Ayumi's life once seemed perfect-she was popular, smart, and rich, with everything anyone could want. But behind the glittering facade, a secret lurked. A devastating event changes her life when a political rival causes her to hide as a boy in a rur...
Just like that, I was thrown into a whole new world. My once-perfect life shattered into glass shards. Now I must walk carefully among the fragments. Even though everyone around me was devastated, I felt like a sense of freedom washed over my body, like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I still can't grasp why; my father was torn by the news.
It was just last month when the first rumor started. My family, the Nakamura family was called a bright beacon of elegance and virtue. Every act and move that we made was followed with applause. To the world, we were untouchable, a perfect portrait. Or so everyone thought. Life was perfect and I had the brightest future right up my doorstep. Trophies lined my walls; each one was a silent testament to the nights I cried from the pressure of being perfect and the screams from my parents to do better.
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Despite that, at school I roamed the halls with confidence of someone who knew she was admired, crowds of people gathering around me like petals on a flower. I was dying inside, but perfect outside. Each compliment, each word of jealousy from someone punches me in the throat. They don't know what I go through, neither can they know, Beneath the smiles, fear always lurked — a constant dread of not reaching up to my parent's expectations or falling short.
My father, Takeshi Nakamura was a prominent politician and my mom, on the other hand, was a housewife and a philanthropist who ran several charitable organizations. I started balancing on this long tightrope when I was five. I wore little suits and smiled politely during fundraisers feeling the tightrope wobble with every stare from a creepy man or a bow. A constant performance where a single misstep would send me plummeting into an abyss of my parents' disappointment. A single look of disapproval haunted my every achievement, forced smile, and every forced laugh. This is how it's been my entire life, until 3 months ago...
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"Hey Ayumi!" My best friend, Hana, called out as I walked to my next class painting the perfect smile.
"Hi, what's up?" I stop my track and say with a smile.
"Is the rumor true?" Hana snickers with an expression I've never seen before and I wish to never see again.
Something was off, an eerie chill crawled up my spine, yet I kept my composure. I sneak a glance at the stares everyone around me is sending. It wasn't the friendly or admirable looks I was particularly used to. There was a shadow that followed me which was the murmur of whispers — my name being woven into the fabric of their conversations. I was always used to being entertainment for others, each whisper shooting me in the heart.
"Heh, what rumor? I haven't heard of anything happening!" I chuckle, keeping my composure.
Hana takes a step closer until our noses are at least 1mm away from each other. "What a joke."
She said and whipped her head in front of my face then stomped away. I stopped there with a mixture of emotions, anger, sadness, and anxiety. What the hell was wrong with her? I don't want to make her mad, what's going to happen next?? As if it couldn't get any worse, a group of girls came up to me. The faces plastered onto them were much worse than the disappointment from my parents. Much, much worse. The surrounding crowd of students disappeared like I had some sort of disease. The leaves on the trees rustle, and a small gust of wind brushes through my hair. The hair I loved so dearly.
"Imagine f#cking a literal 40-year-old teacher." One of the girls says, eyes filled with utter disgust and hatred.
Another girl draws near, "Maybe that's how you got such high grades. You stupid sl#t."
"I can't believe you seriously went out of your way to do that just to be popular. You weren't even that pretty anyway. Just some hunk of trash." They all walk away as everyone else does.
I stumble over my words embarrassing myself even more, "W-wait, what?!" Then scan the area. They were recording.
I want to die in a ditch. Before things could take another turn for the worse, I called my driver to take me home. Though that didn't stop things from going any more wrong. Once I was at the front lawn of my "perfect" white, house, dad was home early, holding moving boxes?? I was still so far away from them, but as I walked closer, he was screaming at my mum. They've never fought outside their room before. Something was off, VERY off.
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"What's going on?" I ask loud enough for them to hear me.
My dad's eyes filled with sorrow and apology, clicked with mine. What happened..?
