No One's Perfect (A Zodiac Story)

Golden Child

Virgo

From the tender age of four, I was always aware of one fact. Sure, I didn't hound after it, my thoughts weren't completely consumed by that fact; it would slip my mind quite often, but I would always be brought back to it, one way or another.

I was a golden boy. 

No, it wasn't just my parents who told me this, my teachers, principals, heck, any authority figure treated me like so. 

To them, I was perfect. My grades, behavior, intelligence, I was good in almost every way. I smiled as I passed by, never said a bad word or did a bad thing in front of them. 

By the age of six, I was aware of another fact. This fact, however, I let control my life, pushing and shoving in all different directions. 

The world was cruel. 

It didn't matter who you sucked up to, you would always fall back with the flock you began with. And to those kids in my grade, I was a stuck-up, snobby piece of shit who tried to take all the attention for himself. 

I mean, they weren't terribly away from the truth. I was nice to the older people only. The kids my age... I treated them like they were part of the landscape. 

Perhaps cruelty is just a part of human nature. It begins in children, but sometimes their good deeds overshadows it so we don't even notice. 

Take that particular day after school, first grade, for example. 

"Virgo... I like you! Meet me after school, so we can play!" A girl said. Her name, I had forgotten by now. But she stood out from the other kids. She was popular, a result of her family being rich. And pretty. 

Being a six year-old, I didn't know better. Why a rich, pompous, spoiled brat like her would want to hang out with a guy like me, I didn't care.  

"Ok!" I yelled back cheerily. 

I ran out to the playground the first thing after school ended. I didn't have many friends, growing up. To be invited to play with a kid my age... it was like God had reached down and offered me a free ride to heaven. 

I was surprised when I got out to the playground. Sure, the girl was there... but so was everyone else in our grade. 

"Hi... everyone?"

"Hello, Virgo. Come play tag!"

They had all worn smiles on their faces. Some warmer than others, though they all held a type of plasticky fakeness. That should've been my first sign that something was wrong.

"Ok!"

We began playing, with me being 'it' since I had arrived there last. I chased the other kids around, determined to get someone else it. Then I felt the push. 

It was small, quick, but enough to knock me off balance a bit. I stumbled to a halt, managing not to fall. 

"Oops. Sorry, Virgo. That was an accident." The boy said carelessly. And that should've been my second. 

"Oh, ok. But you better run quick, because I'm going to get you!" But I was naive. It was to be expected of a six-year old. 

The boy ran off, and I resumed my chase. Just a few seconds after, another push came. This one was more of a shove. I fell onto the mulch-covered ground, the small pieces digging into my knees and palms just hard enough to draw blood. Tears prickled at the corner of my vision, but it was just my reflex of pain.