Apparently, the cheater never wins. But only if they don't get caught, right?
Doing things the usual way in life simply does not work! It just doesn't!
You may disagree with me, but if you live in the same world as I do, you're obliged to cheat.
Do you believe that clichés like "vigorous hard work" or "consistency of study lessons" gained me the best grades in school? To earn the scores I wanted, all I had to do was sneak notes in inventive ways and take brief peeks over my peers' work.
But they still wouldn’t look at me.
When it's our school's sports day and parents are required to watch their kids play, they come but trust me, it's not for me, but to show off how good they seem like parents.
I'd do anything, including dangerously slide-tackling another player, intentionally stealing the ball from another teammate, and pretending to have fake injuries and fouls to lure in opportunities for free kicks and penalties, because in the end, my team will always win, and no one will notice my cheating.
But they still wouldn’t look at me.
So I attempted a different strategy; my family isn't necessarily wealthy, but we're also not poor, so you could say we're somewhere in the middle.
I'm telling you this because I purchased my mother an expensive high-end designer dress one day; my father doesn't give me any pocket money, so let's just say I didn't buy it legally. And I saw her grin for the first time, like I saw her teeth and gums for the actual first time, and I never imagined them to be that pristine. But then I realised the smile was for the Gucci skirt, Louis Vuitton bags, and Balenciaga shoes, not for me.
They still wouldn’t look at me.
But the ONE TIME I was caught cheating on my school tests, they actually looked at me! Finally, their EYES were fixed on me. But that wasn't the gaze you'd give to your favourite son; it was a look of hate and agony for a criminal.
On that day, as my parents sat next to me while speaking to my headmaster, they treated me as if I were an outlaw, as if the entire image they'd fought for had been wrecked.
"Erm, sorry to call you out here Mr Akazaya and Mrs. Akatsuki but we want to discuss your son's future plans." While browsing over my files, the headmaster says.
"Don't worry, we'll tell him off as soon as we get home," Father adds on the phone while texting.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Liar.
He's going to start working as soon as we get home.
"And how about you, Mrs. Akazaya?" "What are your thoughts on this?" The headmaster inquired.
"Ermm..." Mother muttered, her face buried in her phone.
"Mrs. Akatsuki, are you listening?" the headmaster asked, a little anxiously.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you… erm, we'll just ground him for cheating."
Mother isn't even paying attention because she's on the phone messaging her friends like a high schooler.
As soon as the meeting was over, we were walking down the corridor, when other kids started throwing paper balls and rubbish at me.
"YOU CHEATER!"
"I ACTUALLY LOOKED UP TO YOU AS A ROLE MODEL!"
"THAT MEANS EVERYTHING YOU DID WASN'T EVEN YOUR OWN EFFORTS!" HOW SAD!"
"FROM NOW ON YOU'RE KNOWN AS A FRAUD!"
I simply ignored the insults because I'd never made friends with any of them.
And, as usual, my parents walk by as if nothing was happening.
"CHEATERS WILL NEVER WIN!" YOUR PARENTS MUST BE DISAPPOINTED WITH YOU! "WHERE IS YOUR HONOUR?"
That one remark sent me off.
"Honour?" I muttered.
"Did he say something?" said one of the pupils.
"SCREW YOUR HONOUR! HONOUR DID NOT GET ME ANYWHERE! IF ANYTHING, YOU SHOULD BLAME YOUR INCOMPETENT SELVES FOR ALLOWING ME TO GET THIS FAR BY CHEATING!" I exploded in wrath.
When I turned around, I felt tight grips on both of my shoulders and a devilish gaze from my parents, like if I were filth.
You've got to be kidding, right? They wouldn't defend their own child, but this is what I get when I defend myself? Isn't the whole school against their son? Don't they feel resentment or anger that I'm being treated in this manner?
We arrived at the car as Father was driving, normally our car journeys are quiet, but not this time.
“YOU STUPID BRAT! NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE I EVER BEEN THROUGH SOO MUCH HUMILIATION!” as mum loses her cool and spits up a storm.
“Why can’t you just be like me? Why?!” my father cried out in anguish.
“Huh? Why are you upset? Shouldn’t it be me?” I enragedly questioned my father.
“Swindle Akazaya! Don’t answer back!”
Even the way he calls my name as if we're strangers makes me think he doesn't even recognise me as his son.
"All this time when you were at the top of your class, I finally thought you could be like me! I eventually considered you as a prospective business partner for our company."
“Business partner!? Is that what you’ve been seeing me all this time?!” I said, perplexed.
As I swallowed my father's words, they pierced my heart.
"Can I ask you two a question?" I asked, my voice trembling.
"Ask your Father." Mother simply ignored the question.
"Has there ever been a time in your lives when you two have loved or been proud of me?" I asked, knowing that their answer could be my final straw.
Mother immediately stopped typing, and Father came to a complete halt.
Did I ask the wrong question?
"Swindle."
"Yeah?" I said to my father.
“Have you ever seen me and your mother ever loving each other?”
I was left speechless by my Father's answer, and yet my mother seemed unfazed as she went back to her texting.
"There is no love in business, so consider this family to be a business, and your birth to be a contract for our family to operate. This family is null and invalid without that contract."
And that was all the confirmation I needed. I refrained from responding because I knew that doing so would make me cry and, knowing my parents, it would make them cringe.
BEEEEP! BEEEEP!
Suddenly, a beam of light reflects off my eyes; it's a truck barreling down on us at top speed. In an unexpected turn of events, my mother, who was seated in the passenger seat, twisted her body and dove towards me, trying to shield me from harm. My father then climbed on top of her.
CRAAAASSSSSH!