Hearing the preparatory bell ring, I opened the classroom door and suddenly felt all the eyes in the room focus on me. They seemed to think that the teacher in Counselor had arrived early, and when they saw it was me, a trace of surprise flashed across their faces, but they still greeted me as usual and then continued their conversations.
Among them, Abel walked towards me particularly quickly, and I raised one hand to signal to him.
"Ben, didn't you ask for leave?"
"Well, yes."
I replied vaguely to Abel, who widened his eyes in surprise, and he suddenly put his hand on my forehead. I also put my hand on my forehead and couldn't help laughing at his murmuring to himself.
"I don't have a cold. I just felt a bit uncomfortable when I woke up in the morning."
"Oh, that's good. However, your low blood pressure hasn't been that serious recently, so you still need to be careful."
I gently placed my hand on Abel's shoulder, who was looking at me worriedly, and couldn't help showing a wry smile.
"Well, I will be careful."
Having said that, the reason why my head and body felt heavy and my mood was extremely bad the moment I woke up was obviously not due to the usual low blood pressure or something like that. Now, I clearly knew that there was only one reason for this.
"Not understanding the meaning of liking" - Honestly, the moment I heard this sentence, I felt a darkness in front of my eyes. Maybe it wasn't said to me. No, maybe I just wanted to think so, but my chest hurt unbearably.
I didn't expect to be hurt so much by such a thing. I had never felt this way before.
I don't want to be hated.
I don't want to be separated.
The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to escape. Clearly, the other person took the initiative to approach me rarely, but I felt scared. And it was precisely because of this that I realized again how special that person was to me.
"Are you okay? Your face still doesn't look good."
Abel waved his hand in front of me, who was standing there in a daze, and his eyebrows furrowed.
"I'm fine."
I finished speaking and shrugged, then walked towards my seat at the back of the classroom.
"By the way."
"Huh?"
I looked at Abel, who was sitting in the front seat, and he somehow showed a troubled expression. I looked at him puzzledly, and suddenly my desk was surrounded by my classmates.
"Ben, can you be the executive committee member for the school anniversary celebration?"
"Just having your name on it is fine."
"Just showing up a little is enough."
Suddenly surrounded by them, the three of them spoke quickly at the same time, and I couldn't help tilting my head. Suddenly, they put their hands together and bowed their heads, pleading with me.
The usual lively trio. This is my general impression of them. I remember one of them, but I'm not very familiar with the other two. Why are they pleading with me like this?
"I don't quite understand what you mean. And I've always said that I will never do such a thing, right?"
Since I basically prioritize my part-time job, I not only don't participate in club activities but also don't hold any positions. I should have told the teacher in charge beforehand. I frowned at them, and they looked like they were about to kneel down.
"Please help us! If you can do it, the girls' enthusiasm will greatly increase."
Aaron, the short guy with yellow hair in the middle of the trio, clenched his fist and tried his best to persuade me. But for me, this was completely uninteresting.
"I refuse. I don't have time after school."
"It's okay! There won't be any meetings after school."
I didn't understand what the relationship was. If there were no meetings after school, then when would there be. I sighed, narrowed my eyes, and Aaron really knelt down.
"Please, I really beg you! Otherwise, I will be killed by the president."
"Ah?"
Aaron lowered his head, only raised his hands above his head, and began to tremble and cry.
"What you said just now is different from what you're saying now?"
Aaron's words made me obviously show an unhappy expression, and he jumped up and sat upright on the ground.
"The girls' enthusiasm will greatly increase is true, really. As long as you give them a little encouragement, they will have a hundred times more strength."
He hurriedly raised his hands and gestured, looking like a Bon dance played frame by frame, while the people on both sides of him shook their heads constantly like broken toys with broken springs.
"But it's also true that I will be killed by the president! Please save me as a classmate, I beg you."
Looking at Aaron, who spread his arms and lay on the ground, I couldn't help sighing.
"Could it be that Aaron you are the executive committee chairperson for this school anniversary celebration?"
The school anniversary celebration that Aaron mentioned was a special event for the 70th anniversary of this school. Even so, it was not as lively as the cultural festival but a more formal event for parents.
"Yes! That's right. This is a troublesome role."
He stood up abruptly and hung his shoulders dejectedly.
Such one-time events are organized by the student council, and executive committee members are selected through self-recommendation or recommendation from each grade and class. The executive committee chairperson is randomly selected from these people regardless of grade, so the probability of being selected as the chairperson among the executive committee members is extremely low.
Aaron's luck is really bad.
"The relationship in our class is not bad, but there is no sense of unity. I am the chairperson, so as long as one more person from this class is enough, but it can't be decided at all."
Looking around the classroom, what I heard was the sound of "Good luck" as if it had nothing to do with them, and an atmosphere of "It's none of my business". In another sense, this was a kind of overly strong sense of unity.
"Everyone is very free-spirited."
Almost all of them were promoted from the second grade, and there were many familiar faces, but I had never seen them full of energy during either the sports festival or the cultural festival.
"I really might be killed. So just lend me your name, and I will do the rest."
"It doesn't have to be me, right? The two people on either side are fine too. Aren't you guys good friends?"
"No, it must be Ben!"
Aaron pestered me, and in the end, he even cried. But his stubbornness made me narrow my eyes and look down at him.
"Does this mean there is a designated person?"
Hearing my words, Aaron was startled, and Abel, who had been silent all along, suddenly sighed.
"That's why I said it's useless to deceive Ben."
"Abel! Say something for me too."
"I don't want to."
Abel waved his hand like driving away a cat or a dog to shake off Aaron, who was hugging his knee, and Aaron finally fell to the ground.
"This way, there is no way to solve it at all. What on earth is going on."
I supported my face with my hand and looked down at Aaron, who muttered and hesitated to explain the whole story.
"Well, it's like this... The executive committee member for our class has never been decided, and the president ordered that Ben should come."
"Oh, I see."
The current student council president, Paul, once had a relationship similar to a friend with me. But that guy's free-spirited thinking is still the same, and I couldn't help sighing. He probably found something interesting in me.
"Doesn't Aaron have any other options?"
"Well, unfortunately, no."
Looking at Aaron, who was really dejected, I felt that this would really lead to no progress. Although it was troublesome, there was no other way.
"I see."
I muttered helplessly, and Aaron cried and jumped up to grab my hand and wave it.
"Well, then just sign your name here quickly."
I confirmed again that there would be no time after school, and then signed my name on the job application form that he handed over with a relieved smile. The school anniversary celebration was after the consecutive holidays in May, and there was still one month left.
What a hassle, I got involved.