Sugar Sweet Life

Oneshot

My pencil moved naturally across the page, sketching out person after person.

Game character.

Comic character.

Game character.

Oh, an idea for something new. Better jot it down.

Game character.

About that original character... Where did she come from, originally?

I spun tale after tale, each one unique in its own ways.

However, their plotlines all had two glaring similarities that anyone would notice. Not that I'd tell them to anyone else, though.

Both of them were things I never would be able to experience. But fantasies are for things you can't feel in real life, anyways.

No one cares.

About me, about anything I do.

I don't really care either.

After a bit of contemplation, I added horns to the girl I drew; after all, in her story, she was a demon. She had elegant hair that cascaded down her back, softly curling at the ends, and her dress, a combination of a qipao and a hanfu, flowed as though she stood in a gentle breeze.

She was beautiful. Drawn to my own preferences.

My complete opposite, but not someone I wanted to be either.

Rather, it was who she reminded me of that made me like her.

I'm comfortable with myself, unlike others. After all, there is someone who isn't comfortable with me.

After adding some finishing touches to the demon girl, I began on her counterpart, the sword spirit.

I chuckled.

In his tale, he was a rough-and-tumble character, somewhat callous and unrefined. He would wear his robes haphazardly, while his hair, even when tied up, exploded all over the place.

Messy. Quiet. Loyal-

"What are you doing? Don't draw on your notebooks. They're for notes."

As I quickly packed away my drawing materials, I thought,

But mom...

This is my sketchbook.

***

I didn't know anyone in my math class. Made sense, as they were all at least a year older than me.

Despite having taken this class three times before, I still didn't understand anything. It was a miracle I hadn't failed, considering I understood less and less after each class. Numbers evaded me.

However, she insisted that I could do it, that I just wasn't trying hard enough.

That I had the capability.

I knew it was bullshit.

I never was good at math, and never would be.

I studied and studied, reading textbooks while scrambling to finish homework. I reviewed, applied, and practiced. I took three outside classes at once, all to help me stay afloat in the class. She claimed this was all necessary, that if I got anything below an A, I was going straight to community college.

Bullshit.

Bullshit.

Bullshit.

My grades dropped. My eyebags only became darker. Occasionally, I passed out for a couple seconds, but just as quickly regained consciousness.