Rukawa. Is not. Rukawa.
He is in fact some guy called Sakuragi Hanamichi and the real, genuine article is still at large.
AGGGHHHHH!
I throw my pen down in frustration and knock my head against my knuckles repeatedly. How could I have been so stupid?
"You know we might be able to get more work done if you stopped knocking your own head and actually tried to do some thinking." My classmate, Mia, says icily. We are supposed to be discussing the various forms of social hierarchies in different societies and I have apparently been zoning out. Mia, of course, takes it upon herself to remind me of that obvious fact.
I contemplate stabbing her with my pen but then figure that her skin is so thick that my pen will fracture into two upon contact.
Sigh.
I smile at Mia and pretend to be delighted to participate in the discussion. Then it hits me that I've never really voiced out my true thoughts on a lot of matters. I'm always pretending to be in the know and on top of everything, when really I know nothing.
Never told Keiko what I really thought about her pom-pom antics, never told Mia to shut up even though I'm on the verge of making a hit list and putting her as No. 1, never mentioned to Sensei how time consuming it would be for me to be in charge of the mentoring program. Never dared to tell anyone that I was oblivious as to who Rukawa really is.
So why do I pretend so much? So that I'll be better liked by others? I'm still almost a zero on the popularity scale. It's not as if bending to others has helped me, so why am I afraid to tell the truth?
I think I ask too many questions. I just want to forget everything that has happened and start on a clean slate. I want to start out again and just be me.
The bell rings and Mia snarls at me one last time. I have yet to contribute to the discussion. I smile at her again, not because I'm trying to be fake but because I know how much my smile irritates her.
You can practically see the smoke coming out of her ears.
I stop at my locker and unload some of the contents in my bag. There are a couple of guys chatting by my locker. They're arguing over who's the hottest babe in school.
"Man, that basketball team manager * whistles *, she's hot!" I overhear one of them say.
"Maybe too hot. Have you seen the way she handles the team members? No one escapes her fan. She's deadly!" Another remarks and frowns
"You just like them easy like that chick in your biology class. Too bad she's so besotted with Rukawa."
"Hey, want to see something cool? I heard there's going to be a catfight at the gym. A bunch of girls against that cutesy Haruko."
" Girls fighting? Cooooool." The guys snicker together.
There's something about guys and raging hormones. It makes their brains stop working. I shake my head as I walk away, but the name Haruko nags at me.
Haruko. . Haruko. why is that name so familiar?
Oh no. ***
I run as fast as my short stumpy legs can take me to the gym. True to form, there is a large crowd of girls at the gym's entrance, only this time their attention is directed at another girl.
"Akagi Haruko!! You're using your brother's influence to get Rukawa aren't you?" The leader of the group cries.
"What?" The girl, I assume is Haruko, says. She's baffled by the crowd of angry females around her.
"Don't act dumb with us! You stole Rukawa from us!!"
"You mean. Rukawa likes me?" Haruko suddenly has this dazed, happy look on her face. She swoons and I think she might faint from pure happiness. The Rukawa Shinetai, however, is incensed by her words.
"He doesn't like you! He loves us! You just stole him!" The girls somehow manage to scream in unison. They start pulling Haruko's hair and clawing at her face. I try to part them but my words fall on deaf ears and my efforts are useless in separating the swarm of the girls that now pounce at Haruko's neck.
Then he appears. He drags Haruko out of the way and shields her with his body.
"Crazy kitsune fan girls! What on earth are you doing?"
"Stupid redhead-no-talent-monkey! Get out of our way!"
"Teme!"
They argue back and forth. Sakuragi Hanamichi versus a legion of fanatics. The name-calling increases, the shrill voices and lone masculine one, reach new altitudes.
"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!!!"
There's a sudden peace that falls over the group as everyone turns to look at me. Gulp.
He is in fact some guy called Sakuragi Hanamichi and the real, genuine article is still at large.
AGGGHHHHH!
I throw my pen down in frustration and knock my head against my knuckles repeatedly. How could I have been so stupid?
"You know we might be able to get more work done if you stopped knocking your own head and actually tried to do some thinking." My classmate, Mia, says icily. We are supposed to be discussing the various forms of social hierarchies in different societies and I have apparently been zoning out. Mia, of course, takes it upon herself to remind me of that obvious fact.
I contemplate stabbing her with my pen but then figure that her skin is so thick that my pen will fracture into two upon contact.
Sigh.
I smile at Mia and pretend to be delighted to participate in the discussion. Then it hits me that I've never really voiced out my true thoughts on a lot of matters. I'm always pretending to be in the know and on top of everything, when really I know nothing.
Never told Keiko what I really thought about her pom-pom antics, never told Mia to shut up even though I'm on the verge of making a hit list and putting her as No. 1, never mentioned to Sensei how time consuming it would be for me to be in charge of the mentoring program. Never dared to tell anyone that I was oblivious as to who Rukawa really is.
So why do I pretend so much? So that I'll be better liked by others? I'm still almost a zero on the popularity scale. It's not as if bending to others has helped me, so why am I afraid to tell the truth?
I think I ask too many questions. I just want to forget everything that has happened and start on a clean slate. I want to start out again and just be me.
The bell rings and Mia snarls at me one last time. I have yet to contribute to the discussion. I smile at her again, not because I'm trying to be fake but because I know how much my smile irritates her.
You can practically see the smoke coming out of her ears.
I stop at my locker and unload some of the contents in my bag. There are a couple of guys chatting by my locker. They're arguing over who's the hottest babe in school.
"Man, that basketball team manager * whistles *, she's hot!" I overhear one of them say.
"Maybe too hot. Have you seen the way she handles the team members? No one escapes her fan. She's deadly!" Another remarks and frowns
"You just like them easy like that chick in your biology class. Too bad she's so besotted with Rukawa."
"Hey, want to see something cool? I heard there's going to be a catfight at the gym. A bunch of girls against that cutesy Haruko."
" Girls fighting? Cooooool." The guys snicker together.
There's something about guys and raging hormones. It makes their brains stop working. I shake my head as I walk away, but the name Haruko nags at me.
Haruko. . Haruko. why is that name so familiar?
Oh no. ***
I run as fast as my short stumpy legs can take me to the gym. True to form, there is a large crowd of girls at the gym's entrance, only this time their attention is directed at another girl.
"Akagi Haruko!! You're using your brother's influence to get Rukawa aren't you?" The leader of the group cries.
"What?" The girl, I assume is Haruko, says. She's baffled by the crowd of angry females around her.
"Don't act dumb with us! You stole Rukawa from us!!"
"You mean. Rukawa likes me?" Haruko suddenly has this dazed, happy look on her face. She swoons and I think she might faint from pure happiness. The Rukawa Shinetai, however, is incensed by her words.
"He doesn't like you! He loves us! You just stole him!" The girls somehow manage to scream in unison. They start pulling Haruko's hair and clawing at her face. I try to part them but my words fall on deaf ears and my efforts are useless in separating the swarm of the girls that now pounce at Haruko's neck.
Then he appears. He drags Haruko out of the way and shields her with his body.
"Crazy kitsune fan girls! What on earth are you doing?"
"Stupid redhead-no-talent-monkey! Get out of our way!"
"Teme!"
They argue back and forth. Sakuragi Hanamichi versus a legion of fanatics. The name-calling increases, the shrill voices and lone masculine one, reach new altitudes.
"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!!!"
There's a sudden peace that falls over the group as everyone turns to look at me. Gulp.