There are people you have known your whole life, yet they could never bring any change in you while there are others you have just met and the whole of you is no more the same. Your world seems better. Everything seems brighter.

While Maddox had spent years living with his grumpy father, he had remained a morose little boy who forgot how to stretch his lips into a proper smile. He was completely different from other boys of his age with his unstylish dressing sense and his absence from all social media. For years he has been living like a creature from another planet.

Yet, in the few weeks he has known Deborah and Angelica, he was a changed person. Instead of spending time learning about computer programming as he used to, he was now surfing around the net searching for the most bizarre stuff like How do girls want guys to dress? What types of boys do girls like to befriend?

Maddox even created a Facebook account using a fake yet funny name "Mad Cow"- 'Mad' as a short form for Maddox and 'Cow' as a short form of 'Coward' as Deborah would call him teasingly.

"Guess what friends? Someone sent me a friend request on Facebook yesterday and that person's profile name is 'Mad Cow'!" Deborah exclaimed, rolling her eyes as she bursted into a fit of laughter while Angelica's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"This can't be true! I also got a friend request from that same person yesterday itself!" the cute blonde said as her eyes widened in surprise.

"And there is no profile picture. If only the person put a cow there I would know whether to accept or not," Deborah whined, faking a sad expression as her lips bent downward.

"Depending on the cow's charm you mean?" Angelica giggled.

"Exactly!" the brunette winked.

Maddox did not know how to react and tried to laugh to their jokes too. He was too shy to let them know it was his Facebook account.

The next day, a bright Sunday morning, when the three friends met, Deborah seemed excited.

"Hey did you notice something Angel?"

"What?" Angelica asked.

"On Facebook!" Deborah exclaimed as if she expected her friend to know what she was talking about.

"No, I didn't log in. My dad was again in one of his fits of anger and he wouldn't let me use his laptop. What happened?" the blond girl questioned.

"You won't believe it! Mad Cow put a profile picture figuring a cow which absolutely looks mad!" Deborah said, her eyes and voice reflecting her excitement.

"Maybe the poor guy has heard you people speaking yesterday and he decided to put a cow as profile picture so that you accept his pathetic friend request," Maddox grinned.

"Hey Coward! How can you say it's a 'guy'?" Deborah grumbled.

"Uh well, I don't know. Hmm the person can be a girl too. Just a slip of the tongue," Maddox clarified.

While the trio was sitting on a bench, chatting and kidding around, loud voices were suddenly heard.

Upon turning around, they saw that there was a drunk man, some dozens of meters away, arguing with random people in the park.

"Oh no!" Angelica shrieked, gripping Deborah's arms as both girls disappeared before Maddox could even notice.

"Girls, I think this man... " Maddox stopped as he could not see the two girls anywhere around. "Girls?"

Where have they gone? Maybe they have hidden somewhere out of fear.

Maddox sat right there watching the man who was mumbling to himself as he walked towards him.

"Where is that spoilt brat?" the man grumbled, constantly looking around, in search of someone.

From the back, Maddox heard a lady murmuring to another one, "He is again in one of his states. His behavior has killed his wife and he has still not reformed himself. He is now after the poor child."

The women were talking about the atrocities that the drunk man made his family live through, but as he came nearer, they remained mum.

Their words reminded Maddox of his own hardships, his mother's pain and his father's betrayal.

As the drunkard approached Maddox, the young guy could more clearly see his face which showed signs of a heartless man - a pair of cruel eyes and a mouth which looked upside down.

The first words he uttered to Maddox made the latter realise something - it was hatred at first sight.