51 Impudence - Prologue (1/2)

Nothing is as long lasting as a first impression.

It's not something that goes away just because you want it to.

We can try to change our ways.

We can try our best to be different people.

But when it comes down to it, it's impossible to wipe away the lingering effects of a first meeting.

Why is that?

There's actually a simple way to explain it.

During a first meeting, a human being can best be described as a blank sheet of paper.

The first time someone meets you, it's normal for them to have no idea what to expect.

Your potential is boundless.

You could be any kind of person that exists in this world.

After all, they don't know the real you. To them, you're just a blank piece of paper.

And that person's perception of you from then onward depends entirely on what you do with it.

Perhaps that piece of paper will become a beautiful drawing.

Maybe it's a report.

Or a long-winded essay about nothing.

A paper plane.

A job resume.

A love letter.

Or even… a suicide note.

But the truth is, no matter how we classify them, they're all just sheets of paper.

There's nothing special about them.

And yet still, it's possible for that single sheet to move people in ways that they've never been moved before.

It's the moment you meet your worst enemy.

Or the rose-colored meeting between you and the love of your life.

How you feel about someone is most likely going to be decided from the first time you meet them.

It's a stain you can never remove.

Or more accurately, inked-in words you can never erase.

That's why, regardless of how unfairly someone might treat you later, or regardless of how kind someone might seem in the future, it's hard to think differently of them for it.

After all, those first impressions are still inked deeply into that blank sheet of paper.

”She doesn't really hate me. I can tell that she truly cares deep down. Her humor is just a bit forceful, that's all.”

”This teasing is just another joke. I'll grit my teeth and smile through it like last time.”

”She might be insulting my intelligence, but it's just because she wants me to think more about what I say. I need to be careful with what I talk about around her now.”

”Wow, she's so smart… I wish I could be as amazing as her. But… I'm just an idiot who'll be stuck in her shadow forever.”

It didn't matter how much Jennifer Swift had hurt me.

She could have insulted my family to my face if she so wished it.

The fact that such a powerful girl had accepted and embraced me during our first meeting was enough.

I felt protected.

I felt important.

I felt loved.

In this school full of people I didn't know, the most influential girl in my year offered to take me under her wing.

And that blank piece of paper had quickly become a verse of worship.

All because of the girl I met in that bus.

..

…

….

Much like any other day, I boarded the bus when it had stopped during its journey to the school.

The atmosphere in there was as rowdy as always.

I couldn't help but wonder how the other students were so full of energy at such an ungodly hour, but I was probably just fatigued from not getting enough sleep that night.

I hadn't begun my workout routine at the time, so I wasn't quite adjusted to mornings yet.

In any case, once I'd boarded, I decided to scout for an empty seat inside of the bus.

It would not be as simple of a task as I'd initially thought, however.

After all, the only empty seats were next to male students.

Of all things…

The worst of it was that most of them seemed to be much older than I was.

Being faced with such a life-shattering dilemma during my first week of school made me feel worthless.

If I had made a friend by this point, then getting a seat on the bus would be no problem.

But unfortunately, I seemed to be having trouble.

The result of that was a terrible situation where I had no friend who could save me a seat on the bus.

I was ready to give up then and there.

There was nothing left for me to do but disembark the bus and head home.

However, even that would prove to be a fruitless effort.

The bus' engine had started up the moment the thought had crossed my mind.

It was much too late to turn tail and head home.

A cold sweat ran down my back.

It was becoming more and more difficult to breathe.

Hyper ventilation was becoming a very likely possibility.

I had no choice. I was going to have to hold it back for the entire trip.

Hopefully they wouldn't try talking to me, I thought.

Because if so, then I might have just had an attack on the spot.

”You're Scarlet, right?”

But before that could happen, I was called out by an unfamiliar voice.

Unfamiliar, yet feminine.

I quickly turned to the source and was greeted by two things.

An empty seat, and next to it, a black-haired girl who was holding what appeared to be a novel in her hand.

That's all it took for me.

If Jennifer Swift, who I'd met later that day was God herself, then the girl before me would be an angel in human flesh.

The bus finally taking off snapped me out of my daydreaming and forced me into a response.

”A-ah, yeah. That's me.”

Without thinking too much about it, I had already hurried to take the seat beside her.

There wasn't much to think about, anyway.