ALIVE - The Story of a Never-Could-Be

Chapter V: [Igor Maxwell]

"He is lying teacher!" It was Igor. "His notebook is right here."

"Really!? What is the meaning of this Dery?" said the teacher.

"Wait, teacher, there's a misunder-"

"Stop it!" said Igor loudly. Dery was stunned. This could be the end of him, from what he feared the most... total humiliation... "That's enough! Teacher, the reason why he is lying is..."

Everyone was listening carefully to what he was going to say.

"What lie has he made up?" Dery was wondering as he was left unable to breathe.

"...because he is afraid you might not like it!" completed Igor.

"What? What the hell is he talking about?" was thinking everyone including Dery.

"As you all know, his ideals are pretty extreme and he was uncertain whether it would be a good idea to expose those ideals in front of you since his first day here. Not to mention his shy nature.."

"Dery is that true?" asked the teacher. "Did you really think we would judge you based on your ideals?"

Dery was speechless. He gave Igor a quick look. The second one, shook his head as a sign of confidence.

"What is he thinking? Is this another game of his? How do I know there really is an essay written in that notebook? Yes, teacher!" said Dery.

"Okay, then please read it to us."

"Why did I say 'yes'? Am I losing it? How can this be happening?" was all Dery was thinking while he was going towards Igor to get the notebook. When he went to grab the notebook from Igor's hands, the latter didn't quite let go of it immediately and smiled ironically. That made Dery grab the notebook by force. Then, he returned on the board and continued to read his essay.

When he finished the whole class cheered him up. The teacher also congratulated him for his work:

"Did you see? There's no reason to be shy when you can write essays like that!"

Dery returned to his desk. Igor didn't wait a second:

"Wow, that was deep man! Great writing!"

"Cut it! Why was there an essay written in a notebook that had my name on it and why do you have it?"

"Hey, hey, calm down with the tone a bit bro, relax. When Lorien informed us yesterday that you were coming to this class, I had to prepare the greatest essay possible to counter your ideals. So I ended up doing two essays with opposite opinions. As I couldn't write both of them in the same notebook, I wrote one in a new one."

"You wrote two essays!? That means..."

"Yeah, the one you read was one of them, and it looks as if it happens to resemble your ideals."

"Don't try to fool me! Answer the question. Why is my name on that notebook?"

"I knew there was a slight possibility that you wouldn't know today's time table so I left the notebook nameless just in case. When I saw you getting the wrong book out of your bag, I tried to start the conversation but you didn't reply. That's when I wrote the name on the etiquette."

"This guy! Is he mad? Why would he do that for me? You said that you had prepared two essays at home so that you could counter me. Then why give one of them to me? You would have ended the rivalry before it even started..."

"I gave you the essay to save that rivalry! I find no enjoyment in being the best if there isn't a good rival!" said Igor angry.

"Is that so? Who do you think you are kidding with those smartass words? If you really were after rivalry then you would at least give me the chance to go to Nationals and not corrupt the teachers!"