IMPERFECTLY PERFECT PERSON
"In a life of regrets and missed opportunities, I, an introverted soul merely existing, found unexpected salvation in a girl battling anxiety—a twist that rewrote my entire story."
Opening:
Rena has been appointed as the vice president of our club, and a few members have already joined. As for the other management roles, we'll be selecting those at a later date. However, not everything has been smooth. Some seniors are having issues with a first-year leading the group, and their complaints have escalated all the way to the principal. They're accusing the officials of playing favorites, and the situation is getting complicated.
No one knows about the hacking incident from the other day, except for the principal and our class teacher. Other than my involvement as the class representative and during College Week, I haven't been very active, so the teachers are finding it difficult to defend me. In the end, they decided to let the students themselves handle the situation by organizing a debate competition to determine who should lead the club.
It feels like I'm being dragged into a lot of things lately. I keep telling myself, "It can't get any worse," but at this point, it seems like fate has taken that simple positive thought as a challenge and keeps throwing even more trouble my way.
But for now, I don't want to dwell on that. There's an even bigger crisis on my mind, something that happened during the first break today. I was at the college ground with Jet and some friends when I received a text from Tsula, asking what I was up to. Just for fun, I snapped a selfie of me having coffee with Jee and sent it to her.
What happened next caught me completely off guard. Tsula responded with a voice message, and when I played it, I heard her suddenly start crying. She kept saying she didn't even know why she was crying, but she couldn't help it when she saw me with someone else. After that, she abruptly ended the message, saying she'd be back later.
Hearing her like that left me utterly perplexed. I didn't know how to react. More than that, I couldn't understand why she teared up. I don't feel like she's romantically interested in me—I can sense that from the way we've been together. So why would she react like that? It kept bugging me because it didn't make any sense. I couldn't focus on anything after that.
I returned to the hostel earlier than usual, my mind spinning with thoughts about what had happened earlier. I tried to lie down on my bed, but my thoughts wouldn't let me rest. I was so confused about the whole situation with Tsula. On one hand, I felt sad seeing her cry, but on the other hand, a small part of me felt happy—happy because she cried over me. It made me feel special, like I was important to someone, even if it was just a moment of jealousy.
But still, I needed to know what had caused it. I couldn't just leave things unresolved. After some time, I finally gathered the courage to ask her about it.
"Hey," I texted her, my heart pounding a little faster than usual.
"Hi," Tsula replied almost immediately.
"Do you feel okay now?" I asked, hoping she had calmed down.
"Yes, I feel better now, thank you for asking," she replied, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me.
"That's great," I said, but the question that had been bugging me still lingered. "Although, can I ask you about what really happened?"
"Yeah, I was going to talk about it too," Tsula responded.
"Actually, even I don't know what happened at that moment," she continued. "As soon as I saw that picture of you with another girl, I couldn't hold back my tears. I was trying to stop them, but I just couldn't. I didn't even understand what was going on at the time."
I listened closely, trying to make sense of her words.
"So I can't tell you what really happened with me, because even I'm not sure," she admitted. "But all I know is that I felt really sad when I saw you with another girl."
Her words left me with even more questions. I didn't know what this meant. It couldn't be that she loved me, could it? She often talked about the senior class rep with admiration, and the way she interacted with me felt close but in a different way—like we were more than friends, but not quite something else.
Before I let my mind wander into dangerous territory, I decided to interpret it in the simplest way possible. Maybe it was just like the best friend jealousy I'd felt before. I didn't want to jump to conclusions or give myself false hope, so I decided to confront her gently.
"Could it be that it's similar to best friend jealousy?" I asked, trying to ease the tension. "A lot of people feel like that sometimes."
As we continued texting, I reassured her that it was okay to feel that way, and that I was actually happy she cared so much. I admitted that her reaction made me feel special, knowing that I was important to her, even though I already knew it from our bond. Seeing her emotions confirmed it in a way that made me genuinely happy.
We ended the night on good terms, having talked things through and closing the chapter on this confusing situation. As I put my phone away, I felt a sense of peace knowing that, whatever it was, our friendship had only grown deeper.
I got up for college the next day, feeling unusually energized. Yesterday had its share of messes, but one really good thing happened—something personal that made all the difference. It gave me the motivation to go the extra mile today.
After my classes, Rena and I stayed back as usual to prepare the source material for the next day's class, fulfilling our regular duties as CR and ACR. As we worked, Rena approached my desk, her expression serious.
"Ashan, about the upcoming debate competition," she began, her tone thoughtful. I had asked Rena the day before to be my partner for the debate. I felt a bit guilty for relying on her so much, but this time, I didn't want to lose. I knew I needed her help if I wanted to win.
We started planning, taking time to carefully strategize our offensive and defensive positions. I could see that Rena was thinking deeply about the competition, weighing every option.
After a while, she looked up at me, her expression even more serious than before. "Why are you doing this, Ashan?" she asked, her voice tinged with curiosity.
"Eh? What do you mean?" I replied, genuinely confused by her question.
"I mean, why are you trying so hard to win? The strategies you've come up with—they're not something you just think of on the spot. You must have put a lot of thought into this. It was strange when the principal called you out to be the president, so why are you really doing this?" Rena's eyes searched mine, as if she was trying to uncover a hidden truth.
I couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Huh, that intuition of yours can be really scary sometimes..." I said, trying to lighten the mood, but I could tell she wasn't letting it go.
"Although yes, you're right—there is a reason why I'm doing all these things," I admitted, my tone becoming more serious.
"So tell me, what is it?" she asked, her voice filled with genuine concern.
I hesitated for a moment, weighing my words. "Alright... but I trust that you won't tell anyone else about this?" I said, looking her straight in the eye.
"Of course," Rena replied without hesitation, her expression sincere.
"So, do you remember the last time an anime movie was played on the projector without permission?" I asked, trying to ease into the confession.
"Yes, what about it?" Rena replied, curiosity piqued.
"I was the one who did that. I hacked into their network logs and made it happen," I admitted, bracing myself for her reaction.
"..." Rena just stared at me, processing what I'd said.
"And the principal caught me red-handed. They asked me for a favor in exchange for no punishment," I continued, hoping she'd understand.
"...Why didn't you turn off the projector before the teacher arrived?" she asked, her tone a mix of disbelief and exasperation.
"Well, you see... I was busy enjoying the movie and forgot that I did it without permission..." I confessed, feeling a little embarrassed.
"..." Rena's silence was deafening.
"..." I had no excuse.
"Can I say something?" she finally asked, her voice steady.
"Please do!" I responded, eager to hear her thoughts.
"Are you dumb?" Rena asked, her words blunt and to the point.
"...A bit," I admitted, scratching the back of my head.
"Seriously, I can't believe you. How can you be so careless? You know the risks of doing that to college property!" she scolded, clearly frustrated.
"Hehe, sorry..." I mumbled, feeling the weight of her words.
"How can you be so carefree... Seriously, I really don't get you sometimes. But then again, I'm still not convinced," Rena said, her suspicion returning.
"What do you mean? I told you everything," I replied, slightly defensive.
"No, I feel like there's more to it. You're a lazy person who doesn't like to do extra work. That's how you've been so far, and you don't even mind if your reputation goes down if it means you can slack off more. So if it was just a favor that the principal asked, then you could just lose on purpose, give up on the club, and the principal wouldn't have any problem with it," Rena reasoned, her eyes narrowing as she tried to see through me.
"Oiii, now you're really scaring me! Am I really that easy to read?" I exclaimed, genuinely surprised by how well she knew me.
"Just answer me," Rena insisted, her tone firm.
Instead of answering, I countered, "Why are you being so persistent about this?"
Rena stared at me, her gaze unwavering.
"Alright, alright, fine. I'll tell you," I conceded, realizing there was no way around it.
"I'm listening," Rena said, her tone softer now, but still expecting an answer.
"The principal wanted to create this club for a good cause, and since I ended up making it, I felt partly responsible for it too. I wanted this club to actually help people. And... well…"
"And what?" Rena asked.
"It's just that you've already been confirmed for the vice president position," I said.
"So?" she replied, a bit puzzled.
"I don't want idiots to be above you."
Rena paused, her eyes widening slightly. "Really?"
"Yeah, don't make me say it again," I muttered, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Hmm, first it was the College Week, and now this. You really are different from the rest," Rena said, her tone softening.
"What do you mean?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"Nothing..." she said with a small smile. "Let's get back to work. Besides, I don't want to lose to those jerks either."
"Haha, you're right," I agreed.
And so, we continued our preparations for the debate until the day finally arrived.