Liam was always the quiet one at school. He was bald and very small he was the kind of kid who sat alone at lunch and never raised his hand. Most kids didn’t notice him, except for Ethan, who was new and just as lonely. One rainy afternoon, when recess was canceled, Ethan sat beside Liam in the empty classroom. Without speaking, Liam folded a paper airplane and slid it across the table to Ethan. It had a little smiley face drawn on the wing. Ethan smiled back and folded one of his own. From that day on, they became inseparable. Every day they would meet under the old oak tree behind the school, racing their paper airplanes and laughing like they’d known each other forever. They shared secrets, dreams, and plans to build the "best paper plane ever." One day, Liam stopped coming to school. Ethan waited at the oak tree for days, clutching a new design he wanted to show him. Eventually, the teacher announced that Liam had passed away suddenly from an illness he never talked about. Ethan sat under the oak tree, staring at the last paper airplane Liam had given him. On it, scribbled in shaky handwriting, were the words: "Thanks for being my best friend." Years later, Ethan returned to that tree, now an adult. He left a perfectly folded paper airplane on the roots and whispered, “I finished it, Liam.”