My Heart is Yours Forever

Let the games begin!

When I was little, I always thought that being a senior is fun. I saw my sister having fun with her friends, I saw the students being more friendly with the teachers, they would be heading to college next year so senior year was supposed to be spent having fun and less work. But I was wrong!

Senior year ended up being the most hectic year for me, and it had been  only one month since I started the school. Days were spent going to classes, studying for quick quizzes and extra activities like school newspaper, and nights were spent completing my load of homework, studying for some tests and sleeping.  And this was just the beginning.

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Today, Nick was having his election and he was fully prepared for it. Even though his ex-mates complained that I wrote the article, the teachers seeing how good we both were, forgave us and allowed him to stand for the elections.

There were two candidates of course,  the other being the captain of the Debate Club, and assumed Valedictorian of our batch, Laila Mathew. So the competition was tough now since Nick was no longer the part of  popular crowd.

His speech in the hallway that day had been viral all over the school. Someone had posted it in the school website which made him gain hatred from the popular kids, but he ended up being a hero for the average kids like us and the nerds. 

I went to school with Nora and Caleb, we again car pooled. Nick went early to do some last minute preparation. First the candidates would give their speeches and the students were allowed to ask valid questions. Second, the students would vote and third there would be counting by the teachers after the lunch break.

We assembled in the gym hall in the morning. I sat between Nora and Caleb and yes, I have been ignoring Alan. Sandra and I did some catching up last Friday but I wasn't ready to talk to Alan because he deserved to know the taste of his own medicine.

As time proceeded,  Laila gave her speech about how she would change this and that, how she would help us make our voices heard, and it was the kind of speech that every year someone delivers.  We all were more excited for Nick's speech.

Nick came up to the stage and then began, "Hey guys. Um, I know I should be giving you all 'the speech' but I don't want to. I no longer want to be the part of it because it's clear that Laila is more deserving than me."

What the hell is he saying? Was he giving up after all those hard work?

"You must be thinking why am I doing this? But I want to tell you that I never wanted to stand up for this election. I did so anyways for my parents and my friends,  I mean my ex friends." He continued, "Okay,  maybe I should have just tried to deliver a good speech and try my hand to be the perfect president for you all but no, I'm far from perfect. I can no longer act as a perfect son for my parents, a perfect friend to make my mates happy. That isn't who I am. I am a normal guy with imperfection as my virtue."

He paused for a bit, and then looked at the place where we all were sitting. He nodded in our direction with a smile and then said,

"But now, I no longer will put up my fake act because I'm tired of it. I want you all to stop referring me as "The perfect Nicholas". I know many of you will hate me because I was fake till now, but from today onwards you'll know exactly who I am because I finally realised it too. I don't need to be perfect for my present friends, because they accept me for who I am, and not the idea of me all of you are carrying. So,Thank you guys, and thank you teachers but I drop out of this election. "

With that, Nick came down the stage and walked towards his seat beside Laila in the front. I felt sad that Nick gave up after putting so much of hard work but I was also happy that he finally spoke his heart out, he was brave enough to stand up in the crowd and accept his faults.