“Cindy, can I borrow your Math notes?” Grace asked me as she approached my desk.

“Sure,” I responded with a smile and grabbed the math notebook from my bag.

“Thanks as always,” Grace followed with a smile and took it.

“Cindy, do you have a spare eraser? I forgot mine at home,” Trishia asked with a troubled look.

“I have one. Here,” I answered and gave an eraser to her.

“Cindy, can you take my place in today’s cleaning duty? I have an important meeting after class, so please,” Hanna pleaded with a clap of her hands.

“Sure, you can leave it to me,” I replied with a smile.

My name is Cindy. As you can see, I find happiness by helping others as much as possible. I don’t have a reason why I’m doing this though. Maybe it’s because I’ve always done this since I was little, so I continued doing it. Also, helping others is a good thing, right?

“Uhmm... Cindy, can I borrow—” one boy said with a smile after he stopped before my desk. In reflex, I jumped out of my seat and slid three meters away from him in an instant.

“I’m sorry but I can’t!” I immediately apologized with a bow. Because of what I did, he became surprised and forced a grin.

“I... see. Okay then,” he followed with an awkward expression.

“Excuse me, I’ll take my lunch now,” I continued and ran out of the classroom.

“Jeez, why did you approach her without a notice?” Hanna lectured to the boy. “Did you forget that she has androphobia?”

“Well... we’ve been classmates here in the school since day one, you know. So I thought it might have gotten better even a bit,” he answered in a sad look and let out a deep sigh.

“And as you can see, that’s not the case. She’s a nice girl though,” Hanna followed with a worried face. “If only her fear of men can disappear one day.”

Before I knew it, I found myself in front of the cafeteria, exhausted after my sprint.

I have a fear of men. It started when my late father told me about men’s genuine desires when I was still young. He said that men are like wolves. They act nicely as a facade, but deep inside, they lust for females. They act friendly towards women so they can9 copulate and use us to pleasure themselves. He said no matter what happens, don’t trust them and keep my distance from them. Growing up, I learned that it’s not the absolute truth. But because I believed that information for years, I am now having trouble dealing with them.

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“I can’t seem to overcome this fear,” I whispered to myself after I sighed. I then stood up straight with a serious face and continued, “I have to change.”

After the class and the cleaning duty, I immediately walked towards the bus stop. Then, after my arrival there, I saw a boy in tears nearby. He was around the age of eight.

“If I can’t do this... I won’t change,” I whispered to myself and steeled my resolve. With that as my decision, I approached the boy.

“A-are you... lost?” I asked in a nervous tone and crouched down to meet his eye level.

“My sister’s ball! Wahhhhh!” he wailed loudly. I looked up and saw that a volleyball got stuck on one of the tree branches.

“So it’s stuck up there,” I commented after I stood up straight once again while I looked at the ball.

“I... need to get it back... *sniff*... because I borrowed it from my sister,” the kid explained and wiped the tears with his arms.

“Then leave everything to me,” I responded to him with a smile so I could portray confidence.

“You... can?” he asked, surprised.

Then, I took off one of my shoes and threw it towards the ball. Luckily, it hit the target, and the ball fell down. I caught it with two hands and gave the ball back to the kid.

“See?” I followed with a smile.

Because of that, the boy jumped in elation and gave me a big smile.

“Thank you very much! Here, I’ll give you this!” he said and gave me a piece of candy.

“Thank you too. Take care!” I replied and waved my hand as he left.

After he disappeared from my sight, I once again looked up and saw the tree branch with my shoe stuck there instead.

“I guess I’ll try shaking it,” I whispered and went towards the tree’s trunk. I tried to push and shake the tree but failed because of how sturdy it was. “So I have to climb up. Okay then.”

With that decided, I climbed up the tree to get my shoe back. It was not an easy feat, but I reached the branch and crawled towards the end where my shoe was. Finally, I grabbed it.

“I did it!” I exclaimed in joy, but out of sudden carelessness, I slipped off the branch and fell down. “Ahhhhhh!”

*bam*

Huh? It doesn’t hurt?

When I opened my eyes, I saw the face of a boy wearing glasses and a glowing crown.

Crown?

“Uhmm...” he mumbled with a slightly confused face.

That was when I realized that he saved me from the fall by catching me in a bridal carry.

“I’m sorry!” I shouted in a flustered expression and jumped off him. Then, I covered five meters away from him in a split second and left a straight cloud of dust along the path.

Wait... he saved me, right? I need to thank him!

“Thank you very much!” I shouted with a bow.

“You’re welcome,” he responded, stunned a little. After I heard his reply, I immediately rode the bus nearby and left the scene.

“That’s nerve-wracking,” I said and sat down on the nearest empty seat. I then exhaled deeply out of relief. “To think a boy will carry me like that...”

His face then came to my mind, and it made my face red.

“I need to get a grip already,” I whispered and slapped my face with both hands for a wake-up call. “But why is he wearing a crown? Wait… wearing?”

My shoe... I forgot to grab it.

“I hope Rizelle has a spare,” I whispered in a sad tone.