Quote:“From the time you wake up until the moment you go to bed it’s all a lie, all a sham and a swindle. Everybody knows it, and everybody collaborates in the perpetuation of the hoax. That’s why we look so goddamned disgusting to one another.” – Henry Miller

Cold, thought Shin, as he walked up towards the towering building of his school. When he breathed vapour rose past his dark eyes. His black hair swayed with the soft winter breeze. As he walked past the gate, Shin assumed the character known to the school as Shin, the friendly and hard-working student that can befriend anyone.

“Hey, Shin! A cold day today isn’t it? May I copy your History homework; I’m kind of in a

tight spot?”

“Yo Shin! Wanna hit the arcade after school?”

“My man, Shin! Mind lending me a couple bucks for lunch?”

Cold, thought Shin. The faces blurred. They’re all the same, the sentence floated in Shin’s mind.

“Nah man, you gotta do it yourself for once,”

“I’m sorry, Josh. I have my job after-school,”

“Cameron, I’m not lending you anymore until you pay me

back,”

Shin replied to every friendly banter, but continued walking towards class. The bell rang, as the last of the students charged desperately through the gate, class began.

Throughout the day, Shin played his character. Ate together with the students, studied together, if students are asked about their

impression of Shin, the answers would be the same: “A sociable and friendly person that anyone can have a great time with”. They could never be more wrong. Shin never considered any of them friends, when he spends time with them he feels cold and empty inside. Only once in his life had he considered a person a friend; a girl that was in his class last year, Nana. Nana was his first friend and love. When they first met, Nana was being bullied, however when she saw him, she said: “How empty.” Shin realised that Nana saw through his façade and regardless deemed her, an interesting person.

Like a seed, their relationship quickly grew; soon Shin realized his feelings for Nana and decided to confess. Upon arriving at school the next day, Nana wasn’t there. She wasn’t there the next day either. The next day, the day after that and the day after that, Nana never came to school. A day later, at a school assembly the Principal announced the suicide of Nana. Shocked, Shin skipped school the next day under the guise of an illness to collect his thoughts. It was during then that something in Shin’s mind changed. When he returned to school, he was showered with questions of concern and dealt with each question as the fake Shin would. Liars and cowards, every single one of them, such words float through Shin’s vision as he looked at every student and teacher. That care-free look, the averted eyes and the turned heads that ignored Nana’s bullying. Cowards.