Facade Of Perfectionism

Chapter 2~A Day in Maya's Life-II

The trip to the school campus was merely a thirty minutes drive. Dad parked the car right in front of the gate and then turned to face me.

“Have fun sweetie.” He wished while fetching a file from the back seat. 

“Return this file to Professor Adams on your way to class.” 

“What is it?” I said, scanning the papers inside the file.

“Oh, nothing. It's just the enrollment form of the inter-school speech competition. Since you aren't participating, we should return it.” Dad deadpanned.

I felt a pang of guilt surging inside me for declining their wish, and he seemed to notice it.

“Don't worry about it, dear. It's just a competition. You'll get better opportunities in your life and I hope that you will be prepared to dodge back when life throws a curve in your way by then.” 

His pep talks always soothe me. I didn't know if he magically knew about my weaknesses or if it was just a mere coincidence, but he always had the right thing to say at the right time. 

“I will, Dad,” I said with a genuine smile. At least I hope I do.

“Okay, off you go now. Have a good day sweetie.” He said when I got out of the car.

“You too dad.” I waved him goodbye as he left. I turned back and observed my school for a moment. 

Eastwood Public High School

Here goes nothing. I walked across the campus taking in the breathtaking scenery it was surrounded by. I came across a few unfamiliar faces, greeting and smiling at me. Apparently, being an A-grade student has its own unnecessary perks.

I walked up to my locker to get ready for my English class. Before I could turn around, a female voice, too chirpy for a Monday morning, called out to me. 

“Maya! How are you, babe? Oh… How much I missed you, it's been so long since I've last seen you!” Veronica chirped while walking towards me with two other girls besides her.

I observed her in surprise for a moment or two and cleared my throat before bringing up my dramatic tone.

“I know right! It's been so long! I know you missed me and guess what? I did too!” I said, almost fake pouting and making a puppy face.

I was very well aware of how much she missed me. I barely got one text from her in the past three months. And the last time she texted me, was to ask for my help in her assignment, or, must I say, copy my assignment. We never exchanged a single word other than for assignments and tests. 

One might wonder why she would bother sticking around and asking about my well-being when all she cared about was getting her work done, how so ever. Well, things were a little more complicated than that. She tried to maintain a healthy relationship with everyone in highschool, even with the nerds, surprisingly. She was one of those people who desperately tried to be in everyone's good books.

To put it simply, she needed someone who could help her do the assignments for her while I, for that matter, could have someone to pretend to talk to so I wouldn't come off as a loner. Trust me, high school pounces at such kinds. So, it was a ‘kill two birds with one stone’ setting.

I didn't blame her though. It wasn't just only with her. It was with almost everybody in the school. I wasn't the most sociable person out here. I had friends. Though not the kind of friends with whom I could go to parties, or have sleepovers. Just casual friends that I needed to talk, when I'm at school. I would say I got acquaintances.
 
Not that I was complaining. I liked it that way.