The Candydates

14. IGNORANCE IS BLISS

'I stood up and with my head held high and walked away confidently.'

Gosh what an amazing thing to say that must have been, I think to myself as I shut my eyes and pluck more grass from the ground. Yes, I fell down again. Stupid untied Shoelaces. I should have let Oliver tie them for me but noo. Ma'am wants to be extra independent. I feel the eyes of Adam, Oliver and Miss Ouch on me but I refuse to look up. I keep plucking the grass acting like I am super busy. 

'No Oliver I will do it.' I recall the shit that came out of my mouth and inwardly slap myself. As if I could ever do it. I am one of those few geniuses in the world who never learnt how to tie these sabotaging strings. 

I have velcro on ALL my shoes like a little girl and the laces are just for show. I always wrap them around my ankles and tuck them in as a substitute for tying them. 

I look at the dark pink laces of my left shoe and feel a pang in my chest. My father used to always bend down on his knees and tie them for me. My mother used to roll her eyes at how spoilt he was making me but her smile would always break through.  

"Emma, you plan on getting up?" Oliver askes, tearing me away from my thoughts and I couldn't be more grateful. I look up but squint because of the piercing sun rays. Smiling, I wave my hand, "Y'all go ahead, I will join you shortly." 

The.Best.Idea. It will give me enough time to do my lil shoelace tucking trick without getting anymore embarrassed. 

"You sure?" Oliver furrows his brows and I catch Olivia wounding her hand around Adam arm. I gulp and give a firm nod.  

"Thankfully. I got tired of Emma being the centre of attention." Nichole says and makes her way towards Sir who is still figuring out why his mike isn't working. 

"You need to have a face to be the centre of attention. No offence pumpkin." I hear Olivia mutter out of her disgusting mouth and I feel my heartbeat pace up. 

Taking special care as to not trip over my laces again, I stand up confidently. This time for real, and look Olivia dead in the face. Her eyes flinch for a second before regaining composure. Good. 

One interesting fact about me : I can make one hell of an intimidating face even though from inside my entire body is cold with nervousness. 'Never show your enemy how much they bother you.' Was my first lesson if I had to survive in this world of hynas, my dad had said. 

I gulp not wanting to take a trip down that memory lane. I look into her eyes for a couple of seconds longer before bending down and wrapping my shoelaces around my ankle and tucking them inside. As if to show how not embarrassed I am of this, I take a moment to tighten the velcro straps as well. 

I stand up and Olivia is set to again make a demeaning comment when I cut her off. "Yes, I can't tie my laces. I don't know how to" I shrug my shoulders. "But  because of this face"  I pause to point. "I was on a commercial of adidas shoes, honey." I say and feel my body release itself from tension. 

Her mouth opens and closes like a fish and I let a breath I didn't know I was holding. I see Adam's lips twitch in a smile from the corner of my eyes and turn around before letting my lips spread across into a huge victory grin. 

Woohoo I do a little happy skip before realising that's not what you do when you want to be intimidating . I facepalm yet again, but the smile doesn't leave my face for a nano second as I make my way to Oliver and Nichole.  

"Well don't you look happy?" Oliver asks a goofy grin playing on his lips and I nod enthusiastically.

"C'mon tell me already. Don't keep me waiting." He nudges my shoulder and I don't have to be told twice. I narrate the entire incident to him in one breath. I guess because usually I am not the person who uses shady comebacks this is making me really excited.