School after the talent show.

The idea passed through my mind for a short while, but I was quick to dismiss it. Going back to school after performing in the talent show… wouldn’t change anything, I was sure.

I wondered if people would treat me differently after it. To some, I was the gloomy guy who didn’t speak and suddenly dared to perform in front of over 500 people. To others, I was the handsome boyfriend of five of the hottest girls in school who had played a nerdy, obscure song from a video game in front of everyone. At first I thought it would change perceptions, but soon after I convinced myself that nobody would care. I mean, I didn’t even win, right? And so I went to school with a light step, focused solely on the music coming from my headphones.

I was wrong, kind of.

After the girls and I left the club room, we walked the hallways to go to our classrooms. And as we did…

“Hey, Oliver, great show the other day!” said an underclassman, some guy I’d never spoken to before. He walked past us giving me two thumbs up.

“Um… thanks!” I shouted after a small delay.

“Do you do gigs?” someone else asked me. “And what was that song from? It was so good!”

“I… don’t do gigs, no. And the song was from…”

Up in the senior’s floor, more people stopped me to talk.

“Hey, I didn’t know you played GG, Oliver. Who’s your main?” one of the guys from Alice’s class asked me.

Since it was someone who clearly knew, I answered “The white bread.”

“Oh. Well, it WAS his theme that you played.”

The people in my classroom also went up to me to congratulate me. Saying the show was really good.

“It was better than the Michael Jackson one,” Amanda said.

“Yeah,” Mark agreed. “Dude was good, but he won because of Michael Jackson’s popularity.”

“Nah, he put a lot of effort into it. He deserved to win,” I told them, smiling. “But thanks. It means a lot.”

It wasn’t like I’d become a rock star, but people did seem friendlier. It also wasn’t everyone, but more people randomly talked to me than usual.

“You’re more approachable now,” Thomas told me during our first recess. He grabbed my head and pushed his thumb down by brow to **** a frown. “I always told you that this scowl of yours pushed people away.”

I swatted his hand away and shook my head. “I never did it on purpose.”

“Regardless, now that people have seen you put yourself out there, they’re starting to see that you’re not a weirdo. And since you played a song from a game, most have realized that you’re just a huge nerd.”

“Thanks, Thomas. You’re such a supporting friend,” I told him flatly.

“What? Gonna deny it?” he teased.

I shrugged. “Guess not.”

“Still sucks that you didn’t get third place. I wanted you to treat us to pizza.”

“That’ll have to wait. I have too many things to pay with my next paycheck.”

Thomas chuckled. “Relax, I’m just kidding.”

The most surprising thing that happened that day occurred during lunch hour. The girls and I were making our way to the club room to eat, when someone approached us again. This time it was Eric, the music club’s drummer.

“U-Um… O-Oliver, can we… talk?” he asked, looking down at my feet more than at my face, and he seemed to be actively avoiding Grace’s gaze. His shoulders were down, his back slumped and he was rubbing his forearm awkwardly.

For a moment, he raised his eyes, but instead of looking at me, he looked at Noelle. He flinched and immediately cast his gaze down again. The redhead and I shared a puzzled look.

“Go,” I told the girls. “I’ll catch up.”

The girls nodded and went on their way. Eric turned his face away from them as they walked past him.

We moved to an empty spot in the hallway, a dead end after a turn. “So?” I asked. Again, Eric flinched and sank a bit lower. I must’ve spoken too harshly, so I softened my tone a bit. “What did you want to talk about?”

Eric bit his lip and glared at the floor. His fists were clenched and his shoulders tense. Then, he looked up at me. I don’t think I was that much taller than he was, but with the way we were both standing, him with a slumped back and me with my back fully straight, I had at least some 10 cm over him.

“I… I wanted to apologize.” Odd. Despite what he said, it was like he was bringing the words out reluctantly. “I helped Julian with the rumors about you, and… I shouldn’t have. I regretted it, so I took them back. I… hope that helped in some way.”

Regret? I was about to ask him if it was regret or fear that made him take it all back, but I didn’t. Instead, I asked him something else. “Why did you even spread them to begin with? Because Julian told you to?”

“Th-That was… only… half of it.” Eric grimaced and shot me a weak glare that still took me by surprise. “I… I wanted to see you ruined. I hate you, Oliver.”

I blinked. “...Huh? What did I ever do to you?” I asked him, more baffled than anything else. That had come completely out of the blue.

“I thought you were like me,” he said, now looking away, towards the wall. “I thought you were a loner, an outcast like me. But then you became Mr. Popular, hanging out with the basketball team captain, dating the popular girls…” The more he spoke, the more his bottled up feelings came out. “But worst of all, you… you… You started dating Noelle! You took Noelle away from me!”

My chest froze, but the cold sensation lasted only a moment. Soon, I was glaring back at Eric, and the drummer flinched and took a step back.

“Did I? I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware you two were dating,” I said coldly.

“...W-We… weren’t…”

“Oh? So were you just really close? In some sort of unspecified relationship?” I asked him.

“N-No…”

I clicked my tongue. “Are you even friends? Did you two speak at all?”

“...” Eric kept his eyes down, shaking and biting his lip.

“This is ridiculous.” I sighed, shaking my head. “Worse is that I get it. I get why you’d hate me for it. But you get it, too, right? You’re not a deluded fool like Julian, Eric.” At least, I wanted to believe he wasn’t. The fact that he was apologizing despite hating me said a lot. So, I appealed to his common sense instead of berating him for feeling this way. “If you had feelings for Noelle, you should’ve done something about it. Talk to her, become closer with her, ask her out eventually. I’m not the one to blame for your unwillingness to act.”

Those words resonated in my own head, too. A lesson I thought I had learned, but recent times had made me… complacent. Inaction for fear of the results, ironically resulting in that which you fear the most.

I sighed again. “Talk to Noelle herself if you need some closure,” I told him without fear. I was confident in the strength of my relationship with Noelle. Her talking to a guy who had a crush on her didn’t worry me beyond said guy trying something stupid. “For what it's worth, I’m thankful that you took back your… contribution to the rumors, and if you want to continue blaming me for your problems, I can’t stop you. It’s hard, but I’m still working to be who I want to be, not someone others think I am. Sorry I didn’t meet whatever expectations you had of me.” Needless to say, I wasn't sorry in the slightest.

“...”

“Take care, Eric.”

I turned away from him and walked away. Strange as it was, that felt… refreshing. It helped remind me of the dangers of inaction, something I’d need to keep in mind always.

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