Just Between Us

It's the day for students to take tests. Everyone has already gone into their respective classroom. But Aidan is still in the restroom. When he went out, he headed straight to his room. As he opens the door. The afternoon's last test has already started. He was late for just a few minutes. The teacher called out and gave him the test paper. Hurried to his seat. It seems a pretty normal test. But this one will decide whether they graduate or not. Aidan takes the test seriously. And it seems that he understood all the questions. 15 minutes before the times run out. Aidan double checked his answers. It looked like all the answers were right, and he passed it to the teacher. He leaves the room as a normal student would do after the tests. The following day, they checked their own test papers. Everyone was surprised when Aidan got a nearly perfect score. He got the top score. Well the test was hard, and it's nearly impossible to get that score. But there's nothing new. Aidan was already known as a smart and wealthy kid. Imagine being the son of a popular CEO and top of the class. Everyone thought he was having a perfect life. The day after. An unexpected problem came. Everyone was whispering about Aidan. Conversations suddenly went quiet when he passed. People leaned toward each other, talking behind their hands. Some fingers are pointing at him. Snatches of words floated to him even when he tried not to listen. "Someone cheated." "The top score isn't real." Everyone whispered Then Liam, his friend, sprinted towards him. "Hey, have you heard the news?" Liam said while chasing air to breathe "What news?" confused Aidan asked He was completely confused about what his friend was talking about. But he's kind of worried. "Did you really cheat on the final test?" Liam replied Aidan was shocked. He looked around and found everyone gossiping about him. There's disgust, shock, and disappointment around him. It was hard to accept since he was known as one of the smartest guys in the whole school. Aidan was completely stuned to the news he heard. A pair of students passed by whispering loudly on purpose. "That's him. the cheater." Aidan froze. For a second he just stared at them as they walked away, like his brain was trying to catch up. Then he turns his head to Liam. "Who said that I cheated?" Shocked Aidan asked again "I don't know. I just happened to hear it." Lian answered Then, suddenly, someone asked Aidan to come into the counseling office. He bolted to the front of the office. When he opened the door. He saw his father, adviser, and other school staff waiting for him. The room was filled with disappointment. Aidan sat beside his father, who looked so upset. He was literally confused about what was happening right now. At that point. The guidance counselor showed CCTV footage showing that on the day before the test was held. He secretly sneaks into the school room at night and steals and takes a picture of the answer keys. He was shocked. He swore he was there but he never stole the answer keys for the test. Someone framed him up. It shows that its face in the footage was not clear. But the bag and the clothes were identical to what he wore the day before the test. How could this even happen? Aidan spoke. "That's not me! I swear to myself." Aidan clarified "But it clearly shows it's you. I confirmed it to your father." The counselor insisted Aidan felt everyone was against him. The worst part is that it looks like his father is very disappointed. But Aidan kept resisting t wasn't him. The only thing he remembered was that he went to the school just to get the activity book that he had forgotten earlier. How could he possibly be standing like that? "You need a deeper investigation, I swear it's not me!"' Aidan suggested. Time flies, in the end, Aidan is expelled from the most prestigious school in Soel due to a big violation. The worst part came. There's news about him cheating. A news article about him, the son of a CEO, got expelled from a private school. He's very disappointed in himself, looking like a cheater to others. When he got home after the decision was made. He saw his father standing looking at the wide and gigantic window. Behind him was a long table. Their house looks luxurious, yet if feel haunted. Aidan was afraid to approach his father. Back then, every time he made a mistake, he received a punishment. Like when he was 9, he broke a mug. His father witnessed it all. His father stands very still at first when he hears the crash, and the pieces of the mug scatter across the floor. His jaw tightens, and the lines on his forehead deepen. His father was the kind of guy who likes evething in its place. The broken mug makes him feel that his son is not careful enough. His voice doesn't need to be scary. His sharp and cold stares already said it. Aidan got punished by his father. His father made him sleep outside. It was cold and I nearly froze to death. Just in time, his Mother came and let him sleep on her bed. Aidan came back to his senses, and his father was still standing there. Waiting for Aidan to approach him. "Dad?" Aidan tone soften His dad turned to him. He made a face Aidan hadn't seen in a while. The face that was similar when he broke a mug. He has no other choice but to accept his faith. His father grabbed a sea salt and books. He spread the salt onto the floor. "Kneel to the salt" His father said angrily Aidan was so shocked. He knows it's so painful. He hesitated to do it. His father lost its patient. He grabbed Aidan's shirt and forced him to kneel. Aidan got enough, he is suffocated by his father. His father wants him to be a perfect guy, but all he feels is discrimination. He pushed his father away. He ran to the long hallway. The house felt too small and full of pressure, so he just kept running, not really sure where he was going. Only knowing he needed space to breathe. He can only think of one place that could make him feel at ease. That place is the beach. By the time he reached the beach, the sky was turning orange. The sound of the waves was nothing like the tense silence at home. He kicked off his shoes and stepped into the warm sand, letting the wind pull at his white hair. He sat near the shoreline, hugging his knees, watching the water rush forward and slide back again. He remembered how his father maltreated him. Every aspect of Aidan's life looks like it's falling apart. He couldn't fight back. Even if he did, what's the point? What everyone knows is that he was a cheater. One of the things that hurts is that he couldn't graduate because of the issue. This isn't easy for him. He has no one to run. Just the calm sea that won't judge him. Aidan couldn't take the pressure. He asks himself. What's the point of being alive? Everything is useless. He couldn't breathe when he was with his father, he wasn't going to graduate, and he had a dream that went against his father's will. What could he possibly do? The only thing that was left was his mother. But.. She was long gone. He's tired of anything. It felt like useless. At the end, he'll just die, why don't he do it now? He thinks over and over again. An impulsive thought came to his mind. Why doesn't he just end it here? He stands up. His feet start to touch the sea. The water is rising to his body. He thinks of this as a last goodbye. "Maybe no one will notice if I disappear." The water completely swallowed him.