After the assembly, we were sent back to our classrooms. As I was walking, I could feel students staring at me. It was because I was carrying something that looked like a gift. I had received it in front of the whole school just few minutes before so, understandable. That was not the weird part. The strangest part was that my friends were all silently tailing me as if they were planning something. It sent chills down my spine. But I couldn't afford to run because I could fall, and it could damage whatever that was in the box. I was more worried about my award than myself.
I reached our classroom and silently sat on my seat. I put my prize on my desk for a moment to pick up my bag. I wanted to put it in my bag as soon as possible to keep it safe. But in just a moment, when I took my eyes off my gift, it disappeared. I almost got a stroke until I saw someone else had picked it up. My friends were holding it and examining it as if it was some kind of a treasure. Now, I was about to get a heart attack. It made me angry, and I immediately took it back from them. There hands were the last place I wanted my prize to be in. It was the most unsafe place for it. I could feel them staring at my gift like a hungry lion looks at a deer before it preys on it. My poor prize…
As I was about to put it in my bag, Paul asked me about what I was doing and if I was not going to open it. I told him that I was going to open it at home. They exchanged looks and I got goosebumps. I hurried up but before I could put it in my back, Prat took it away from me. Like hungry lions preying on an innocent and weak deer, they tore apart the wrapper and revealed the insides of the box. I couldn't see it. I felt pity for a non-living thing. I could have never thought that a non-living thing could be disrespected that shamelessly.
But only if that was it. Even though they had seen the prize, instead of being happy, they looked disappointed. Their faces had a look on their face that said, "That's it?" I couldn't take it anymore and took away my prize from their hands and finally put in my bag. But it was too late. They had lost interest now that they had violated my award.
What I had received were colours and other stuff related to art and craft. I liked it. I was probably not going to use it any time soon, but it was my prize. Granted I did nothing to deserve it, I had still won it! Not to mention compared to the money I had given to Autumn; it was many times expensive. But my friends didn't like it because they thought prizes like that were for kids. We were too old to play with colours. None of us had even started going through puberty. They continued to discuss amongst themselves about how bad my prize was and my blood that was boiling finally erupted like a volcano. I slammed my fists on my desk and told them to shut up. I asked them to tell me about where their prizes were. Finally, they shut up and I felt peaceful.
Not only had they opened my prize without my permission, but they were also now insulting it. There was a limit to how much I could take. And once again, instead of admitting their mistakes, they told me it was my fault. That if I had opened it myself at school, they wouldn't have had to use force. That's how I knew they were friends.
They didn't even know why I had received a prize in the first place. Those were my friends. I told them about the science fair, and they started laughing. They told me that I didn't deserve the prize because I did nothing, and Autumn was the one who did everything. Clearly, they weren't even a little bit self-aware. I couldn't be bothered to point out their hypocrisy. They would have found a way to use the argument against me either way. I told them about the fair when Autumn first asked me about it, but they couldn't care less so, I didn't share the details.
I took my prize home, and my mom was very happy to see I had won. She didn't need to know the details. I could use the colours and other stuff I had won on my projects.
However, the day I was most excited about came few days after I won the prize for the science fair. In the second week of November, I went to get my prize for the 'talent exam' with my aunt. The institution had sent the location and time over the message. This time as well, I had to go with my aunt. Up until the moment I reached the venue, I was extremely excited. There was a woman at the reception, and we told her that we were there to get the prize for the exam. There was no one else present which was a bit underwhelming. I thought it was because we went in evening, and everyone was probably given a different time. The receptionist guided us to a room, and we went inside. There was a man sitting on a chair. A normal looking man.
Me and my aunt sat on the chairs opposite him. It made me quite nervous, but my excitement remained unaffected. He asked me my name and I told him. He pulled something from a drawer besides him and my excitement skyrocketed. I thought he was taking out my prize, a smartphone. But all he had in his hand was a certificate… not even a trophy.
I thought that he was going to take out my phone next. But I was wrong. He just put my certificate in front of us and congratulated me… My disappointment was immeasurable, and my life was ruined. In a moment, my happiness and excitement vanished. I didn't want a certificate or his congratulations. My aunt saw my sad face and asked the man about the smart phone.
He told us that I would get a smartphone only if I took admission in their institution. And obviously, to do so, I would have to pay them even more. He told us that it was written on the website. The asterisk that was written next to the prize came to my mind and everything connected. That asterisk meant 'terms and conditions applied'. That was it. I realized how easy it was for dreams to break. I could no longer stay in that room. My aunt wasted our time with him for a few minutes. During those minutes, he tried his best to convince her to send me to their institution.
But his sweet words could not brainwash me. I had learned my lesson. I was right in the beginning, but my greed clouded my judgement making me participate in that exam. In the end, it was all just a cash grab, I thought. They must have made huge money by taking fees from participants and giving nothing to winners. I was regretting paying for their stupid test and now, he wanted us to give them even more money by enrolling in their institution. Why? Just so I could a cheap phone. If I had the money to go to their institution, I wouldn't have needed to participate in their exam.
However, before we left, he told us that the first twenty ranks did get prizes without any strings attached. And if I wanted a prize, I could try again next year. I didn't know what his job was, but he wasn't good at it. He probably thought I was foolish enough to fall for their scam again.