5 [ First encounter ]

It was about 4 years ago. I was still in my junior year of high school.

At the time, the neighborhood knew me as a troublesome kid.

There were scandalous events that had happened throughout the years with me as an antagonist, making me infamous in the whole area. Of course, because of the past, my reputation in my high school at the time was nothing worth mentioning.

But still, since there were rumors about a specific student who got involved in a big case that made the news, people wanted to know more about me, especially in the class I was attending.

And after finding out what I did, they felt disgusted by my presence.

'The rumor turns out to be true!' They said.

I became an outcast. Not that I blame those people. I was a disgusting individual.

It did not matter whether or not what people knew was the truth.

It mattered since it was their truth.

My side of the story was that of the villain. Obviously, it was never considered highly in the first place. There is no such thing as 'fair' in reality. My testimonies were easily discarded by the evidence that they found against me. Luckily, I was able to escape jail time since I was a minor, but I was under heavy surveillance by almost everyone.

As for the people involved with me, I would usually put on a smiley face for them to feel good about themselves whenever I saw them. Rather than being down and apologizing as I should be, I told those people that I had changed. In addition, I would never do those things again.

To make it more believable, I would show looks of disgust and contempt in the past in front of the people to appeal to them.

As for the results, I probably did well since they did not interact with me that much after that.

In fact, no one approached me in almost half of my first year as a high school student. It was peaceful.

The same thing could also be said about my father's family.

They had their own space, interests, and hobbies, and I tried to respect that. What I did had affected their lives. Because of that, their reputation and way of life were different than before.

Drastically.

For my father, he would have a little harder time dealing with his clients. My stepmother, she would be left alone for social gatherings. My stepsister and her friends would stop talking to her for being in the same family as me.

It seemed people found out I was the culprit in the events. Not only that, but they also found out my address and the school I was going to. Even when they were not targeting me directly, they did so to the family. I was already isolated from the world, and they did that to my acquaintance.

During that time, my father said nothing except one sentence. My stepmother and her daughter would make uncomfortable faces when they saw me. To sum it up, I was the thorn in their eyes.

In the end, I stopped having meals with them like a family member. I understood why they became indifferent toward me, so I basically tried to become invisible.

To be honest, being alone after everything was much better for me. The fact that I was left alone was my consolation. I would choose to be by myself than be with someone else I did not like any day.

Showing sad faces and making fun of my past were making me nauseous. Anything I said and did was judged by everyone. Their eyes would always be on me most of the time, and I could feel the pressure of conforming to the norm of society at any given moment.

It was tiring.

I had to interact with other people to appear as a changed person so they would not pick on that family. All the time, I would study, answer questions and try to participate in social activities. It was not because I liked it, nor because I changed. It was simple.

Because I had to.

There was only one way for me to be able to keep living in their world. And that was to move in a way that would benefit them. To fix my mistakes, I needed to do things that would make them feel better about themselves, not me.

People needed to know they were right. They desperately wanted confirmation their decisions were correct. That they did not fail an innocent student.

Slowly, I could feel a metal box or steel chains wrapped around my body. Whatever I said must be to the liking of others, or it would be deemed unimportant.

A puppet.

So whenever I was left alone, those times were total bliss. No eyes looking at me, no one judging me. I felt like I was a free man when I was by myself.

The puppet left inside the closet was mostly happy. It did not want to stand in the spotlight to be made fun of.

Since no one wanted to associate with me, I played sports. However, I played on my own. Every day, I would be doing another type of sport in another club. If it was basketball, I would practice shooting. If it was baseball, I would practice batting. For volleyball, I would just hit the ball into the wall constantly. So on and so forth.

'He has autism, I heard.'

Of course, that rumor came. I did not care too much. I was called a worse name.

I was fine doing sports like that.

"Can I practice with you?"

Until one day she came to me.

Lisa was different from me.

She was famous in a good way. Not in the way that I was at that time. The girl was brought up in a good family. Well, at least, that was what I heard.

She was young and cute. Everything about her was adorable and beautiful. A perfect specimen of mother nature. She had a traditional feeling of beauty. One would die for her smile if we were in a different timeline.

She was nothing like me.

Yet Lisa was always drawn to me, a bad guy.

I had a fair share of doubts. I did not have any money, power, or the looks to make anyone of such caliber swoon over me.

Lisa talked to me was simply weird. There was nothing she could gain from talking to such a person who was clearly at the bottom of the food chain.

At first, after hearing her question, I was stunned. However, I was in no place to deny anything of those who had a higher social status than me. If Lisa felt like she was having a difficult time with me, she would make my life even worse with her social circles.

I answered her question with a smile. My lips spread from ear to ear.

"My pleasure!"

In my pocket, I secretly opened the recording app. There was no way I would be alone with another girl without having any kind of proof anymore.

After that, we simply played basketball without saying anything. Lisa was having some trouble following me because of the difference in our physical strength, but I could see that she was just playing sport genuinely rather than just messing around. Still, I did not let my guard down. My phone was recording the whole thing.

"Hey, you are Shi, right?"

Lisa spoke to me gently while sweats were dripping off her cute face.

"Yes, that's me. The one and only infamous Shi."

The contrary of my corny sentence, she did not laugh or smile.

Her eyes seemed very focused. It actually scared me a little.

"Can we do this again tomorrow?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but tomorrow I have volleyball."

"I know. I will play volleyball with you tomorrow. That is okay, right?"

Her request raised a flag of doubt in my head. It constantly screamed trouble in my mind. I took out my phone, turned off my recording app, and faked my tapping a little.

"My bad. Tomorrow I have cram school. So I won't be playing volleyball. Sorry for the confusion, haha."

"Shi, I saw your phone."

"..."

"You were recording, right?"

"Sometimes things just happen on their own. I don't put a password, you see. Probably my phone was just acting up. You know..."

She sighed.

"First, I'm sorry for looking. I know you're being too careful about stuff. It's not a bad thing, in my opinion. But at least trust your only friend a little."

"Friend? Since when? And who?"

"Me. I'm your friend."

"I'm sorry. I don't quite understand? When did we become friends?"

Sweats started to form on my forehead. That could be because of the practice. Or it could also be because of the person in front of me. She kept sending me weird vibes with her talking and actions.

"I know that you play sports every day on your own. Furthermore, I know you have cram school, yet they are always an hour after the practice."

I needed to leave, and fast. This person was bad news.

She took in a large breath as if preparing to do something big.

"I believe you, Shi! You did nothing wrong."

My eyes focused on her entirely. She returned the stare.

"...Excuse me?"

"Don't worry. You have me as an ally."

"You're making no sense. I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I was the...It doesn't matter now. Just know that you have a friend from now on. Okay?"

She was about to speak of something important. I could hear her voice going up a little, and then she held back. Something hard to put into words. I have a lot of those.

"I thank you for your thoughts. But at the moment..."

"Shi!"

She almost screamed. Luckily, there was no one but us to hear her. That in itself was also a bad thing. What if she was planning a false accusation against me?

Once more, I turned on the recording app.

"Please! I just want to return the favor!"

Her soft voice trembled.

"Please keep your voice down. And I do not remember giving favor to anyone. You're probably mistaken."

"No! It's you! It has to be."

She was on the verge of crying already. I looked at her awkwardly. A girl whom I met for the first time was about to cry. That would not be nice if someone saw me. Not to mention she was beautiful.

That was a free pass when it came to social justice.

"Um, I hate to be the one to say this. But I'll be hitting the shower. See ya later, okay."

I ran.

"Tomorrow. I will be here. Please come, Shi."

Lisa yelled.

"And my name is Lisa! Nice to meet you!"

I did not do anything but run. As I thought, Lisa was undoubtedly bad news.

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