Facade Of Perfectionism

Chapter 1~A Day in Maya's Life-I

Perfect. A word that held humongous meanings and synonyms. Something that we all tend to achieve, somehow. May it be in the field of career, job, or simply life. We keep hustling tirelessly to achieve perfection, in our flaws. People fail to look above their imperfections and flaws, and solely accept who they really are. 

I was no exception.

"Maya, hurry up! You're going to be late for school!" My mom's voice echoed around the house.

"Just a second Mom I'm trying to tie my necktie. I'll be there in five" I assured.

"Okay, but you better get down here quick, your dad wants to head out early for work." 

"Got it." I lightly shook my head, a sly smile escaping.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror, watching my perfectly ironed uniform, perfectly hugging my curves in all the right places. That still somehow managed to make me feel hideous. I was never one who would feel proud of its own body or exterior appearance. I was never comfortable in my own body and hated almost everything about me which, maybe, made me anomalistic.

I wore a plain white shirt with a red check skirt and a tie with a white blazer. 

How I hated wearing a blazer during the summer!

"Maya hurry up!" Mom called me again as her tone grew impatient.

"Yeah, I'm coming, Mom."

I fetched my bag and sprinted down the stairs to join my mom and dad. 

"You look, lovely sweetie!" My mom chirped beside me with a bright smile on her face.

Okay. I knew that glossy smile. I bet she either wanted me to do something, or she already had agreed on something for me to do without any of my say in it. I couldn’t say I would be surprised if that was the case.

I playfully raised my eyebrows at her. She knew I knew her too well for all above her sugar-coated words.

"Professor Adams was amused after reading your essay last semester. He kept praising you for hours!" Mom's voice dripped with exhilaration.

She could sometimes exaggerate when she was too happy.

"Oh! Did he?" I asked with a nonchalant tone, while my eyes kept hopping between cereals and cornflakes, deliberating the choice for breakfast.

"Don't be such a buzzkill, Maya," she remarked, furrowing her brows in annoyance.

I stared at her in amazement. Where even in the world did she learn slang? She watched too many Youtube videos and meme clubs. I made a mental note to exit all the meme groups from her Facebook account.

"What? I'm a cool mom. I have to keep up with the modern generation. It's a trendy word!" She justified herself.

"Whatever you say, mom." I shook my head, letting out a soft chuckle.

"As I was saying, Professor Adams said that it would look very good on your college resume if you take part in the inter-school speech competition on behalf of your high school." 

I stared at her for a few moments before I tried to phrase a few coherent words out of my mouth.

"You're saying that I should take part in the inter-school speech competition with students from high school all over from the state, giving a speech on-stage? Yeah, right!" I scoffed, blocking out the idea from my mind. Public speech was never my thing.

"Come on sweetie, it is a great platform for you to show the world how creative you are. The way you see things are from a whole different perspective. We all know it and such talents are rare and so you shouldn't pass on the opportunity." Her voice softened by the end.