"All right, kids, let's go shopping at the Tesco in the next block. Roy's picking up the tab for everything today!"
Before Roy had even finished speaking, the children around him erupted into another wave of cheers.
Seeing this, Harry quietly sat to one side and watched it all, thinking that none of this had anything to do with him.
He lowered his head and glanced at the clothes Mia had just bought him that morning, thinking that he should change back into his old clothes.
Mia had spent all the money Roy gave her that morning on clothes for Harry. Harry was grateful for Mia's concern, but he truly felt too embarrassed to accept such a gift.
Harry picked up the set of old clothes in the paper bag by his feet, planning to quietly slip out through the activity room's back door while no one was paying attention to him.
He did not want to leave without saying goodbye, but to preserve what was left of his shattered self-respect, he took one last look at Mia in the crowd and silently left anyway.
"Sorry, Mia. I really can't accept such a gift."
Though he really liked the outfit, Harry still planned to secretly return it to the clothing store and give the money back to Roy. Mia would surely get angry when she found out, perhaps even cut ties with him, but Harry had to do it. He felt Mia had already helped him enough. No matter how poor he was, he could not accept charity from a friend like this.
Just as Harry was about to step out of the activity room, Roy's voice suddenly called out from behind him, stopping him.
"Hey, kid, I haven't handed out the gifts yet. Why are you in such a