time he's ever seen them go out alone. He tells the boy that he would only become "more dependent" and "more greedy" if they went out together. The boy tells the narrator that he wants to "take a step forward" , and he says that if he doesn't grow up, he'll be trapped in the past. He asks the boy if he can't look him in the eye when he talks to him, and she says that she hit him lightly, but that it's because he hit her so hard